The Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, today announced that two Australian researchers will join forces with a European Union research team with the aim of developing new treatments for auto-immune diseases such as diabetes and Addison’s disease.
Dr Hamish Scott, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (Melbourne), and Professor Chris Goodnow, Director of the Australian Phenomics Facility (Australian National University), will receive $807, 435 under the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Australian-European Union Collaborative Grants Program.
This collaborative program provides support to Australian researchers that are already part of a team that has been awarded funding from the European Union under its Sixth Framework program. While an international collaboration may be successful in winning an EU grant, non-EU researchers do not receive EU funding support for their contribution to the research.
“It is unusual for the EU to fund many research projects involving expertise from outside Europe, and the selection process is extremely difficult. It is therefore a tribute to the expertise of Dr Scott and Professor Goodnow to be part of this grant-winning team,” Mr Abbott said.
The collaboration that the Australian researchers is part of has been awarded 3 million Euros ($A5.1 million) in EU funding. The team is led by Professor Olle Kampe of Uppsala University, Sweden. Dr Scott and Professor Goodnow will carry out most of their work in Australia.
The team will investigate processes controlled by a recently-discovered rare gene which may prove to be crucial in preventing auto-immune diseases.
The Federal Government will invest $450 million this year in health and medical research through the National Health and Medical Research Council, more than double the 1999 figure.
Contact:
Kate Miranda, Office of Tony Abbott, 0417 425 227
Nigel Harding, NHMRC, 0409 307 671