Clockwise from top left, Dr Christoph Goebl, Dr Janice Chew-Harris, Dr Max Yavitt and Dr Nina Dickerhof.
Four University of Otago Christchurch, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka Ōtautahi researchers involved in cancer, pneumonia, tissue growth and cardiac injury studies have received major funding boosts from Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden, the Marsden Fund.
Two of the four, Drs Christoph Goebl and Nina Dickerhof from the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, were awarded Marsden project grants of $941,000 each, with Dr Janice Chew-Harris from the Department of Medicine and Dr Max Yavitt from the Department of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Health, selected for a $360,000 Fast Start Grant for early career researchers.
Nina’s Marsden Fund grant, her first, will allow her to take her research on Streptococcus pneumoniae into “exciting new directions”.”
“The bacterium, responsible for pneumonia, is a major cause of death worldwide, especially in children and the elderly,” says Nina.
“Our project will look at how Streptococcus pneumoniae imports an antioxidant called glutathione from its host to protect itself against oxidants produced by our immune system. Understanding the molecular details of this could lead to the development of new treatments for pneumonia.”
Christoph’s grant will allow him to continue his team’s ground-breaking work unlocking the mechanical and biological significance of a reversible “shapeshifting” switch that controls protein function in cancer cell division regulation.
“Specifically, we are investigating a tumour suppressor protein family that plays a crucial role in regulating cell division and ageing,” says Christoph.
“By studying how these proteins switch between different shapes under various conditions, we hope to gain new insights into cancer biology, ageing processes, and cell signalling pathways. An improved understanding of fundamental cellular processes may in turn lead to improved cancer therapies.”
Janice’s Fast Start grant will investigate a new “suPAR” target to help preserve and repair heart function following a heart attack.
“Heart attacks are a very common cause of death in Aotearoa New Zealand, and they lead to sudden changes in blood flow and availability of nutrients,” says Janice.
“This project will study how a protein called suPAR protects damaged heart cells and reduces further injury. It ultimately could unlock new treatment approaches, improving survival rates and the quality of life following a heart attack.”
Max will utilise his Fast Start grant to help extend our understanding of how cells generate large-scale tissues.
He says understanding how tissues grow and work together is important for studying diseases like cancer, and for developing better treatments.
“Current technology can create small patches of tissue, but it’s not well understood how tissues grow together to form larger, fully functional organs,” Max explains.
“This project aims to develop new techniques that will allow researchers to study tissue assembly to the size of real organs. By understanding how tissues grow, this study will contribute to our ability to create more accurate models for more effective treatments.”
The four UOC Grant winners are among 23 University of Otago projects to receive more than $19 million in Marsden Fund grants for 2024.
A major $3,000,000 Marsden Fund Council Award was granted to Professor Elaine Reese from the Dunedin campus’s Department of Psychology. Elaine co-leads an inter-disciplinary study which aims to measure the later impact of enriched oral language – in English and te reo Māori – and self-regulation programmes in early learning settings.
See the list of Otago Marsden grant recipients.