Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Video | Business Headlines | Internet | Science | Scientific Ethics | Technology | Search

 

Funding for research into pain and cancer treatments.

New treatments for chronic pain research, breast cancer research and research on tumours and tuberculosis attracts funding

New pain treatments, discovery of the next line of anti-TB treatments, breast cancer research and research into normal cells that help cancer cells survive have all attracted funding in this year’s Auckland Medical Research Foundation Awards.

New pain treatments, discovery of the next line of anti-TB treatments, breast cancer research and research into normal cells that help cancer cells survive have all attracted funding in this year’s Auckland Medical Research Foundation Awards.

Among the research grants announced by the Foundation today was the David and Cassie Anderson Research Fellowship to Dr Christopher Walker of the University of Auckland’s School of Biological Sciences. The $205,261 funding will be used for research to develop a new class of pain treatments.

“Every New Zealander suffers from pain and for many it is an intolerable daily burden,” Dr Walker says. “New classes of drugs are required because current pain treatments have significant side-effects which prohibit long-term use or simply lack the required effectiveness.”

Another project to attract funding within the School of Biological Sciences is the development of inhibitors for MenD, an enzyme vital for the production of vitamin K2 which is essential for the survival of the tuberculosis bacterium.
“Worldwide, TB is a major health problem and in New Zealand, it disproportionately affects migrants, lower socio-economic groups and Māori,”
says Distinguished Professor Margaret Brimble of the University of Auckland’s School of Chemistry and School of Biological Sciences.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“TB is a difficult disease to eradicate, with multi-drug resistant and extremely-drug resistant strains emerging so that new drugs are desperately needed.”

Professor Brimble also leads a research team that has been awarded $158,317 over two years from the Foundation to deliver cytotoxic compounds – drugs used to target cancer cells - to selectively target breast cancer cells without damaging surrounding tissue.

The Foundation has also awarded a Doctoral Scholarship of $126,500 to Jennifer Eom, also from the School of Biological Sciences, for her research into tumours.
While tumours can be made up of both cancerous and non-cancerous cells, normal cells can also help cancer cells grow and survive. Modern approaches to cancer therapy target these normal cells – called mesenchymal cells - but knowledge of where they originate and how they change in response to invasion by cancer cells is limited. The research seeks to gain better knowledge of these different types of mesenchymal cells.

ends

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Business Headlines | Sci-Tech Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.