Here’s some news we’re keen to shout from the rooftops – Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI) and Curtin University School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences PhD student Lelinh Duong has won the award for Best Oral Presentation by a student or young scientist (30 years and under) at the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) National Scientific Conference.

Held in Fremantle, the conference was skilfully co-convened by our researcher Dr Kevin Keane and was proudly supported by Curtin University, through CHIRI, as a Platinum sponsor. Several other CHIRI researchers attended the conference, with a number of them giving presentations on their research. We congratulate Kevin and all of our CHIRI attendees on their involvement.

Lelinh brought home the Campion-Ma-Playoust Memorial Award after presenting some findings from her PhD research with CHIRI, which is investigating the underlying mechanisms behind macrophage dysfunction during ageing. Read more…

Congratulations to a team of Curtin University researchers, including Professor Philip Newsholme from the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI), whose research project exploring lupins as a potential treatment for type two diabetes has received funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC).

The team will partner with industry in developing a commercially viable way to turn lupin seed waste into a treatment for high blood glucose.

The project has received more than $310,000 in funding from the ARC’s Linkage Projects scheme. An additional $120,000 pledged by the partner organisation, Lupintel. Read more…

More than 150,000 reasons for CHIRI to thank MSWA today, because when it comes to funding for our research, every dollar is not just hugely appreciated, it’s also supporting our goal to develop new treatments that help improve the outcomes for people living with neurological diseases.

A $150,000 donation from MSWA will enable a research team at Curtin University led by CHIRI Director Professor John Mamo to embark on a pilot clinical trial of a drug that aims to prevent further memory loss in people living with Alzheimer’s disease. The trial is based on a historic drug that was once used to reduce risk for heart disease. Pre-clinical research by the team has shown the drug supports brain function and memory by preserving and restoring the integrity of microscopic blood vessels that are pivotal to brain function and health.

This week, CHIRI brought together around 20 MSWA-supported researchers for a symposium, pictured above. The symposium provided researchers with an opportunity to acknowledge MSWA’s support, share information about their research and discuss ways to work together to achieve better outcomes for people with neurological diseases.

Read more about MSWA’s support for CHIRI here: https://buff.ly/2rstxKg

Another happy researcher celebrating a well-earned funding boost from the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI).

Our PhD student Abhishek Singh is the proud recipient of a small grant through the CHIRI-Hands-Up-Support Scheme, which he will use to progress innovative research to explore links between cholesterol in the liver and dietary iron overload.

Abhishek’s research is in collaboration with his supervisor Dr Ross Graham and colleague Associate Professor Cyril Mamotte from CHIRI, and Associate Professor Vincent Williams from Curtin University’s School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, and is part of their investigations into non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Read more…

Today is the day Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI) Associate Professor Nina Tirnitz-Parker will embark on a three-week voyage to Antarctica as part of the global and ground-breaking leadership program, Homeward Bound.

Nina is one of 100 women with a background in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Engineering (STEMM) chosen for Team HB4, the fourth cohort to women to embark on this life-changing journey.

The voyage to Antarctica marks the culmination of the team’s 12-month participation in the leadership program, which includes online learning as well as mentoring, assessments, face-to-face group work, assignments, and leadership profiling to increase leadership capacity, strategic capability and collaboration. Read more…

Congratulations to the head of the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute’s (CHIRI’s) Epithelial Stem Cell Biology Group Associate Professor Pritinder Kaur, who has been appointed one of 12 members nationally on the Federal Government’s Stem Cell Therapies Expert Advisory Panel.

Announced by Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt, the panel has been selected to guide a $150 million investment in the Stem Cell Therapies Mission.

Part of the Medical Research Future Fund, the mission aims to help world-class Australian researchers further investigate new medical treatments for many chronic and inherited diseases.

The panel has been applying its experience and expertise to a roadmap to guide this 10-year investment in medical research, the draft of which was released for public consultation last month. Read more…

Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute PhD student Karina Khambatta is primed to share her discoveries with the world after making it to the finals of the Western Australian Fresh Science competition.

Karina was one of 10 finalists selected from WA, which saw her recently undertake two days of intensive training in public speaking, media and industry engagement before presenting her research pitch at a public event and progressing to the “on-the-spot” research pitch round.

Fresh Science is a national competition that takes up-and-coming researchers with no media experience and turns them into spokespeople for science, giving them a taste of the spotlight through media training and a public event in their home state. Read more…

Two Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI) researchers have co-authored research linking the use of statin medication to an increased risk of skin infections and diabetes.

Congratulations to lead author, PhD student Humphrey Ko, his CHIRI supervisor Dr Ricky Lareu and their fellow Curtin University collaborators Dr Brett Dix, Professor Jeffery Hughes and Dr Richard Parsons, on having their paper published in the prestigious British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

The research found that people who use statin medication for as little as three months have an increased risk of getting skin and soft tissue infections and diabetes; and that the increased risk of skin infections appeared to be unbiased by diabetes or socioeconomic status. Read more…

Super proud of CHIRI researcher Dr Mark Hackett, from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, who was recently awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council Future Fellowship of $739,302 to progress his research into brain function with ageing.

During the course of his 4-year fellowship, Mark’s focus will be on delivering new tools to visualise how changes to blood vessels during ageing affect the amount and distribution of metal ions in brain cells.

It is no surprise for us to see Mark’s name on the list of fellowship recipients with this honour reserved for Australia’s brightest and best researchers. The aim of the fellowships is to support research in areas of critical national importance by giving outstanding mid-career researchers incentives to conduct their research in Australia. Read more…

Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute is thrilled with the announcement of $35 million in funding from the Australian Research Council for a new Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology spearheaded by Sydney’s Macquarie University from 2020. Our synthetic biologist Professor Oliver Rackham is part of the consortium that secured the funds and as the WA Node Leader and a chief investigator of the Centre will help to establish a Centre for Synthetic Biology in Perth. The Centre of Excellence will combine engineering with molecular biology to design and construct novel biological systems that can convert biomass from agriculture or waste streams to biofuel, bioplastics and other high-value chemicals. Read more: https://buff.ly/35LiPhD