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Merit Awards – 2018-2019 recipients

Merit Awards – 2018-2019 recipients

In 2019, Merit Award grants were awarded to 30 emerging WA research leaders for 15 Project Grant and 15 Early Career and Career Development Fellowship near-misses which met the eligibility criteria in the 2018 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding round.

The total value of the Merit Award grants was $1.125 million. The funds are used to increase the likelihood of success in future NHMRC applications.

Chief Investigator NHMRC Program Administering Institution Merit Award Project Title
Ms. Lauren Blekkenhorst Early Career Fellowship Edith Cowan University Enhancing the health impact of increased vegetable intake
Dr. Catherine Bondonno Project Grant Edith Cowan University Nitrate and human health - from villain to hero?
Mr. Joao Paulo Caneiro Early Career Fellowship Curtin University Optimizing primary care interventions for the management of chronic disabling low back pain and knee osteoarthritis
Dr. Livia Carvalho Project Grant/td> University of WA Optimising treatment strategies for improved cone rescue in visual disorders
Adj. Assoc. Prof. Jenny Downs Project Grant University of WA Pathways to improved and cost effective health care services use for children with intellectual disability
Assoc. Prof. Nicholas Gottardo Career Development Fellowship University of WA From "bench to bedside" translating new treatments for children with brain tumours
Assoc. Prof. Penelope Hasking Project Grant Curtin University Improving detection and referral for university students at risk of suicide
Mr. Thomas Iosifidis Early Career Fellowship University of WA A novel airway mucosal model to understand the biology of childhood asthma and develop innovative therapies
Assoc. Prof. Pritinder Kaur Project Grant Curtin University Understanding how epithelial:mesenchymal interactions regulate human skin regeneration.
Prof. (Clin) Wai Lim Project Grant University of WA Assessment of novel immunological risk profile to establish the most suitable parental donor for kidney transplantation: best-parent study
Prof. (Clin) Michaela Lucas Project Grant University of WA Safely Preventing Errors and Complications due to Inappropriate Allergy Labelling (The SPECIAL Study)
Mr. Francis Mitrou Project Grant University of WA Improving Aboriginal health disparities: the influence of education, child protection and justice systems over time and across generations
Dr. Brioni Moore Career Development Fellowship Curtin University Optimising antimalarial treatment strategies for Melanesian infants
Assoc. Prof. Rachael Moorin Project Grant Curtin University Quantifying the influence of aspects of continuity of primary care on quality and safety in the Australian health care system
Mr. Shakeel Mowlaboccus Early Career Fellowship University of WA Using bioinformatics and molecular methods to assess the persistence and threat of newly discovered penicillin-resistant serogroup W Neisseria meningitidis in Australia
Assoc. Prof. Richard Norman Project Grant Curtin University Derivation of utility weights for the paediatric EQ-5D-Y
Dr. Melissa O'Donnell Career Development Fellowship University of WA Child safety, domestic violence and out-of-home care: Evidence for targeted points of intervention
Dr. Gavin Pereira Career Development Fellowship Curtin University Saving babies: targeted approaches to address avoidable perinatal mortality and morbidity
Miss Kara Perks Early Career Fellowship University of WA Characterizing the pathology of cardiomyopathy and development of potential treatments
Dr. Tara Richman Project Grant University of WA Viral infection in mitochondrial disease
Dr. Hamid Alinejad Rokny Early Career Fellowship University of WA Systems biology approaches in analysis of recurrent pathogenic copy number variants
Dr. Stefan Siira Early Career Fellowship University of WA Computational approaches to investigate nuclear and mitochondrial gene networks in neurodegeneration
Dr. Shannon Simpson Career Development Fellowship Curtin University Improving lung health for survivors of preterm birth
Dr. Alexander Tang Early Career Fellowship University of WA Cellular mechanisms of non-invasive brain stimulation induced neuroplasticity in the young and aged brain
Dr. Rakesh Naduvile Veedu Career Development Fellowship Murdoch University Next generation precision nucleic acids for tissue specific RNA processing therapy
Dr. Kimberley Wang Project Grant University of WA Fatty airways - implications for lung function in asthma
Dr. Tao Wang Project Grant University of WA PDK1/AKT protein kinase activation is essential to maintain tendon integrity under mechanical loading
Assoc. Prof. Anne Whitworth Project Grant Curtin University Beyond NARNIA: A Phase III RCT to test a new paradigm in aphasia intervention
Dr. Amy Wooldridge Early Career Fellowship University of WA Preclinical evaluation of the safety and efficacy of a novel anti-inflammatory therapy for the preterm subject
Dr. Caitlin Wyrwoll Project Grant University of WA Fetal placental vascular structure and haemodynamics: potential as diagnostic targets for fetal growth restriction?
Last reviewed: 10-09-2019
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