Better patient outcomes the focus of new LINC grants
Translational Research Institute (TRI), Metro South Health (MSH) and Mater Research, have announced the recipients of almost $400,000 in new research grant funding through their jointly funded LINC scheme.
Launched in 2021, the Leading Innovations through New Collaborations (LINC) scheme offered up to $50,000 in seed funding for individual new research projects with clinical translation potential.
Uniquely, the LINC grant scheme required all applications to include two principal investigators, one a TRI-based researcher and the other a clinician from either Metro South Health or Mater.
TRI CEO, Professor Scott Bell said they received 22 LINC applications, the majority of which were new collaborations.
“The LINC scheme was created to foster long-term, transformative research collaborations between young clinicians and academic researchers,” Professor Bell said.
“We were impressed by the quality and breadth of the projects, and congratulate the grant recipients,” he said.
The successful projects included developing better treatments for a range of diseases including schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, brain cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. Other projects are looking at predicting health outcomes, including the risk of spontaneous miscarriage.
Metro South Health Chair of Research Professor John Upham said the LINC grants were launched after 12 months of extensive consultation with leading clinicians and researchers.
“We strongly believe that research partnerships between clinicians and researchers are invaluable for future improvements in healthcare,” Professor Upham said.
“The translational projects funded through LINC all have the potential to improve healthcare outcomes for Australians.”
Mater Research Executive Director and Director of Clinical Research Professor Maher Gandhi said the LINC scheme fitted soundly within Mater’s long-term research strategy.
“We are absolutely delighted to be helping fund research collaborations between Mater clinicians and academic researchers based at TRI,” Professor Gandhi said.
“Mater Research has strong clinical links and these grants will support significant, new research collaborations.”
Professor Bell said a second LINC grant round will open later in 2022, with additional grants on offer.
2021-22 LINC grant recipients
|
Principal Investigator A |
Principal Investigator B |
Project |
Funding |
|
Dr Timothy Edwards, Metro South Health |
Dr Yuanhao Yang, Mater Research - The University of Queensland |
Making treatment-resistant schizophrenia more treatable: predicting life-threatening clozapine-induced neutropenia using cellular genomics |
$ 50,000.00 |
|
Dr Justine Gibson, Metro South Health |
Dr Giorgia Mori, The University of Queensland |
Dysbiosis as a long-term sequelae in patients that undergo treatment for tuberculosis |
$49,907.40 |
|
A/Prof Erin McMeniman, Metro South Health |
Snehlata Kumari, The University of Queensland |
Determining causative mechanisms of hidradenitis suppurativa* |
$49,965.10 |
|
Dr Sidharth Mantha, Metro South Health |
Dr Thomas Kryza, Mater Research - The University of Queensland |
Establishing a pipeline for rapid clinical translation of novel biomaterials for the treatment of brain cancer of metastatic origin |
$50,000.00 |
|
Dr Phillip Rowell, Metro South Health |
Dr Lisa Philp, Queensland University of Technology |
Elucidating the role of adipokine axis dysregulation in bone metastatic cancer for the strategic positioning of new therapeutic agents |
$49,999.20 |
|
Dr Yoon-Kyo An, Mater Hospital Brisbane |
Dr Kavita Bisht, Mater Research - The University of Queensland |
Identifying mechanism and new therapies to treat anaemia of inflammation in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases |
$49,947.37 |
|
Dr Reuben Beer, |
Dr Marcus Gray, TRI |
Linking advanced neuroimaging, disease state and clinical measures in multiple sclerosis: A multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research approach. |
$50,000.00 |
|
Dr Jesrine Hong, Mater Mothers’ Hospital |
Dr Sandra Richardson, Mater Research - The University of Queensland |
DNA methylation in circulating free foetal DNA: A potential biomarker to predict foetal growth restriction and severe perinatal outcomes? |
$50,000.00 |
* An incurable inflammatory skin condition leading to painful pea-sized lump
