Research to improve health outcomes for First Nations people, tackle unmet needs in genetic disease and investigate the impact of pollution on children has been boosted by more than $4 million in Federal Government funding.
Three projects led by The University of Western Australian received funds through the National Health and Medical Research Council's Investigator Grants scheme, to improve lives, enhance healthcare and contribute to a stronger and more resilient economy for all Australians.
Professor Gina Ravenscroft, from Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and Dr Patricia Kailis Chair in Rare Diseases at UWA, will lead research that aims to find the genetic causes of neuromuscular diseases including disorders that present from birth to late adult life. Her research will also tackle the genetics of recurrent miscarriages – a big area of unmet need.
"These conditions result in a significant burden to families and our health care system," Professor Ravenscroft said.
"A genetic diagnosis provides families with answers, allows family planning, enables precision care and identifies targets for new therapies.
"My research program also aims to understand neuromuscular disease mechanisms and develop targeted therapies using patient-derived models."
Dr Emma Haynes, from UWA's School of Population and Global Health, will lead a project to put wellbeing first in health decision-making by aligning biomedical information with First Nations knowledges, experiences and priorities to improve health communication.
"Communication failure often causes unintended confusion or harm, limiting healthcare effectiveness, especially in First Nations health," Dr Haynes said.
"This program will develop, implement and evaluate an innovative health communication model to support autonomous informed decision-making, co-designed with First Nations leaders, community members and academics, as well as clinicians."
Dr Katherine Landwehr, from UWA's Medical School and The Kids Research Institute Australia, received funds to investigate the toxic effects of air pollution, an under-researched field that will have a large impact on children.
"We will help define the role of air pollution in childhood lung disease, assessing how lung health is affected by breathing different types of air pollution," Dr Landwehr said.
"The data will then be combined to create a model that can be used to predict health impacts of future air pollution sources."
