WIMR researchers secure NHMRC Ideas Grant funding across multiple innovative projects

Multiple research groups from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR) have received highly competitive Ideas Grant funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), reinforcing WIMR’s strong and sustained performance in national funding schemes. 

This latest success follows a standout performance for WIMR in the previous round and reflects continued recognition of the relevance, innovation and translational focus of research being undertaken across the Westmead Health Precinct. 

NHMRC Ideas Grants support innovative research across all career stages, from discovery through to implementation, addressing specific questions with the potential to improve human health. Successes this year again underscore the Institute’s capacity to deliver impactful, collaborative research in partnership with hospital and university partners at Westmead and other national and international collaborators. 

WIMR Executive Director, Professor Philip O’Connell congratulated the successful investigators and noted that the results reflect both excellence and consistency. “ This outcome reflects sustained national recognition of the quality, innovation and translational strength of research at WIMR and across the Westmead Health Precinct.
“This outcome reflects sustained national recognition of the quality, innovation and translational strength of research at WIMR and across the Westmead Health Precinct. 

Ideas Grants are highly competitive and specifically designed to support creative, high-impact research that can move from discovery through to real-world application. These projects exemplify that intent. 

Research in areas such as heart disease, dwarfism, antimicrobial resistance, immunology and haematology addresses major health challenges globally, and it is a clear endorsement of our researchers, and our strong partnerships with hospital and university colleagues, that this work continues to attract NHMRC support.” said Professor O’Connell. 

Congratulations to the following three WIMR investigators, and their teams, who succeeded in securing NHMRC Ideas Grants as lead investigators:

Professor Eddy Kizana 
 
Project: Definitive and Personalised Therapy for Genetic Heart Disease 

Professor Kizana is a cardiologist at Westmead Hospital who has developed a research program at The Westmead Institute for Medical Research using gene therapy technology for the treatment of cardiac disease in humans. 
 
The research program consists of the development of vector technology and the application of this in pre-clinical models of human disease. The research is translational and highly collaborative.  

Congratulations also to the additional two co-investigators on the project, Dr Dhanya Ravindran and Dr Ivy Chiang, from Eddy’s team.

Associate Professor Aaron Schindeler 
 
Project: Gene therapy to correct achondroplasia (dwarfism) 
 
A/Prof Aaron Schindeler is the Head of the Bioengineering & Molecular Medicine laboratory at WIMR and an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney. 

As a recognised leader in genetic skeletal disorders, he is now leading the development of a novel gene therapy for achondroplasia (dwarfism) designed to address the underlying cause of the condition in early childhood and deliver lasting clinical benefit. 

Congratulations also to the other additional co-investigator on the project, Dr Alexandra O’Donohue, from Aaron’s team. 

Dr (Kamal) Muhammad Kamruzzaman 
 
Project: Novel probiotic plasmids to protect microbiota from invasion by antimicrobial resistance 

Dr Muhammad Kamruzzaman (Kamal), a Research Scientist at the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, at WIMR and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, is a leading researcher in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and plasmid biology. He pioneered a novel plasmid-based approach to eradicate AMR, successfully demonstrated in preclinical models and now progressing to first-in-human trials.  

Congratulations to the additional co-investigator on the project, Professor Jon Iredell, from the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. 

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Congratulations to the following two WIMR investigators who succeeded in securing NHMRC Ideas Grants as co-investigators with teams led by researchers at partner institutions: 

Dr Kerrie Sandgren, co-leader of the Vaccines and Adjuvants Group at WIMR, is a partnering Chief Investigator with a team led by Assoc Prof Gila Moalem-Taylor from the University of New South Wales, on a successful grant titled ‘Decoding neuroimmune crosstalk in lymph nodes: a new frontier in peripheral neuropathy’.   

Professor David Gottlieb,  co-leader of the Blood Transplant & Cell Therapies Group at WIMR, is a partnering Chief Investigator on the successful grant titled ‘CELECT: precision gene editing for positive selection of therapeutic cells through drug-titratable.