THE Western Australian Institute for Medical Research has won a $2.4 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation to fund a scanner for imaging tumours.
The grant adds to significant funding for medical research announced by other bodies to date, and is a major slice of the $8.5 million the ACRF has allocated for 2010.
The pre-clinical PET scanner will enable researchers to take images of cancer progression in animals.
As well as WAIMR, the PET scanner will also be used by other WA experts from the University of Western Australia, QEII Medical Centre, Royal Perth Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, the Lions Eye Institute and Pathwest.
The ACRF grants are directed at creating the infrastructure, notably new laboratories and equipment, to fast track key research and increase the knowledge of ways to prevent cancer and develop more effective treatments.
In addition, two WAIMR researchers, Kristen Nowak and Kevin Pfleger, this month secured Australian Research Council Future Fellowships.
Dr Nowak will be working on a project pursuing multiple therapeutic approaches for a class of skeletal muscle diseases and seek defective genes in patients with other neuromuscular diseases and explore how these mutated genes cause disease.
Associate professor Pfleger’s project will develop and use new and innovative technologies to improve many of the drugs taken for a wide range of medical conditions.
Earlier this month, UWA was awarded the lion’s share of $22.6 million in National Health and Medical Research Council grants won by the state’s tertiary medical research institutions.
UWA will receive $19.7 million for 40 projects for research to be carried out by its staff and affiliated institutes, such as the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and WAIMR.
Edith Cowan University attracted $1.1 million for three projects, Murdoch University was granted a little over $950,000 for three projects and Curtin University was awarded more than $500,000 for three projects.
