2020 Grants, Fellowships, Awards and Prizes Announcement

Overall, the Raine Foundation has distributed in excess of $2.4mill for research to commence in 2020. The Raine Annual Awards Ceremony was held on 28 November to celebrate our current recipients. Click here to view photo’s from the event.

The Research Committee acknowledges the excellent work being conducted in Western Australia and extends best wishes to all applicants for the ongoing success of their research. Congratulations go to the successful recipients.

Raine Priming Grants

The Raine Medical Research Foundation is pleased to announce that it has awarded six Priming Grants (from 35 eligible applications – 17.1% success rate) for early-career scientists who are progressing towards an independent research career.

Dr Lucy Furfaro: Raine/Robson Fellow
Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Western Australia
Project: Bacteriophage exposure in utero: Implications for health and disease
$246,407

Dr Emma de Jong: Raine/BrightSpark Fellow
UWA Centre for Child Health Research, Telethon Kids Institute
Project: Predicting asthma disease trajectories through systems-level analyses of immune memory
$215,000

Dr Rebecca Bennett: Raine/Cockell Fellow
Clinical Research, Ear Science Institute Australia
Project: Helping adults with hearing loss manage their mental health
$179,423

Dr Ryan Anderton
School of Health Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Sciences
Project: Investigating a novel class of peptide as a therapeutic for neurodegenerative disorders
$174,902

Dr Aveni Haynes
Child Health Research, Telethon Kids Institute
Project: Informing T1D prevention strategies by identifying early dysglycaemia in children at risk
$168,136

Dr Alexander Tang
School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia
Project: Harnessing neuroplasticity in the young and old brain with brain stimulation
$193,639

Clinician Research Fellowships

The WA Department of Health and the Raine Medical Research Foundation are pleased to announce that four Clinician Research Fellowships have been awarded (from 14 eligible applications – 28.6% success rate) to clinicians who wish to develop their research capability while continuing some clinical duties. One recipient subsequently declined the Fellowship.

Dr Mary Abraham
Paediatric Endocrinologist, Perth Children’s Hospital
Project: Hybrid closed-loop system in adolescents with sub-optimal glycaemic control
$344,264

Dr Emma Hamilton
Consultant Endocrinologist, Fiona Stanley Hospital
Project: Improving outcomes for patients with diabetes-related foot disease
$403,809

Dr Dayse Tavora-Vieira
Head of Department Audiology, Fiona Stanley Hospital
Project: The use of electrophysiology to optimize hearing implants in hearing-impaired recipients
$198,134

Raine Visiting Professor Awards

The 2020 Raine Visiting Professor Awards for visits of distinguished scientists to Western Australia have been awarded to six recipients (from 7 eligible applications – 85.7% success rate):

Professor Wickliffe Abraham
University of Otago, New Zealand
Date of Visit: July/August 2020
Nominating Host: Dr Alexander Tang, Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, University of Western Australia
$2,555.50

Professor David Armstrong
Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, USA
Date of Visit: December 2019
Nominating Host: Mr Olufemi Oshin, Medical School, Curtin University
$6,500

Professor Ornit Chiba-Faleck
Department of Neurology, Duke University, USA
Date of Visit: June/July 2020
Nominating Host: Professor Patrick Akkari, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics, Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science
$5,000

Professor Chris Hammond
King’s College London, UK
Date of Visit: October 2020
Nominating Host: Professor David Mackey, Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences / Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia
$5,400

Professor Michael Riddell
York University, Canada
Date of Visit: March 2020
Nominating Host: Professor Elizabeth Davis, Children’s Diabetes Centre, Telethon Kids Institute
$11,400

Professor Erwei Song
Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
Date of Visit: August 2020
Nominating Host: Professor Ruth Ganss, UWA Centre for Medical Research, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research
$7,416.30

Research Collaboration Awards

There were 12 eligible applications for the 2020 Research Collaboration Awards, of which seven were successful (58.3% success rate).

Healy Research Collaboration Awards

The 2020 Healy Research Collaboration Awards for early-career medical research have been awarded to two recipients:

Dr Nicola Bondonno
School of Health and Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University
Collaborating Institutions: The University of Western Australia, Gentofte Hospital (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Project: Investigating the relationship between dietary components and cardiometabolic disease
$29,722.51

Dr Tina Lavin
School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia
Collaborating Institutions: University of Botswana, University of Pretoria (South Africa), Burnet Institute (Melbourne)
Project: Prevention of maternal morbidity and deaths due to obstetric emergencies in Gaborone, Botswana
$26,965

Cockell Research Collaboration Awards

The 2020 Cockell Research Collaboration Awards for mental illness research have been awarded to three recipients:

Dr Olivier Clement
Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, University of Western Australia
Collaborating Institutions: Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research
Project: Unravelling the (epi)genomic regulatory mechanisms governing memory to understand cognitive decline in aging
$19,590

Dr Laura Dondzilo
School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia
Collaborating Institution: University of Munster (Germany)
Project: Efficacy of a novel self-appraisal induction in Body Dysmorphic Disorder
$18,520

Dr Julie Ji
School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia
Collaborating Institution: Uppsala University (Sweden)
Project: Investigating “flashforward” mental imagery of self-injury as a proximal risk barometer and modifiable treatment target
$16,456

BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award

The 2020 BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award for child health research has been awarded to:

Dr Amy Finlay-Jones
Mental Health and Youth Telethon Kids Institute/CCHR, University of Western Australia
Collaborating Institution: Brain and Body Lab (BABLab), University of California (Los Angeles, USA)
Project: Beyond brain and behaviour: Understanding the role of the gut microbiome in infant and child mental health
$29,433.42

Charter Hall Research Collaboration Award

The 2020 Charter Hall Research Collaboration Award for child health research has been awarded to:

Dr Gizachew Tessema
Public Health, Curtin University
Collaborating Institution: Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Project: Adverse birth outcomes and interpregnancy interval in Australia and Norway: A new international collaboration on the influence of pregnancy loss
$29,612

Publication Prizes

There were 8 eligible applications for the 2020 Publications Prizes, with two Prizes awarded (25% success rate).

Raine Research Prize

The 2020 Raine Research Prize for the best published research by an early-career medical researcher was awarded to:

Dr Rachael Zemek
Cancer Centre, Telethon Kids Institute
Publication: Sensitization to immune checkpoint blockade through activation of a STAT1/NK axis in the tumor microenvironmentScience Translational Medicine. 2019 July 17;11:eaav7816.
$5,000

Strachan Memorial Prize

The 2020 Strachan Memorial Prize for the best published research by an early-career clinical researcher was awarded to:

Dr Aveni Haynes
Children’s Diabetes Centre, Telethon Kids Institute
Publication: Decreasing trends in mean HbA1c are not associated with increasing rates of severe hypoglycemia in children: A longitudinal analysis of two contemporary population-based pediatric type 1 diabetes registries from Australia and Germany/Austria between 1995 and 2016. Diabetes Care. 2019 June 18;42(9):1630-1636.
$5,000

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