Two tackle big issues
National health grants to fund Deakin researchers
TWO Deakin University researchers have been awarded fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council to further their work treating two of the world’s biggest health issues.
The NHMRC will provide more than $1 million in funding for Olivia Dean and Tania de Koning-Ward to lead projects in their respective research areas of depression and malaria.
Dr Dean’s grant will support work she is carrying out in Deakin’s Centre for Innovation in Mental, Physical and Clinical Treatment, investigating new, biologically based treatments for depression.
“There is evidence to suggest that people with major depressive disorder have increased levels of inflammation in their body,” she said.
“These new hypotheses, which include immune inflammatory theory, provide new avenues for exploring further biological treatments.”
Dr Dean recently conducted a world-first clinical trial that found a common, broad spectrum antibiotic used mostly to treat acne could improve the quality of life for people with major depression.
She is now leading another study that uses the tough outer skin of the tropical fruit mangosteen to treat depression symptoms.
“In the longer term, the information generated by this research could further the design and development of next-generation antidepressant agents, and explore mechanisms underpinning depression, ultimately working towards prevention,” Dr Dean said.
Professor de Koning-Ward has been researching malaria for almost 20 years and leads a team in Deakin’s Centre for Molecular and Medical Research looking at the plasmodium parasites that cause the infectious disease, with the goal of identifying new strategies for drug and vaccine development.
During her fellowship, she will investigate how malaria parasites alter the permeability of their host cells in order to access nutrients.
She also plans to analyse the infection from the host cells perspective to understand why some people are more susceptible than others.