20 May 2020
F
our UniSA researchers have collectively been awarded $7.8 million to develop new health and medical technologies which could benefit millions of people around the world.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2021 Investigator Grants, announced today, will go towards research to prevent serious infections caused by medical devices, pioneering technology to diagnose and monitor life-threatening medical conditions, and new guidelines to protect the health of older Australians.
The successful researchers are:
- Professor Krasi Vasilev ($2.7 million) to help create the next generation of smart anti-bacterial nanotechnologies for a range of medical devices that can cause deadly infections inside the body and their diagnostics. These include catheters, fracture fixation devices, endoprostheses and heart valves.
- Professor Benjamin Thierry ($2.1 million) to develop sensing and wearable devices to better diagnose and monitor medical conditions, including preeclampsia, epilepsy, fetal arrhythmias and heart attacks.
- Dr Emily Reeve ($1.5 million) to investigate the use of multiple medications taken by older Australians and how inappropriate and potentially harmful medicines can be safely discontinued with new treatment guidelines.
- Associate Professor Maria Inacio ($1.3 million) to lead a team to develop a better monitoring system for the aged care sector, establish quality and safety indicators and mitigate the risks for older people in aged care facilities.
The projects are part of a $400 million investment by the Federal Government to fund 237 national projects in world leading health and medical research.
The three South Australian universities have shared in a funding pool of $24.1 million.
A full list of grant recipients is available on NHMRC’s website: www.nhmrc.gov.au
Media contact: Candy Gibson office +61 8 8302 0961 mobile: +61 434 605 142
email: candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au;
