Three researchers of health problems relating to preterm births and male infertility at the Univeristy of Newcastle have won nearly $5 million in grant funding for their respective fields and to advance our understanding of strategies to help prevent smoking, particularly among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Professor Zee Upton congratulated Associate Professor Michelle Kennedy and Doctors Jonathan Paul and David Skerrett-Byrne, who were collectively awarded $4.8 million in National Health and Medical Research Council grants last week.
"This funding recognises that our researchers are at the forefront of solving some of Australia's greatest health and medical challenges and is a testament to their exceptional expertise in their chosen fields," Prof. Upton said.
"The research that this funding will allow will help people in our communities live better, healthier lives, and I'm excited to see what breakthroughs they discover and the impact that will have them."
Professor Kennedy's research, which has won just shy of $1.6 million from the funding pool, aims to prevent smoking among First Nations people by incorporating Indigenous knowledge and voices into public health strategies.
The University said in a statement announcing the grant success on Friday, May 3, that while most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who smoke want to quit, they are less likely to be offered information about quitting or to receive culturally appropriate quitting support.
Meanwhile, Drs Paul and Skerrett-Byrne, who received almost $2.6 million and $674,400, respectively, focus their research on preventing preterm birth and male infertility.
"Thousands of babies could be saved each year by preventing spontaneous preterm birth. Current approaches are hampered by a lack of drug specificity," the University's statement said. "To address this, Dr Paul and his team first developed uterine-targeted nanocarriers for targeting interventions to the pregnant uterus.
"He will now seek to leverage this platform to achieve the targeted delivery of multiple advanced therapies possessing the capacity to (re)program uterine smooth muscle cells and silence premature contractions to prevent preterm birth."
Dr Skerrett-Byrne will address "knowledge gaps" in the "global health issue" of male infertility by identifying what regulates healthy fertilisation, considering the development of new male contraceptives and how exposures throughout a man's life might affect the health of the next generation.
The University said the research will be undertaken in collaboration with Hunter Medical Research Institute.
