Fighting cancer and Alzheimer’s
The federal government has awarded $8 million to three La Trobe University scientists for leading edge research into next generation immunological and plant based therapies for cancer and other diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.
Research groups led by physicists Dr Brian Abbey and deputy vice-chancellor (Research) Professor Keith Nugent, and by Professor of Botany Jim Whelan, will play a key role in two new national Australian Research Council (ARC) Co-operative Centres of Excellence.
Dr Abbey and Professor Nugent’s work will be carried out in association with the $28 million ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging based at Monash University.
The Centre develops extremely high resolution imaging technologies to explore the immune system – to better understand how it functions and harness it for the fight against cancer and other diseases.
La Trobe’s globally recognised advances in X-ray imaging help achieve this and have already provided highly accurate 3D views of important structures inside biological cells. The university will spearhead Australia’s engagement with revolutionary new international X-ray laser facilities.
Professor Nugent said the government’s latest research support highlights La Trobe’s pre-eminence at the frontier of X-ray science.
“It helps us build on our connections with worldleading scientific resources such as the X-ray laser facilities at Stanford and in Europe as well as our leadership roles at the Australian Synchrotron,” he says.
Professor Jim Whelan, a specialist in plant energy metabolism, leads the La Trobe hub for the $26 million ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology located at the University of Western Australia.
He is part of an international scientific team that recently discovered a new substance in the common weed thale cress which has an important link to human brain chemistry involved in Alzheimer’s disease.
Professor Nugent says the new research funds recognise the University’s critical role in ”trying to answer the big questions in health, agricultural and environmental research under La Trobe’s new Future Ready Research Focus Areas”.
