Annual Grants

Annual Grants awarded in 2025

We are delighted to announce that six exciting projects have been funded in full for this year's Otago Medical Research Foundation Annual Grants round. These one-year projects total over $206,000 and we are truly grateful to the organisations who have generously donated funds to support these projects.

We had an incredibly high quality number of applications. The Foundation can only fund as many projects as we have funding available, so the Foundation is is extremely grateful to the community for their support.

 

Aotea Group Holdings Limited and H Robert Wilson (Funders) 

Potentially avoidable hospitalisations among autistic young people in Aotearoa New Zealand

Principal investigator: Dr Emma Heydon, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Otago

Co-investigators: Dr Nick Bowden, Mrs Joanne Dacombe, Professor Barry Taylor, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Otago

Autistic children and young people often find interactions with healthcare more challenging than others their age. Our previous research has shown that many hospital stays for these young people could be avoided. This study will use nationwide hospital data in New Zealand to explore the specific types of potentially preventable hospitalisations Autistic children and young people are admitted for, and which sub-groups are most affected (e.g. by age, sex, and co-occurring intellectual disability). Understanding who is affected is the first step towards identifying how health services could be improved to reduce preventable hospital admissions, and the stress incurred if admission is needed, for Autistic young people and their families.

 

Aotearoa Gaming Trust (Funder) 

A novel pathway protecting bone during lactation

Principal investigator: Dr Siew Hoong (Joe) Yip, Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago

Co-investigators: Prof David Grattan, Luis Wei Cheng Lim (PhD student), Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago

During breastfeeding, mothers lose a lot of calcium to produce milk, which can weaken their bones. A recent study discovered that kisspeptin cells, usually involved in controlling fertility, help protect bone health during this time. These cells start making a protein called CCN3, which helps strengthen bones. We hypothesize that the maternal hormone called prolactin might trigger this change. We will investigate this by using a mouse model that doesn’t have prolactin signals in these kisspeptin cells. This research could help us better understand how the body protects bones during breastfeeding and may lead to new treatments for osteoporosis.

 

Estate of Frances Kenney Miles (Funder) 

Characterising and identifying ways to target cancers with H179 TP53 mutations

Principal investigator: Dr Sunali Mehta, Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago

Co-investigators: Dr Debina Sarkar and Dr Aaron Jeffs, Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago

Cancer is a major global and New Zealand-wide cause of death, with TP53 mutations (a genetic alteration) affecting over 50% of cancers. Patients with TP53 mutations have lower survival rates. However, cancers are not assessed for TP53 mutations during diagnosis and treatment due to the lack of knowledge about their impact on treatment response. This study aims to use innovative tools to determine the effect of an uncharacterised TP53 mutations (H179R/Y) and identify the best treatment strategy for these patients. In the future, outcomes from this study may help doctors effectively treat cancers with H179 TP53 mutations.

 

H Robert Wilson (Funder) 

Testing a novel therapy for frontotemporal dementia

Principal investigator: Dr Owen Jones, Department of Psychology, University of Otago

Co-investigators: Prof Wickliffe Abraham, Department of Psychology, University of Otago

Frontotemporal dementia is a neurodegenerative condition that has no cure or treatment. Accordingly, we need new therapies targeting the earliest stages of the disease that drive later, catastrophic brain damage. We have new evidence that certain calcium channels in nerve cells are overly active very early in the disease. This could be key, as too much calcium is toxic to cells. Fortunately, several drugs that block calcium channels are already available for treating other conditions. This project will test the ability of one such drug to protect against brain cell loss and restore healthy function in a frontotemporal dementia model.

 

Otago Community Trust (Funder) 

Parallel lives: Uncovering shared immune pathways in placentation and cancer

Principal investigator: Dr Erin Macaulay, Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago

Co-investigators: Dr Silke Neumann, Assoc Prof Sharon Pattison, Jackie Ludgate, Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago

The placenta is a temporary organ that supports pregnancy by growing into the uterus and avoiding rejection by the mother’s immune system. Interestingly, tumours use similar strategies to grow and spread, but in an uncontrolled and harmful way. This project studies how the placenta controls immune responses, using stem cells that can develop into key placental cell types. By comparing these cells to cancer cells, we aim to understand how both tissues avoid immune attack. Our findings could reveal new ways to help the immune system fight cancer, by learning from the placenta’s natural, tightly regulated defences.

 

Otago Community Trust (Funder) 

Immune complexity in older people

Principal investigator: Prof Roslyn Kemp, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago

Co-investigator: Dr Kirsten Ward-Hartstonge, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago

As we age, our immune system loses some of its function. This loss of function is compounded in those with poor nutrition. Using new technologies, our lab will study the immune response from the blood of elderly healthy people and compare their responses to those of young healthy people. We will also associate any changes in the immune response with nutritional biomarkers of health from the blood of the same patients. Finally, we will compare the response of healthy aged people with that of colorectal cancer patients, who are not often compared to an appropriately age-matched control population.

 

Previous Annual Grant funding rounds