Four Centenary researchers awarded NHMRC grants

Pictured: Dr Jacob Qi, Dr Renjing Liu and Professor Phil Hansbro.

The Centenary Institute would like to congratulate four of our researchers on securing funding under the Federal Government’s highly-competitive National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) scheme.

Professor Phil Hansbro, Head of Centenary’s Centre for Inflammation, has been awarded a four-year Project Grant. His team will use the funding to develop new therapies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – the third leading cause of death worldwide.

Dr Renjing Liu, Head of the Agnes Ginges Laboratory for Diseases of the Aorta in Centenary’s Vascular Biology Program, has been awarded two NHMRC project grants starting in 2019 to explore the role of epigenetics in cardiovascular diseases.

“Collaboration is key to successful research. The funding from NHMRC will allow me to continue my collaborations with leading researchers both nationally and abroad because improving human health is a global effort. It will also allow me to build a strong team to see that our work will contribute to increased understanding of biology and diseases, and add to making a difference in people’s lives,” says Dr Liu.

Dr Jacob Qi, also from Centenary’s Vascular Biology Program, has been awarded a three-year grant, which he will use to bolster his research into discovering the metabolic basis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression to liver disease.

Dr Gerard Chu from Centenary’s Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program, has been awarded a three-year Postgraduate Scholarship grant. Dr Chu’s research is focused on analysing the immune response and optimising the effectiveness of Mesothelin CAR T-Cell therapy in cancer.

Earlier this year, Centenary’s Professor Chris Semsarian, Associate Professor Jodie Ingles and Professor Warwick Britton were also awarded funding from the NHMRC. Read more about those grants here.