Brainy research wins $2.3M funding

Research aimed at improving prevention and care of Parkinson’s and a range of other brain diseases have won Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland $2.3 million funding from the Neurological Foundation.

Innovative projects funded by the Neurological Foundation include a tear-drop test for Parkinson’s, an MRI for brain inflammation and a blood test for dementia among other innovations aimed at reducing the impact of brain diseases.

The University of Auckland projects won 26 grants, including a number of senior research fellowships and 14 travel grants.

University researchers are also benefiting from funding to an innovative University of Otago-led project aimed at using tear drops to spot Parkinson’s.

Diagnosing Parkinson’s disease: Are answers just a tear away?

Could your teardrops tell doctors whether you’re developing Parkinson’s disease? A multidisciplinary team of researchers across New Zealand will collaborate over the next two years in an effort to confirm whether the concept could work.

The Neurological Foundation has funded the $307,444 project, which is being led by a team from the Universities of Canterbury and Otago working alongside the University of Auckland's Professor Lynette Tippett and Dr Erin Cawston.

There’s been growing interest in looking at the eye and its tears to help understand medical conditions.

This research is the first to adapt the latest biochemical techniques to use tears to uncover some of the hidden secrets of Parkinson’s.

The Neurological Foundation’s Head of Research, Dr Sarah Schonberger, says the collaborative nature of this project was one of its strengths when being considered for funding.

Neuroinflammation
Associate Professor Miriam Scadeng, $295,267

Inflammation in the brain is common in injury and disease, and detecting it is important for early intervention. A team from Matai Medical Research Institute, the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Auckland, have developed a new, highly sensitive MRI technique that could be used in the clinic to detect early inflammation in the brain. The aim of this project is to validate their new technique so that it can be translated to the clinic.

Dementia
Dr Erin Cawston, $279,474

This study involves 250 participants from the Dementia Prevention Research Clinics and aims to determine if Alzheimer’s disease can be detected using a blood test. Currently, Alzheimer’s disease can only be definitively diagnosed by looking at the brain after death, or through expensive and invasive testing. A blood test would be cost-effective, allowing equitable access nationwide to testing for accurate diagnosis of people with cognitive symptoms.

Brain cancer  
Dr Dean Singleton, $271,922

A team at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre are investigating brain cancers where a mutation causes the affected brain cells to become cancerous. They have discovered how these cancer cells survive in the brain. This project aims to test existing drugs that are already in routine clinical use, as well as potential new treatments, that can block the ability of the cancer cells to survive in the brain and lead to new treatments for brain cancer.

Motor neuron disease
Dr Maize Cao, $15,000

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating movement disorder, in which motor neurons, the messengers between brain and muscle, die off. Currently, there are multiple theories on how the motor neurons die. This project will investigate what these theories have in common, and identify common features of ALS that could lead to new therapies.

Stroke
Dr Jui-Lin (Mickey) Fan, $14,940

Successful stroke treatment involves restoring blood flow to affected brain regions within hours, which is a significant challenge for New Zealanders living in isolated regions. This study will trial a new treatment to control brain blood flow in patients who are at high risk of stroke. Insights gained from this research could lead to a new stroke treatment that can be delivered inside the ambulance.

Senior Research Fellowships

Balance disorders 
Dr Rachael Taylor, $296,736

The cerebellum is the part of the brain essential for balance and coordination, including eye movements. It is also connected to the balance organs of the inner ear. This research aims to understand how genetic changes affect the way the cerebellum and balance organs work together to influence eye movements. This information could aid diagnosis of cerebellar disorders and provide a basis for developing and monitoring treatments.

Alzheimer’s disease 
Dr Sarah Borrie, $282,723

Immune cells called microglia are the brain’s cleaning crew. This cleaning-up process seems to go wrong in Alzheimer’s disease, leading to a build-up of amyloid in the brain. This project will study what goes wrong with the waste clearance system inside microglia cells during Alzheimer’s Disease, paving the way for future drug discovery research targeting these cells.

First Fellowships

Brain cancer
Dr Susan Li, $248,576

The current standard of care for brain tumours includes radiation therapy, but it can have unwanted effects on healthy brain tissue. Susan’s project at the Centre for Brain Research is looking for ways to protect healthy brain tissue while ensuring radiation therapy is still effective at killing cancer cells.

Senior Clinical Research Fellowship

Autoimmune disorders
Dr Benson Chen, $166,939

Optic neuritis is a condition where the immune system attacks the optic nerve connecting the eyeball and the brain, resulting in reduced vision. Using advanced eye imaging, this study aims to develop tools to diagnose and monitor optic neuritis that can be introduced into the clinic, to improve outcomes for patients with autoimmune neurological disorders.

Travel grants

The Neurological Foundation also awarded $65,413 in travel grants. For more details head to neurological.org.nz/research/funded-projects