$150k grants for research

University of Otago scientists Prof Greg Cook and Associate Prof John Reynolds have received $150,000 Explorer Grants, in Prof Cook's case to support research which aims to overcome antibiotic resistance, and in Prof Reynold's case to revolutionise treatment of Parkinson's.

Prof Cook, of the university's microbiology and immunology department, warmly welcomed the Health Research Council (HRC) grant, which was a ''nice surprise'' and would enable him to retain a key researcher in his research team.

The world faced growing problems with increasingly multi-drug-resistant micro-organisms and the grant would allow him to continue working on a novel way of attacking antibiotic-resistant bacteria and treating the diseases they caused, including tuberculosis.

In the latest HRC funding announcement, Otago University researchers received $550,000, of about $1.4 million made available nationally.

Associate Prof Bob Hancox, of the Otago preventive and social medicine department, gained a $149,956 feasibility studies award, to co-ordinate a randomised control trial to investigate if patients with chronic pulmonary obstructive disease could safely gain the health benefits of taking beta blockers.

And Prof Julian Crane, of Otago's Wellington campus, gained another feasibility studies award, of $98,614, to stage a randomised control trial involving the use of a seaweed extract as a protective agent against colds.

Otago researchers received two of the three Explorer Grants, the other going to Dr Siouxsie Wiles, of Auckland University.

Present antibiotics often target the bacterial cell wall, and protein and DNA synthesis, but Prof Cook's team has developed new antibiotics that focus on the part of all living cells that produce energy.

These new approaches would help doctors keep pace with the growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, researchers said.

There was an ''urgent need'' to develop novel antibiotics with a new mode of action to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Prof Cook said.

Prof Reynolds was ''overjoyed'' to gain the grant, which he would use to demonstrate the effectiveness of a new drug delivery system that he and his team had designed for restoring brain function in patients with neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's.

The system mimics normal neurochemical signalling in the brain. Researchers aim to reinstate the missing dopamine signal in Parkinson's by activating the release of dopamine-like drugs from biological carriers in targeted brain areas.

The funding would enable his team to employ a research assistant and a postdoctoral research fellow, boosting the size of the present eight-strong research team, Prof Reynolds said.

john.gibb@odt.co.nz