Lifestyle and neurological disease research benefits from HRC funding

Groundbreaking new studies on Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are among The University of Auckland research programmes to be funded by The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).

Nearly $26 million HRC funding has been allocated to research across the University’s Faculty of Medical Health Sciences, including almost $10 million to two new longterm programmes investigating neurological and cardiovascular diseases.

Over 100,000 New Zealanders are currently living with neurodegenerative conditions. The rate of Alzheimer’s disease is increasing in New Zealand, and HRC-funded researchers contribute to the global effort to find more effective treatments to combat this, and other, devastating neurological disorders. Professor Michael Dragunow from The University of Auckland, will lead a five-year programme of research, costing $4.46M, to study the underlying causes and treatments for - Alzheimer's, epilepsy, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease.

His world-class team of neuroscientists and chemists has well-developed linkages with neurosurgeons, gerontologists, other clinical groups in the District Health Boards involved in clinical trials, and with NZ Biotech industries. Their goal is to translate lab-based research into therapies for patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. The group is supported by the multidisciplinary Centre for Brain Research at The University of Auckland, and its unparalleled Human Brain Bank - a unique resource of human brain tissue which has been used to advance knowledge on these serious diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the second leading cause of death in New Zealand, after cancer, yet they are readily preventable. Available treatments can half the likelihood of developing CVD in high-risk individuals, but our ability to identify these patients is poor. Another issue is the differing burden of CVD among population groups, which results from both under-treatment and over-treatment, and results in disparities in outcomes

Professor Rod Jackson from the School of Population Health and his research team have been awarded $4.93M to develop better tools to identify the high-risk patients that will benefit from treatment; quantify and map gaps and disparities in appropriate treatment; and model the impact of treatment disparities on the CVD burden in New Zealand.