Dr Livia Carvalho, Head of Retinal Genomics and Therapy at Lions Eye Institute using the Nikon AX-R Confocal Microscope for translational research into blinding eye conditions.

PROGRAM MANAGER Lauren Monaghan

GRANTS 15

VALUE $1,800,000

The Foundation aims to advance understanding and improve the treatment of major diseases by supporting leading Australian research institutes, universities and teaching hospitals to undertake innovative biomedical research.

The Medical Research program focuses its support on the provision of equipment and capital infrastructure to support outstanding research groups. Over six decades, the Foundation has fostered lasting relationships with many medical research institutes that are now considered leaders in their field. One such group is the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) at The University of Melbourne which has led the way in the treatment of trachoma in Indigenous communities on the back of its world-class research program. To support CERA’s ongoing research effort, this year the organisation was awarded $100,000 to purchase a state-of-the-art optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) machine to enable imaging of retinal blood vessels in unprecedented detail for new biomarker discovery. This will do away with the need for intravenous injection of contrast for angiography – a time consuming and unpleasant process for study participants that carries a risk of life-threatening allergic reactions.

The Foundation is always keen to identify new partners in the medical research sector. Hence, this year saw Ear Science Institute Australia receive their first-ever grant from The Ian Potter Foundation. A further three institutions – Curtin University, Lions Eye Institute and Western Sydney University – were awarded their first-ever Medical Research grant from the Foundation.

The Foundation is also highly supportive of the acquisition of cutting-edge equipment to Australia as demonstrated by the grant to the Australian National University to bring MERSCOPE technology to Australia.

These grants all help elevate the medical research capacity in regional areas outside eastern seaboard of Australia.

FEATURE GRANTS

$150,000

This grant was awarded to purchase the MERSCOPE – the first of its kind in Australia. The MERSCOPE Spatial Transcriptomics system will provide ANU researchers with the ability to visualise spatial patterns of hundreds of gene expressions not currently possible in Australia. The system is a game-changing genomics tool for in situ analysis, providing a streamlined workflow from sample preparation through data visualisation for broad applications in both fundamental biology and medicine.

Bringing the first MERSCOPE system to Australia will launch new institutional, national, and potentially global collaborations with initial research focused on pervasive medical issues as diverse as cancer, blindness, and birth defects.

$100,000

This is the first Medical Research grant awarded to Lions Eye Institute (LEI) by the Foundation. The first of its kind in Western Australia, the Nikon AX-R confocal microscope with fast high-definition imaging, has an AI-based automated set-up and wide-field scanning capabilities. This equipment will provide a more accessible and affordable imaging suite, allowing LEI researchers and their collaborators to expand their capacity to discover scientific breakthroughs to prevent blindness.

$195,000

Established in 2007, Western Sydney University’s School of Medicine is a relatively new medical school where researchers work across all modes of research to address local challenges. Funding was awarded towards the purchase of a BD FACSymphony™ A3 Cell Analyser to characterise disease-specific changes in diverse populations of Western Sydney to build up precision medicine expertise critical to developing personalised responses to the expanding needs in metabolic disorders (e.g., type II diabetes), mental health (eating disorders) and oncology (improved targeting of immunotherapies).

The Foundation is pleased to assist the School in building a lab to support population health research, with a focus on chronic disease due to the disproportionate burden of chronic disease (cardiovascular disease, obesity) in the western suburbs of Sydney.