Lotteries Commission grant of almost $150,000 for University of WA

8/10/98

The University of Western Australia has received a Lotteries Commission grant of almost $150,000 to provide vital equipment to assist research into the cause of diseases including cancer and Alzheimers disease.

Health Minister John Day announced the grant at a presentation to the project investigators Professor Peter Klinken and Associate Professor George Yeoh at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital today.

"The importance of this Lotteries Commission grant cannot be underestimated in its impact on medical research and benefit to the community of Western Australia," the Minister said.

"It will support funding for a high performance centrifuge to be used for investigation into the cause of cancer, anaemia, autism, Alzheimers disease, schizophrenia and malnourishment after surgery.

"It will also fund an imager that detects changes in cell behaviour which occurs in cancer cells."

Mr Day said the centrifuge was required for state-of-the-art molecular/cellular biology.

The project involves researchers from the Departments of Biochemistry, Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Western Australia.

The imager will be used to better understand the initial events that lead to cancer. This research focuses on genes that perform a regulatory role in the cells because it is reasonable to expect that they are responsible for the change in cell behaviour.

Media contact: Kaye Hopkins 9213 6600