2023 Research Award Recipients

The Peter Thompson Award for Grant Excellence: Professor Shirley Jansen

The award's namesake, Professor Peter Thompson was on hand to make the announcement of the highest ranked grant application for 2023. Professor Jansen will partner with Dr Elena de Juan Pardo, Head of Template lab at Harry Perkins, a global expert in bioprinting.

They will look at shape-shifting stents for cardiovascular disease using four-dimensional printing technology with Ebrahim Vahabli, their innovative PhD student. These stents, tailored for each individual, will help prevent rupture of aneurysms in the circulation which can be fatal, and avoid the need for additional treatments often required with current technology.

Bob Johnson and Jenny Llanos Clinical Research Fellowship : Dr Sanjay Ramakrishnan

Dr Sanjay Ramakrishnan was awarded the inaugural at our recent Research Awards Night! Sanjay joined us online from London to accept the fellowship, which will see him return to Perth and take up clinical research into respiratory healthcare, improving treatment options and giving patients more time to spend with their loved ones.

This fellowship was made possible thanks to Bob Johnson's bequest in memory of his partner, Jenny Llanos.

Transformational grants: Professor Martin Ebert and Professor Alan James

Professor Martin Ebert, Dr Saima Safdar and their team will look at images from patients with the serious brain cancer Glioblastoma and spot the differences between tumour growth and swelling caused by treatment. These images will allow the team to create a computer-based tool that can predict whether the tumour is actually growing.  It will make treatment decisions more accurate, help doctors understand patients' responses to treatment, and ultimately give patients a higher chance of recovery. This is a truly transformative research project!

Clinical Professor Alan James and his team will use a new imaging technique they have developed to measure the airway smooth muscle (ASM) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Patients with more ASM respond better to inhaler therapy but until now biopsy has been the only method available to measure a patient's ASM. This grant will allow Professor James' team to develop a safe, non-invasive and accurate means of measuring ASM in COPD patients, leading to more targeted therapies and better quality of life.

Ray Florence Shaw Grant Winners:

Professor Shirley Jansen
Shape-shifting stents for cardiovascular disease using four-dimensional printing technology.

Clin. Professor Michaela Lucas

Identifying cellular characteristics that influence heart transplant rejection.

Discovery Grants

Congratulations to our Discovery Grant recipients for 2023/24! We are very excited to see the impact on patient healthcare these 21 wonderful projects will have.

Professor Martin Ebert
Applied Artificial Intelligence for Prognosis and Automatic Segmentation in Oncology.

Dr Arosha Dissanayake

Patient specific computed saccular cerebral aneurysm wall tension at admission predicts pre-treatment re-bleeding for patients treated in an ultra-early manner: a retrospective matched case-control study.

Clinical Professor Bhajan Singh
Impact of obstructive sleep apnoea and poor sleep on the incidence of Calcific Aortic Stenosis.

Ms Jimena Garcia-Vega

Lateropulsion and verticality perception in a neurosurgical cohort of patients with brain tumours.

A/Prof Kathy Zhu

DXA visceral adipose tissue for predicting accelerated biological ageing in middle-aged Australians.

Mrs Joanne Beer

The TELEnutrition and Kidney Health Study. A randomised controlled trial comparing the effect of digital health to standard care on serum phosphate control in patients on dialysis.

Mrs Tamara Thornton

Stepping up: The future of step tests in adults with Cystic Fibrosis - investigating the impact of Trikafta® on exercise capacity using step tests.

Dr. Shifaza Mohamed

Zirconium-89 labelled antibodies for imaging PD-L1 dynamics in mesothelioma in response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Clinical Professor Alan L James
The efficacy of oscillometry to detect upper airway disorders.

Clinical Professor Michaela Lucas
Maintaining graft-derived immunity to control latent viral infections after kidney transplantation.

A/Professor Erin Godecke
Is a communication virtual reality program feasible in a subacute hospital setting?

Dr. Aron Chakera

Unravelling the Mystery of Mesothelial Cells: Investigating Fibrosis Following Infection.

Dr Matthew Anstey

Individualised cytokine analysis in critically ill patients with septic shock or pancreatitis.

Professor Scott G. Wilson

Whole genome sequencing to improve the diagnostic yield for patients with endocrine disorders of unresolved genetic aetiology.

Dr. Mounir Ibrahim

Development and Implementation of Polymer Gel Dosimeters for Dose Verification when using Complex Radiotherapy Techniques.

Clinical A/Professor Rajesh Thomas

Improving the diagnosis, staging, next generation sequencing (NGS) and comprehensive genomic profiling (CGS) in thoracic malignancy using novel EBUS bronchoscopy ‘biopsy’ technique.

Mr. Gavin Sturdy
Is Sedation a Part of Sleep?

Clinical A/Professor Michael Wallace
A pilot study of the utility of Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging in locoregional response prediction and survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

Dr Marli Smit

Myocardial protective effect of pre-operative melatonin following CABG surgery: A randomised controlled trial (METEOR trial)

Dr. Piyush Grover

Implementing a dedicated allergy service for oncology patients.

Clinical Professor John Walsh

DNA methylation as a marker of thyroid hormone action to predict quality of life and treatment response in hypothyroidism.