$10 million for IMB research into superbug drugs, sexual development and brain tumours

Professor Matt Cooper

2nd November 2009

Researchers from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience have won nearly $11 million in grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for 19 projects ranging from developing drugs targeting superbugs to studying disorders of sexual development and examining brain tumours.

Professor Matthew Cooper was awarded $733,875 to chemically modify a drug, vancomycin, which is used against a strain of golden staph known as MRSA. This strain is resistant to most antibiotic treatments, and is becoming resistant to vancomycin. Professor Cooper and his team will add novel tags to the drug, which will cause it to attack on multiple fronts and overcome bacterial resistance.

"Bacterial infection is a leading cause of death worldwide and the emergence of 'superbugs' that are resistant to multiple treatments is becoming a global concern," Professor Cooper said. "MRSA continues to be a crucial problem in most large Australian hospitals and community-associated MRSA has also become a major health issue in many regions of the country."

Dr Dagmar Wilhelm will investigate sex determination, the body’s decision to develop into either a male or a female. Disorders of sex development, which occur when this process is disrupted, can result in genital abnormalities, infertility and even cancer.

“These disorders are more common than often thought, with around one percent of people having bodies that differ from ‘standard’ male or female forms,” Dr Wilhelm said. “ The cause of these problems in most cases is the disturbance of the delicate network of gene regulation that is responsible for proper testis and ovary development in an embryo.”

Dr Wilhelm has identified new regulators of gene expression that she believes play an important role in sex determination and the differentiation of the testis and ovary, and will use her half-million dollar grant to study them and provide a basis for potential future treatments.

Professor Brandon Wainwright will build on previous research from his laboratory that identified the origins of medulloblastomas, a common and malignant type of brain tumour.

He has been awarded nearly $600,000 to examine the relationship between the two genetic pathways responsible for medulloblastoma, which are possible targets for drugs.

“Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer-related death and disability in children,” Professor Wainwright said. “Understanding the basic developmental processes that govern brain development is important to dissect how medulloblastomas arise, and what strategies can be used to combat their growth.”

IMB's other grants are:

• Professor David Craik and Dr Richard Clark - $508,125 to develop new drugs for chronic pain using small proteins from cone snail venom,


• Professor Melissa Little - $613,500 to reprogram mature kidney cells to return to a more primitive state of development able to potentially form new nephrons,


• Associate Professor Carol Wicking - $562,500 to study the role of the primary cilium, a structure found in every mammalian cell, in disease,


• Professor Jenny Stow - $523,500 to identify cellular targets to boost immunity and treat inherited diseases with defective immune cell function, and $538,500 to characterise a cellular pathway that is a possible target for arthritis and Crohn’s disease treatments,


• Dr Kate Stacey - $571,500 to study the cell’s anti-viral responses and how these might contribute to lupus,


• Dr David Pennisi - $625,500 to investigate the function of a gene important for heart and coronary vessel development,


• Dr Aaron Smith - $535,500 to study the role of NR4A genes in the skin’s ability to protect itself against UV damage and the development of melanoma,


• Dr Ben Hogan - $484,000 to discover more about a gene that triggers the formation of lymphatic vessels, through which cancer spreads,


• Associate Professor Alpha Yap - $583,500 to address how the protein e-cadherin works with a cellular motor, Myosin VI, to maintain the integrity of epithelial tissues,


• Dr Matt Sweet - $565,500 to investigate the role of certain genes in protecting us against infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and gastroenteritis,


• Professor Rob Parton - $588,500 to study how a protein associated with aggressive forms of prostate cancer is secreted,


• Professor George Muscat - $459,125 to understand the role of a protein that regulates hormonal control of oxidative metabolism in skeletal muscle,


• Professor Rob Capon - $533,997 to develop a new class of pain drug from natural molecules found in Australian marine organisms,


• Associate Professor Andrew Perkins - $588,500 for a new paradigm for animal development based not RNA not protein,


• Professor David Fairlie - $560,500 to investigate promising findings for a drug that reduces effects (diabetes, cardiovascular, fat deposition) of diet-induced obesity in rats.

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