Gout researcher's work to benefit from $94,000 grant

Genetic research which could help pave the way for new therapies for gout, a severely disabling condition, is among a series of University of Otago projects boosted by $1.71 million in Lottery Grants Board funding.

Otago University scientists have gained more than half of the $3.36 million distributed nationally in the latest Lottery Health Research funding round, to pursue health research to benefit New Zealanders.

Twenty-eight researchers from the university's three main campuses in Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington have received grants for research projects or shared research equipment.

Otago projects range from probing the genetics underlying gout, a severely disabling form of arthritis, to trialling a new psychotherapy for people with borderline personality disorder and studying the impact of social policy changes on the health of New Zealanders.

Other research topics include investigating new drugs for tuberculosis, and maternal obesity's effects on fetal brain-wiring mechanisms.

Dr Cushla McKinney, an Otago biochemistry researcher, has gained the biggest project grant, $94,000, to pursue the identification of genes contributing to progression from hyperuricaemia, a condition involving abnormally high levels of uric acid in the blood, to gout.

"I'm really excited to be able to follow up on this project," Dr McKinney said.

Because of limited funding, she had previously taken a break from full-time biochemistry research. The funding meant she could pursue further research for the next two years as part of a research group led by Associate Prof Tony Merriman. Further funding support was provided by Arthritis New Zealand.

•Other Lottery Health Research funding recipients at the Dunedin campus were: Project grants: Dr Katherine Black, $14,000, human nutrition; Associate Prof Vernon Ward, $90,000, Prof Greg Cook, $81,000, Dr Keith Ireton, $54,000, all microbiology and immunology; Prof David Grattan, $40,500, Dr Christine Jasoni, $49,500, both anatomy and structural biology; Associate Prof Parry Guilford, $41,000, biochemistry; Dr Peter Jones, $42,500, physiology; Dr Sandra Mandic, $13,500, physical education; Associate Prof Anita Nolan, $34,000, oral diagnostics and surgical sciences; Dr Kathie Overeem, $83,000, psychology.

Shared equipment grants: Dr Allan Carman, $30,631, physiotherapy; Dr Andrew Clarkson, $100,000, anatomy; Dr Kirsty Fairbairn, $62,104, human nutrition; Dr Alex McLellan, $100,000, microbiology; Prof Ian Morison, $48,860, Dr Adele Woolley, $100,000, both pathology.