Four University of Otago scientists and Singaporean colleagues have been awarded more than $2 million by the Health Research Council and a Singaporean funding body to undertake cancer research.
The jointly funded initiative, involving the Singaporean Agency for Science, Technology and Research, supports research that is expected to benefit both countries.
One research project involving principal investigators Prof Antony Braithwaite, of the Otago pathology department, and Prof Boon Huat Bay, of Singapore, focuses on studying a protein, Y-box binding protein 1 (YB-1), which often occurs at higher-than-normal levels in many human cancers.
Prof Braithwaite receives $223,794 for his part in the research, which aims to learn more about the molecular nature of a subtype of the protein found in the cell nucleus and to determine how it functions.
Researchers also hope to develop a test for this subtype as a prognostic indicator of human cancers.
Dr Julia Horsfield, also of the Otago department, receives $275,444, and will work with Dr Yijun Ruan, of Singapore, to undertake research into breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in women.
Associate Prof Parry Guilford, Otago biochemistry department ($296,649), and Prof Jean Paul Thiery, of Singapore, will research platinum-based drug therapy against ovarian cancer, described as "a devastating disease with dismal survival rates".
Otago pathology head Prof Ian Morison ($253,849) and Dr Sinnakaruppan Mathavan, of Singapore, will use a zebrafish model to better understand the mechanisms of liver cancer, with the aim of developing "molecular markers and therapeutics for the disease".
