The four-year fellowship from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) was one of a series of career development awards announced by the HRC yesterday.
The overall funding outcome in the latest awards further reinforced Otago's prominent role in New Zealand health research.
Otago University researchers gained a total of $1,341,643, about 47% of the $2,840,616 overall total, with Auckland University researchers gaining about $992,000.
Dr Young's project involves the use of virus-like particles (VLP), and aims to develop cancer vaccines based on the use of harmless virus shells as vehicles to deliver immunising tumour proteins.
Dr Young is a Senior Research Fellow in the Otago microbiology and immunology department.
Dr Siouxsie Wiles, of the University of Auckland, also received a Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship, also amounting to $500,000, for pioneering techniques that improve the welfare of laboratory animals.
Her work involves creating new models for vaccine and treatment development for illnesses that are difficult to treat in humans, while reducing the number of animals used in experiments.
Other awards received by Otago University researchers were:
ACC Career Development Award, Dr Carrie Innes, Avoiding accidents due to lapses and errors in sleep-deprived people, $137,512;
Disability Research Placement Award, Elaine Tyrrell, Nursing contribution in elderly rehabilitation: patient and family perspectives, $22,000;
Clinical Research Training Fellowship Award, Dr Sally Eyers, Effect of regular paracetamol on asthma control in mild to moderate asthma, $255,930;
Dr Katarzyna Mackenzie, Why are skin cancers more aggressive in renal transplant patients?, $170,271;
Dr Jonathan Foo, Studies in the resolution of diabetes by gastric bypass surgery, $255,930.
The Sir Charles Hercus fellowship is an advanced postdoctoral award to enable outstanding emerging researchers to establish or re-establish their career in New Zealand.
The award is named after Sir Charles Hercus (1888-1971), partly in recognition of his contributions to biomedical, clinical and public health research during a distinguished 36-year career at Otago University.
