QIMR scientists receive NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships

Two researchers at QIMR have secured over $126,000 in postgraduate scholarships from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in the latest round of program grants, development grants and postgraduate scholarships announcements.

Mitchell Stark from the Institute’s Oncogenomics group and Alice Butterworth from the Malaria Biology group were both successful in gaining the NHMRC’s support for their research into melanoma and malaria respectively.

“At QIMR we are very proud of our students and we could not continue our work into researching some of the world’s deadliest diseases without their commitment and dedication,” said QIMR Director and CEO Professor Frank Gannon.

“One of the NHMRC’s objectives is to support the best and most relevant research, so it is a testament to the exceptional standard and importance of the work Mitchell and Alice are doing.”

Mitchell Stark was successful in obtaining a Postgraduate Scholarship for his work in the early detection of melanoma metastases by using microRNA as novel biomarkers.

Mitchell’s work has the potential to provide new prognostic markers for melanoma as well as to identify new gene targets for the treatment of this disease.

Alice Butterworth also acquired an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship for her research into a specific stage of the malaria parasite’s development.

Malaria causes almost one million deaths worldwide each year and Alice’s work will look at the biology of the malaria parasite with the view to identify new drug targets to block malaria transmission.

Professor Gannon said that Alice and Mitchell’s scholarships, worth over $126,000 in total, are a wonderful boost in supporting the young scientists.

“The NHMRC investment in postgraduate students is so important,” Professor Gannon said.

“Our students are the future of medical research and will be the people responsible for tackling some of our nation’s and the world’s biggest health issues.”