Media Release

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Wednesday, 15 April 2009

Seven young Adelaide researchers have been awarded PhD top-up scholarships to help them continue research into healthy development.

The seven Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA) Scholars will receive an extra $5000 a year for three years, mostly funded by the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation.

The Scholars will be undertaking their projects in the area of healthy development at the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia.

The Scholars and their projects are:

• Ms Lisa Akison, University of Adelaide: Factors essential for ovulation: strategies for understanding and preserving normal female fertility
  
• Mrs Georgie Chrichton, UniSA: Can low fat dairy foods improve your brain function and physical health
  
• Ms Dorota Zarnowiecki, UniSA: Defying the odds: the healthy child in an obesogenic environment
  
• Mrs Natasha Schranz, UniSA: I may be overweight but I'm strong: can weight training improve the confidence of overweight teenage boys
  
• Mr Long Nguyen, UniSA: Early nutrition for optimal bone health
  
• Mr Luca Prisciandaro, University of Adelaide: Identifying probiotics for better treatment in chemotherapy-induced bowel injury
  
• Ms Zhi Yi Ong, UniSA: Junk Food during pregnancy: effects on the mother and baby

HDA and the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation will officially welcome the Scholars for 2009 at a special celebration at 4.45pm on Thursday 16 April in the University of Adelaide Staff Club.

The Scholars will be 'enrolled' in the HDA Research Training Program with mentoring, career development opportunities, and research training placements for each of the Scholars.

HDA was established in 2004 as an initiative of the University of Adelaide. HDA fosters research in over 20 disciplines, working with state-wide partners to develop a portfolio for SA in developmental health research to ensure the physical, psychological and social health of Australian infants, children and adolescents. See www.adelaide.edu.au/hda

Founded in 1976, the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation has provided funding in the fields of medicine, education, dentistry, nursing, social science, mental health and allied health professions for the past three decades, and continues to award grants to researchers in these fields each year. See www.crf.org.au/