Adelaide researchers win training fellowships

The University of Adelaide has won four of this year's NHMRC Training (Postdoctoral) Fellowships, including two overseas-based fellowships.

Dr Jason Armfield, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher with the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, will spend two years at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, before returning to Adelaide for the final two years of his fellowship.

He will investigate the role of psychological factors in the causes, prevention and treatment of high dental fear.

"Despite dental fear being one of the most common fears experienced by Australians, the etiology of this serious condition is still not well understood, and both preventions and treatments for dental fear are not widely or effectively implemented," Dr Armfield said.

His scholarship will give him first-hand experience at one of only a handful of dental fear research clinics in the world.

Dr Sarah Linke will continue her research at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden on an oxygen-sensing enzyme found in all body cells.

"This research is important for any diseases involving oxygen-deficiency, such as stroke, heart disease and cancer," said Dr Linke.

"This enzyme detects oxygen deficiency and conveys the message throughout the cell, leading to molecular responses that help cells and tissue to copy and survive."

Dr Linke completed her PhD last year in Dr Daniel Peet's laboratory.

"The generous NHMRC fellowship will support me in furthering this research at the Karolinska Institutet. The facilities and techniques available will enable me to study the functions of this oxygen-sensing enzyme in stem cells and tumour models."

Two other training fellowships have been awarded to Dr Michael Stark and Mr Steve Paltoglou.

Dr Stark will be based in the School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health and the Women's and Children's Hospital with additional responsibilities at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. He will investigate the influence of duration of pregnancy, gender and exposure to antenatal steroids on placental and newborn blood flow in premature births.

Mr Paltoglou will be based in the Adelaide Proteomics Centre and will work on novel modifications to a protein which plays a role in tumour suppression and blood vessel growth.

Two University of Adelaide PhD students were also awarded NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships. Dr Rishi Puri is investigating the relationship between plaque build-up and relaxation properties in the coronary arteries. Ms Lisa Akison won the Dora Lush Biomedical Postgraduate Scholarship for her project, on molecular mechanisms regulating ovulation.

Story by Robyn Mills