Over 50 research grants totaling $24 million in U.S. dollars have been awarded to Singapore universities, research institutes and hospitals to fund studies related to asthma and other immune system disorders, infectious diseases, aging and cancer.
The extramural grants were awarded by the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) of A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), the government agency driving Singapore's transformation into an international powerhouse in the biomedical and physical sciences.
In addition to extramural research grants, A*STAR sponsors the research institutes at Singapore's Biopolis and Fusionopolis.
The common dust mite, Blomia tropicalis, which can have an immense impact on quality of life and even be life threatening when it causes allergies in patients with chronic diseases such as cancer, is the focus of three grants awarded to Chua Kaw Yan, Ph.D., of the National University of Singapore's Department of Pediatrics.
One of Dr. Chua's studies will examine the mechanisms of an oral vaccine against the predominant allergen, the "Blo t 5" protein, in B. tropicalis, which is responsible for 60-70% of allergy cases in Singapore, including asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema.
Optimizing the potency of a genetic vaccine against the dust mite will be the focus of her second grant, while the third project will be directed at creating a modified or "recombinant" protein to foster immunity against Blo t 5.
"Immunotherapy remains the only truly disease-modifying treatment for asthma and allergic rhinitis," said Dr. Chua. "Traditional forms of immunotherapy use natural sources of allergens and have numerous disadvantages, such as the presence of undefined material, huge variability in sample composition, and contamination of allergens from other sources.
"We therefore hope to use the major allergen, Blo t 5, to develop a novel and effective therapeutic vaccine for immunotherapy," she added.
Grants also were awarded to support research using genomics, proteomics and bioimaging to investigate the mechanisms of infection in tuberculosis and malaria, which cause deaths as well as serious illness despite widespread efforts to prevent their transmission.
In their studies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), which infects an estimated two billion people worldwide, National Cancer Centre of Singapore (NCCS) scientists will sift through a bank of DNA samples extracted from drug-resistant MTB strains to identify novel mutated genes conferring resistance to Isoniazid, the main drug now used to treat tuberculosis.
In Singapore, the incidence rate of tuberculosis has increased for the first time in 10 years, leading to concerns over increased transmission of the MTB bacteria.
Ann Lee, Ph.D., who heads the NCCS research team that will investigate MTB, said: "The identification of additional genes associated with Isoniazid resistance is important for the development of comprehensive molecular strategies that are potentially more efficient than current susceptibility testing methods, and could aid in giving more appropriate treatment to patients and decrease the spread of resistant strains. In addition, the discovery of new genes may reveal novel targets suitable for the development of alternative therapeutic options."
At Nanyang Technological University (NTU), a research team led by Peter Preiser, Ph.D., was awarded a grant to conduct basic research on the pathology of malaria, which infects as many as 600 million people worldwide and kills over 1 million yearly.
"A key challenge to successful malaria intervention is our limited understanding of how the malarial parasite evades detection by the spleen – our immune system's control centre," said Dr. Preiser. "With this grant, we will use new imaging tools to visualise and measure how many parasites are eliminated in the spleen.
"This work will give us a better understanding on which factors, both from the host as well as the parasite, contribute to the efficiency of parasite removal and could lead to new intervention strategies against the parasite," he added.
A*STAR also will fund research projects on such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. At NUS, Gavin Dawe, Ph.D., and his colleagues will explore the signaling mechanisms behind Alzheimer's disease, building on the group's discovery of an important protein interaction that suppresses neural cell formation in the brains of mice, and that might be relevant to Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia among older people.
"In this project, we will investigate whether this protein interaction also occurs in human stem cells and in the adult mouse brain, as well as how it influences stem cell function," said Dr. Dawe. "Our findings will increase our understanding of what these proteins do in the brain and in the long term, this knowledge may contribute to the development of treatments for Alzheimer's disease."
Among the recipients of grants to support cancer research is Shazib Pervaiz, Ph.D., of NUS for his team's examination of how statins – cholesterol-lowering drugs – may restrict growth and induce death of cancer cells.
"Current breast cancer therapies include surgery, anti-cancer drugs and radiation, which are invasive or run the risk of relapse," said Dr. Pervaiz. "Our team aims to characterise the interactions of statins with other proteins known to promote cell death and survival, and subsequently explore the potential for statins to fill the gap in novel strategies for more effective and less invasive treatment of breast and other forms of cancer."
BMRC Chairman Sir George Radda, Ph.D., said, "The grant calls underscore A*STAR's commitment to foster excellent scientific research and talent in Singapore. The wide range of research areas covered under the grant calls is indicative of the spectrum of biomedical capabilities we have built up in Singapore over the years, as well as the high quality of our researchers. I look forward to the exciting and innovative discoveries that will result from the research the scientists are able to carry out with the funding from A*STAR."
AGENCY FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH
For more information:
Adela Foo
Senior Officer, Corporate Communications
AGENCY FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH (A*STAR)
DID: (+65) 6826 6218 | Fax: (+65) 6478 9593
Email: adela_foo@a-star.edu.sg
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Biomedical Research Council (BMRC):
A*STAR is Singapore's lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based Singapore. A*STAR actively nurtures public sector research and development in Biomedical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, with a particular focus on fields essential to Singapore's manufacturing industry and new growth industries. It oversees 22 research institutes, consortia and centres, and supports extramural research with the universities, hospital research centres and other local and international partners. At the heart of this knowledge intensive work is human capital. Top local and international scientific talent drive knowledge creation at A*STAR research institutes. The agency also sends scholars for undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral training in the best universities, a reflection of the high priority A*STAR places on nurturing the next generation of scientific talent.
The Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) oversees the development of core research capabilities within A*STAR research units specialising in bioprocessing; chemical synthesis; genomics and proteomics; molecular and cell biology; bioengineering and nanotechnology and computational biology. Through competitive grants, the council also supports research in the wider scientific community such as public universities and hospitals. As part of its efforts to advance human healthcare, BMRC actively promotes translational medicine and cross disciplinary research. The council also engages in human capital development in the biomedical sciences and promotes societal awareness of biomedical research through outreach programmes.
The consortia under A*STAR's BMRC include: Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Singapore Immunology Network, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences and Singapore Stem Cell Consortium.
For more information about A*STAR, please visit www.a-star.edu.sg.
BMRC General Grant Call:
Since its inaugural general grant call in 2001, BMRC has awarded a total of 389 grants amounting to $190.8 million in U.S. dollars to Singapore research institutes and hospitals.
The 8th BMRC General Grant Call is expected to open for applications in May of this year.
The annual grant call provides competitive grant support and research resources, in the area of biomedical sciences research, to investigators in the publicly funded institutions such as universities, hospitals and specialty centres in Singapore. Research areas that have been funded include cell biology, neuroscience, biochemistry, animal models and infectious diseases. The grants provide positions ranging from laboratory technicians to research assistants and research fellows for 1 to 3 years in various Singapore research institutions.
The 7th General Grant Call awarded 38 out of 140 reviewed proposals. Amounts awarded for each grant ranged from almost $100,000 to about $1 million.
Details of past grant calls under BMRC can be found at http://www.astar.edu.sg/biomedical_sciences/179-Past-Calls.