Image: Burnet Institute Head of Malaria Immunity and Vaccines Laboratory, Professor James Beeson

The Head of Burnet Institute’s Malaria Immunity and Vaccines Laboratory, Professor James Beeson, and drug and alcohol researcher Dr Amanda Roxburgh have been awarded lucrative NHMRC Investigator Grants.

Professor Beeson’s funding, valued at AUD$2,048,640, will support further research into the development of a malaria vaccine.

“Malaria continues to be a major global health problem, especially for young children, and a vaccine is urgently needed to achieve and sustain malaria elimination,” Professor Beeson said.

“This grant will fund our research on understanding how the immune system combats malaria and the development of a vaccine that effectively protects people from malaria.

“Many communities in our region, such as in Papua New Guinea, suffer a very high burden of malaria. A highly effective malaria vaccine could transform the health of those communities.”

Dr Roxburgh will receive AUD$639,750 for research aimed at reducing mortality among people who inject drugs, with a particular focus on advancing global knowledge of the drivers of fatal and non-fatal overdose within rapidly changing drug markets.

Dr Roxburgh is a Conjoint Research Fellow with the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, where she completed her PhD on trends in opioid overdose deaths in Australia.

Burnet Co-Head of Adolescent Health, Associate Professor Peter Azzopardi, and Econometrician Dr Nick Scott, are among the Chief Investigators for a new Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) – Driving Global Investment in Adolescent Health – to be administered by the University of Melbourne.

Established with NHMRC funding valued at AUD$2,492,380, the centre will address the major technical roadblocks to investment in neglected aspects of adolescent health globally, including mental and substance use disorders, injury and violence and non-communicable diseases.

It will provide a clearer understanding of health priorities for decision makers as well as identify what the most cost-efficient policy and programming investments will be.