Search Marsden awards 2008–2017
Search awarded Marsden Fund grants 2008–2017
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2008
Title: MDMA abuse and brain behaviour
Recipient(s): Prof S Schenk | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Public Summary: 3,4-methylenedioxmethamphetamine (MDMA) consumption has been gradually increasing over the past decade. A concern of health professionals and those who regularly consume MDMA is that even a low level of exposure to MDMA produces deficits in brain chemistry and behaviour. These deficits are persistent and recovery is generally observed months or years following cessation of drug-taking. Studies of MDMA abuse therefore provide an opportunity to study plasticity in brain systems. We propose to produce serotonin deficits via MDMA self-administration in rats and then to restore normal serotonin functioning by treating the rats with novel compounds that target serotonin regulatory systems.
Total Awarded: $813,333
Duration: 3
Host: Victoria University of Wellington
Contact Person: Prof S Schenk
Panel: EHB
Project ID: 08-VUW-146
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2008
Title: Measuring 150 years of health and wellbeing in New Zealand
Recipient(s): Prof L Oxley | PI | University of Canterbury
Prof K Inwood | AI | University of Guelph
Dr E Roberts | AI | Victoria University of Wellington
Public Summary: We will analyse new data on the height and weight of New Zealanders from 1850 to 2008 where the data serve as indicators of standard of living and wellbeing when combined with more traditional social and economic indicators. Our analysis will be primarily anthropometric and used to analyse long-term changes in wellbeing in NZ compared to international standards, and to contrast ethnic differentials over 120 years. This will provide more specific indicators of when and how colonisation affected Maori health; show how economic changes such as urbanisation affected wellbeing and provide evidence on the relationship between, economy, society, environment and wellbeing.
Total Awarded: $324,444
Duration: 3
Host: University of Canterbury
Contact Person: Prof L Oxley
Panel: SOC
Project ID: 08-UOC-028
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2016
Title: Measuring in vivo activity in the prefrontal cortex and its link to Autism Spectrum Disorders
Recipient(s): Dr JE Cheyne | PI | Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience
Associate Professor JM Montgomery | AI | The University of Auckland
Public Summary: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are developmental disorders defined by learning difficulties, social deficits, sensory changes and stereotyped behaviours. In the brain, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a major role in these higher level functions, and we hypothesise that the neuronal wiring in the PFC develops incorrectly in ASD. We will utilise state-of-the-art in vivo cellular recording techniques to measure how network activity is altered during development of the PFC in ASD mice. In addition, we will determine how this affects sensory processing later in life by recording sensory-evoked activity in awake mice. As spontaneous and sensory-driven activity both play key roles in developing neuronal connectivity, we will also examine whether altering sensory experience, by depriving mice of sensory input, affects network function similarly in wildtype and ASD mice. By directly linking sensory stimulation with recordings of neuronal activity, this work will determine how observed activity changes in vivo could underpin ASD-related impairments in high-level sensory processing and behaviour that are mediated by the PFC.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: The University of Auckland
Contact Person: Dr JE Cheyne
Panel: BMS
Project ID: 16-UOA-182
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2012
Title: Mechanism of hormone entry across the blood-brain-barrier
Recipient(s): Prof DR Grattan | PI | University of Otago
Public Summary: Several hormones produced in the body are transported across the “blood-brain-barrier” to exert important regulatory functions in the brain, but the mechanisms of transport are not well understood. Using the pituitary hormone, prolactin, as a model, this proposal describes an innovative transgenic strategy to test the hypothesis that prolactin receptors in the choroid plexus are critical for transporting prolactin into the brain. The study will provide novel insight into mechanisms regulating entry of large molecules across the blood-brain-barrier, a function of both physiological and pharmacological significance.
Total Awarded: $847,826
Duration: 3
Host: University of Otago
Contact Person: Prof DR Grattan
Panel: BMS
Project ID: 12-UOO-202
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2015
Title: Meet the neighbours: evidence for interaction between the Lapita culture and non-Austronesian communities in Papua New Guinea
Recipient(s): Dr AC Ford | PI | University of Otago
Public Summary: The Lapita colonisation was the greatest seafaring migration in human history, occupying all of the major island groups in their eastward migration across the Pacific, where they became the ancestors of the Polynesians. The orthodox model for their origin is as an Austronesian movement out of Taiwan, from where they moved into Island South East Asia, and then into the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea, where the culture that we recognise as Lapita was born. Yet major questions still remain as to the nature and origins of Lapita, particularly how much of their culture was a Neolithic package brought out of Taiwan, and how much has been influenced by contact with Non-Austronesians. This is an important question as it cuts to the core of identifying the creation of Pacific cultures. The Triple-I model proposes that the Lapita Cultural Complex evolved from intrusion into new territories, innovation of new technologies, and integration with established communities. Yet most Lapita sites are found on previously uninhabited Pacific islands, therefore what actual evidence is there for interaction with other communities? This project will challenge this fundamental assumption by investigating potential links between Lapita and non-Lapita communities in Papua New Guinea.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: University of Otago
Contact Person: Dr AC Ford
Panel: EHB
Project ID: 15-UOO-116
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2016
Title: Melt inclusions as a 'window' through the crust: What drives the most productive region of silicic volcanism on Earth?
Recipient(s): Dr SJ Barker | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr DCH Hikuroa | AI | The University of Auckland
Dr MC Rowe | AI | The University of Auckland
Dr RJ Wysoczanski | AI | NIWA - The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd
Public Summary: The Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) is globally unique in the intensity of its magmatic, volcanic and geothermal flux. However, the causes of this are not yet understood, as primary magmas (basalts) are extensively modified in the TVZ crust during ascent to the surface, overprinting the geochemical features required to infer conditions under which they formed. Our novel study addresses this issue by applying forensic geochemical techniques to glassy melt inclusions trapped within olivine crystals, separated from volcanic rocks throughout the TVZ, ranging in age from 0 to 350 ka. This approach is motivated by the recent identification of high-Mg olivine crystals inherited from primitive basalts in large-volume TVZ rhyolites, which contain trapped basaltic melt inclusions with the most primitive magma compositions ever recorded in the TVZ. These provide a novel and unique 'window' into mantle processes driving volcanism. Using this approach we will analyse melt inclusions from across and along the arc and, for the first time, quantify the spatial and temporal compositional variability of magmas feeding the TVZ. These data will be used to constrain the unique subduction processes and mantle driving force(s) behind the extreme, globally unique heat flow and eruptive rate of this continental arc.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: The University of Auckland
Contact Person: Dr SJ Barker
Panel: ESA
Project ID: 16-UOA-267
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2014
Title: Memory impairments after stroke, a stressful condition
Recipient(s): Dr AN Clarkson | PI | University of Otago
Associate Professor RM Empson | AI | University of Otago
Dr KL Hillman | AI | University of Otago
Public Summary: Stroke induces impairments in motor and cognitive function with recovery being challenging and very stressful. The prefrontal cortex plays a critical role in memory processes and a stroke to this region results in delayed onset memory impairments. This brain region also plays a role in anxiety and depression. Using animal models our research group will investigate the underlying cause of post-stroke memory impairments and how stress impairs the brains ability to re-organise and communicate with other brain regions. This is significant in the context of stroke recovery as remodelling of connections within the brain is fundamental for recovery.
Total Awarded: $773,000
Duration: 3
Host: University of Otago
Contact Person: Dr AN Clarkson
Panel: CMP
Project ID: 14-UOO-235
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2014
Title: Metagenome mining for new bioactive natural products within New Zealand's terrestrial and marine microbial communities
Recipient(s): Dr JG Owen | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Associate Professor SF Brady | AI | The Rockefeller University
Public Summary: Less than one percent of the earth’s microbial diversity has been successfully cultivated in a laboratory setting, however the natural products biosynthesized by this small fraction have provided some of the most important medicines in clinical use today. The emerging field of metagenome-driven drug discovery provides a means of accessing the biosynthetic potential of the uncultured microbial majority via the direct extraction, cloning and heterologous expression of environmental DNA. This project will employ metagenomic approaches to access the biosynthetic potential of New Zealand’s terrestrial and marine microbial communities, leading to discovery and high-yield biosynthesis of new bioactive natural products.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: Victoria University of Wellington
Contact Person: Dr JG Owen
Panel: CMP
Project ID: 14-VUW-137
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2016
Title: Methanotroph's dirty little secret: they are not metabolically monogamous!
Recipient(s): Dr CR Carere | PI | GNS Science
Professor PF Dunfield | AI | University of Calgary
Dr CA Greening | AI | Monash University
Public Summary: Methanotrophic bacteria display an apparent lack of metabolic flexibility that challenges our understanding of microbial survival. Research has focused on understanding why their growth is restricted to a few C1-compounds (methane, methylamine), but has overlooked the importance of their survival during methane starvation. The recent discovery that hydrogen gas is widely utilised as an energy source for both microbial growth and survival, has provided a new understanding of how microorganisms cope under nutrient-limited conditions. We have shown a methanotroph metabolises hydrogen gas for energy production, and genome queries show hydrogenases are universally encoded within these microorganisms.
So why do all methanotroph genomes encode hydrogenases if they are strictly C1-compound users? The aim of this Fast Start programme is to understand the physiological role of hydrogen metabolism within methanotrophic bacteria as it relates to their growth and survival. By combining genomics, physiological observation and bio-energetic assays, we will characterise this new-found metabolic flexibility within methanotrophs. Understanding the survival mechanisms used by these environmentally impactful bacteria is critical to fully understanding global methane cycles and climate change.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: GNS Science
Contact Person: Dr CR Carere
Panel: CMP
Project ID: 16-GNS-035
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2011
Title: Methylation-stabilised G-quadruplex structures as a novel mammalian gene regulation mechanism
Recipient(s): Prof MA Kennedy | PI | University of Otago
Public Summary: Genes are controlled not only by signals contained within the sequence of bases that form DNA, but also by the physical, three dimensional structures that the DNA molecule can adopt. We have evidence which suggests that a novel mechanism of regulation may operate at a gene called MEST, that is involved in mammalian development and behaviour. MEST displays genomic imprinting, whereby the copy of the gene inherited from the mother is permanently switched off and marked by chemical modification (methylation). In purified DNA, this maternal imprinted form of MEST appears to block the activity of enzymes that normally copy DNA. Our hypothesis is that within the cell methylation of the imprinted MEST copy stabilises unusual DNA structures called G-quadruplexes, that then prevent access by DNA binding proteins and enzymes important for normal biological functions. We will test our hypothesis by in vitro structural studies and in vivo gene expression analyses, and we will explore how commonly such structures occur in the genome. Exploring this phenomenon will extend our understanding of mammalian gene regulation and genomic imprinting, processes of vital importance to normal development and disease.
Total Awarded: $708,696
Duration: 3
Host: University of Otago
Contact Person: Prof MA Kennedy
Panel: BMS
Project ID: 11-UOO-175