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Search Marsden awards 2008–2017

Search awarded Marsden Fund grants 2008–2017

Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2017

Title: Defending blood flow to the Selfish Brain

Recipient(s): Dr FD McBryde | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr CJ Barrett | AI | The University of Auckland
Dr S Guild | AI | The University of Auckland
Professor JFR Paton | AI | University of Bristol
Associate Professor Y-C Tzeng | AI | University of Otago, Wellington

Public Summary: With its high energy needs, it is essential that the brain protects its blood supply. Historically, it was thought that in-built properties of the brain blood vessels caused them to relax or constrict as needed to keep flow constant. These studies relied on indirect estimates of flow, often with confounding effects of anaesthesia or drugs. Avoiding these confounds, we show that brain blood flow is not perfectly protected. Instead, we propose that a fall in brain blood flow activates the ‘sympathetic’ nerves, which increase blood pressure by constricting blood vessels around the body. By contrast, in the brain, the activity of these sympathetic nerves may cause blood vessels to relax rather than constrict, thereby facilitating flow. Our pilot data suggests that hypertensive subjects lose this dilatory mechanism, leaving the brain vulnerable to reductions in flow. Our team has developed a world first novel technique to simultaneously measure the dynamic relationship between blood pressure, sympathetic nerve activity and brain blood flow in conscious subjects. Our proposed study may have major clinical implications for understanding whether hypertension and/or anti-hypertensive medications impact the brain’s ability to protect itself from low blood flow, and potentially guide appropriate medication strategies to help offset dementia risk.

Total Awarded: $959,000

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr FD McBryde

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 17-UOA-206


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2008

Title: Defining a new estrogen pathway to GnRH neurons

Recipient(s): Dr IMA Ábrahám | PI | University of Otago
Prof AEH Herbison | PI | University of Otago

Public Summary: The gonadal hormone estrogen regulates the activity of the gonadotropin releasing-hormone (GnRH) neurons; the key cells regulating fertility in the brain. Besides the well established slow 'classical' actions of estrogen on cells, this hormone can also regulate cells rapidly through 'non-classical' actions. Using transgenic mouse models, we will examine here the mechanisms and physiological significance of 'non-classical' estrogen actions on GnRH neurons. The proposed work will define a new estrogen signaling pathway in the GnRH neurons and it will provide fundamental information for understanding fertility.

Total Awarded: $617,778

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Dr IMA Ábrahám

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 08-UOO-103


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2017

Title: Defining the brain circuits that interface hunger state with reward signalling to guide food consumption

Recipient(s): Professor BI Hyland | PI | University of Otago
Dr RE Campbell | AI | University of Otago

Public Summary: Food intake is driven by both by metabolic state, and by the rewarding nature of food and food-associated stimuli. Signals about metabolic state are carried to the brain from the stomach and fat stores by hormones including ghrelin and leptin. Reward signals are processed in the brain by specific circuits. The exact linkages in the brain that enable these processes to be integrated are not fully understood. We will investigate a pathway involving the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVT) that may be key. We will determine if PVT receives information from the brain region where these hormones initially act. Second, we will establish if PVT is positioned to integrate this with information about signals associated with food. Third, we will determine if PVT is appropriately connected to pass this information to structures involved in regulating behavior. To achieve these goals we will combine single neuron recording to characterize responses of brain cells to ghrelin and leptin and to food related cues, with optogenetic methods to selectively activate specific pathways and identify inputs and outputs of recorded cells. The results will provide new knowledge about how the pathways processing food-related signals are interconnected to control feeding.

Total Awarded: $959,000

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Professor BI Hyland

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 17-UOO-043


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2008

Title: Defining tissue specific thresholds for apoptosis: new insights from the first mutation in cytochrome c

Recipient(s): Dr EC Ledgerwood | PI | University of Otago
Dr I Morison | PI | University of Otago
Prof GJ Pielak | AI | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Public Summary: A New Zealand family have the first reported mutation in cytochrome c. The mutant protein has enhanced apoptotic activity. We will use this mutant cytochrome c to identify when and where cytochrome c mediated apoptosis is important in development, postnatal life and disease. The physiological consequences of this mutation will be studied in knockin mice expressing the mutant protein, and the biochemical consequences will be analysed in vitro. By unequivocally identifying when cytochrome c mediated apoptosis is important, these studies will contribute to international efforts to block or enhance apoptosis to treat disease.

Total Awarded: $727,111

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Dr EC Ledgerwood

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 08-UOO-066


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Degenerate operators

Recipient(s): Dr AFM ter Elst | PI | The University of Auckland
Professor AR Gover | AI | The University of Auckland
Professor DW Robinson | AI | Australian National University

Public Summary: The aim of this project is to understand the mathematical concepts behind the evolution of heat in materials when the heat conductivity is not uniform over the material. Previously a discontinuity of the conductivity was allowed, or vanishing of the conductivity on sub-regions of the material. The novelty of this project is to deduce global behaviour of the heat evolution where we allow simultaneously discontinuity of the conductivity as well as vanishing of the conductivity on sub-regions of the material. Mathematically identical problems occur in control theory, Brownian motion and clogging in porous media.

Total Awarded: $413,333

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr AFM ter Elst

Panel: MIS

Project ID: 09-UOA-022


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2016

Title: Dependence Logic and Its Applications

Recipient(s): Dr MJ Hannula | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr JA Kontinen | AI | University of Helsinki
Associate Professor SL Link | AI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: Dependence logic is a novel logical formalism that provides a mathematically rigorous framework for studying different notions of dependence that are fundamental for a variety of disciplines. Until now, dependence logic has only been applied to reasoning about traditional database dependencies. Recent developments of team semantics however allow extending the scope of dependence logic to both probabilistic and approximate notions of dependence and independence. Our first two objectives are to study new variants of dependence logic in these contexts. One aim is to examine probabilistic independence logic and establish it as a novel tool for reasoning about probabilistic conditional independence both in the general and Bayesian framework. Another objective is to study approximate variants of dependence logic, particularly in connection with approximate notions of independence. We will study so-called independence atoms and their approximate versions focusing on their discovery and reasoning problems in the database setting. Our last objective is to study modal dependence logic and its variants. We expect to settle fundamental open questions regarding their axiomatizability and complexity of validity. The proposed research provides the first attempt to apply dependence logic to statistical and approximate reasoning, and the research on modal logic has potential to benefit automated reasoning.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr MJ Hannula

Panel: MIS

Project ID: 16-UOA-084


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2010

Title: Design patterns and ownership types for reusable program verification

Recipient(s): Prof RJ Noble | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Prof S Drossopoulou | AI | Imperial College, London

Public Summary: Software is ubiquitous in everyday life, however its shortcomings have never been more apparent.
The word processor crashing when asked to save a document, the immobiliser refusing to unlock
a car, and the telephone exchange refusing to connect emergency calls, are all symptoms of our
inability to engineer software that works correctly and reliably. This research will directly address
this problem by developing novel techniques to construct verified software. This project will use ownership type systems to capture important recurring patterns in the specification and design of software systems, and then develop tools to verify the software by ensuring those patterns are constructed correctly.

Total Awarded: $556,522

Duration: 3

Host: Victoria University of Wellington

Contact Person: Prof RJ Noble

Panel: EIS

Project ID: 10-VUW-056


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2008

Title: Designer dimetallic spin crossover complexes: developing tuneability, cooperativity and hierarchical organisation

Recipient(s): Prof SA Brooker | PI | University of Otago
Prof M Albrecht | AI | University of Fribourg
Prof P Gütlich | AI | Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz
Prof KS Murray | AI | Monash University

Public Summary: The continual drive to downsize, yet increase the speed and efficiency, of devices, and interest in the fundamental science underpinning such developments, has led to considerable attention being directed at developing functional, really tiny (nano), components. This program targets the preparation, characterisation and tuning of dimetallic molecules that might act as three-state nanoswitches by using the permutations of the different spins of electrons on the two metal centres induced by changes in temperature, pressure or irradiation. Switching results in changes in colour and magnetism. Self assembly of layers/vesicles of these molecules may ultimately lead to memory devices and sensors.

Total Awarded: $724,444

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Prof SA Brooker

Panel: PSE

Project ID: 08-UOO-004


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2013

Title: Designer spin crossover: towards nanoswitches, sensors and displays

Recipient(s): Professor S Brooker | PI | University of Otago
Professor M Albrecht | AI | University College Dublin
Professor R Clerac | AI | Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal (CNRS 8641)
Dr GNL Jameson | AI | University of Otago
Professor C Mathoniere | AI | University Bordeaux 1
Dr C Meledandri | AI | University of Otago
Professor R Sessoli | AI | University of Florence

Public Summary: Spin crossover complexes can act as nano-switches because they can switch between two states, low spin and high spin (which have distinctly different colour, size and magnetism). Switching between these states occurs on perturbation, for example by a change of temperature or pressure or by irradiation, and in special cases exhibits a memory effect. Such complexes are attractive for the development of functional nano-components, and represent a ‘bottom up’ approach to ‘molecular’ computers, rather than the current ‘top down’ approach of etching smaller and smaller circuits onto silicon chips. Hence considerable international attention is being directed at developing such nano-components and the associated fundamental science that underpins this research.

This program targets the preparation, characterisation and tuning of designer spin crossover molecules that might act as nano-switches, and the incorporation of additional functionality to fine-tune them and to facilitate assembly of new switchable materials in solution and/or on solid supports, challenging goals. Applications of these novel spin crossover materials may ultimately include use as nano-memory components, sensors, displays or biomarkers.

The knowledge and skills of a PDF, PhDs and MSc students will be greatly enhanced by the wide range of experiences inherent in this cutting-edge and highly collaborative research.

Total Awarded: $739,130

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Professor S Brooker

Panel: PCB

Project ID: 13-UOO-004


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2011

Title: Detecting prehistoric human-climate dynamics in central Polynesia using high-precision marine archives

Recipient(s): Assoc Prof MS Allen | PI | The University of Auckland
Assoc Prof MN Evans | AI | University of Maryland
Dr AM Lorrey | AI | NIWA - The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd

Public Summary: Did a climate driven marine “eco-disaster” in the 14th century AD collapse Pacific fisheries, and spur Polynesian explorations to the east? Did fisheries recover? Could it happen again? Answering these questions requires fine-grained, precisely dated palaeoclimate and archaeological records from coincident areas, a combination currently lacking. We will generate these records and combine them with computer simulations, in the southern Cook Islands, the gateway to East Polynesia. Using geochemical data preserved in growth increments of corals, clams and fish “earbones” (otoliths), we will build a multi-proxy palaeoclimate reconstruction of conditions before, during and after the 14th century AD. These organisms also can be precisely dated using novel radiogenic (absolute) and sclerochronology (relative) techniques. Archaeofaunal studies at the same locale will combine experimental and conventional approaches to assess how climate affected specific prey and marine resource use generally. More complex interactions between climate, fisheries, and cultural behaviours will be explored using cutting-edge computer modelling programs, and outcomes compared with archaeological observations. Our research will provide a much needed palaeoclimate history for the last millennium of Polynesian settlement, one useful for understanding climate effects on human societies and their marine resources, and regional ocean-atmosphere dynamics - both with relevance to contemporary communities.

Total Awarded: $756,522

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Assoc Prof MS Allen

Panel: EHB

Project ID: 11-UOA-027


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