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Search Marsden awards 2008–2017

Search awarded Marsden Fund grants 2008–2017

Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2014

Title: Probing the origins of high-energy cosmic rays with precision neutrino observations

Recipient(s): Associate Professor JA Adams | PI | University of Canterbury
Professor TK Gaisser | AI | University of Delaware
Professor H Kolanoski | AI | Humboldt-Universität

Public Summary: Cosmic rays, with energies over a million times greater than anything achievable by man-made particle accelerators, continuously bombard the Earth’s atmosphere. The source of these particles is unknown. However recent results have shown that IceCube, our neutrino telescope consisting of 5000 optical sensors in the ice below the South Pole, is able to detect the neutrinos which carry information directly from the birth sites of the cosmic rays. In this project we will develop and apply techniques to obtain a large, high-quality sample of cosmic neutrinos which we will use to investigate the high-energy processes associated with cosmic rays.

Total Awarded: $770,000

Duration: 3

Host: University of Canterbury

Contact Person: Associate Professor JA Adams

Panel: ESA

Project ID: 14-UOC-081


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2015

Title: Probing the protein membrane interface of an oncogenic cell signalling system

Recipient(s): Dr JU Flanagan | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr JR Allison | AI | Massey University
Dr RL Williams | AI | Carnegie Mellon University
Professor PR Shepherd | AI | The University of Auckland
Professor T Huber | AI | Australian National University

Public Summary: A major reason cancers are able to survive and grow is that they hijack normal growth and survival mechanisms, switching them to a continual on state. One pathway that is hyper-activated in 20-50% of cancers is the PI 3-kinase cell signalling pathway, and there is intense research to understand how to silence it. This can be done effectively by blocking the enzyme PI3Kalpha, but current blockers are unable to select between the enzyme in normal cells and the forms found in cancer cells. At the core of the PI 3-kinase pathway is a transient interaction between the enzyme and the cell membrane that allows the synthesis of a rare lipid species. In cancer, a mutation can occur in the PI3Kalpha enzyme that rearranges its membrane interface, improving the membrane binding capability and enzymatic activity, hyper-activating the pathway. We know very little about what makes the interface between the oncogenic PI3Kalpha enzyme and the membrane so different to the normal enzyme, but by combining biochemical and computer-based simulation studies, we will elucidate the key differences. Exploiting them may also lead to molecules that can specifically block the PI 3-kinase pathway in cancer cells.

Total Awarded: $810,000

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr JU Flanagan

Panel: CMP

Project ID: 15-UOA-105


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Probing the structure and femtosecond dynamics of excited states of lanthanide phosphor materials

Recipient(s): Associate Professor MF Reid | PI | University of Canterbury
Professor A Meijerink | AI | University of Utrecht
Professor RJ Reeves | AI | University of Canterbury
Dr JP Wells | AI | University of Canterbury

Public Summary: This project will make crucial contributions to the knowledge required to engineer phosphors for new lighting sources such as mercury-free fluorescent tubes and white-light LEDs. We will use two-stage absorption to study transitions between the high-energy states. The use of advanced laser techniques and synchrotron radiation sources will expose many sharp lines where previous experiments could only see broad bands. We will also use pulsed lasers to study the evolution of the excited states at femtosecond timescales. From this knowledge of energy-level structure and dynamics we will build and test theoretical models that will be applicable to phosphor design.

Total Awarded: $800,000

Duration: 3

Host: University of Canterbury

Contact Person: Associate Professor MF Reid

Panel: PSE

Project ID: 09-UOC-080


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Prospective evaluation of the validity and nature of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

Recipient(s): Dr BC McNeill | PI | University of Canterbury
Professor GT Gillon | AI | University of Canterbury

Public Summary: Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a complex disorder surrounded by two fundamental controversies. (1) Does CAS exist as a distinct diagnosis (separate from other speech-language impairments), and (2) Does the underlying difficulty in CAS lie in planning movements for speech or representing language in the brain? This study will be the first of its kind to repeatedly evaluate the presence/absence of CAS symptoms over time in children with suspected CAS. The study's results are expected to elucidate the nature of CAS, which will allow a better understanding of the challenges faced by children with speech-language disorders in New Zealand.

Total Awarded: $266,667

Duration: 3

Host: University of Canterbury

Contact Person: Dr BC McNeill

Panel: SOC

Project ID: 09-UOC-099


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2011

Title: Protecting-group-free synthesis: avoiding the unavoidable in organic chemistry

Recipient(s): Dr MSM Timmer | PI | Victoria University of Wellington

Public Summary: Protecting groups add steps to a reaction sequence, lower overall efficiency, and increase the amount of waste generated. Yet despite this, synthetic chemists have become resigned to their use. This is because protecting-group-free synthesis is difficult. Reactions used in organic synthesis typically have low chemoselectivity, which means that when performing a chemical modification of a substrate, additional reactive functionalities in the molecule have to be ‘protected’ to prevent undesired side-products.

The ‘ideal’ synthesis has recently been classified as ‘protecting-group-free’, meaning that a complete reaction sequence can be performed chemoselectively and without the occurrence of side-reactions that negatively affect its efficiency. However, to achieve such a synthesis, new methodologies and innovative reactions are required. To this end, we wish to develop novel C-C bond forming reactions and apply these to the protecting-group-free synthesis of a variety of key organic building blocks. Our studies will culminate in the protecting-group-free synthesis of the biologically important Amicoumarin and Bacilosarcin antibiotics and herbicides. These natural products are important targets in their own right, but, moreover, by completing their syntheses without protecting groups, our routes will be highly efficient and ‘ideal’, and also encourage others to develop total syntheses with a protecting-group-free approach in mind.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: Victoria University of Wellington

Contact Person: Dr MSM Timmer

Panel: PCB

Project ID: 11-VUW-057


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2008

Title: Protein dynamics is the key to the regulation of cytokine-induced intracellular signalling

Recipient(s): Dr AJ Dingley | PI | The University of Auckland
Prof J Grötzinger | AI | Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Dr AV Kralicek | AI | HortResearch

Public Summary: Interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory cytokine, functions by binding its receptor (IL-6R) and this complex associates with the signal-transducing receptor gp130, thereby initiating intracellular signalling. We have evidence that the dynamics of IL-6 is critical for the assembly of the IL-6-signalling complex. We hypothesise that the interaction of IL-6R with IL-6 creates a dynamically restricted binding epitope allowing complex formation with gp130. Aim: changes in dynamics of IL-6 in different complex states will be probed in atomic detail by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The results will produce a molecular model for cytokine-induced receptor assembly and thus facilitate the development of designer cytokine therapeutics.

Total Awarded: $657,778

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Dr AJ Dingley

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 08-UOA-086


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Proteins from pieces: subdomain assembly in the evolution of protein structure

Recipient(s): Dr WM Patrick | PI | Massey University
Dr JP Mackay | AI | The University of Sydney
Dr JM Matthews | AI | The University of Sydney
Dr GE Norris | AI | Massey University

Public Summary: The structure of a protein determines its function; however, the mechanisms that underlie the origins of protein structures remain poorly understood. My goal is to understand the evolutionary and biophysical origins of folded protein domains. Here, I am proposing a proteome-wide test of the hypothesis that domains are assembled by the recombination of partially-structured subdomains. We will use the tools of directed evolution, biophysics and crystallography to create, identify and characterize novel, folded domains. This work will provide unique insights into the fundamental biological processes of protein evolution and protein folding, as well as into applied problems in biomolecular engineering.

Total Awarded: $657,778

Duration: 3

Host: Massey University

Contact Person: Dr WM Patrick

Panel: CMP

Project ID: 09-MAU-017


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2011

Title: Public engagement towards a more inclusive and equitable society

Recipient(s): Assoc Prof NG Gavey | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr V Braun | AI | The University of Auckland
Assoc Prof L Tyler | AI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: In contemporary New Zealand, values around freedom of expression and individual rights collide with concerns about repressive moralism to virtually eradicate opportunities for serious critical engagement with pornography. This effectively neuters the possibilities for calling into question those elements within mainstream commercial pornography that are prejudicial to women and arguably perpetuate the cultural conditions of possibility for sexual violence. This project will to generate dialogues that allow new ways of seeing what is at stake. Proposing an ethics of inclusion as a framework for intervention this project will theorize the problem and conduct novel forms of action research to revitalize public debate and community responses. (1) We will work with groups of young men and women to facilitate the development of a wider range of critical tools for responding to the ethical dilemmas posed by exploitative and aggressive forms of pornography. (2) In a social action collaboration between artists, curators and social science scholars we will organise an exhibition of artworks that call into question the prejudicial gaze of mainstream pornography. Interactive media developed alongside the exhibition, and a symposium, will promote constructive public engagement towards a more inclusive and equitable society.

Total Awarded: $686,957

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Assoc Prof NG Gavey

Panel: SOC

Project ID: 11-UOA-166


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Pulsating white dwarf stars: unique astrophysical laboratories

Recipient(s): Professor DJ Sullivan | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Dr MH Montgomery | PI | The University of Texas at Austin
Dr JL Provencal | PI | University of Delaware

Public Summary: Our basic aim is to use pulsating white dwarf stars as naturally occurring cosmic laboratories to investigate a number of topics of broad astrophysical interest. The raw data are high-quality time-series photometry. Identification of the many periodicities in the light curves produced by these objects, combined with suitable modelling, allows the observer to probe beneath the white dwarf surface using a process referred to as asteroseismology. By studying specific pulsators, we will investigate subsurface convection zones, endeavour to observationally confirm the existence of a core plasmon neutrino flux that contributes to white dwarf cooling, look for evidence of planetary companions, and improve our understanding of white dwarf structures and core chemical compositions. Successful outcomes in this research will undoubtedly advance the fields. Eg, detecting the plasmon neutrino flux will provide a unique low-energy test of particle physics theory.

Total Awarded: $488,000

Duration: 3

Host: Victoria University of Wellington

Contact Person: Professor DJ Sullivan

Panel: ESA

Project ID: 09-VUW-121


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2013

Title: Pumping lysine to achieve metabolic homeostasis during infection

Recipient(s): Professor GM Cook | PI | University of Otago
Dr M Berney | PI | Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Professor WR Jacobs | AI | Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr JR Kirman | AI | University of Otago
Dr I Pecsi | AI | University of Otago

Public Summary: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a highly effective pathogen that has evolved numerous mechanisms to successfully invade, replicate, and persist in humans. We have identified an unprecedented role for a lysine transporter (exporter) during M. tuberculosis infection and mycobacterial growth on lipids. We hypothesize that lysine export is crucial for achieving metabolic homeostasis by acting as a “relief valve” or novel energy spilling mechanism. We will employ molecular biology and genetics, and appropriate in vivo models to address this hypothesis. The elucidation of molecular mechanisms governing metabolic homeostasis could identify critical pathways for targets in drug discovery or rational vaccine design in the fight against tuberculosis.

Total Awarded: $847,826

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Professor GM Cook

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 13-UOO-111


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