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Search Marsden awards 2008–2017

Search awarded Marsden Fund grants 2008–2017

Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2013

Title: Recreating Beijing: public space, private pursuits and popular agency since 1949

Recipient(s): Professor PJA Clark | PI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: How have the residents of China's capital shaped their city for themselves over the last seven decades? This new book project will demonstrate that this most political of urban centres was not just the creation of ambitious governments determined to construct a modern, global city on the selectively preserved accretions of history. Citizens have had as much to do with establishing the meanings of new and old, public and private spaces throughout Beijing, from the renovated centre to the expanding suburbs. Leisure time is a major means of mapping the evolving city in ways that have meaning in people’s everyday lives. This research will question assumptions about official control that underpin mainstream views of contemporary China. By focusing on one city, the project will assert the importance of extra-official, everyday behaviours in creating the new Beijing since 1949. For the first time a people’s history of contemporary Beijing will be charted, enhancing knowledge of a nation which is increasingly important in New Zealand’s future.

Total Awarded: $365,217

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Professor PJA Clark

Panel: HUM

Project ID: 13-UOA-170


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2011

Title: REDD and the new political ecology of forest protection in Indonesia

Recipient(s): Dr AR McGregor | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Dr ERT Challies | AI | Victoria University of Wellington
Dr MC Gavin | AI | Victoria University of Wellington
Assoc Prof L Tacconi | AI | Australian National University
Dr SA Weaver | AI | Carbon Partnership Limted

Public Summary: The aim of this research is to explore how the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) programme is reshaping the politics and economics (or ‘political ecologies’) of forest management in Indonesia. REDD+ seeks to prevent the release of carbon stored in forests by allowing polluters and consumers in countries like New Zealand to offset carbon emissions by financing forest protection programmes in less developed countries. While desirable from a global climate perspective, concerns have been raised about the introduction of private sector actors and commercial imperatives to forest protection. In this project we trace how these new financial incentives for forest protection are influencing strategies of forest governance; redirecting flows of economic benefits derived from forests; and enabling and constraining the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. In analysing the political ecology of REDD+ in Indonesia this project will advance understandings regarding the power of global environmental governance and how it is influencing human-nature relationships at multiple scales. Such knowledge is vital not only to achieving global climate goals, but also to ensuring that progress towards such goals results in equitable and empowering forms of development.

Total Awarded: $756,522

Duration: 3

Host: Victoria University of Wellington

Contact Person: Dr AR McGregor

Panel: SOC

Project ID: 11-VUW-009


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2014

Title: Redox regulation of cell death

Recipient(s): Professor MB Hampton | PI | University of Otago
Professor GS Salvesen | AI | Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute
Dr V Kumar | AI | Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms
Dr JM Murphy | AI | Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Public Summary: Multicellular organisms have carefully regulated death programs to remove damaged or unwanted cells. Faults in these programs contribute to human disease. Apoptosis is the best-studied cell death program, and drugs have been designed to promote apoptosis in cancer cells. Necroptosis is a newly recognised cell death program, and little is understood about the cellular changes that occur upon activation. Our preliminary data indicate increased oxidation of specific cellular proteins and a dramatic loss in mitochondrial function during the early stages of necroptosis. This project will use newly-developed technology to unravel the details of these redox changes and their significance in the initiation and regulation of necroptosis. We will also determine if the sensitivity of cells to necroptosis can be promoted or inhibited by genetic and pharmacological modification of the antioxidant pathways of cells.

Total Awarded: $815,000

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Professor MB Hampton

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 14-UOO-207


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Redrawing the Polynesian Triangle: Did Polynesian settlement extend to South America?

Recipient(s): Professor E Matisoo-Smith | PI | The University of Auckland
Professor DO Quiroz | AI | University of Chile
Mr JM Ramirez | AI | University of Valparaiso
Dr AH Seelenfreud | AI | Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano

Public Summary: In 2007 we found pre-Columbian Pacific chicken bones in an archaeological site in Chile, providing the first conclusive evidence for prehistoric Polynesian contact with South America. But what was the nature and impact of that contact? Did Polynesians settle and intermarry with locals or just trade and move on? We recently found a museum collection of human remains recovered from a small island off the Chilean coast. Their morphology suggests they may be Polynesian. Ancient DNA analyses and radiocarbon dating will indicate the population history of these people which may require a reconsideration of both Polynesian and South American prehistory.

Total Awarded: $631,111

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Professor E Matisoo-Smith

Panel: EHB

Project ID: 09-UOA-173


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2017

Title: Refugee families in early childhood education: constructing pathways to belonging

Recipient(s): Associate Professor LM Mitchell | PI | The University of Waikato
Dr LL Ang | AI | University College London
Associate Professor PE Atatoa Carr | AI | University of Waikato
Dr AJ Bateman | AI | University of Waikato
Professor M Carr | AI | University of Waikato
Dr LK Rameka | AI | University of Waikato

Public Summary: This project puts children at the centre of research and solutions around refugee resettlement. In 2015, some ten million children worldwide were forced to leave their home countries. Early childhood centres are traditionally for children: can they also help refugee families and children to develop a sense of belonging in a new country? With a focus on developing and trialling constructs of belonging for an Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) context, we aim to investigate how early childhood education can strengthen a sense of bicultural belonging and identity for refugee families in NZ, and also help families sustain a sense of belonging and identity from their home country. Building on preliminary work, this project will investigate constructs and processes of coming to belong through an iterative design process undertaken in participation with children, teachers and families in five early childhood settings. This participatory project will involve ongoing consultation with advisors and an international, cross-organisation collaboration. From a framework of ecological and sociocultural theory, we will develop an evidence-based theoretical model, including exemplars, to advance understanding about social justice and wellbeing for refugee communities in NZ and internationally. Findings will also enhance equitable practice and policies around early education for refugee children that engages whole families.

Total Awarded: $845,000

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Waikato

Contact Person: Associate Professor LM Mitchell

Panel: SOC

Project ID: 17-UOW-047


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2010

Title: Regenerating the kidney with stem cells: Novel insights from zebrafish

Recipient(s): Assoc Prof AJ Davidson | PI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: The kidney purifies the blood with tubules called nephrons. Diseases like diabetes and hypertension damage these delicate structures and cause kidney failure. New Zealand has an alarmingly high rate of kidney disease, particularly amongst Maori and Pacific peoples. Current treatments are dialysis and transplantation, but these are unlikely to meet future demand. Therefore, there is a need for new therapies. The human kidney has some ability to heal itself but cannot replace lost nephrons. By contrast the zebrafish, commonly used in medical research, is able to grow new nephrons following injury. We have traced the source of this ‘renal fountain of youth’ to a new adult cell type we call the renal stem cell (RSC). These cells form new nephrons after injection into the kidney. With Marsden funds we seek to learn more about the nature of RSCs. We will tag RSCs and follow their growth into nephrons and selectively kill them to confirm that they are essential for nephron formation. Finally, we will catalogue the genes activated in RSCs, revealing their ‘genetic fingerprint’. Together, this knowledge will provide valuable insights into the unique capabilities of RSCs and pave the way to developing renal regenerative therapies in humans.

Total Awarded: $805,693

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Assoc Prof AJ Davidson

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 10-UOA-097


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2008

Title: Regenerative medicine using insulin-producing blood stem cells to treat Type I diabetes

Recipient(s): Assoc Prof G Krissansen | PI | The University of Auckland
Prof T Cundy | AI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: We have isolated a unique population of insulin-producing stem cells from human blood with the potential to restore the functions of organs damaged by autoimmunity and trauma. There is compelling need to develop therapies for the life-threatening disease Type 1 diabetes, resulting from the immune-destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells. The properties of stem cells of healthy subjects and Type I diabetic patients will be determined, including their ability to home to the pancreas, respond to endocrine factors, and restore the function of the pancreas. Novel strategies to protect blood stem cells from autoimmune destruction to combat diabetes will be developed.

Total Awarded: $776,889

Duration: 3

Host: The University of Auckland

Contact Person: Assoc Prof G Krissansen

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 08-UOA-049


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2009

Title: Regulation of photosynthetic electron transport under low oxygen conditions

Recipient(s): Dr TC Summerfield | PI | University of Otago

Public Summary: Identifying clean, sustainable energy sources is a major challenge. Cyanobacteria harvest solar energy using photosynthesis and under oxygen-limiting conditions this results in hydrogen production. Under these conditions the photosynthetic electron transport chain incorporates alternative forms of essential subunits. How these novel subunits adjust electron transfer and impact on hydrogen yield will be established. Genes encoding these subunits are part of a low-oxygen-gene cluster. Elucidating the role and regulation of this gene cluster will determine how oxygen evolution rates may be attenuated to produce biohydrogen by photosynthesis yielding clean biofuel without using agricultural land.

Total Awarded: $266,667

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Dr TC Summerfield

Panel: CMP

Project ID: 09-UOO-118


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Standard

Year Awarded: 2011

Title: Regulatory cytokine with a built-in redox sensor

Recipient(s): Assoc Prof MB Hampton | PI | University of Otago
Dr JI Keenan | AI | University of Otago
Prof AJ Kettle | AI | University of Otago
Prof V O'Donnell | AI | Cardiff University

Public Summary: Cytokines are signalling proteins that coordinate the complex workings of the human immune system. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a cytokine that helps protect the body from infection, but it also promotes damage in diseases such as sepsis, arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. MIF acts like other cytokines by binding to specific receptors on cells. However, MIF also has an unusually reactive proline residue. The function of this proline is unclear, but we propose it is a sensor that regulates MIF activity. We recently discovered that this proline could be modified by dietary compounds, causing a conformational change in MIF that blocked receptor binding. We hypothesize that compounds generated during inflammation act in a similar way to influence MIF activity. In this study we will assess which compounds are able to react with MIF, and determine if modification occurs at sites of inflammation. If correct, we will have discovered a new mechanism for regulating the immune system.

Total Awarded: $773,913

Duration: 3

Host: University of Otago

Contact Person: Assoc Prof MB Hampton

Panel: BMS

Project ID: 11-UOO-118


Fund Type: Marsden Fund

Category: Fast-Start

Year Awarded: 2016

Title: Reindigenising the Biosecurity System

Recipient(s): Dr A Black | PI | Lincoln University

Public Summary: Problems related to biological invasions continue to grow worldwide as a result of increased global trade, tourism and shifting bioclimatic zones, whereby one in five plant species are now at risk of extinction. Biological invasions are also threatening the identity and functioning of indigenous cultures, and indigenous knowledge and application has been overlooked by biosecurity science and could provide much needed insight to limiting the impacts of biological incursions. In a unique and innovative approach the PI will use kauri dieback as an exemplar to investigate how key socio-ecological links recognised in mātauranga Māori can provide new insight and context to biosecurity science and improve current western biosecurity paradigms. We will use a range of methods to explore what biosecurity means for Māori and indigenous cultures. These include qualitative comparative analysis of interviews and discourse; forest dynamics based on whakapapa to establish an environmental baseline; and biochemistry and molecular ecology to determine disease suppressive traits and success of mātauranga based treatments of affected trees. Findings will be compared with other indigenous communities around the Pacific to identify common key socio-ecological links around tree disease and dieback to advance our understanding and application of indigenous knowledge in biosecurity management.

Total Awarded: $300,000

Duration: 3

Host: Lincoln University

Contact Person: Dr A Black

Panel: SOC

Project ID: 16-LIU-011


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