04 Apr 2023
Doherty Institute researchers awarded grant for collaborative sepsis research
A recent $4.9M Early to Mid-Career Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant is set to take sepsis research to a whole new level.
The funding boost, announced by the Australian Government last week, will allow the research team to develop formulas to combat the life-threatening condition and conduct clinical trials in Australia.
University of Melbourne’s Dr Laura Cook, a senior researcher in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology (DMI) and honorary senior fellow in the Department of Critical Care at the Doherty Institute, and Professor Antoine Roquilly, an honorary member of the DMI, joined the research team of scientists from Australia’s leading medical research institutes and public hospitals that will work collaboratively over the next five years to trial a potentially life-saving treatment for people with sepsis in intensive care units.
Dr Cook said the grant is a major step forward for sepsis research.
“We are excited to be a part of this cross disciplinary team of Early to Mid-Career researchers, which enables detailed analysis of both clinical and mechanistic effects of mega dose sodium ascorbate in sepsis,” Dr Cook said.
“Our contributions to the team will be focused on studying the immunological effects of this treatment, including changes to cell metabolism and secretion of inflammatory molecules.”
The research team, led by the Florey Institute, includes researchers from the Doherty Institute, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Monash University, Monash Health, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, WEHI, Austin Health, Royal Adelaide Hospital (SA), Alice Springs Hospital (NT), Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (QLD), The St. George Hospital (NSW), and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (WA).