CANBERRA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has committed funding towards a series of "leading-edge" medical research projects.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt on Thursday announced 239 million Australian dollars (178.4 million U.S. dollars) in funding for 248 projects that he said will provide key insights into a wide range of issues.
The projects range from research into the effects of long-COVID to improving cancer treatments and developing treatments for Coeliac disease.
"These projects demonstrate the outstanding innovation of the health and medical research sector in Australia and offer great promise for future advances in our understanding and management of health challenges," Hunt said in a statement.
"From research on brain function to a new understanding of the critical role of the gut, these projects give us insight into leading-edge Australian research."
One grant recipient, Tatiana Soboleva from Australian National University (ANU) was awarded for her research into treatments for Hodgkin's lymphoma and male infertility.
A rare form of cancer, Hodgkin's affects the lymphatic system, limiting the body's ability to fight infections.
It is estimated there will be about 800 cases diagnosed in Australia in 2021. Soboleva's research will look into a specific protein that only becomes active after a patient has developed Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"We hope we will be able to slow down the cell proliferation and therefore cancer," she was quoted by the Canberra Times.
"That's why this grant is aimed at trying to target this protein: to stop it from being active in the cells, and to see if we can actually use it to stop these cells from proliferating." Enditem