The Health Research Council has awarded grants to two Genetics Otago Members in its recent funding round.
Dr George Wiggins (Pathology and Biomedical Science (UOC))
Emerging Researcher Grants – $399,992
Advancing breast and ovarian cancer prevention strategies
Women at high-risk of breast and ovarian cancer need new and effective prevention strategies. Traditional options for cancer prevention include risk-reducing surgery, however this strategy is unwanted by many women due to a variety of reasons, such as fertility and menopause concerns. Providing doctors with a non-invasive and easily accessible preventative therapy for women at high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer would have numerous benefits for the health system (e.g. reduced inequity in health outcomes), and for the patients and their whānau. Through a recent novel discovery in my laboratory, and collaboration with the world leading CIMBA Consortium, I am uniquely positioned to investigate potential novel preventative therapies for women at high-risk of breast and ovarian cancer. This innovative and potentially transformative research programme will provide a step towards reducing cancer diagnoses through the development of personalised preventative treatment(s).
Associate Professor Sara Filoche (Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women’s Health (UOW))
Explorer Grant – $150,000
Building room for equity: Culture centred design of hospital waiting rooms
Hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand have a legacy founded in colonialism and are designed to Eurocentric principles of health and well-being – as such they are inequitable by design and represent culturally unsafe spaces for many people who need to access them. Hospital waiting rooms represent one such space. Our project is premised on understanding how physical spaces in hospitals shape people’s experiences of care. Bringing culture centred design to hospital spaces holds potential as a new mechanism to supporting culturally safe healthcare practice. This project realises a new, unique collaboration between healthcare professionals, healthcare scientists, Māori health researchers and an indigenous design agency. It is the first of its kind in Aotearoa. The project will involve communities and health consumers through a kaupapa Māori design process to co-create a re-imagined virtual waiting room and inform healthcare environment design more broadly.
