Awards made during 2006-07
£79,111 to Dr Trevor John Bushell (Physiology & Pharmacology, University of Strathclyde) for a two-year project to determine the role of proteinase-activated receptor 2 upregulation in CNS neurones.
This study aims to understand the part played by proteinase-activated receptors in communication between nerve cells in the central nervous system, information that is key to the development of treatments for diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
£74,715 to Dr Jenni Harvey (Neurosciences Institute, University of Dundee) for a two-year investigation of whether age-related decline in cognitive function is assocated with altered neuronal responsiveness to leptin.
Leptin regulates food intake and body weight and is also involved in the processes underlying learning and memory. Food intake is linked to age-related cognitive decline; over-eating increasing the risk. The levels of brain leptin receptors reduce with age and this research will investigate whether age-related decline in cognitive performance and brain leptin function are linked.
£80,000 to Dr Christopher Michael Loughrey (Cell Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow) & Professor Godfrey Smith (Biomedical & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow) for a two-year investigation of the role of intracellular calcium in left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.
The heart's ability to pump blood through the body and then refill again is partly dependent on the action of calcium stored in the heart muscles. In 'heart failure' the heart cannot relax sufficiently for filling. This project will investigate whether the cause is a change in how the calcium works.
£79,816 to Dr Julie Calvert (Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University) & Professor Gordon Neale Dutton (Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow) for a two-year project on the identification, characterisation and management of dorsal stream dysfunction in children.
Many children with early brain damage have complex visual problems which may result from damage to the nerve pathway which processes information on the spatial properties and motion of objects. This project aims to develop a test to identify affected children as early as possible, to avoid their educational and social development being impaired.
£79,900 to Dr Omar Albagha (Bone Research Group) & Professor Stuart Ralston (Rheumatic Disease Unit), Molecular Medicine Centre, University of Edinburgh) for a two-year project on the identification of susceptibility gene(s) for osteoporosis in men on chromosome 10q21.
Osteoporosis affects about 12% of the male population, but most genetic studies of osteoporosis have focused on women. This project aims to define the genetic variants that contribute to susceptibility to osteoporosis in men and identify new genetic markers for risk assessment.
£79,938 to Dr Sharon Mitchell & Professor John Speakman (Integrative Physiology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen), for an 18-month project to investigate early onset of leptin insensitivity in response to high-fat diet.
This study will investigate the changes occurring in the brain as obesity develops, notably a reduction in responsiveness to the hormone leptin which regulates food intake, with the aim of identifying possible targets for future drug development.
The Medical Research Scotland/Mrs Jean V. Baxter Medical Research Fellowship 2006-08 was awarded to Dr Marie-Astrid Pezze (Centre for Cognitive & Neural Systems, University of Edinburgh) for her project entitled "Dopamine signalling from the ventral tegmental area to the hippocampus, novelty, and memory encoding: investigating the substrates of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia".
This work will identify possible links between the effects of current treatments for, and the memory impairment associated with, schizophrenia.
The first Medical Research Scotland/Mrs Mary Tyson Nursing, Midwifery & AHP Fellowship was awarded to Dr Bridget M. Johnston (Cancer Care Research Centre, University of Stirling) for her project entitled "To explore the experience of patients and carers regarding end-of-life care through the promotion of self care".
The ultimate aim of this project is to improve service delivery for the end-of-live care ofpatients with advanced cancer.