Christchurch study awarded $4 million   15 Jun 2016

Christchurch study awarded $4 million to continue policy-shaping work.

A Christchurch longitudinal study that has informed New Zealand social policy for more than 30 years has received $4 million in funding from the Health Research Council.

The Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS) has documented the progress of more than 1200 people from their birth until the age of 35. The $4,363,673 HRC programme grant will allow Associate Professor John Horwood and his team to comprehensively record and analyse participants’ situations up to age of 40. They will study issues such as the long-term mental health consequences of exposure to the Canterbury earthquakes, and the long-term consequences of being the subject of maltreatment in childhood.

Associate Professor Horwood says the funding will enable the continuation of a number of ongoing lines of research into the factors influencing individual health and wellbeing over the life course.

Four other researchers from the University of Otago’s Christchurch campus won HRC funding in its annual major funding round announced today.

Associate Professor Chris Pemberton: A new test to predict those at risk of future heart attacks and potential mortality.
Associate Professor Pemberton and his team have discovered a protein in the blood that shows promise as a way to identify those patients with chest pain at increased risk of mortality and heart attacks in the near future. This is a group of people not easily identified by current tests. With the support of a $1,164,059 HRC project grant, Associate Professor Pemberton will lead an international set of studies to determine the effectiveness of this protein to profile serious future cardiovascular risk in patients with chest pain.

Professor Martin Kennedy and Associate Professor Matt Doogue: genes and serious adverse reactions to common drugs.
Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) cause a great deal of illness and death. It is likely many have genetic origins. With a $1,186,142 HRC project grant, Professor Kennedy and Associate Professor Doogue will clarify how genes contribute to adverse reactions to drugs used in the treatment of common illnesses like hypertension, acid reflux, and depression. This team will also develop a biobank to collect and store samples from patients suffering a wide range of serious ADRs, so genetic underpinnings of many such ADRs can be examined.

Professor Richard Troughton: Irregular heart rhythm and its associated risks.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an irregular heart rhythm that is common and associated with impaired heart function, stroke and increased risk of hospitalisation or death. Recent evidence suggests certain medications used to treat blood pressure and heart failure, by blocking mineralocorticoid receptors, may prevent the development of AF. With a $1,087,437 HRC project grant, Professor Troughton and his team will test whether an oral medication called spironolactone can block mineralocorticoid receptors in an 18-month trial in patients with pacemakers.

Dr Cameron Lacey: Maori and increased incidence of bipolar disorder.
There is evidence Maori have increased prevalence and worse outcomes with bipolar disorder. But little is known about the factors contributing to these disparities or strategies to reduce them. With a $1,181,031 HRC project grant, Dr Lacey and his team will use routinely-collected national data to identify detailed patterns of health service use for Maori with bipolar disorder as well as potential factors leading to disparities in outcomes. The team will also conduct focus groups with healthcare providers and Maori patients and develop best practice guidelines and strategies for change to address areas of unmet need.

ENDS

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