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Two University of Sydney research teams have been awarded NHMRC Synergy Grants to lead projects that will develop treatments for alcohol-use disorder and transform diagnosis of breast and lung cancer.

The Synergy Grants, announced today by the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, support outstanding multidisciplinary teams of investigators to work together to answer major questions that cannot be answered by a single investigator.

Professor Robyn Ward, Executive Dean of the听, congratulated the researchers.

鈥淭he success in securing two synergy grants speaks to the innovative and collaborative nature of the projects.

鈥淏oth teams are tackling significant health problems, with the focus on improving long-term outcomes for patients and their families.鈥�

Linking clinical and basic science discovery to find new treatments for alcohol use disorder

笔谤辞蹿别蝉蝉辞谤听Paul Haber听and Associate Professor Kirsten Morley听from the Faculty of Medicine and Health听are chief investigators on a project which will deliver new approaches to treat alcohol use disorder, including how to tailor treatment to individual patient characteristics.

鈥淢ore than a million Australians meet criteria for an alcohol use disorder, making it a leading cause of injury, chronic disease and mortality,鈥� said Professor Haber.

鈥淒uring the COVID-19 pandemic we鈥檝e also seen increased consumption of alcohol and hospital admissions from alcohol problems.

鈥淐urrent treatment options have limited effectiveness and there haven鈥檛 been any new medication discoveries for 20 years."

鈥淭his program will allow us to improve the treatment options for this common and disabling disorder by building a large collaborative research network to bridge the gaps between discovery sciences and the clinic," said Associate 笔谤辞蹿别蝉蝉辞谤听Morley.

鈥淲e will identify mechanisms and predictors of efficacy to inform future drug discovery and develop a personalised medicine approach that will improve the lives of many Australians.鈥�

IMPACT: IMplementation of x-ray PhAse-Contrast Tomography to transform cancer diagnosis

笔谤辞蹿别蝉蝉辞谤听Patrick Brennan, Professor Sarah Lewis and听Dr Amir Tavakoli Taba from the Faculty of Medicine and Health are听chief investigators on a program that will transform diagnosis of breast and lung cancer by establishing a path to clinical implementation of a novel low-dose, high-quality, 3D imaging technique.

鈥淧ropagation-based phase-contrast computed tomography (PB-CT) can improve the imaging signal 10-fold, leading to a considerable improvement in image quality and a substantial reduction in the X-ray dose, compared to conventional X-ray imaging techniques,鈥� said Professor Brennan.

鈥淪uccessful clinical translation of PB-CT requires a multidisciplinary team of experts in academia and beyond. This Synergy Grant allows us to bring together the right people to deliver a world-first PB-CT imaging facility.听

鈥淭he program could revolutionise breast and lung cancer diagnosis worldwide and position Australia as an international hub of scientific, clinical and industrial excellence in X-ray phase-contrast imaging.

鈥淭hrough vastly improved cancer diagnosis and reduced risk and discomfort, PB-CT听has the potential to significantly reduce cancer mortality and morbidity.鈥�