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ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT 2022 Grants were made to: 18 RESEARCH PROJECTS 5 CONFERENCE AND TRAVEL GRANTS 3 STUDENTSHIPS 3 SCHOLARSHIPS 10 FELLOWSHIPS OUR COMMITTEES ASSESSED 137 APPLICATIONS IN THE LAST FINANCIAL YEAR BOOSTTO MIGRAINE RESEARCH Dr Michael Garelja from the University of Auckland received a $190k First Fellowship for investigations to improve migraine treatments. This is the largest grant we have ever awarded for migraine research. The research investigates a new drug to treat migraines called a CGRP inhibitor that blocks the release of calcitonin gene-related peptides thus eliminating pain. However, these drugs are only effective in half of patients and can have severe intestinal side- effects. In this fellowship, Dr Garelja will aim to explain how the current drugs work, and howwe might improve on them. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we have been able to increase annual fellowship funding from around $600k to just over $2m in the space of five years. KEEPING UPWITH INCREASING COSTS Increasing research costs has meant expanding our grants budget. We do not limit the amount that can be applied for with project grants and fellowships. This way, researchers can apply for what they actually need. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we have been able to increase grant funding from almost $3m to $5m in the space of five years. DEVELOPING OUR RESEARCHERS We prioritise support for early career researchers as well as established experts. For instance, we provide a number of fellowships, scholarships and small project grants to get research started. These grants are hugely important as they help to establish new areas of research. This year we also introduced a cost-of-living increase for our scholarship and studentship stipends. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Initial investment in a researcher’s career or the early stages of a new treatment or technology will frequently evolve into bigger and broader research groups and the emergence of subject experts. This in turn attracts funding from other agencies including Government pipelines for investment in high-quality research. Telling these stories is important. For instance, we have started a ‘10 years on’ segment in our quarterly Headlines magazine to provide updates on people and projects that we funded 10 years ago. We look forward to sharing more of our researchers’ journeys. IMPACT REPORTING FROM FUNDED RESEARCH Our grant recipients provide us with annual progress reports, then final reports once the project is completed. Donors that directly support a particular grant receive regular updates on how the research is progressing. In 2019 we funded Professor Lynette Sadleir to begin a research project on epilepsy in Māori children. This project was originally intended as a Masters project for Dr Ngaire Keenan, an advanced paediatric neurology trainee. Dr Keenan has since been successful at securing a Health Research Council (HRC) Clinical Research Training Fellowship which has allowed her to expand the ‘Epilepsy in Māori Children’ study and upgrade her Masters degree to a PhD. 9