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10 Headlines Associate Professor Richard Roxburgh University of Auckland Cough treatment trial for patients with CANVAS syndrome $15,000 Imagine if you had a cough that just never went away – a cough so bad that it could make you faint. People with the genetic neurological disease CANVAS have that sort of cough – and there’s no known treatment. This study will see if the medication pregabalin (a drug used for chronic cough in other diseases) can treat the CANVAS cough. Participants will have 12 weeks on the active medication drug and 12 weeks on an identical placebo, and will be monitored using an app on their phone. The project’s full title is Trial of pregabalin for cough in CANVAS syndrome . Dr Justin Rustenhoven University of Auckland Leveraging the immune system to find new treatments for Parkinson’s disease $15,000 Envision your body as a lively city, where cells act as citizens conversing with distinct languages. Nerve cells talk using neurotransmitters to manage brain functions, while immune cells talk via cytokines to manage inflammation. Recent breakthroughs challenge this division, uncovering that nerve cells also use cytokines to converse. This research aims to identify areas where this unexpected immunological communication happens in the human brain, and whether a malfunction in nerve cell communication may be involved in Parkinson’s disease. This could pave the way for potential treatments by leveraging the influence of the immune system. The project’s full title is Cytokines as neuromodulators: characterising neuronal cytokine and cytokine receptor expression in the human brain and its implications in Parkinson’s disease. Summer Studentships $8000 each Logan Dennis University of Otago Supervisor: Associate Professor Louise Bicknell This project will explore a gene called ORC5 that is found to be different in two individuals with shared clinical features of the rare genetic disease Meier-Gorlin syndrome. Logan’s work will help to characterise the ORC5 gene, to understand why these individuals present with the disease and to assist in diagnosing future patients globally. Luca Gray University of Otago Supervisor: Dr Indranil Basak It is theorised that metal transporters may play a role in differential survival of the brain cells in Parkinson’s disease. Luca's aim is to characterise and test whether protection against Parkinson’s disease is conferred by metal regulation. Connor Nicholls University of Otago Supervisor: Dr Bruce Mockett When treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD), it’s typically difficult to get medicine into the brain. In this project, we are employing a virus shown to reach the brain via intravenous injection, aiming to increase the expression of a beneficial protein that promotes brain health and improves symptoms of AD. First Fellowship Dr Sam McCullough University of Auckland Skull-derived stem cell treatment following concussion $228,106 Concussion is common in young adults and can lead to long-term memory issues and personality changes, impacting an individual's work and personal relationships. It is thought this is caused in part by inappropriate repair of brain blood vessels following injury. Recently, stem cells have been discovered in the skull that can contribute to blood vessel repair. This project will investigate skull-derived stem cells to repair blood vessel damage following a concussion. VJ Chapman Fellowship Dr Alexander Berry-Noronha University of Melbourne Assessing the risk of antiseizure medications in utero $173,500 Anti-seizure medications are frequently taken in pregnancy to treat epilepsy and other conditions. These can cause birth defects and have been linked to poor fetal growth, which may cause developmental problems. This study aims to prevent these outcomes by determining which medications put the baby at highest risk of poor growth, as well as study other serious long term side effects and understand how these occur.