Vaccines in a tablet among projects to receive research council funding

Otago Daily Times

12 hours ago

The Health Research Council of New Zealand provides millions of dollars each year, to improve the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders, by identifying and supporting high-quality, high-value research that has far-reaching impacts. John Lewis takes a look at the 18 research projects at the University of Otago, which received $15.3 million in the latest round of grants.
A fear of needles has long been one of the bones of contention when it comes to getting vaccinated in New Zealand.
But now University of Otago researchers hope to remove that obstacle by creating vaccines in the form of a tablet.
Project leader and School of Pharmacy researcher Professor Sarah Hook said vaccines were only beneficial if everyone was willing to be vaccinated.
"This is currently not the situation in Aotearoa New Zealand.
"We urgently need to investigate new approaches to improve vaccine uptake and develop culturally appropriate messaging and initiatives to promote equity in vaccine access."
The multi-disciplinary research team received a $1.2 million Health Research Council of New Zealand grant yesterday to create a simple, safe and effective self-administered oral vaccine in a capsule form.
She said vaccination was a key public healthcare intervention which prevented the spread of infectious diseases, and more recently, it was being used to treat chronic conditions such as cancer.
So initially, their research focus would be on creating an oral influenza vaccine, and a novel vaccine treatment for colon cancer.
For vaccines to provide health benefits, people must have the confidence and willingness to be vaccinated, and the ability to access vaccine delivery services, she said.
Alongside the lab-based research, the group aimed to develop resources and initiatives for Māori and Pacific communities to support future vaccination programmes.
"While we believe moving away from injections will be a major benefit to improve vaccine uptake, using a kaupapa Māori framework, we want to find out what other barriers exist that prevent people from being vaccinated.
"In particular we would like to reduce inequities that exist around vaccine uptake by Māori and Pacific people.
"In Aotearoa New Zealand, it is imperative we increase vaccination rates, especially in groups with lower vaccine coverage.
"Our research aims to minimise access and engagement immunisation barriers and enhance vaccination acceptance."
Prof Hook was delighted to receive the funding and said the team was keen to start work on "this exciting research".
The project is one of 18 Health Research Council grants awarded to University of Otago researchers, worth more than $15.3m.
The council also awarded a $1.2m grant for Otago researchers to advance size-inclusive healthcare, by studying the acceptability and utility of cervical screening self-tests for "big-bodied" people.
University of Otago (Wellington) primary healthcare and general practice researcher Associate Prof Lesley Gray said New Zealand's cervical screening programme now offered a universal self-testing option, which was expected to reduce inequities in participation and cancer outcomes.
However, big-bodied people had historically been overlooked in research and under-served in screening, which increased their risk of undetected cervical cancer.
She said cervical cancer was now preventable through vaccination, screening and timely treatment, and it was vital that the programme worked for people of all body sizes.
"There are high levels of stigma and bias in healthcare associated with body size and fatness that mean people delay seeking help.
"That impacts the quality of care people receive.
"A range of factors determine how accessible services are from the built environment in which we deliver care, to the equipment and language we use in practice.
"For example, the supplied swab is a standard length. We are interested to know how practical this is for big-bodied people wanting to self-test," she said.
Assoc Prof Gray said the research aimed to understand how well the new screening pathway, including self-testing, met their needs.
"Our pragmatic qualitative approach involves partnering with health and community providers to recruit big-bodied people to share their cervical screening experiences.
"Findings will guide the development of practical approaches and recommendations for implementing size-inclusive cervical screening with broader relevance across all health services."
Investing in the delivery of size-inclusive screening would help improve coverage and achieve downstream reductions in cancer incidence and mortality, she said.
Meat processing is New Zealand's largest manufacturing sector, worth $12.2 billion to the economy and employing 28,000 people.
But it is a hazardous work environment and has multiple health risks.
University of Otago Va'a o Tautai Centre for Pacific Health postdoctoral fellow Dr Jane Taafaki has been given a Health Research Council grant of nearly $400,000 to investigate the workplace hazards that thousands of meatworkers face each day.
"Pacific peoples are overrepresented in this industry and experience high rates of injury and work-related harm — a trend which is a growing concern in rural towns," she said.
The first-of-its-kind study would take a Pacific approach to investigating the connection between the risk exposures in these kinds of manual labour industries and workers' health.
Taking place in meat plants in Oamaru, Balclutha and Pareora, and using Pasifika fa'afaletui and talanoa methodologies, the study would examine the type and extent of workplace injury and illness, and how they relate to wider concepts of wellbeing, perception of workplace safety, risk exposures, and absenteeism.
"We really want the outcomes of the project to be useful and informative to both the industry, as well as agencies like Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, WorkSafe and ACC, so that there are positive outcomes for the workers and industry alike."
She said the research aimed to develop an instrument suitable for determining the nature and magnitude of musculoskeletal and associated health impacts for Pasifika people working in rural meat processing.
It would also support the development of health services to respond to the health needs of rural Pacific meatworkers and their families more effectively.
A drug used to treat anaemia (iron deficiency) also has the ability to cross into the brain.
So University of Otago (Christchurch) medical laboratory science researcher Associate Prof Tania Slatter and pathology and biomedical science Professor Gabi Dachs are proposing the drug could also be used to treat some brain metastasis, by exploiting unique properties of these metastases.
Two-thirds of cancer deaths occur when cancers spread around the body, and when cancer spreads to the brain (brain metastases), patients have "a dismal prognosis", because the metastases are challenging to treat.
Assoc Prof Slatter said new treatment strategies were urgently needed in New Zealand.
The duo received $1,196,992 from the Health Research Council to investigate if brain metastases were vulnerable to the anaemia drug, she said.
"In the clinic and the laboratory, we will test if brain metastases have an iron accumulation signature that leads to greater drug uptake, and if this is sufficient to target metastases by triggering cancer cell death by iron overload."
She said the anaemia drug was relatively low-cost with a good safety record, and might provide a new treatment opportunity and improved prognosis for those with otherwise limited treatment options.
Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of death in New Zealand — especially in Otago and Southland where there are particularly high levels.
While chemotherapy is a key treatment, it often causes unpleasant side effects which can reduce a person's ability to tolerate the treatment, and ultimately it makes it less effective.
University of Otago School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Science researcher Dr Brendon Roxburgh has received a council Emerging Researcher Grant of $400,000 to evaluate the feasibility of exercise during chemotherapy.
He believed exercise during chemotherapy might reduce side effects and improve treatment outcomes.
"This research will begin by talking with people who have received or are receiving chemotherapy for colorectal cancer, to understand what helps or prevents them from being active during treatment.
"We will use this information to develop a patient resource that supports safe physical activity during chemotherapy.
"We will then test whether a supervised exercise programme during treatment is safe, manageable, and acceptable for people with colorectal cancer."
Dr Roxburgh said the research could lead to better support for patients during treatment, improve their health outcomes, and provide a cost-effective way to improve cancer care across New Zealand. Other grants
• Other research grants awarded to University of Otago researchers by the Health Research Council.—
• Department of medicine researcher Dr Sarah Appleby has received a $150,000 Explorer Grant to create a new blood test to predict cardiovascular events.
• Department of pathology researcher Dr Silke Neumann has received a $150,000 Explorer Grant to enhance chemotherapy sensitivity in patients with diffuse gastric cancer.
• Department of oral sciences researcher Dr Zeina Al Naasan has received a $150,000 Explorer Grant to create an AI-assisted, easy-to-use smartphone-based app that can alleviate barriers to accessing oral healthcare advice, especially in communities with the highest needs.
• Pathology and biomedical science researcher Prof Madhav Bhatia has received a $150,000 Explorer Grant to find pharmaceuticals that will enhance the body's lymphatic drainage system and help drain away pancreatic inflammation.
• Department of surgery and critical care researcher Prof Tim Eglinton and department of pathology and biomedical science researcher Dr Arthur Morely-Bunker received a council grant of $699,734 to improve gastrointestinal cancer outcomes with AI-enhanced digital pathology.
• Department of surgery and critical care researcher Dr Oliver Lyons and department of preventive and social medicine researcher Prof Sue Crengle received $1,439,803 to tackle gender inequity and provide better guidelines for doctors treating women with aneurisms.
• Department of medicine researcher Dr Anna Pilbrow and department of pathology and biomedical science researcher Dr George Wiggins received $1,199,926 to study whether copy-number variation is a source of missing heritability for heart failure.
• Department of biochemistry researcher Prof Parry Guilford and School of Pharmacy researcher Dr Jessica Fairhall received $1,199,177 from the council to investigate direct-to-stomach delivery of drugs for the chemoprevention of inherited stomach cancer.
• Department of anatomy researchers Dr Michael Pankhurst and Prof Greg Anderson received $1,199,974 to study whether excessive ovarian hormones cause ovulation failure in polycystic ovary syndrome.
• Department of physiology researcher Prof Peter Jones received $1,197,729 to study the treatment of Alzheimer's disease via inhibition of ryanodine receptors.
• Department of biochemistry researcher Prof Sally McCormick received $1,170,000 to uncover the connection between serotonin and a form of blood cholesterol metabolism (Lp(a)).
• Department of population health researchers Dr Rose Crossin and Prof Joseph Boden received $1,199,970 to define and measure drug (nicotine, alcohol, illicit drugs) harm for youth in New Zealand
• Department of surgical sciences researcher Prof Greg Jones received $1,107,917 to improve how we predict someone's risk of cardiovascular disease, by testing a new blood test that more accurately measures a person's lifetime exposure to smoking.
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