The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) recently announced the 2010 recipients of the Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship. Established as a contribution to building New Zealand's future capability to conduct world-class research, the Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship is intended to support the development of emerging scientists.

The fellowship was named in recognition of the contributions that Sir Charles Hercus (1888-1971) made to biomedical, clinical, and public health research during a distinguished 36-year career at the University of Otago and service to the Medical Research Council.

HRC Chief Executive, Dr Robin Olds was pleased to be able to award the Hercus Fellowships to three very deserving young scientists.

"Each Fellowship is valued at $0.5M. It brings with it a one-off strategic grant for setup costs/equipment of $100,000 and a salary package of up to $100,000 per annum for four years," he said.

"With this sort of investment we can help retain our talented early career scientists and provide an incentive for those now working overseas to return to New Zealand," he said.

The recipients of the 2010 Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowships and a brief description of their research is detailed below:

Dr Julie Lim, The University of Auckland, Department of Optometry and Vision Science Antioxidant strategies to prevent eye disease: is the lens a glutathione reservoir?

This study will investigate whether the lens supplies other tissues in the eye with protective antioxidants. This implies that lens removal during cataract surgery may inadvertently deplete antioxidants in the eye exposing it to oxidative stress. Supplementation of antioxidants after cataract surgery may therefore be required to restore these levels and protect the eye from diseases that result in loss of sight.

Dr Andrew Clarkson, University of Otago, Department of Psychology Tuning post-stroke cortical excitability: implications for learning and memory

Injuries to the brain from a stroke impair cognition and behaviour, typically with limited recovery. Research to date has developed novel and effective therapies that improve functional recovery. The present studies aim to assess how dysfunctional brain regions are improved by controlling brain excitability levels to promote recovery post-stroke.

Dr Scott Graham, The University of Auckland, Department of Pharmacology Are CB2 receptors a potential therapeutic target for neuroinflammatory diseases in humans?

Inflammation is the hallmark of most neurological diseases. CB2 drugs have demonstrated considerable promise in several neurological rodent models of disease, but remain relatively untested in humans. The project will investigate the regulation of the pro-inflammatory activity of human immune-cells by CB2 and assess their potential as therapeutic-targets for neuroinflammation.