The School of Medicine will welcome two new Matthew Flinders Fellows this month.
Associate Professor Rosalie Grivell has been appointed a Matthew Flinders Fellow in Maternal Foetal Medicine while SAHMRI-based Associate Professor Stuart Brierley will move from the University of Adelaide to continue his research into visceral pain, along with nutrition and gastrointestinal diseases.
Associate Professor Brierley is an NHMRC R.D. Wright Biomedical Fellow and Head of the Visceral Pain Group located at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
He is an internationally recognised as an authority on the different afferent classes innervating the gut, the mechano-transduction channels underlying their function, the interaction of these channels with inflammatory mediators, and how this changes in acute and chronic pain.
They follow the arrival earlier this year of cardiology-hypertension researcher Associate Professor Anand Ganesan as a 2016 Matthew Flinders Fellow. Associate Professor Ganesan, previously an NHMRC Early Career Fellow, is undertaking an electro-physiology fellowship at the Flinders Medical Centre.
Flinders Professor of Cardiology Derek Chew said Associate Professor Ganesan is a strategic appointment in cardiovascular medicine and its translational potential.
“Anand already has a well established track record,” Professor Chew said. “His existing strengths include basic science as well as phase III and IV trials.
“His addition in the cardiovascular area will be a catalyst to the already very active area of cardiovascular research.”
Associate Professor Grivell will provide leadership in the expansion of Foetal Maternal Medicine services at Flinders Medical Centre, and bring a collaborative approach with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, says Professor Paul Worley, Dean of Flinders University’s School of Medicine.
“Rosalie has an outstanding research track record, particularly looking at the effects of maternal nutrition on foetal growth,” Professor Worley says. “Holding an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship, Rosalie is clearly a research star who will burn brightly for years to come. Associate Professor Grivell is also recognised as a passionate and skilled educator.” She also will take over responsibility as Academic Head of Women’s Health from Professor Marc Keirse, who is retiring at the end of this year after a distinguished international career.
The Matthew Flinders Fellowship program is expanding this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Flinders University.
The arrival of scientist Associate Professor Brierley also will add to the depth of research at Flinders, particularly in the field of neuroscience investigations into pain in the gut.
“Stuart’s work is also emblematic of our industry-engaged research future,” Professor Worley says.
His recent collaborations with industry partners identified the mechanism of pain relief of a new drug, linaclotide, in treating patient with Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (IBS-C). His research is currently supported by multiple NHMRC project grants and industry collaborations with Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Associate Professor Brierley has a proven track record in coordinating multi-faceted research programs for high-impact publications in journal such as Nature, Nature Communications, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Gut and The Journal of Neuroscience.