Trusts and Foundations Update

Macquarie University’s world class researchers have been awarded several large and high-profile grants from local and international Trusts and Foundation in 2022 to support innovative, and unique research projects from across the University.

Minderoo Foundation (Australia)

$540,000 over 3 years
‘Cane toads in arid landscapes’
Led by Professor Rick Shine, School of Natural Sciences

_{Photo by Matt Greenlees}
The cane toad is one of Australia’s most infamous invasive species and has wrought ecological devastation as it has spread through tropical Australia. Increasingly, toads are colonising arid habitats in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. This research project will develop methods to control cane toads in such environments.

Simons Foundation (USA)

$559,814 over 4 years
‘Autism and the adapting auditory brain’
Led by Professor David McAlpine, Academic Director of MQ Hearing

Many people with autism struggle to listen in noisy environments. They may find it especially challenging to separate one talker from another or to separate speech from a noisy background. This can make communication difficult and challenging. We are exploring how the listening brain makes sense of complex and noisy environments and devising ways of helping people with autism and other listening problems communicate more easily.

The Waterloo Foundation (UK)

$111,274.45 over 2 years
‘Neural origins of a developmental motor disorder: A neuroimaging study of children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech’
Led by Associate Professor Blake Johnson, School of Psychological Sciences

This project investigates brain activity in children with a disorder called Childhood Apraxia of Speech, a rare but highly persistent impairment of speech development, using brain imaging and speech movement tracking. The project aims to improve our understanding of why most children acquire fluent speech; and why this process is more prolonged or problematic in others.

Asthma Australia (Australia)

$650,000 over 5 years
‘Improving Aboriginal Health: a collaboration with Asthma Australia and Walanga Muru’
Led by Dr Kylie Gwynne, Department of Health Sciences

Aboriginal people in Australia are more likely to suffer from asthma and less likely to access prevention and treatment. Led by Associate Professor and Bundjalung Elder, Boe Rambaldini with Dr Leanne Holt, Dr John Skinner and Dr Kylie Gwynne, the project will collaborate with Asthma Australia and Aboriginal people across Australia to develop an Aboriginal Asthma Research agenda.  We will seek to understand how Aboriginal people understand asthma and their priorities for action.