The Kirby Institute’s Dr Nila Dharan has been awarded $979,355 by the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) for research that will improve the identification and management of two diseases of ageing - neurocognitive impairment and frailty – in older people living with HIV.
The funds were awarded via the MRFF’s Early to Mid-Career Researchers funding scheme for Stream 1 (Incubator), which seeks to assess the potential and feasibility of novel strategies to address a critical or intractable health issue in one or more Priority Populations.
Dr Dharan’s research will study clonal haematopoiesis (a blood marker that indicates medical conditions and mortality associated with ageing) in older adults with and without HIV to elicit insights into its relationship with gut health (diet quality and the gut microbiome). It will also evaluate the use of clonal haematopoiesis as a blood marker of frailty and neurocognitive impairment.
“People with HIV have accelerated biological ageing and are more likely to experience ageing-related medical conditions such as frailty and neurocognitive impairment, which reduce the quality of life of people living with HIV compared with the general population,” says Dr Dharan.
The study will leverage two ongoing clinical cohort studies: the ARCHIVE study, a longitudinal cohort of older people with and without HIV in Australia, which is evaluating ageing biomarkers and clinical outcomes across HIV status; and HAILO, an older cohort of people with HIV in the United States, which is evaluating the development of ageing outcomes, including neurocognitive impairment and frailty, over time.
“Through this research, we hope to improve our ability to use these biomarkers of ageing for early identification of these two conditions, and increase our understanding of what drives accelerated ageing in people with HIV,” says Dr Dharan.
“The results of this work will inform future research for targeted, early interventions to prevent the development or progression of neurocognitive impairment and frailty, ultimately improving the health and quality of life of people as they age.”
Dr Dharan’s research was one of five awarded to UNSW researchers. Of the funding success, Professor Bronwyn Fox, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research & Enterprise at UNSW, congratulated the researchers on securing nationally competitive funding to advance innovative health research.
“These grants recognise the outstanding calibre of UNSW’s early and mid-career researchers and the important contributions they are making to addressing complex health challenges,” Prof Fox said.
“This funding will support UNSW researchers developing practical solutions to major health challenges, including improving rural healthcare access, advancing cancer equity and creating faster diagnostic technologies.”