By PETER GRIFFIN
Research into the causes of cataracts - the blinding condition that New Zealand eye doctor Fred Hollows made it his life's crusade to fight - has taken the North Island honour in this year's Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FiRST) awards.
Kaa-Sandra Chee, a 24-year-old Auckland University student, pipped more than 90 other applicants to take the top prize for her Bright Future research, expected to reveal novel and non-invasive drug treatments for cataracts, which cause clouding of the eyes and deterioration of sight.
Ms Chee, whose research is part of her PhD studies, has focused on the mechanisms by which lens volume is controlled, and is gathering an inventory of transport mechanisms in the lens.
If the completed research bears the expected fruits, it could have medical and commercial implications worldwide.
The only cure for cataracts - which blinds about 20 million people worldwide - is replacing the lens with an intraocular implant, which often requires repeat surgery due to secondary cataract formation.
Professor Hollows, who died of cancer in 1993, was instrumental in setting up eye lens factories in several developing countries to allow sight-restoring operations to take place.
A drug treatment for cataracts would ease treatment of the disease, which is still rife in some African countries.
The overall winner was joined by Adele Whyte, who won the Tuapapa Putaiao Maori Fellowship for DNA research into the origin of Maori and Pacific peoples, and Jennifer Smith, winner of the Science and Technology Postdoctoral Fellow for studies of plant physiology.
Other projects winning praise were research into identifying licence plate numbers using video security cameras, reducing aluminium wastage in vehicle wheel production and developing a high-protein, nutritional ice cream.
Presenting the awards in Ellerslie last night, the Minister of Research, Science and Technology, Pete Hodgson, said scientific research needed strong support to achieve the Government's goal of "transforming the economy."
"As a country we need to be innovative and adaptive to change. New Zealand's future as a high-skilled, high-employment, high-value added economy relies on people like you," he told the award recipients.
Mr Hodgson said a recent evaluation had shown that for every $1 the Government put into the Technology for Industry Fellowships scheme, company turnover increased by $6.
The Bright Future project goes forward with the yet-to-be-chosen South Island winner as candidates for the national award, to be announced at the end of the month.
Cataract research a clear winner
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