Congratulations to Associate Professor Wendy Ingman, Research Leader of the Breast Biology and Cancer Unit at the Basil Hetzel Institute, TQEH, for receiving a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Ideas Grant. Wendy's grant, valued at $946,417, is titled "A paradigm shift in lactational mastitis". Lactation mastitis is a debilitating inflammatory breast disease occurring in 1 in 5 Australian breastfeeding women. The disease causes lactation insufficiency, localised pain and rapid onset of fever, muscle aches, chills and fatigue, leading many women to use supplementary formula or cease breastfeeding altogether. This project will address key gaps in our understanding of the biological causes of mastitis and lead to improved prevention and treatment of this disease. Wendy says "I’m absolutely thrilled to have the funding to get this project underway. Lactation mastitis is a very poorly understood condition, I’m hoping to make huge progress on improving treatment and prevention in the next 3 years." She will be employing a postdoctoral researcher and a research assistant to work on this project with her. Her collaborators on this grant are Professor Lisa Amir (CIB) from La Trobe University, and four associate investigators, Associate Professor Luke Grzeskowiak and Dr Tim Chataway from Flinders University and Dr Emma Knight and Professor Mark Hutchinson from The University of Adelaide. .
