This week I’m meeting with four young researchers working with funding support from Research For Life.

Among them is Pirooz Zareie a student researcher at the Victoria University’s School of Biological Sciences. Pirooz is engrossed in exploring whether a drug used to treat schizophrenia may help treat multiple sclerosis (MS). This could be significant as Pirroz points out that multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that affects 1 in 1,400 New Zealanders and is of significant burden to New Zealand’s health services.

Then later I’m meeting with Connie Gilfillan at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research. Connie is a PHD student delving into the potential to treat cancer by targeting the immune system. That involves looking at Dendritic cells (DCs), which are an immune cell population that was only discovered in 1973. Interesting!

So stay tuned because I’ll be reporting back on such meetings in coming weeks. Certainly, the prospect of advancing outcomes in schizophrenia and cancer should be applauded and I’m looking forward to discovering more about the work of such dedicated people.