China–Maurice Wilkins Centre Collaborative Research Programme (C-MWC)
Since 2012 the MWC has engaged successfully with scientific partners at prestigious Chinese institutions, especially the Chinese Academy of Sciences. These partnerships have produced exciting scientific findings and new therapies that are poised to enter clinical trials.
The C-MWC programme will allow the MWC to generate new scientific knowledge that can be translated into new treatments for cancer and metabolic, infectious, neurologic, and degenerative disease. These treatments will not only benefit the health of the people of both countries but are likely to also provide strong economic benefits.
The research programme will also deepen the relationship between New Zealand and China in a crucial high technology field, thereby increasing New Zealand’s international reputation for world-class research. New Zealand scientists will benefit, especially at an early career stage, through access to expertise, technology, and equipment/facilities not available within New Zealand, and through lifting their vision of what they can achieve through active engagement of leading scientists and institutions outside New Zealand.
MAILING LIST
The C-MWC has launched its mailing list subscription process. By signing up, you will be able to receive the latest updates via email on programme’s upcoming initiatives, such as funding calls, and matching events. The C-MWC welcomes all NZ-based biomedical researchers, who are keen, to join the list, including investigators who are not affiliated with the MWC.
If you are interested in the Programme and would like to stay on top of its future development, please sign up via the link: Subscription Form. It should only take 1-3 minutes to complete.
2024 EXCHANGE FUNDING RESULT
The C-MWC is pleased to announce the Programme’s exchange funding results.
In this funding round, we invited applications from biomedical investigators based in NZ who are interested in possible collaborations with China, The C-MWC aims to fund multiple exchange visits between NZ biomedical researchers and their Chinese counterparts over 18 months, between 1st July 2024 and 31st December 2025. These exchange visits are intended to expand links between biomedical researchers (including clinicians) in both countries, leveraging research strengths on both sides. Each exchange proposed should aim to establish or deepen a programme of collaborative biomedical or clinical research that will benefit both countries in future.
We received a total of 12 eligible applications from a wide range of institutions, requesting a total of $237,585 of funding. The Programme’s Exchange Assessment Committee awarded to 11 proposals detailed below for this round to support their proposed exchange plan. The process was reviewed and ratified by the MWC Board.
Congratulations to the successful applicants and thank you to the unsuccessful applicants for the applications. We were delighted to see the breadth of interactions with prestigious Chinese institutions. We will be following up with each of the applicants to see how the Programme might be able to help in future to deepen those collaborations.
RECIPIENTS OF 2024 EXCHANGE FUNDING
Associate Professors Jeff Smaill and Adam Patterson, University of Auckland
Prof Xiaoyun Lu, Jinan University
Prof Ke Ding, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry
Scientific background of exchange: Discovery of isoform-selective FGFR2/4 inhibitors for the treatment of cancer
Dr Matthias Fellner, University of Otago
Dr. George Randal, University of Otago
Prof Shiyu Chen, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica
Scientific background of exchange: New antibiotics
Dr Goetz Laible and Dr Björn Oback, AgResearch
Prof Liangxue Lai and Prof. Peng Li, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health
Scientific background of exchange: Production of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies in large animals.
Prof. Paul Cooper, University of Otago
Associate Professor Peter Mei, University of Otago
Prof. Qianming Chen, Zhejiang University
Scientific background of exchange: New therapeutic approaches to dental cares, periodontitis & oral cancer
A/Prof. Shaun Lott, University of Auckland
Dr. Stephanie Dawes, University of Auckland
Prof. Tianyu Zhang, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health Scientific background of exchange: New therapeutic agents for TB
Prof. Kerry Loomes, University of Auckland
Prof. Donghai Wu, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health
Prof. Xingguo Liu, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health
Dr. Hannah Hui, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
Scientific background of exchange: New therapeutic approaches to metabolic disease
Dr.Htin Lin Aung, University of Otago
Prof.Tianyu Zhang, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health
Scientific background of exchange: TB genomics & epidemiology
Dr.Catherine Tsai, University of Auckland
Dr.Thomas Proft, University of Auckland
Dr. Stijin Van der Veen, Zhejiang University
Scientific background of exchange: Mucosal vaccines for gonorrhea
Dr. Alice-Roza Eurera University of Otago
Prof. Yiping Li, Sun Yat-sen University
Scientific background of exchange: Structural characterization of broadly-neutralising antibodies for coronavirus
Dr. Wanting Jiao, Victoria University of Wellington
Prof. Dehai Li, Ocean University of China
Scientific background of exchange: Molecular modeling of interactions between marine natural products and drug targets
Prof. Zimei Wu, University of Auckland
Prof. Nianping Feng, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Scientific background of exchange: Development of more effective treatment strategies for combating cancer metastasis, while mutual access to research facilities will quicken the development
2023 PROJECT FUNDING CALL RESULT
The C-MWC is pleased to announce the Programme’s Second Project Funding result.
In this funding round, we invited applications from biomedical investigators based in NZ who have existing research collaborations with China, aiming to deepen partnerships with researchers and institutions in China and accelerate research into therapeutic agents with potential health benefits for both countries.
We received a total of 12 eligible applications from a wide range of institutions, requesting a total of $7.36 million of funding. The Programme’s Project Assessment Committee awarded a total of $2.3 million to 5 proposals detailed below for this round to support their existing research collaborations with China partners for up to 2 years. The process was reviewed and ratified by the MWC Board.
Congratulations to the successful applicants and thank you to the unsuccessful applicants for the applications. We were delighted to see the breadth of interactions with prestigious Chinese institutions. We will be following up with each of the applicants to see how the Programme might be able to help in future to deepen those collaborations.
RECIPIENTS OF 2023 PROJECT FUNDING
Associate Professors Jeff Smaill and Adam Patterson, University of Auckland
Dr Amir Ashoorzadeh, Dr Victoria Jackson-Patel, Mr Xiaojing Lin, Ms Raquel Ortega, University of Auckland
Prof Xiaoyun Lu, Jinan University
Prof Ke Ding, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry
Discovery of isoform-selective FGFR2/4 inhibitors for the treatment of cancer
$655,660
Dr Matthias Fellner, University of Otago
Dr Daniel Pletzer, Prof Kurt Krause, University of Otago
Prof Shiyu Chen, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica
A pipeline for the development of peptide-based tools for the treatment and diagnosis of infectious diseases
$428,675
Dr Daniel Pletzer and Dr Allan Gamble University of Otago
Prof Iain Lamont, University of Otago
Prof Weihui Wu, A /Prof Yongxin Jin, Dr Xiaolei Pan, Nankai University
A Trojan-Horse strategy to enhance antibiotic uptake in drug resistant pathogens
$464,551
Dr Goetz Laible and Dr Björn Oback, AgResearch
Dr William Kelton, University of Waikato, Prof Peter Shepherd, University of Auckland, Dr Sanjeev Deva, Te Whatu Ora Auckland
Prof Liangxue Lai and Professor Peng Li, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health
Scaled production of enhanced therapeutic antibodies in rabbit and goat milk
$750,000
2021 PROJECT FUNDING CALL RESULT
The C-MWC is pleased to announce the Programme’s 2021 Project Funding result.
In this funding round, we invited applications from biomedical investigators based in NZ who have existing research collaborations with China, aiming to deepen partnerships with researchers and institutions in China and accelerate research into therapeutic agents with potential health benefits for both countries.
We received a total of 20 eligible applications from a wide range of institutions, requesting a total of $11.9 million of funding. The Programme’s Project Assessment Committee awarded a total of $3 million to 6 proposals detailed below for this round to support their existing research collaborations with China partners for up to 2 years. The process was reviewed and ratified by the MWC Board.
Congratulations to the successful applicants and thank you to the unsuccessful applicants for the applications. We were delighted to see the breadth of interactions with prestigious Chinese institutions. We will be following up with each of the applicants to see how the Programme might be able to help in future to deepen those collaborations.
Recipients of 2021 Project funding
Dr Mihnea Bostina, University of Otago
Dr Laura Burga, Dr Jemma Geoghegan, Profs Vernon Ward and Alex McLellan (University of Otago)
Prof Yiping Li, Institute of Human Virology and Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University
Structure-based engineering of broadly neutralizing antibodies against coronaviruses
$290,613
Prof Alan Davidson, University of Auckland
Dr Veronika Sander (University of Auckland), Dr Cherie Stayner (University of Otago), and Prof Motonari Uesugi (University of Kyoto)
Prof Xiao Chris Zhang, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chemical screening in polycystic kidney organoids grown in microfluidic chips
$598,576
Drs Kiel Hards and Matt McNeil, University of Otago
Prof Greg Cook and Dr Liam Harold (University of Otago)
Prof Zhengqiu Li, School of Pharmacy, Jinan University
Prof Tianyu Zhang, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Exploiting synergistic interactions in energy metabolism to combat drug resistant pathogens
$527,253
Assoc Prof Kerry Loomes, University of Auckland
Prof Donghai Wu, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Prof Ke Ding, School of Pharmacy, Jinan University
Prof Yong Xu and Dr Tao Nie, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Targeting energy expenditure as a treatment for metabolic disease
$290,613
Drs Rachel Perret and Rob Weinkove, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
Prof Peng Li and Dr Le Qin, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences
New methods to improve CAR T cell therapy for cancer
$492,946
Assoc Profs Jeff Smaill and Adam Patterson, University of Auckland
Dr Amir Ashoorzadeh, Mr Xiaojing Sean Lin, and Ms Raquel Ortega (University of Auckland)
Profs Xiaoyun Lu and Ke Ding, School of Pharmacy, Jinan University
Discovery of FGFR4-selective inhibitors for the treatment of liver cancer
$800,000
c-mwc PROGRAMME executive team
Prof Rod Dunbar MBChB, PhD, FRSNZ
Scientific Director
Mr Peter Lai MBA, MSc
Administrative Director