$600,000 grant for Canty researcher

Press, 25 September 1987, Page 3

$600,000 grant for Canty researcher

By

JENNY LONG

A Canterbury researcher working with horses and the human brain has been awarded a grant from the United States worth more than $600,000. The research, by Professor Cliff Irvine, of Lincoln College, could lead to new methods of contraception, or control of stress.

The grant is one of the largest to be given to a New Zealand researcher by the United States National Institute of Health.

Professor Irvine has been working with horses to find the way chemical substances in the brain and pituitary gland regulate body activities such as reproduction, growth and stress response.

In humans, it has not been possible to isolate the pituitary gland because it is located deep inside the cranial cavity. Professor Irvine’s breakthrough was to find a pathway in horses to their pituitary gland. This has enabled scientists to measure the different substances and quantities released during activity. The horses cannula (small

tube) inserted through the side of the face up to their pituitary gland. The procedure is done under local anaesthetic, and horses take no notice of the cannula which can be in place for up to a week, says Professor Irvine. Horses produce such a large volume of blood that they replace it faster than it is removed.

Analysis of 17 chemicals in blood samples is done at Christchurch hospitals, National Women’s in Auckland, and also in Louisiana. They are also analysed occasionally in Japan and Melbourne. Professor Irvine’s wife, Dr Susan Alexander, a scientific officer at Princess Margaret Hospital, and Miss Julie Turner, a Lincoln College technician, help with the project.

The research grant will enable the research to continue. An additional SUSIOO,OOO is provided for extra staff who will be appointed from the United States.

Professor Irvine says the extra staff will mean more people to share the job of taking blood samples from horses every five minutesithrough the night. c