A Canberra-based medical researcher is "over the moon" after receiving more than $1 million in federal grants to study a rare form of cancer.
The federal government has pledged $239 million towards 248 research projects it hoped would provide insight into a "wide range" of medical issues.
"From research on brain function to a new understanding of the critical role of the gut, these projects give us insight into leading-edge Australian research," Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
The Australian National University was a major beneficiary, receiving almost $5 million to fund six studies ranging from kidney disease to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of its recipients was medical researcher Tatiana Soboleva, who was delighted to receive two grants worth $1 million and $960,000.
Dr Sobolevea said only 8-12 per cent of grant applications were successful, and researchers spent their time applying for "as many they can" in hope.
She did not hold a permanent position, and was completely reliant on grants.
"These grant schemes are extremely, extremely competitive," she said.
"Getting a grant like that is a huge thing for scientists and it's just wonderful news, but getting two is like a science fiction for me."
One of the research areas Dr Soboleva was exploring were potential treatments for Hodgkin's lymphoma, a rare cancer which targeted people of all ages.
Scientists will look into a specific protein which became active after the patient was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. The researchers have already shown that this factor is involved in sustaining the cancer.
"We hope we will be able to slow down the cell proliferation and therefore cancer," she said.
"That's why this grant is aimed at trying to target this protein: to stop it from being active in the cells, and to see if we can actually use it to stop these cells from proliferating."
About 800 cases were estimated in Australia in 2021.
The other grant was focused on male infertility. Dr Soboleva said the researchers believed they had uncovered a novel mechanism through which one cell type passed on information to another during spermatogenesis.
She described the grant as "very basic", but would allow for more insight into how the process worked.
"It's not as applicable at this particular stage as we would like it to be," she said.
"We have to, of course, work out the mechanism and everything, but the grant was based on this novel idea."
