Foundation generates more funds for University research

The University of Queensland Foundation Ltd recorded a record growth in donations and membership capital, according to its annual report to be presented in Brisbane on Tuesday, May 19.

The report shows donations for 1997 totalled $287,651, the largest amount received since the Foundation was established in 1982.

Foundation chairman Bill Palmer will present certificates to new members at the Foundation's annual meeting at the Brisbane Customs House Long Room at 3.30pm.

The report shows that the Foundation funded nine new research projects in its 1998 grants program.

They included studies on an anti-HIV drug, music therapy for children, flavour compounds, trust losses, mining property valuation, Fitzroy River turtles, and rehabilitation of motor accident victims.

The projects, funded at a total $146,236, were selected from 31 new grant applications.

They are among 82 University of Queensland projects since 1985 to receive Foundation funding totalling $1.8 million from a capital base currently worth $2.5 million.

The Foundation was established to generate funds for high-quality University research projects, particularly those requiring more development to attract funds from outside granting agencies.

Its annual report shows a 1997 operating surplus of $179,423, the second highest operating surplus since the Foundation was established. This represented a 10 percent increase on the $163,113 surplus achieved in 1996.

Foundation chair Mr Bill Palmer said the total subscribed capital in 1996 increased from $1,996,957 to $2,249,608 in 1997.

Total income for the year was $225,789, compared with $211,950 in 1996. Interest earned on the Foundation's capital investments was $181,120, representing 80 percent of total income.

Donations to the Foundation can be made either directly to the University's Development Office or through the University's Annual Appeal. The Appeal provides a facility for donors wishing to direct funds to the Foundation.

Recipients in the 1998 research program are:

- Dr Matt Trau (Chemistry Department) $26,715 for a project entitled: Mechanistic studies of the anti-HIV drug FP-21399;

- Ms Jane Edwards (School of Music), $12,500: Music therapy for children in rehabilitation: a clinical audit of music therapy using qualitative research methods;

- Associate Professor Suresh Bhatia (Chemical Engineering Department), $35,000: Supercritical desorption of flavour compounds from activated carbon;

- Dr Peter Halley (Chemical Engineering Department) and Professor Bruce Murdoch (Speech Pathology and Audiology Department), $18,800: The use of rheology and videofluoroscopy to understand the biomechanics of dysphagic swallowing;

- Mrs Janine McMaster-Kirkwood (Commerce Department). $3500: The proposed regime to regulate the carry forward of trust losses: pipe dream or reality?;

- Ms Simone Kelly (Commerce Department), $3000: Mining property valuation: a binomial lattice approach of option pricing;

- Dr Marcello Rosa (Physiology and Pharmacology Department), $22,021: Plasticity in the adult brain: reshaping of dendritic fields of cortical cells as a possible mechanism (This project was co-funded by John and Ruth Kerr.);

- Dr Craig Franklin (Zoology Department), $18,700: A field telemetric study of diving in the Fitzroy River turtle;

- Dr Joanne Bullock-Saxton (Physiotherapy Department), $6000: Changes in joint sensation and muscle function following joint injury or disease: implications for rehabilitation.

For further information, contact the Foundation's secretary Jim Tolhurst, telephone 3365 2225.