Researchers and industry are set to benefit from a $2 million funding boost to a joint venture facility between The University of Western Australia and Proteomics International that does vital work in medical, environmental and agricultural testing of proteins.

The funds will allow the WA Proteomics Facility to acquire more advanced automation equipment and expertise to expand output to potentially thousands of samples from a single client.

Dr Owen Duncan, Scientific Lead at UWA in the WA Proteomics and a Research Fellow at UWA’s Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, said the facility does work as diverse as testing the impact of cancer treatments on cells to analysing how a variety of wheat may respond to harsh environments.

“We will have cancer researchers who are testing different treatments and many samples can be analysed to see if and how the cancer is suppressed,” Dr Duncan said.

“In agriculture, we can see how large numbers of different wheat lines might deal with saline conditions that can then help plant breeders make better decisions about accelerating the breeding of salt tolerant plants.” 

Proteomics International and UWA in partnership with Bioplatforms Australia will invest $2 million over the next three years to allow for industrial scale screening with the bulk of the funding coming from Bioplatforms.

Bioplatforms, invests Federal Government funds through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to help biomolecular science and research in Australia.

Dr Elke Stroeher, the Operations Manager at UWA in the WA Proteomics Facility and a Senior Research Officer at UWA’s Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, said the funds would allow the facility to help WA research projects while also being available to support industry clients.

“The Commonwealth has chosen to invest in our facility here in Western Australia because our effective public private partnership can support research and industry needs at the same time,” Dr Stroeher said.