Monday 29 November 2010

Westmead. NHMRC awards four grants

The Westmead Millennium Institute’s research team at the Storr Liver Unit has secured four project grants, from the National Health and Medical Research Council, for work focused on treatments for liver disease, including liver cancer and hepatitis C. is celebrating a major success following the announcement of grants for 2011. Working on the project will be Mark Douglas, a specialist who runs the viral hepatitis service at Blacktown Hospital. In other projects, led by Dr Lionel Hebbard, Dr Jianhua Wang and Associate Professor David Booth, researchers will investigate the underlying mechanisms for the development of liver cancer, liver scarring and liver disease in hepatitis C.

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Penrith. Stormwater harvesting

Penrith City Council is tackling the challenge of water sustainability by investigating a stormwater harvesting and managed aquifer recharge scheme. A report by council’s policy review committee sought approval to apply for two lots of funding from the State Government: one to establish the scheme at Emu Plains, the other to link it to the Penrith recycled water scheme’s stage two. Partnering with Blacktown City Council, the system is based on a system that has been used by Salisbury Council in South Australia for more than 20 years. Funding submissions are being prepared

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Parramatta. Landcom wins top prize

New technology adopted by Landcom, based in Parramatta, in the planning of its award-winning Bungarribee estate development has earned the group the top prize at the Planning Institute NSW Planning Excellence Awards in Sydney. PRECINX is a mathematical modelling tool that measures the potential sustainability of neighbourhood scale developments, such as large multi-dwellings and mixed-use projects, while still in the early stages of design, against key environmental, social and economic criteria. Stephen Driscoll, director of sustainability for Landcom, said there was nothing else like PRECINX in Australia.

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Norwest. Plans for education facility

Initial moves have been made to establish a university annexe at Norwest Business Park offering postgraduate studies to the growing professional population in the Hills. Hills businessman Jim Taggart has joined forces with the head of the NSW branch of the Civil Contractors Federation, David Elliott, and the general manager at Crowne Plaza Norwest, Brian McHenry, to turn the dream into a reality. While the working party will be talking to Australian universities, members are also looking at a number of overseas establishments including the University of Massachusetts, in Boston, USA.

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Penrith. Locals win awards

Two Penrith businesses have been named Australian Small Business Champion awards: Gina Field, of Nepean Regional Security, was named Champion Small Business Entrepreneur. and Production Automotive was been named Champion Automotive Services. The Australian Small Business Champion Awards is the only national program of its kind to recognise the achievements and performances of small businesses.

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Quakers Hill. Dominos fined $120,000

A Dominos pizza shop in Quakers Hill has been described as having committed one of the worst breaches of food safety and hygiene in NSW and fined almost $120,000 after investigations by the Food Authority, following reports from customers who suffered food poisoning. Primary Industries Minister, Steve Whan, said conditions inside the store were appalling.