Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0883068
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
Dako ACIS III Cellular Image Acquisition and Analysis System. The scientific advances that will be possible with the acquisition of this novel, cutting-edge instrument will enhance the research outputs of all investigators using it. The ability to visualize and analyze cells and tissues from many different animal species, to elucidate both normal and abnormal functions, will be enhanced by the use of this technology. This will lead to production of quantitative statistical data that in turn will ....Dako ACIS III Cellular Image Acquisition and Analysis System. The scientific advances that will be possible with the acquisition of this novel, cutting-edge instrument will enhance the research outputs of all investigators using it. The ability to visualize and analyze cells and tissues from many different animal species, to elucidate both normal and abnormal functions, will be enhanced by the use of this technology. This will lead to production of quantitative statistical data that in turn will inform new approaches to improve and maintain the health of humans and other animals.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668479
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$265,000.00
Summary
Advanced Imaging Flow Cytometry Facility for NSW. The scientific advances that will be possible with the acquisition of this novel, cutting-edge instrument will enhance the research outputs of all investigators using it. Projects where the investigation of single cells is used to elucidate the basic life processes of eukaryotic cells across all species of animals, including the investigation of both normal and abnormal function, will be immeasurably enhanced by both the qualitative and quantitat ....Advanced Imaging Flow Cytometry Facility for NSW. The scientific advances that will be possible with the acquisition of this novel, cutting-edge instrument will enhance the research outputs of all investigators using it. Projects where the investigation of single cells is used to elucidate the basic life processes of eukaryotic cells across all species of animals, including the investigation of both normal and abnormal function, will be immeasurably enhanced by both the qualitative and quantitative statistical information about these processes that is generated by this instrument. This in turn will inform new approaches to improve and maintain the health of the human and animal community.Read moreRead less
Understanding the T cell repertoire in health and disease. Immune recognition of viruses usually involves a large number of different 'killer T cells' that kill cells infected by virus. However, during prolonged infection or in the elderly the number of different killer T cells that recognise the virus is greatly reduced. This reduction in the diversity of the immune response allows the virus to avoid immune recognition, and leads to more severe infection. We aim to understand how diversity is ....Understanding the T cell repertoire in health and disease. Immune recognition of viruses usually involves a large number of different 'killer T cells' that kill cells infected by virus. However, during prolonged infection or in the elderly the number of different killer T cells that recognise the virus is greatly reduced. This reduction in the diversity of the immune response allows the virus to avoid immune recognition, and leads to more severe infection. We aim to understand how diversity is generated in the immune response, and how it becomes narrowed with age or prolonged infection. This information can be used to design vaccines for persistent infections such as HIV, and to improve immune control of infection in the elderly.Read moreRead less
Understanding the dynamics of T cell responses to chronic infection. The health, social, and economic impact of chronic infections on the Australian and global populations is enormous. A major obstacle to the development of vaccines against chronic infections is that we have a poor understanding of immune responses to persistent infections. We aim to use bioinformatics and mathematical modelling to understand immune responses to persistent viruses so that we can improve the long-term immune cont ....Understanding the dynamics of T cell responses to chronic infection. The health, social, and economic impact of chronic infections on the Australian and global populations is enormous. A major obstacle to the development of vaccines against chronic infections is that we have a poor understanding of immune responses to persistent infections. We aim to use bioinformatics and mathematical modelling to understand immune responses to persistent viruses so that we can improve the long-term immune control of chronic viral infections such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This project will strengthen Australian research in the area of interdisciplinary approaches to immunology, which is becoming crucial to interpreting the rapidly increasing volume of data obtained using advanced experimental techniques.Read moreRead less
Improving and manipulating the immune adjuvant properties of recombinant fowlpox vectors. Unbalanced immune responses may cause or worsen common and important diseases such as infections, allergies, cancers and autoimmunity. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is the only immune active product or cytokine that safely skews an aberrant immune response to a healing type of response. Fowlpox viruses (FPV) provide safe and effective human vaccines. Engineering FPV to make both a relevant antigen and a cytokine is ....Improving and manipulating the immune adjuvant properties of recombinant fowlpox vectors. Unbalanced immune responses may cause or worsen common and important diseases such as infections, allergies, cancers and autoimmunity. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is the only immune active product or cytokine that safely skews an aberrant immune response to a healing type of response. Fowlpox viruses (FPV) provide safe and effective human vaccines. Engineering FPV to make both a relevant antigen and a cytokine is proprietary technology. With our commercial partner and using experimental mice, we will test the concept that FPV making a model antigen and IL-4 initiate and/or maintain beneficial Type 2 responses. A successful outcome will guide clinical FPV-based vaccine development for the treatment of important human and veterinary diseases.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882913
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
Mass spectrometry facility for the quantitation and analysis of post-translationally modified peptides. This proposal will address a gap in our mass spectrometry capabilities and aid in our understanding of the cellular immune response and investigate the chemical diversity of the targets of immunity. This proposal has broad implications in the basic immunology of antigen presentation, in biomarker discovery as well as in the design of new vaccines in infectious disease and cancer and the develo ....Mass spectrometry facility for the quantitation and analysis of post-translationally modified peptides. This proposal will address a gap in our mass spectrometry capabilities and aid in our understanding of the cellular immune response and investigate the chemical diversity of the targets of immunity. This proposal has broad implications in the basic immunology of antigen presentation, in biomarker discovery as well as in the design of new vaccines in infectious disease and cancer and the development of therapies for autoimmune diseases. In addition to these key scientific outcomes this project will also facilitate the training of several new personnel in a skill area for which there is a critical shortage (mass spectrometry) and promote cross-disciplinary skills (immunology, biochemistry, proteomics).Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989744
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
7-laser BD LSR-II and Cellomics ArrayScan VTi, to enhance capability and throughput for the NSW Advanced Cytometry Facility. The scientific advances that will be possible with the acquisition of these complementary cutting-edge instruments will enhance the research outputs of all investigators using it. Projects where investigation of either suspended or adherent live cells is used to elucidate basic life processes of eukaryotic cells across all species of animals, including the investigation of ....7-laser BD LSR-II and Cellomics ArrayScan VTi, to enhance capability and throughput for the NSW Advanced Cytometry Facility. The scientific advances that will be possible with the acquisition of these complementary cutting-edge instruments will enhance the research outputs of all investigators using it. Projects where investigation of either suspended or adherent live cells is used to elucidate basic life processes of eukaryotic cells across all species of animals, including the investigation of both normal and abnormal function, will be immeasurably enhanced by both the qualitative and quantitative statistical information about these processes that is generated by this instrumentation. This in turn will inform new approaches to improve and maintain the health of both humans and animals.Read moreRead less
Investigation of the resilience of immune memory to manipulation by pathogens. Vaccines have a major impact on the wellbeing of humans as well as productivity and welfare of veterinary species and pets. New vaccines have therefore a tremendous effect on both the economy and the community. Here we investigate in how far an adjuvanted vaccine can influence the type of immune response induced during subsequent infection when the pathogen has developed mechanisms to subvert the induced protective im ....Investigation of the resilience of immune memory to manipulation by pathogens. Vaccines have a major impact on the wellbeing of humans as well as productivity and welfare of veterinary species and pets. New vaccines have therefore a tremendous effect on both the economy and the community. Here we investigate in how far an adjuvanted vaccine can influence the type of immune response induced during subsequent infection when the pathogen has developed mechanisms to subvert the induced protective immune response. This question has profound implications for all vaccine and adjuvant development activities, as the resilience of immune memory is not yet considered an important parameter in the design of adjuvants yet it is fundamental to the successful of vaccines against many pathogens.Read moreRead less
Molecular determinants of an allergic response. Some humans develop allergies after exposure to environmental allergens while others do not. At present, the reason for this individual variation is not known. By comparing the processes activated in allergic versus non-allergic individuals, this study will identify critical molecules involved in making individuals susceptible to allergies, which will be used to develop safer and more effective allergy vaccines.
Development of novel vaccine delivery systems for induction of mucosal immunity in a large animal model. The induction of mucosal immune responses is a highly desirable goal in vaccine research and development, as it prevents entry of the large number of mucosal pathogens. This proposal aims to develop new mucosal vaccine delivery systems by combining intra-nasal, intra-lung and transcutaneous vaccine delivery with ISCOM-based adjuvants. The nature of the immune response will be analysed in real ....Development of novel vaccine delivery systems for induction of mucosal immunity in a large animal model. The induction of mucosal immune responses is a highly desirable goal in vaccine research and development, as it prevents entry of the large number of mucosal pathogens. This proposal aims to develop new mucosal vaccine delivery systems by combining intra-nasal, intra-lung and transcutaneous vaccine delivery with ISCOM-based adjuvants. The nature of the immune response will be analysed in real time using a sheep cannulation model. Subsequently, the efficacy of mucosal vaccination strategies will be tested in a chlamydia infection model.Read moreRead less