Tracking blood and blood products for a healthy start to life. This project will aim to coalesce multiple data sources to track blood and blood products from supply to recipient and improve safe and appropriate blood product transfusions for mothers and newborns. Tracking blood will assist in early identification of adverse outcomes. Identification of at-risk women and babies will allow early prevention and treatment.
Genetic networks controlling lymphocyte differentiation. White blood cells are produced in the bone marrow from a rare stem cell. This research aims to understand how a handful of master-regulator genes act in the stem cells to produce the white blood cells that are required for our immune response to microbes, vaccination and to prevent cancer.
Bioreactors for manufacture of human platelets. Blood cell transfusion is a critical part of medicine that is supported by volunteer donors. Unfortunately, the demand for blood cells for transfusion far outstrips supply and therefore new strategies are required for manufacture of blood cells. This project will lead to the development of technology for manufacture of human platelets from stem cells. The systems devised will be applicable to a broad range of other blood cell types.
Mimetics and small chemical compounds for hemopoietic stem cell mobilisation. This project will result in the design and synthesis of new chemical compounds that could be used clinically to help collect blood stem cells for bone marrow transplantation. For patients this will mean more effective and less painful ways to collect stem cells and better transplant outcomes. There is a large, ongoing international market for this type of drug and likelihood of significant financial benefit.
Examining novel cell signalling in the regulation of platelet structure and function. Pharmaceutical inhibition of platelet function is the primary therapy for prevention of arterial thrombosis – the most common cause of death and disability in Australia. However, current therapies have limited efficacy. Defining platelet activation mechanisms in order to rationalise more effective antithrombotic approaches is the major focus of this research. This project describes the first studies to examine ....Examining novel cell signalling in the regulation of platelet structure and function. Pharmaceutical inhibition of platelet function is the primary therapy for prevention of arterial thrombosis – the most common cause of death and disability in Australia. However, current therapies have limited efficacy. Defining platelet activation mechanisms in order to rationalise more effective antithrombotic approaches is the major focus of this research. This project describes the first studies to examine the importance of a family of intracellular signalling enzymes, the Class II phosphoinositide 3-kinases, in platelet function. These studies will define the contribution of these enzymes to platelet production and function and will establish whether their inhibition is an attractive strategy for the prevention of arterial thrombosis.Read moreRead less
Studying precancerous stem cells that cause T cell leukaemia. Recent research has identified abnormal stem cells that are the cause of T cell leukaemia. They are also resistant to therapeutics suggesting that they could be a cause of relapse. The aim of this project is to determine the abnormal pathways that cause these cells to become immortal and to determine new therapeutic strategies to eliminate them.