Planet Formation at Solar System Scales with the James Webb Space Telescope. Planetary systems like our own form within vast disks of primordial gas and dust around newborn stars. This project will observe such disks spanning a range of ages with the James Webb Space Telescope to reveal the detailed in-situ physics of planet-forming disks themselves. We will deliver the sharpest-ever infrared images in astronomy, exploiting the only Australian-designed instrument on the spacecraft: the Aperture ....Planet Formation at Solar System Scales with the James Webb Space Telescope. Planetary systems like our own form within vast disks of primordial gas and dust around newborn stars. This project will observe such disks spanning a range of ages with the James Webb Space Telescope to reveal the detailed in-situ physics of planet-forming disks themselves. We will deliver the sharpest-ever infrared images in astronomy, exploiting the only Australian-designed instrument on the spacecraft: the Aperture Masking Interferometer. This yields new physics for actively growing protoplanets, carved rings and gaps in disks, and gravitationally sculpted patterns of leftover cometary debris. Confronting state-of-the-art models with these data will immediately yield profound insights into planetary system formation, including our own.Read moreRead less
Redefining the immune landscape of the human ocular surface. At the ocular surface, the cornea and limbus need to mount effective immune responses to maintain corneal transparency for clear vision. The current paradigm is that the human cornea houses the same innate immune cell subsets (dendritic cells and macrophages) as naïve mice in pathogen-free facilities. Our pilot data challenge this premise, with early evidence that innate and adaptive cells (T cells) coexist in normal human corneas. Int ....Redefining the immune landscape of the human ocular surface. At the ocular surface, the cornea and limbus need to mount effective immune responses to maintain corneal transparency for clear vision. The current paradigm is that the human cornea houses the same innate immune cell subsets (dendritic cells and macrophages) as naïve mice in pathogen-free facilities. Our pilot data challenge this premise, with early evidence that innate and adaptive cells (T cells) coexist in normal human corneas. Integrating state-of-the-art techniques, we will advance understanding of immune regulation at the human ocular surface by comprehensively defining immune cell biology and dynamics. We will define the effect of age on immune cells in these tissues, and relationships between the tear proteome and cell behaviours.Read moreRead less
Ultrafast tracking of physiological processes in the human eye. Recent developments in high-resolution imaging allow individual cells in the living eye to be studied at very high speeds. This project aims to explore a new class of scientific observations of rapid phenomena including: the capture and conversion of light energy to electrical energy, the spread of pressure waves through delicate networks of blood vessels, and fast eye movements used to navigate the visual scene. This project expect ....Ultrafast tracking of physiological processes in the human eye. Recent developments in high-resolution imaging allow individual cells in the living eye to be studied at very high speeds. This project aims to explore a new class of scientific observations of rapid phenomena including: the capture and conversion of light energy to electrical energy, the spread of pressure waves through delicate networks of blood vessels, and fast eye movements used to navigate the visual scene. This project expects to generate new knowledge about these processes using state of the art technology, to reveal more about how the eye and visual system work. Our novel measures of physiological function will offer significant future benefit in the early diagnosis and treatment of disorders occurring at the cellular level.Read moreRead less