Yindymarra (to Honour, Respect) Aboriginal Experiences In The Conduct Of Health Research: The Development Of Practical Recommendations To Enhance The Uptake Of Ethical Research Guidelines.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,015,166.00
Summary
Ethical, high quality research is needed to reduce the health gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Currently, there is no critical analysis of the uptake of ethical guidelines. This study will investigate the experiences of Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal health researchers at a national level. Collected data will inform a nationally endorsed set of practical recommendations to guide future Aboriginal health research.
A Roadmap For Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Adolescent Health: Defining Priority Health Needs And Actions Through The Empowerment & Capacity Development Of Young People.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,002,448.00
Summary
A third of the Indigenous population are adolescents, their health central to cultural continuity and health equity. Yet priority health needs and evidence-based responses for Indigenous adolescents remain poorly defined, a barrier to effective policy. The project is significant because it will establish a roadmap to guide actions around Indigenous adolescent health. It will also result in a network of engaged and up-skilled Indigenous young people who can drive implementation.
Investigating The Role Of Mitochondrial Tom40 In Regulated Cell Death And Neurodegeneration.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$972,660.00
Summary
Mitochondria are internal compartments of cells, separated by bounding membranes. They are crucial to the life and death of cells, and to quality of human life and ageing. Diseases of the nervous system can be caused when mitochondria do not function properly. Our aim is to discover why a protein complex called TOM embedded in the bounding membrane is linked to dementia in some people. This will also lead to a better general understanding of the connection between mitochondria and human health.
Bivalent Analgesics: Rational Design Of Selective Ion Channel Inhibitors With Optimised Mechanism Of Action
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$904,890.00
Summary
The so-called 'opioid crisis' leading to the death of millions of people worldwide has highlighted the urgent need for development of novel safe and efficacious pain killers without addictive potential. This proposal aims to rationally design novel analgesic compounds by linking different classes of ion channel modulators with desirable properties.
Biosensor Based Clinical-decision Support For Patients With Heart Failure
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$691,933.00
Summary
Heart Failure (HF) is a progressive disease and a major global public health concern. HF accounts for a substantial number of hospitalisations, major healthcare resource utilisation and costs. We aim to engineer biosensor platform to stratify the risk in HF patients will revolutionise current management of HF by providing the cardiologist information to risk stratify patients based on protein signature. This will lead to a substantial paradigm shift in clinical practice.
Molecular Characterisation Of The DBHS Proteins In Telomerase Assembly
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$686,246.00
Summary
Telomerase is an enzyme that is active in over 90% of cancers. Telomerase activity allows cancer cells to divide an indefinite number of times. We have identified a novel role for the DBHS protein family in regulating telomerase activity. We aim to investigate the mechanisms by which these proteins function to assemble and transport telomerase to its site of action in the cell. We then aim to develop chemical inhibitors of these proteins, and test their utility in preventing cancer cell growth.
Validating CaMKK2 As A Rational Treatment Target For Bipolar Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$688,175.00
Summary
Bipolar disorder is a disabling, chronic mental illness that profoundly impairs the ability of affected individuals to function in daily life. Existing treatments for bipolar disorder are inadequate and lack the necessary efficacy and tolerability required for long-term therapy. This project will validate the enzyme, CaMKK2, as a rational treatment target for bipolar disorder, which will guide the development of more effective and safer drugs to improve patient outcomes.
Repurposing And Re-optimising Drugs That Disrupt Glycoprotein Folding To Treat COVID-19
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,199,874.00
Summary
As of June 2020, COVID-19 has infected over 7.3 million people and killed over 413,000 in the six months since it emerged. It has pushed many healthcare systems and economies to breaking point. We recently discovered that a known drug is effective at stopping the virus under laboratory conditions. This research will determine exactly how the drug works, evaluate it's potential in pre-clinical models, and re-optimise the drug's antiviral properties to ensure that we can prevent future pandemics.
ER Stress-Unfolded Protein Response A Critical Metabolic Pathway For Airway Remodelling In Asthma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$789,475.00
Summary
Airway remodelling in asthma is associated with poor clinical outcomes and is not prevented by current treatments. We have found endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and associated unfolded protein response (UPR), a crucial process involve in cellular protein folding, play a key role in airway remodelling in asthma. This study will investigate whether inhibition of ERS prevents goblet cell metaplasia, mucus hypersecretion and fibrosis and can be used as a therapeutic strategy for severe asthma.
Presentation Of Metabolite Antigens By MR1 Molecules: A Fundamental System Of Immune Priming
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$883,832.00
Summary
Our immune system constantly monitors our body for disease-causing microbes, such as bacteria that cause illnesses like pneumonia or tuberculosis. Our cells have a molecular alarm-system called 'MR1' which alerts white blood cells that an infection by microbes is occurring, however this process is not well understood. This grant will allow me to discover the cells and molecular pathways that govern the MR1 alarm system, which may lead to new treatments against common diseases in our community.