Liquid Biopsy For Personalised Monitoring Of Melanoma Patients
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$820,888.00
Summary
Despite the success of recent melanoma treatments, therapies are effective long term in only a proportion of patients. Here we will progress preliminary findings in collaboration with biotechnology and pathology companies to develop highly effective companion biomarkers that will aid treatment decisions throughout disease course. Our team will spearhead translation of these markers into the clinic for routine monitoring of melanoma patients.
Biomarkers For The Progression Of Cholangiocarcinoma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$507,347.00
Summary
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a form of liver cancer with a devastatingly poor prognosis. In East Asia long term infection with a parasitic worm leads to CCA. Because it is feasible to monitor the development of CCA from the time of infection with the parasite, we propose a biomarker discovery program using CCA samples from liver fluke infected persons in Thailand. This will eventuate in tools for the early diagnosis and early treatment of CCA for those at risk of developing this cancer globally.
Changing Patterns Of Immunity Following Large Scale Malaria Control Programs In The South West Pacific
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$299,564.00
Summary
People can develop partial immunity to malaria, which requires ongoing exposure to infection to be maintained. If exposure to infections is completely prevented, people can lose the immunity it has taken them years to develop. In the context of significant ongoing malaria bednet control efforts in the South West Pacific, we will investigate loss or maintenance of the malaria-immune state. This is important for vaccine development and to help us define risk of rebound disease.
Personalizing Antipsychotic Medicines To Improve Patient Outcomes In Schizophrenia: Development Of Decision Support Tools Using Pharmacometabolomics And Pharmacometrics
AKR1C3 As A Potential Biomarker For Sensitivity Of T-lineage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia To The Pre-prodrug PR-104
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$327,797.00
Summary
Multiagent chemotherapy is the most effective modality for the treatment of childhood ALL, the most common paediatric malignancy. Despite dramatic improvements in survival over the past 40 years, relapsed ALL remains one of the most common causes of death from disease in children. Therefore, innovative strategies are needed to benefit those children who respond poorly to established therapy. This application will test a novel therapy for a very aggressive subtype of childhood leukaemia.
Nutrition, Physical Function And Muscle Mass In Advanced Liver Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$303,014.00
Summary
Muscle wasting is associated with increased risk of death in patients with liver disease. Many factors contribute to this muscle wasting, but our group’s recent finding that testosterone therapy increases muscle mass in men with liver disease remains the only proven treatment. This project aims to increase understanding of the causes of muscle wasting and to show that testosterone treatment improves clinical outcomes, which could improve the health of liver disease sufferers worldwide.
Nerve cells communicate with each other through nerve processes or neurites. The dysfunction of neurites results in the clinical symptoms of dementia such as cognitive decline. Currently we cannot directly monitor degeneration of neurites in the living brain and therefore it is difficult to determine whether therapeutic agents are protective. My goal is to develop a detection system in the blood that will allow us to monitor these changes during disease progression and therapeutic intervention.
A significant proportion of Australian children are at health risk due to environmental metal exposure. It is suspected that exposure to metals during the prenatal period can result in permanent impairment. Human studies are, however, limited by lack of biomarkers that accurately measure exposure at specific times of intrauterine development. We are proposing to develop a novel method that utilizes human primary teeth to provide a direct measure of metal exposure during foetal development.
Translation Of Genetic, Genomic And Transcriptomic Discoveries Into Clinical Practice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$638,517.00
Summary
This project will progress studies on genes affecting common diseases to clinical application. Specifically, I aim to (1) establish the basis for the association of the identified MS risk factors with MS susceptibility; (2) establish if the three MS blood immune types we have identified, which are tagged by MS susceptibility genes, and altered by MS therapy, predict clinical response to therapy; and (3) determine the effect of host genetic variation in response to therapy for HCV, HIV and flu.