Birth Weight, Adult Weight And Podocyte Depletion.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$796,252.00
Summary
A major role of our kidneys is to filter our blood. A key cell type in our kidney filters is an octopus-shaped cell known as the podocyte. If we are not born with enough podocytes, or if the filters grow too large after birth due for example to excessive weight gain, the podocytes cannot adequately filter the blood, and this can lead to kidney disease. We will measure podocyte endowment at birth, and assess the effects of weight gain and loss after birth on podocyte features and kidney health.
Environmental Influences In The Establishment Of The Epigenetic Landscape In Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$695,097.00
Summary
The DNA in each of our cells does not exist alone, it is packaged into complex structures called chromosomes, through association with many different proteins. The distribution of these proteins varies along the length of a chromosome depending on the type of cell and this phenomenon is called 'epigenetics', literally meaning 'above the DNA'. Epigenetic analysis is the study of how proteins and other molecules can change the activity of a gene without changing the DNA sequence. All of our cells ....The DNA in each of our cells does not exist alone, it is packaged into complex structures called chromosomes, through association with many different proteins. The distribution of these proteins varies along the length of a chromosome depending on the type of cell and this phenomenon is called 'epigenetics', literally meaning 'above the DNA'. Epigenetic analysis is the study of how proteins and other molecules can change the activity of a gene without changing the DNA sequence. All of our cells use epigenetic changes to help control how they grow and develop. Evidence suggests a direct link between diet and environmental influences on our epigenetic profile. Recent research has traced the origins of many of the health problems of adult life back to the earliest periods of development _ to the time spent in the womb and the first few years of life. If we are born with a low birth weight, we are more likely to get sick later in life. Overwhelming evidence exists that the environment in the womb is critical for a healthy birth weight (and health in later life) and it is thought that epigenetics may be the missing link between this environment, low birth weight, and therefore health in later life. In addition, mounting evidence supports a general link between epigenetic de-regulation and predisposition to disease. However, the timing and the overall contribution of environmental- genetic influences to the establishment of faulty epigenetic markings remain largely unknown. Twins are the best model to study this link as they share similar (but not identical environments) and some share identical genetic makeup. Using twins, Dr Jeffrey Craig and his team will investigate the factors in the prenatal environment that modify specific cells, leading to low birth weight and increase disease risk later in life. They predict that this occurs via specific changes in gene activity caused by epigenetic disruption.Read moreRead less
Defining Genetic And Epigenetic Variation During Early Development
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$996,075.00
Summary
We all began life with a set of genes inherited from our parents. However, it's now known that from the time we were in the womb onwards that genes can be turned off and on by the environment or even completely lost or gained. Even what your mother ate or how she behaved while she was pregnant could have influenced your future health. Because people are so different, we are studying the subtle differences between twins to tease out the factors that may influence our genes and our health.
Improving The Neonatal Transition In Infants With A Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$551,644.00
Summary
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a common congenital abnormality and occurs when the diaphragm fails to separate the abdominal and thoracic compartments before birth. This prevents the lung from growing properly and so at birth, the lung is unable to take over the role of gas exchange without considerable assistance. As a result, these infants are at high risk of death or significant disability and this application is focused on improving care and reducing morbidity in these infants.
Improving The Prediction And Detection Of Contributors To Term Stillbirth
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$570,358.00
Summary
Stillbirths are a global human tragedy, with 1 in 130 of all pregnancies in Australia ending in stillbirth. We propose to use ultrasound and blood markers to improve the detection of babies who are not growing well, a leading risk factor for stillbirth. Sleep position has also been associated with stillbirth, so we will study fetal heart rate responses during an overnight sleep study to see if breathing events overnight may be an important contributor to stillbirth in growth restricted fetuses.
Measuring Hypoxia Induced MRNA In Maternal Blood To Monitor Wellbeing Of Growth-restricted Fetuses
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$421,358.00
Summary
Severely growth restricted fetuses are at peril of stillbirth from low oxygenation. While ultrasound monitoring improves outcomes, babies are still lost. Better ways to monitor the health the unborn baby are needed. We have recently discovered fetuses’ starved of oxygen leak RNA into mother's blood. Thus, measuring RNA molecules in blood could be used to assess fetal health. We will examine whether measuring mRNA in maternal blood could be used to monitor wellbeing of growth-restricted fetuses.
A Unified Grid Programming Methodology for Global e-Science. This project will contribute to the national benefit in three important ways. First, we will build a set of novel e-Science applications as demonstrator projects in areas of national priority. These will have enormous economic impact in areas ranging from environmental management to health. Second, we will build software infrastructure that will have both commercial and strategic value in its own right. Third, we shall build a critical ....A Unified Grid Programming Methodology for Global e-Science. This project will contribute to the national benefit in three important ways. First, we will build a set of novel e-Science applications as demonstrator projects in areas of national priority. These will have enormous economic impact in areas ranging from environmental management to health. Second, we will build software infrastructure that will have both commercial and strategic value in its own right. Third, we shall build a critical mass of expertise that bridges the physical sciences and computer science. The support provided to this proposal will allow multi-disciplinary teams to address scientific problems of significant scale.Read moreRead less
Adaptive and Integrated Resource Allocation. By leveraging progress in communication technologies, adaptive and integrated optimization systems will open innovative application areas critical to Australia, yet outside the scope of existing optimization technology. For instance, they will dispatch and reallocate ambulances in real time, help contain pandemics, allocate resources dynamically to extinguish bushfires, and assist in failure recovery of energy infrastrutures. These systems will also s ....Adaptive and Integrated Resource Allocation. By leveraging progress in communication technologies, adaptive and integrated optimization systems will open innovative application areas critical to Australia, yet outside the scope of existing optimization technology. For instance, they will dispatch and reallocate ambulances in real time, help contain pandemics, allocate resources dynamically to extinguish bushfires, and assist in failure recovery of energy infrastrutures. These systems will also solve existing logistics and manufacturing applications better, making these industries more effective and reactive. The project also aims at establishing a center of excellence in optimization in Melbourne with an international reputation in research, teaching, and industrial collaboration.Read moreRead less
A scalable debugging framework for petascale computers. Supercomputing underpins a wide range of areas of importance to the Australian economy; mining, agriculture, engineering, medical research and pharmaceutical development to name a few. It is of critical importance that software solutions in these areas behave correctly and do not generate erroneous results. This project will develop software tools and techniques that make it possible to detect and locate errors as software is converted to r ....A scalable debugging framework for petascale computers. Supercomputing underpins a wide range of areas of importance to the Australian economy; mining, agriculture, engineering, medical research and pharmaceutical development to name a few. It is of critical importance that software solutions in these areas behave correctly and do not generate erroneous results. This project will develop software tools and techniques that make it possible to detect and locate errors as software is converted to run on the next generation of 'petascale' supercomputers. We will deploy the tools both commercially through our industry partner, and also on national high performance computing facilities.Read moreRead less
Combining mathematical programming and constraint programming to solve large-scale integrated scheduling problems. This project will target major savings in the airline industry, with resulting benefits for others such as tourism. The efficient use of airline fuel, which will be directly addressed in the project, is very important for the environment. The algorithms developed can improve cost and quality of service for Australian transportation, manufacturing and other industries.
The solut ....Combining mathematical programming and constraint programming to solve large-scale integrated scheduling problems. This project will target major savings in the airline industry, with resulting benefits for others such as tourism. The efficient use of airline fuel, which will be directly addressed in the project, is very important for the environment. The algorithms developed can improve cost and quality of service for Australian transportation, manufacturing and other industries.
The solutions developed within the project will be sold by the industrial partner, CTI, into major companies worldwide, and the technology will be used to develop further products.
Finally the project will extend Australia's lead in constraint programming and expertise in optimisation. This creates a major opportunity for the Australian software industry.
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