Does Obesity Have The Characteristics Of Addiction?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,832.00
Summary
The number of overweight or obese people in Australia has increased dramatically in recent years, increasing disease risk. The brain responds to palatable food in ways similar to the response to drugs of addiction, and this may explain why people find it hard to resist palatable food. Our work will explore whether obesity in rats has the characteristics of addiction by examining bingeing, craving, withdrawal and brain circuits in animals chronically exposed to palatable food.
Interactions Between Protein Leverage, Variety, And Dietary Carbohydrate And Fat Content In The Control Of Energy Intake In Humans
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$580,950.00
Summary
Most attempts to understand human vulnerability to obesity have focussed on fat and carbohydrate, yet recent studies have shown a powerful role for protein: we eat more calories when dietary protein concentration is low. But how does protein interact with other aspects of the diet, notably the prodigious variety of foods available in modern environments and the balance of fat to carbohydrate? We will use controlled trials to investigate how these factors contribute to excess energy intake.
Probiotic Prawn Oral Immunotherapy (ProPIT) For Treatment Of Prawn Allergy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,865,369.00
Summary
A ‘curative’ food allergy treatment is needed to prevent deaths and improve care. We recently showed that probiotic peanut oral immunotherapy (PPOIT) was highly effective for treating peanut allergy. 82% of PPOIT treated children gained tolerance compared to 4% of the placebo group. We will now test the combined probiotic-food OIT approach for treating prawn allergy. If successful, we will have identified the first treatment for prawn allergy and a platform treatment for other food allergies.
Next Generation Brain-Machine Interface: Minimally-Invasive Endovascular Stent-Electrode Array For Robotic Limb Control
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,735,574.00
Summary
Persons affected by quadriplegia and hemiplegia from stroke and spinal cord injury have few treatment options. Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs) reconnect brain to a prosthetic limb, bypassing damaged nervous system. Our group has developed a BMI that can be implanted minimally-invasively, inside a blood vessel within the brain. We propose to evaluate this device in animal studies, and continue on to a human clinical trial pilot study. The aim is to restore mechanical control over the physical env ....Persons affected by quadriplegia and hemiplegia from stroke and spinal cord injury have few treatment options. Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs) reconnect brain to a prosthetic limb, bypassing damaged nervous system. Our group has developed a BMI that can be implanted minimally-invasively, inside a blood vessel within the brain. We propose to evaluate this device in animal studies, and continue on to a human clinical trial pilot study. The aim is to restore mechanical control over the physical environment for a paralysed patient.Read moreRead less