Targeting The Immune Cells Of The Brain To Develop Novel Treatments For Neurodevelopmental And Mental Health Problems In Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,800,000.00
Summary
Neurodevelopmental and mental health problems are common in children and cause major impairment and cost to society. This research will define how the maternal immune system while pregnant can affect the baby brain. Using patient studies and laboratory research, this research will result in novel ways to reduce the prevalence and severity of developmental and mental health problems in children and adults, by targeting the immune cells resident in the brain.
Melanoma Genetics: Clinical Translation Of The Germline-somatic Continuum
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,231,372.00
Summary
While new targeted and immune therapies can improve prognosis from metastatic melanoma, long-term survival for most patients remains elusive due to drug resistance or failure of the immune system to kill the tumour. There thus remains a significant need to improve early detection, monitoring of relapse, and treatment strategies, to increase survival and provide cures. My research vision addresses these three pillars of cancer research using innovative and cutting edge genetic approaches.
Translation Of Genomic Findings To Improve Outcomes In Patients With Myeloid Blood Cancers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,913,403.00
Summary
Changes within the DNA of blood cancer cells are responsible for causing cancer, but also control the progression through various stages of blood cancers and regulate the response of patients to treatment. It is fundamentally important to not only understand these genetic changes at the molecular level, but also to use these findings to rationally design clinical treatments that target these genetic changes to improve outcomes for patients with blood cancers.
Developing New Treatment Approaches For Severe And Treatment Resistant Depression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,060,520.00
Summary
Depression is a common, disabling problem. One third of depressed patients do not respond to treatment with standard medications and psychological therapy. This research program will focus on developing new treatment approaches for these people: optimising electroconvulsive therapy, a highly effective treatment, developing new non invasive brain stimulation treatments, generating new knowledge on how best to use ketamine treatment.
Innovative Neuroscience To Improve Treatment Of Sleep Disturbances For Prevention Of Depression And Anxiety
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$645,205.00
Summary
Insomnia patients have disturbed sleep and symptoms similar to people with depression and anxiety. Treatments are far from optimal and have not progressed since the beginning of the century. My pioneering work identified insomnia patients at risk of depression and anxiety and revealed a potential way of targeting disturbed sleep to resolve emotional distress. Now, my mission is to understand why they are at risk and develop innovative treatments that reduce their risk for depression and anxiety.
Developing Novel Therapeutic Approaches To Treat Chronic Kidney Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,173,545.00
Summary
Progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) to endstage is characterised by inflammation and fibrosis. No current treatment effectively halts CKD progression. We are using protective immune cells to treat CKD and have invented a genetically-engineered immune cell which uses damaging inflammatory signals to switch them into protective cells which reverse inflammation and fibrosis where they occur, to prevent progression of CKD and other diseases, such as those of heart, lung and liver.
Improving Outcomes For Children With Cancer: Targeted Treatments And Prevention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$900,000.00
Summary
Child cancer is the commonest disease causing death in children. Relapse is due to small, treatment-resistant populations of cancer cells in the initial tumour. Improvements in cure rates have slowed due to poor investment by the pharmaceutical industry in targeting specific child cancer driver genes. My program of research will use novel technologies to identify: new vulnerabilities for combination drug therapies, drugs directed against child cancer gene targets and strategies for prevention.
Targeting Iron Piracy From Host Proteins By Neisseria And Haemophilus Spp. For The Development Of Novel Antimicrobials
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$645,205.00
Summary
The bacteria that cause the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea and meningococcal disease are a serious health concern. In order to cause disease, these bacteria must obtain the nutrient iron from our bodies. This proposed research will use cutting edge technologies to understand on a molecular level how these bacteria obtain iron during infection. It will then apply this knowledge to develop molecules that prevent these bacteria from obtaining iron, as a means of treating these diseases.
Scarlet Fever Pandemic And Reversing Antibiotic Resistance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,414,215.00
Summary
(1) Scarlet fever is a disease caused by the bacterial pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS) that has abruptly re-emerged (>600,000 cases since 2011). To contain this outbreak, my team will develop a scarlet fever vaccine. (2) My team has discovered a class of safe compounds that break antibiotic resistance, restoring antibiotic efficacy. We will now translate this exciting and unparalleled discovery into the clinic for the treatment of antibiotic resistant superbugs.
The Kids Aren’t Alright: Preventing Depression In Adolescents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$600,715.00
Summary
Depression frequently emerges for the first-time during adolescence. This project examines ways to prevent depression in young people by: (i) partnering with schools to deliver broad universal programs to students through the education system, and (ii) treating sleep disturbance, a powerful but non-stigmatised risk factor for onset of depression. Findings from this research will inform innovative ways to address the depression crisis through the optimisation of prevention approaches.