Host-directed Therapy For Malaria: Host Cell Signalome As A Target
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$898,043.00
Summary
Malaria parasites kill 450,000 children a year and impact on the economic development of communities. Spreading drug resistant malaria parasites within Australia's South-East Asian neighbours creates an urgent and unmet need for new drug treatments. We will characterise host signals required for parasite survival in immature erythrocytes and identify host-directed, ready to develop, resistance-proofed drugs to kill malaria parasites.
Plasmodium falciparum is the most lethal malaria parasite that infect humans. Our work will reveal how this malaria parasite governs host tropism, fertilization and immune evasion by using the 6-cysteine family of proteins which are abundantly expressed on its surface. This proposal will explore novel ways using the smallest types of antibodies, called nanobodies, to block the function of these proteins and therefore prevent malaria infection.
Structure And Biophysical Analysis Aided Design Of Novel Toxoid Vaccines For A Major Class Of Bacterial Toxins.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$608,425.00
Summary
Inactivated bacterial toxins (toxoids), such as the tetanus vaccine, are safe and effective vaccines. Cholesterol dependent cytolysins (CDCs) are bacterial toxins produced by many important human pathogens including Group A Streptococcus (GAS) and Pneumococcus. GAS has no available vaccine and Pneumococcus does not have a universal vaccine. We have developed a new way of inactivating CDCs based on new knowledge of how they target human cells and will use this knowledge to make new vaccines.
Osteoarthritis Compass: Predicting Personalized Disease Onset And Progression With Future Capacity For Clinical Use.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$860,231.00
Summary
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is common, painful, and costly. General guidelines for knee OA management exist but cannot be personalized to the patient. New computer modelling methods enable prediction of knee OA onset and progression on a patient by patient basis but need further testing. Our aims are to 1) apply these new computer modelling methods to legacy datasets acquired from patient groups at risk of, and with, knee OA, and 2) make these models simple and fast enough to be clinically useful.
Improving Cardiac Valve Implant Outcomes With Advanced Computer Simulation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$593,367.00
Summary
This project focuses on improving heart valve procedures, specifically focusing on new transcatheter techniques of heart valve implantation. The research uses advanced imaging and computer simulation techniques to predict the outcome and improve minimally invasive heart procedures.
The Cellular Basis Of Synaptic Integration And Modulation In Human Pyramidal Neurons
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$917,355.00
Summary
Little is known about how human neurons integrate information, and how this process is altered during neuromodulation and disease. This project will address this fundamental gap in knowledge and will for the first time directly examine the neuromodulation of human neurons, and how this important process is altered in brain cancer. Our team of researchers and surgeons in Melbourne and Berlin will be able to provide valuable, and otherwise unattainable, information about the human brain.
Preventing The Transition From Acute To Chronic Pain. The Role Of Neural And Non-neural Factors.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,998,900.00
Summary
Pain following injury usually dissipates as the injury heals, however in some individuals it persists and lasts for years. Chronic pain is extremely difficult to treat, particularly that which originates from a damaged nerve. One of the roadblocks in developing effective treatments is our limited understanding of the pathophysiology. The overall aim of this proposal is to address this gap and determine the processes that occur in the brain that results in acute pain transitioning to chronic.
Determining The Molecular Basis Of Therapy Resistance Conferred By Genetic Lesions In The Tumour Protein TP53 In Haematological Malignancies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$885,183.00
Summary
Blood cancers that have genetic lesions in a tumour suppressor protein called TP53 respond poorly to therapy. Curing these patients is extremely challenging and new therapeutic strategies are desperately needed. Here, we aim to uncover the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance caused by loss of TP53 function and rationally design new therapies that may be curative. To do this, our team of leading scientists and clinicians will study patient samples and pre-clinical models of blood cancer.