The Impact Of Reduced Plasmodium Falciparum And Plasmodium Vivax Transmission On The Epidemiology Of Malaria And The Acquisition Of Antigen-specific Recall Responses In Children From Papua New Guinea.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,166.00
Summary
Malaria represents a significant global health burden in endemic countries. Individuals gradually develop a level of immunity to the clinical symptoms of malaria as a result of continued exposure throughout their lifetime. Efforts to implement effective malaria control strategies are increasing, thereby reducing exposure. This project will investigate how such strategies will impact on the development of immunity to malaria and the amount of clinical disease observed in different age groups.
Enhancing immunogenicity of DNA vaccines by targeted delivery to antigen presenting cells. Vaccines have proven to be one of the most effective means of preventing infection and also provide promise as a treatment for cancer. However, the range of effective technologies that make possible the delivery of vaccines that can protect against a broad range of infections is limited. DNA based vaccines are attractive because they are relatively easy to produce against a wide range of infections. Howeve ....Enhancing immunogenicity of DNA vaccines by targeted delivery to antigen presenting cells. Vaccines have proven to be one of the most effective means of preventing infection and also provide promise as a treatment for cancer. However, the range of effective technologies that make possible the delivery of vaccines that can protect against a broad range of infections is limited. DNA based vaccines are attractive because they are relatively easy to produce against a wide range of infections. However, DNA vaccines often provide poor protection against infections. This project will explore a unique technology developed in Australia and that will greatly improve the effectiveness of DNA vaccines against a broad range of diseases. Read moreRead less
Humoral And Neutralising Antibody Responses To Self-adjuvanting Recombinant HCV Virus Like Particles
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$118,796.00
Summary
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects 3% of the world's population and causes an estimated 476,000 deaths per year as a result of HCV associated end-stage liver disease. HCV is one of the most common notifiable infectious diseases in Australia with 16,000 new cases reported annually and a vaccine will reduce the number of new infections. The aim of this project is to develop HCV virus like particles (VLP's) that have the potential for future development of preventative vaccine against HCV.
Identifying the major targets of protective antibodies against malaria. This project aims to understand how immunity to malaria develops and to use this knowledge to develop effective vaccines against malaria. The development of a malaria vaccine would be of great value in Australia's region where malaria is a leading cause of death and illness and impairs economic development. The project will advance our knowledge of how the immune system fights infections and will contribute to building Austr ....Identifying the major targets of protective antibodies against malaria. This project aims to understand how immunity to malaria develops and to use this knowledge to develop effective vaccines against malaria. The development of a malaria vaccine would be of great value in Australia's region where malaria is a leading cause of death and illness and impairs economic development. The project will advance our knowledge of how the immune system fights infections and will contribute to building Australia's strength in infectious diseases research and developing strategies to combat important infections. The project will help build and maintain expertise in developing vaccines in Australia and the approaches used and knowledge gained will be applicable to understanding and combating other important infections.Read moreRead less
Characterisation Of Immune Responses To Sarcoptes Scabiei Cysteine Proteases, Group 1 Allergen Homologues, In Scabies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$465,750.00
Summary
Scabies, a parasitic skin infestation by the 'itch' mite Sarcoptes scabiei, causes significant health problems for children and adults in many remote Aboriginal communities in Australia. Scabies is often the underlying cause of streptococcal skin infections which can cause serious complications such as kidney and heart disease. Although diagnosed scabies cases can be successfully treated, individuals have often already transmitted the disease to others prior to receiving therapy. A particularly ....Scabies, a parasitic skin infestation by the 'itch' mite Sarcoptes scabiei, causes significant health problems for children and adults in many remote Aboriginal communities in Australia. Scabies is often the underlying cause of streptococcal skin infections which can cause serious complications such as kidney and heart disease. Although diagnosed scabies cases can be successfully treated, individuals have often already transmitted the disease to others prior to receiving therapy. A particularly dreadful form of scabies, known as crusted scabies, can develop in a minority of people, in which mites multiply in their millions and the affected person develops severe crusting of the skin. This has resulted in death within 5 years for up to 50% of people with this form of scabies. Scabies mites are scientifically very similar to house dust mites, and they produce cross reactive proteins. Molecular studies in our laboratory have enabled the identification and cloning of a number of scabies molecules with considerable similarity to known house dust mite proteins that cause allergic disease. In this study we propose to focus on a group of scabies proteins with significant identity to the extensively studied Group 1 house dust mite allergens, reported to cause an immune response in 90% of mite allergic people. We propose to use these scabies mite molecules to characterise the immune response in ordinary scabies and compare it to the more severe and debilitating crusted form of the disease. Characterisation of the immune response in scabies will ultimately aid in the development of new treatment for crusted scabies based on immunotherapy. Studies will also investigate for any cross reactivity with the house dust mite group 1 molecules and enable the design of specific immunodiagnositics to distinguish house dust mite allergy from scabies infestation and thus facilitate early diagnosis of scabies carriers and better control of the infestation in endemic communities.Read moreRead less
Escape And Reversion Of Critical Immune Responses: Insights Into Effective Immunity To HIV
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,446.00
Summary
The HIV pandemic is a global emergency. The overall goal of this grant proposal is to elucidate the requirements for protective immunity to HIV. Although immune responses have some effect on HIV replication, the virus mutates and evolves to escape immune pressure. However, each mutation away from wild-type virus likely results in at least some impairment in the ability of the virus to replicate. Where efficient immune responses target regions of the virus that are critical to virus replication, ....The HIV pandemic is a global emergency. The overall goal of this grant proposal is to elucidate the requirements for protective immunity to HIV. Although immune responses have some effect on HIV replication, the virus mutates and evolves to escape immune pressure. However, each mutation away from wild-type virus likely results in at least some impairment in the ability of the virus to replicate. Where efficient immune responses target regions of the virus that are critical to virus replication, escape mutations may result in viral variants incapable of causing disease. Resulting from an exciting collaboration between HIV and theoretical biologists, we have recently identified techniques to calculate the effectiveness of immunity and the cost of subsequent immune escape variants. We will use and expand these techniques to identify immune responses that result in the most effective control of viral replication. These studies will lead to ways to improve HIV vaccines and thereby prevent HIV.Read moreRead less
Understanding The Importance Of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Production In Australian Isolates Of Staphylococcus Aureus.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$118,796.00
Summary
New strains of the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have emerged in the community, causing severe, sometimes fatal infections in otherwise healthy people. These strains, called community-acquired MRSA produce a toxin (Panton-Valentine leukocidin). This project will provide important information about how this toxin promotes disease, and how the immune system responds to the toxin, providing the basis for the development of immunotherapies against this new superbug.
Immune Correlates Of Early Corticosteroid Therapy In Vietnamese Children And Young Adults With Dengue
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$467,073.00
Summary
Dengue is a globally important infectious disease. This study will seek to understand how corticosteroids, an immune modulating class of drug, effect the immune responses in children with dengue. The basis for this study is a randomised controlled trial at a large hospital in Viet Nam that treats many patients with dengue. We expect to obtain the laboratory evidence needed to support further clinical trials of this drug and in doing so we will improve our understanding of dengue.
Identification of novel markers of inflammation. This project will benefit Australia as it will increase basic understanding of inflammatory processes, result in a new generation of diagnostics for inflammatory diseases that could lead to earlier diagnosis and to monitor treatment, resulting in large economic and health benefit. It may lead to development of novel new therapies using monoclonal antibodies to regulate processes in immune, cardiovascular and infectious diseases. The work will gene ....Identification of novel markers of inflammation. This project will benefit Australia as it will increase basic understanding of inflammatory processes, result in a new generation of diagnostics for inflammatory diseases that could lead to earlier diagnosis and to monitor treatment, resulting in large economic and health benefit. It may lead to development of novel new therapies using monoclonal antibodies to regulate processes in immune, cardiovascular and infectious diseases. The work will generate significant economic spin-offs to the Australian biotechnology industry and will further relationships and training between research and development.Read moreRead less