Modulation of air-conditioning settings to destroy respiratory viruses. This project aims to prove that manipulating the ambient humidity can rapidly degrade airborne viruses. The relationship between ambient humidity and airborne infection is poorly understood for viral pathogens including influenza and the common cold. The project will prove that indoor environmental conditions can be easily manipulated to kill airborne viruses. The findings will be used to develop indoor air humidity control ....Modulation of air-conditioning settings to destroy respiratory viruses. This project aims to prove that manipulating the ambient humidity can rapidly degrade airborne viruses. The relationship between ambient humidity and airborne infection is poorly understood for viral pathogens including influenza and the common cold. The project will prove that indoor environmental conditions can be easily manipulated to kill airborne viruses. The findings will be used to develop indoor air humidity control guidelines targeting the vulnerabilities of the viruses to minimise airborne infection.Read moreRead less
CD4 T cell programming by neonatal and early-life infection. T lymphocytes (T cells) are white blood cells that play a critical role in protecting the body from infection. Before T cells can function they need to be programmed so that they can specifically respond to an infectious agent (a type of bacteria or virus). Inappropriate programming can lead to disease. Whether T cells respond to an infectious agent or foreign substance in a protective or destructive manner may critically depend on the ....CD4 T cell programming by neonatal and early-life infection. T lymphocytes (T cells) are white blood cells that play a critical role in protecting the body from infection. Before T cells can function they need to be programmed so that they can specifically respond to an infectious agent (a type of bacteria or virus). Inappropriate programming can lead to disease. Whether T cells respond to an infectious agent or foreign substance in a protective or destructive manner may critically depend on the age that an individual first encounters the infection. Our project will identify critical periods in life that direct T cell programming to subsequent protective or destructive responses, providing new insights into the developing immune system that may be exploited to treat disease or develop vaccines.Read moreRead less
Innovative approaches to understanding and limiting the public health risks of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in animals in Australian catchments. Sophisticated molecular typing and modelling will be used to determine if chlorine-resistant parasites in animals in catchments are responsible for infection in humans. Improved catchment management and risk mitigation strategies will be developed during this project, which will make a substantial contribution to the provision of safe drinking water acro ....Innovative approaches to understanding and limiting the public health risks of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in animals in Australian catchments. Sophisticated molecular typing and modelling will be used to determine if chlorine-resistant parasites in animals in catchments are responsible for infection in humans. Improved catchment management and risk mitigation strategies will be developed during this project, which will make a substantial contribution to the provision of safe drinking water across Australia.Read moreRead less
Foreign DNA is a danger signal for mammalian cells. This project investigates how cells normally respond to foreign DNA, and is relevant to understanding how the body fights infections, particularly by viruses. The results will help us to design more effective treatments for infectious disease. Studying responses to DNA will also promote the design of new treatments for the autoimmune disease lupus, and help improve technologies or treatments where DNA is introduced into cells or tissues. This ....Foreign DNA is a danger signal for mammalian cells. This project investigates how cells normally respond to foreign DNA, and is relevant to understanding how the body fights infections, particularly by viruses. The results will help us to design more effective treatments for infectious disease. Studying responses to DNA will also promote the design of new treatments for the autoimmune disease lupus, and help improve technologies or treatments where DNA is introduced into cells or tissues. This includes gene therapy, new strategies for vaccination, and the production of proteins as drugs by biotechnology. The project will promote National Research Priorities in the areas of preventative healthcare, ageing well ageing productively, breakthrough science and new technologies.Read moreRead less
Understanding the life and death of Mucosal-associated invariant T cells. Cell death of naïve T cells in lymphoid organs is well-understood. However, T cells only gain their function upon activation, and how activated T cells regulate their life or death remains unclear. Mucosal-associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are abundant in non-lymphoid tissues as key local players in immunity, and share some features of activated conventional T cells. This project aims to define how MAIT cell survival and ....Understanding the life and death of Mucosal-associated invariant T cells. Cell death of naïve T cells in lymphoid organs is well-understood. However, T cells only gain their function upon activation, and how activated T cells regulate their life or death remains unclear. Mucosal-associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells are abundant in non-lymphoid tissues as key local players in immunity, and share some features of activated conventional T cells. This project aims to define how MAIT cell survival and death are controlled. It combines methods we developed to track MAIT cells in vivo with expertise in cell death analysis. This project is expected to elucidate the complex mechanisms controlling MAIT cell survival/death and increase our fundamental understanding of cell death mechanisms of activated T cells.Read moreRead less
Development of strategy for comprehensive protection of Australia against respiratory diseases by real time detection of airborne pathogenic microbes. The project will develop a real time portable bioaerosol detector capable of identifying a presence of targeted microorganisms in the ambient air immediately upon their appearance. The device will become a powerful tool capable of protecting Australia by minimising the possible spread of infectious respiratory diseases causing global pandemics.
An investigation into Infection, Immunity & Rational Drug Design. The human population is constantly under threat of microbial attack. The survival of our species reflects a delicate balance between infection and immunity. Whether an individual mounts an effective immune response or succumbs to microbial infection is critically dependent on host proteins interacting effectively with microbial antigens, versus microbes developing sophisticated strategies of invasion and immune evasion. This pr ....An investigation into Infection, Immunity & Rational Drug Design. The human population is constantly under threat of microbial attack. The survival of our species reflects a delicate balance between infection and immunity. Whether an individual mounts an effective immune response or succumbs to microbial infection is critically dependent on host proteins interacting effectively with microbial antigens, versus microbes developing sophisticated strategies of invasion and immune evasion. This proposal will provide fundamental advancement of knowledge in the areas of infection and immunity. The information gleaned from this research will lead to the rational development of therapeutics. Consequently, the research will potentially have an enormous global impact in the area of biomedical health.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101701
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
A porcine model to provide new insights on scabies immunopathology. Scabies is a poorly understood parasitic disease of medical and veterinary significance. This project will use a world-first experimental model to investigate the progression of host immune responses in scabies, which will enable the development of new control strategies for this neglected disease.
Body fluids: sweet protection against infection? Serious health problems caused by pathogenic microorganisms are in sharp increase due to aging population, escalating numbers of immunocompromised people and the increased resistance of microorganisms to currently available antibiotics. Our research will lead to development of new approaches to protect people and animals from pathogens before they invade the body. The commercial possibilities for new and natural antimicrobials are present from bot ....Body fluids: sweet protection against infection? Serious health problems caused by pathogenic microorganisms are in sharp increase due to aging population, escalating numbers of immunocompromised people and the increased resistance of microorganisms to currently available antibiotics. Our research will lead to development of new approaches to protect people and animals from pathogens before they invade the body. The commercial possibilities for new and natural antimicrobials are present from both the health and agricultural sectors in Australia and abroad. The technologies used and further developed will serve as a state-of-the-art training ground for the next generation of postgraduate students encompassing the integration of genomics, proteomics and glycomics technologies.Read moreRead less
Aerosol glassy states promote global warming, airborne toxins and pathogens. This project will improve our understanding of the role played by airborne particles in global climate, pollution and the transmission of influenza, corona virus and the common cold. It will do so by revealing the wider importance of "glassy states" of matter recently revealed in atmospheric aerosols. Glassy states are highly unpredictable quasi solids that abruptly form, interrupting the transition of a liquid to a sol ....Aerosol glassy states promote global warming, airborne toxins and pathogens. This project will improve our understanding of the role played by airborne particles in global climate, pollution and the transmission of influenza, corona virus and the common cold. It will do so by revealing the wider importance of "glassy states" of matter recently revealed in atmospheric aerosols. Glassy states are highly unpredictable quasi solids that abruptly form, interrupting the transition of a liquid to a solid. This interruption invalidates equilibrium assumptions of models of droplets as cloud nuclei and infection vectors. We will develop and validate a numerical tool for predicting glassy state formation and its impact in broad classes of aerosol that include particles critical to cloud formation and infection transmission.Read moreRead less