Using Epidemiology To Inform Psychiatric Classification (DSM-V And ICD-11)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$631,502.00
Summary
Classification systems are vital for scientific progress. The classifications of mental disorders of the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association are both being revised and this Australian team is a principal contributor to both processes. We have access to three national epidemiological surveys (n-30,000) that will inform fundamental issues by developing models of mental disorder typology and identifying practical improvements in the classification systems.
Molecular Classification Of Carcinoma Of Unknown Primary
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$418,250.00
Summary
Carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) is the fourth largest cause of cancer death. The condition has a particularly poor outlook, with a median survival of less than one year. Current methods for diagnosis of CUP include histopathology and sophisticated imaging. These are successful in approximately 40% of cases. Frequently the reason for the poor outcome in this disease is that the 60% of patients with CUP for whom no diagnosis is made do not benefit from chemotherapy specifically designed for a p ....Carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) is the fourth largest cause of cancer death. The condition has a particularly poor outlook, with a median survival of less than one year. Current methods for diagnosis of CUP include histopathology and sophisticated imaging. These are successful in approximately 40% of cases. Frequently the reason for the poor outcome in this disease is that the 60% of patients with CUP for whom no diagnosis is made do not benefit from chemotherapy specifically designed for a particular tumour origin. These patients receive a less effective, generic, chemotherapy. The aim of this project is to use microarrays to identify the gene expression profile in many known tumours to create a molecular fingerprint of the various tumour types. By comparing the fingerprint from a CUP with the database we should be able to identify the true tumour type in CUP, and allow patients to benefit from more specific chemotherapy.Read moreRead less
A Structured Systems Approach For Improving Health Promotion Practice For Chronic Diseases In Indigenous Communities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$666,592.00
Summary
This project will trial a model for continuous improvement, with the aim of assisting health services and community based organisations to improve the services they deliver to promote health and prevent chronic disease in Indigenous communities.
Pandemic Influenza Containment Strategies In Aboriginal Communities: What Is Acceptable And Feasible?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,056,688.00
Summary
Influenza is a serious disease with a much greater impact in Indigenous communities. This project will work with Aboriginal communities in NSW, north Qld and WA on modifying the national pandemic influenza plan to develop control strategies that are acceptable to the culture and circumstances of those communities. A template and acceptable process will then be offered to other Indigenous communities, finally leading to negotiation to modify implementation of pandemic influenza plans.
Resistant forms of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) constitute a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. Despite tremendous improvements in therapy, 25-30% of patients still experience a relapse and many of them occur in patients stratified as low risk. Further treatment is often toxic, frequently unsuccessful and carries the risk of significant long-term morbidity. For the design of more appropriate therapy, information on the biology of relapsed ALL is urgently require ....Resistant forms of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) constitute a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. Despite tremendous improvements in therapy, 25-30% of patients still experience a relapse and many of them occur in patients stratified as low risk. Further treatment is often toxic, frequently unsuccessful and carries the risk of significant long-term morbidity. For the design of more appropriate therapy, information on the biology of relapsed ALL is urgently required. The sequencing of the human genome and advanced screening technology (microarrays) allow the detailed analysis of expression patterns in large numbers of specimens. We propose to study the genetic features of this disease by investigating 28 childhood ALL patients from whom we have stored specimens received at two time points, one at diagnosis and one at relapse. The hypothesis of this study is that relapsed leukaemias display genetic features which are correlated to their resistance to therapy. The specific questions we will be asking are: (1) Which genes are expressed at high levels in leukaemia specimens at the time of relapse while not expressed (or expressed at lower levels) at the time of diagnosis and vice versa? (2) What is the function of differentially expressed genes? (3) Is the pattern of gene expression correlated with resistance to the particular drug therapy used? (4) Is the leukaemia clone at relapse related or unrelated to the clone present at diagnosis, as determined by receptor rearrangement? The expression levels of identified discriminator genes will be confirmed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The quality of this set of specimens makes them particularly suited to achieve the stated goals, providing a unique opportunity to investigate drug resistance in childhood ALL. The data generated will provide the basis for the examination of genes suitable as new therapeutic targets.Read moreRead less
An Education Intervention For Childhood Asthma By Local Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Health Workers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$97,500.00
Summary
There are only a few studies on asthma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and those are restricted to prevalence and hospitalisation data. We have previously shown that the prevalence of childhood asthma in the Torres is similar to that of mainstream Australia and that children of this region generally have more severe asthma than children seen in urban areas. Using a model of care appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with the involvement of local Indigen ....There are only a few studies on asthma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and those are restricted to prevalence and hospitalisation data. We have previously shown that the prevalence of childhood asthma in the Torres is similar to that of mainstream Australia and that children of this region generally have more severe asthma than children seen in urban areas. Using a model of care appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with the involvement of local Indigenous health care workers, we have adapted an asthma information package. With Study 1, we will examine the effect of local health care workers using this education package to educate children about their asthma. Our hypotheses is that children who receive additional asthma education by health worker have better asthma control. So we propose a randomized controlled trial of a culturally appropriate education intervention with children diagnosed with asthma. Enrolled children will be allocated by chance to one of the two regimes: (1) additional asthma education intervention: children will receive a personalised booklet (containing individual data eg. growth, photo of the child, health worker visits etc) that will be used during the medical consultation. They will also have 3 visits from the health worker for their asthma. (2) no additional intervention (they will receive usual information about asthma at the consultation and no health worker visit). With Study 2 we will examine the natural history of children with asthma and asthma-like symptoms and with symptoms suggestive of sleep breathing problems. Two groups of children previously seen by this team (5 years ago) will be clinically reassessed. Our hypothesis is that short to medium term history of asthma in Indigenous children in the Torres Strait is similar to non-Indigenous Australian children where there is a general improvement with age.Read moreRead less