Compounded by massive global food and water shortages, neglected tropical disease (NTD) pathogens have a devastating and long-term impact on billions of humans worldwide. Unlocking the fundamental molecular biology of these pathogens, particularly carcinogens, employing a raft of Frontier Technologies, will lead to new ways of controlling NTDs and will have substantial outcomes through the development of new drugs, vaccines and/or diagnostic tests. We will use cutting-edge molecular technologies ....Compounded by massive global food and water shortages, neglected tropical disease (NTD) pathogens have a devastating and long-term impact on billions of humans worldwide. Unlocking the fundamental molecular biology of these pathogens, particularly carcinogens, employing a raft of Frontier Technologies, will lead to new ways of controlling NTDs and will have substantial outcomes through the development of new drugs, vaccines and/or diagnostic tests. We will use cutting-edge molecular technologies to tackle this area head-on.Read moreRead less
Using Metagenomics To Determine The Causative Agent(s) Of Tick-Borne Disease In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$639,428.00
Summary
Tick-borne disease has emerged as a topical and controversial public health problem in Australia. We will employ state-of-the-art techniques in metagenomics to determine what microbial species (bacteria, viruses and eukaryotes) circulate in Australian ticks and whether these or different microbes are also present in humans diagnosed with tick-borne disease. The data generated will provide key information on whether tick-borne disease has a microbiological cause and, if so, the microbes involved.
Activated Protein C Utilises Protease Activated Receptors And Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor To Heal Wounds
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$436,882.00
Summary
Chronic leg ulcers are a major burden to the individual sufferer and to the health system. We have discovered that activated protein C (APC) potently stimulates wound healing in the laboratory and now have exciting positive results from a small pilot clinical trial showing that applying APC solution to leg ulcers also helps healing in patients. This study plans to discover how APC works at the molecular level.
I am a medical epidemiologist investigating links between specific infectious agents and specific types of cancer in immune deficient populations. Through the exploration of these relationships, my research aims to allow the prevention of these types of c
Epigenetic Control Of Antigenic Variation In Plasmodium Falciparum
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$505,563.00
Summary
Malaria is an enormous global health problem that kills millions of people each year. Humans develop only partial immunity to malaria only if they survive many years of repeated infection. Much of the difficulty in developing immunity to malaria lies in the ability of the causative agent, Plasmodium falciparum, to continually change the properties of its surface coat. The parasite achieves this immune evasion through a process called antigenic variation. Genetically identical parasites can expre ....Malaria is an enormous global health problem that kills millions of people each year. Humans develop only partial immunity to malaria only if they survive many years of repeated infection. Much of the difficulty in developing immunity to malaria lies in the ability of the causative agent, Plasmodium falciparum, to continually change the properties of its surface coat. The parasite achieves this immune evasion through a process called antigenic variation. Genetically identical parasites can express different surface coats, and the control of this process is superimposed above the level of genetic control. This system is referred to as epigenetic control. Epigenetic control includes regulatory mechanisms such as the way that genes are packed inside the parasite, and chemical modifications to the proteins (called histones) around which genes are wrapped. We wish to understand the epigenetic control system that the parasite uses to orchestrate the phenomenon of antigenic variation. We will use two methods to gain this understanding; the first is a genetic screen that will create mutations in the parasite using jumping DNA (called transposons) that will break down the control mechanism behind antigenic variation. Identifying the mutated genes will show us which genes organize antigenic variation in normal parasites. Our second approach is to genetically knockout parasite genes that are related to the genes that govern epigenetic mechanisms in other, better understood organisms like humans and yeast. We will test the effect of these targeted gene deletions to discover which of these genes are involved in regulating antigenic variation. The insights gained from these discoveries will improve our understanding of how the malaria parasite evades our immune system. A better understanding of this immune evasion may help us to understand how to build better vaccines against malaria.Read moreRead less