Predicting Infections In Cancer Of The Plasma Cells In Bone Marrow (myeloma)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$107,764.00
Summary
The study will look for new risks for infection in patients with multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Currently these patients are expected to live longer because of the discovery and use of new generation cancer drugs. By finding new infection risks, the treatment of life threatening infections can be improved or infection can be prevented so patients have a better quality of life whilst on cancer treatment.
Understanding The Pathogenesis, Phenotypic Variation And Risk Prediction Of Childhood Asthma Using Computational Approaches
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$122,714.00
Summary
Asthma is a common respiratory illness in Australia. It is important to be able to predict who gets asthma, because those who get early treatment tend to fare better. We plan to run complex tests on data collected from hundreds of Australian children. The collected data includes genetic variations, chest infections, and differences in immune responses. From this data we hope to achieve a better understanding of the driving forces behind asthma, and to make better predictions for those at risk.
Maternal Gut Microbiome During Pregnancy Influences Offspring Atopy And Asthma.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$46,622.00
Summary
Allergic diseases such as food allergy and asthma have increased significantly as our exposure to bacteria has reduced. Many studies have explored exposure to bacteria in early life but few have examined the maternal bacteria we are exposed to while we develop in the womb. New studies indicate that we are exposed to many different components of our mothers gut bacteria and this might change our developing immune system and determine whether or not we get diseases like food allergy and asthma.
Molecular Analysis Of Endocarditis Causing Strains Of Staphylococcus Aureus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$110,960.00
Summary
"Staphylococcus aureus" or "Golden Staph” is one of the principal causes of infective endocarditis, the infection of the endocardial surfaces of the heart and heart valves that may result in valvular insufficiency and eventual heart failure. This work will define the molecular mechanisms that allow S. aureus to survive and persist on endocardial surfaces. Such insight may lead to new future treatment regimes for infective endocarditis.
Investigating The Role Of Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cells In Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$122,566.00
Summary
Tuberculosis (TB) is a deadly infectious disease that kills 2 million people per year worldwide. If we are to eliminate this disease, we urgently need a new TB vaccine. I plan to look at what role a newly discovered type of T cell might play in TB infection and to see whether these cells can be manipulated by vaccination. This work will help us to understand more about the body’s first response to TB infection and how we can use this response in the design of new TB vaccines.
Vaccine And Antibiotic Selective Pressures On The Microbiology Of Otitis Media In Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Children In Northern Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$88,502.00
Summary
Investigating the influence that pneumococcal vaccines and specific antibiotics have on the bacteria in the nose which cause otitis media (OM), to determine the most effective prevention and treatments to reduce OM in Indigenous children.
Establishing The Use Of Bacterial Genomics In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$157,669.00
Summary
We propose to establish a set of fully assembled reference genomes through new technologies and methods to analyse data from high throughput genome sequencing of important bacterial pathogens in Australia. We aim to demonstrate the capabilities of genome sequencing in clinical situations by comparing the genomes from clinical bacterial isolates to the established and annotated reference genomes.
Integrated Clinical And Scientific Studies In Post-Operative Crohn’s Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$71,606.00
Summary
Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel condition; the incidence in Australia is now amongst the highest in the world. Most patients require repeated invasive bowel surgeries when disease recurs. Using data from a past clinical trial comparing preventive treatments for recurrence; genetic, immunological and microbiological testing will be done on existing patient samples. This extensive data set will be analysed using systems biology methods to identify the cause of Crohn’s disease.
Optimisation Of Beta-lactam Antibiotic Therapy As A Strategy To Improve Efficacy And Combat The Emergence Of Resistance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$122,714.00
Summary
Antibiotic resistance is a global health priority that threatens to compromise advances in modern medicine to return practices to the pre-antibiotic era. Critically ill and patients with impaired immune function represent a vulnerable group who struggle to fight infections and who rely heavily on lifesaving antibiotics. This project aims to investigate how the efficacy of antibiotics can be optimised to prevent the emergence of resistance and preserve their effectiveness for the future.
The Use Of Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Novel Immune And Microbiological Biomarkers To Improve The Diagnosis And Prognostication Of Giant Cell Arteritis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$124,676.00
Summary
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is an inflammatory condition of blood vessels. Diagnosing the condition and predicting which patients will develop complications is challenging. Undiagnosed, a significant proportion of patients experience sudden onset, permanent blindness. Our study aims to improve the diagnosis and risk assessment of patients with suspected GCA by following a group of 65 patients for two years with serial scans, blood tests and clinical reviews.