SOLUTIONS For Present And Future Emerging Pollutants In Land And Water Resources Management
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$259,784.00
Summary
The European Union project SOLUTIONS will develop a novel conceptual framework to prioritise chemical contaminants for ecological and human health risk assessment of water resources and fish for human consumption. The Australian partner will implement health-relevant bioanalytical endpoints to inform cumulative risk assessment. The developed concepts and tools will be validated using European river case studies, with the knowledge generated to be transferred to the Australian context.
Food And Water For Life: Co-creation And Evaluation Of Sustainable Innovations To Strengthen Food And Water Security
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,169,419.00
Summary
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples suffer a disproportionate burden of non-communicable diseases. Poor diets, exacerbated by low quality water supplies, are one of the biggest contributors to this. Through our existing long-standing partnership, his project will establish a framework and use regulatory analysis to support the Aboriginal community in Walgett to develop a transformative community-led food and water security action plan to improve the long-term health and well-being.
Establishing Australian Health Based Targets For Microbial Water Quality
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$174,799.00
Summary
It is of great public health importance to ensure that our drinking water supplies are safe. This is true both for conventional drinking water supplies and for supplies derived from alternative water sources, including water derived from recycled sewage. National guidelines exist for management of drinking water and recycled water supplies, but currently there are no targets for determining whether water has an acceptably low level of infectious agents. This project involves a number of steps to ....It is of great public health importance to ensure that our drinking water supplies are safe. This is true both for conventional drinking water supplies and for supplies derived from alternative water sources, including water derived from recycled sewage. National guidelines exist for management of drinking water and recycled water supplies, but currently there are no targets for determining whether water has an acceptably low level of infectious agents. This project involves a number of steps to develop national consensus on health targets for microbial water qualityRead moreRead less
Fine Mapping Of The ADH Region For Alcohol Metabolism, Use And Dependence
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$215,690.00
Summary
It is widely known that alcohol use and alcohol dependence can cause many social problems and morbidity. We know that social and and cultural factors can affect the possibility of becoming alcohol dependent. We also know that inheritance plays a major role in the risk of becoming dependent upon alcohol. Two inherited causes or genes have already been identified as causing some people to avoid alcohol and so have less chance of becoming dependent upon it. Clues as to why this happens come from wh ....It is widely known that alcohol use and alcohol dependence can cause many social problems and morbidity. We know that social and and cultural factors can affect the possibility of becoming alcohol dependent. We also know that inheritance plays a major role in the risk of becoming dependent upon alcohol. Two inherited causes or genes have already been identified as causing some people to avoid alcohol and so have less chance of becoming dependent upon it. Clues as to why this happens come from what happens to alcohol following a drink. The body detoxifies itself of alcohol in the liver. There it is converted to very highly toxic acetaldehyde and this is normally rapidly removed by a protein called aldehyde dehydrogenase. Some people do not have a normally functioning form of this protein and cannot remove the acetaldehyde from their bodies. They suffer unpleasant side effects such as nausea, facial flushing and sickness. Consequently they learn by experience to avoid alcohol use and are less likely to develop dependence. We now know that even people with a normally inherited form of aldehyde dehydrogenase can have a lowered risk of dependence. The rate at which our livers convert alcohol to actetaldehyde is also a key factor. Those who are inherently quick at this process again learn to avoid alcohol, others are more at risk. The hypothesis will be tested with a unique set of twins who have provided us with detailed information on how quickly they detoxify alcohol and of their drinking habits for over 20 years. Collectively they will enable us to determine if there is a major genetic influence on alcohol use and dependence that is caused by inter-individual differences in a gene for alcohol metabolism. The DNA of these twins will be used to locate mutations that we predict have a common effect upon our measures of alcohol detoxification, drinking habits and risk of alcoholism.Read moreRead less