From the pouch to the grave: age and sex related changes in immunity in the Tasmanian devil. Tasmanian devils face extinction in the wild due to the emergence of a contagious cancer: Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). A comprehensive understanding of the devil immune system is necessary to better understand the disease and develop a vaccine against it. This project will characterise immune responses of healthy devils throughout life, from the pouch, to onset of puberty, to old age. This project ....From the pouch to the grave: age and sex related changes in immunity in the Tasmanian devil. Tasmanian devils face extinction in the wild due to the emergence of a contagious cancer: Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). A comprehensive understanding of the devil immune system is necessary to better understand the disease and develop a vaccine against it. This project will characterise immune responses of healthy devils throughout life, from the pouch, to onset of puberty, to old age. This project will then compare these responses in DFTD-affected devils to determine why DFTD affects older animals first and does not affect sexually-immature devils. Additional outcomes will include the development of novel antibiotics against human and animal diseases and an atlas of devil development using the latest imaging technologies.Read moreRead less
Genomic and molecular characterisation of a novel Australian leishmania pathogen. Leishmaniasis is the second most serious protozoal disease after malaria. This project will help characterise the first Leishmania species identified in Australia providing molecular tools to monitor the pathogen and a detailed assessment of any potential risk to human health. Comparative analysis with more pathogenic species will help identify genes and mechanisms that determine the progression of human disease le ....Genomic and molecular characterisation of a novel Australian leishmania pathogen. Leishmaniasis is the second most serious protozoal disease after malaria. This project will help characterise the first Leishmania species identified in Australia providing molecular tools to monitor the pathogen and a detailed assessment of any potential risk to human health. Comparative analysis with more pathogenic species will help identify genes and mechanisms that determine the progression of human disease leading to the potential identification of new drug and vaccine targets. The methodologies and expertise developed will be used will be available to other research groups working on infectious diseases.Read moreRead less
How is the blood cell population size controlled? Macrophage-like cells are an ancient animal blood cell lineage critically important for development, immunity, and homeostasis. This fellowship seeks to reveal the genes and control mechanisms used by animals to achieve an optimally-sized army of these cells - to contain threats for survival upon infection, heal following acute stress exposures, or for development, ongoing maintenance, and repair of wear and tear. By marrying the genetic tractabi ....How is the blood cell population size controlled? Macrophage-like cells are an ancient animal blood cell lineage critically important for development, immunity, and homeostasis. This fellowship seeks to reveal the genes and control mechanisms used by animals to achieve an optimally-sized army of these cells - to contain threats for survival upon infection, heal following acute stress exposures, or for development, ongoing maintenance, and repair of wear and tear. By marrying the genetic tractability of the model organism Drosophila and its simple, yet conserved blood cell system, this project will yield new insights into the mechanisms that govern the animal blood cell population. This will benefit our fundamental understanding of how animals maximise their health throughout life.Read moreRead less
Characterisation of tumour variants of Devil Facial Tumour Disease. This project will take a new approach to cancer research by studying the evolution of Devil Facial Tumour Disease. The results will directly contribute to the conservation management of the Tasmanian devil, as well as generating new information on tumour growth, metastasis and emergence of resistance.
Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of terminal lymphocyte differentiation and alterations of the same that lead to leukemia. In the developed world infection diseases are the number three killer behind heart disease and cancer, and huge financial effort is put into treatment and prevention. Despite this, results have often been disappointing. One cause of these poor outcomes is the lack of knowledge of how effective immune responses are generated. This project aims to better understand th ....Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of terminal lymphocyte differentiation and alterations of the same that lead to leukemia. In the developed world infection diseases are the number three killer behind heart disease and cancer, and huge financial effort is put into treatment and prevention. Despite this, results have often been disappointing. One cause of these poor outcomes is the lack of knowledge of how effective immune responses are generated. This project aims to better understand the processes that control the generation of protective lymphocytes. It will deliver information that may enable a more targeted approach to vaccine-development and treatments of infections. As defective differentiation can also be a cause of leukemia it may also lead to targets of cancer treatment.Read moreRead less
The epigenetic blueprint for T cell differentiation: a genomic view. A cardinal feature of adaptive immune cell activation is the initiation of a program of differentiation that results in acquisition and long term maintenance of lineage-speci?c effector function. This proposal aims to map and dissect genome wide molecular changes that occur at different stages of immune cell differentiation and identify key factors that regulating these changes. It is expected that distinct genomic signatures, ....The epigenetic blueprint for T cell differentiation: a genomic view. A cardinal feature of adaptive immune cell activation is the initiation of a program of differentiation that results in acquisition and long term maintenance of lineage-speci?c effector function. This proposal aims to map and dissect genome wide molecular changes that occur at different stages of immune cell differentiation and identify key factors that regulating these changes. It is expected that distinct genomic signatures, and the mechanisms indicative of effective immune cell differentiation will be identified. This proposal will provide insights into key mechanisms that result in reprogramming of immune cell function and memory and have implications for understanding general cellular differentiation.Read moreRead less
Visualising chromatin changes in 3 dimensions: super to ultra resolution. Packaging of genomic information into the nucleus of a cell necessitates the formation of tightly compacted and highly organized genomic structures within the nucleus, a configuration that is inherently repressive for gene transcription. Hence, mechanisms that alter the spatial organisation of DNA are critical to enable a variety of genome functions, including DNA transcription. This proposal will utilise novel adaptations ....Visualising chromatin changes in 3 dimensions: super to ultra resolution. Packaging of genomic information into the nucleus of a cell necessitates the formation of tightly compacted and highly organized genomic structures within the nucleus, a configuration that is inherently repressive for gene transcription. Hence, mechanisms that alter the spatial organisation of DNA are critical to enable a variety of genome functions, including DNA transcription. This proposal will utilise novel adaptations of super resolution microscopy to visualise in 3 dimensions how changes in chromatin modifications impact genome spatial organisation within the nucleus, and how this then links to cellular differentiation. This will provide a picture of how spatial organisation within the nucleus supports general cell differentiation.
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Histone H3.3-dependent transcriptional control and B cell differentiation. This project aims to investigate the fundamental way cells assemble transcriptional machinery to turn on genes and retain transcriptional memory. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of both chromatin biology and immunology, using interdisciplinary approaches. Expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced capacity, through institutional and international collaborations, to determine whether ....Histone H3.3-dependent transcriptional control and B cell differentiation. This project aims to investigate the fundamental way cells assemble transcriptional machinery to turn on genes and retain transcriptional memory. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of both chromatin biology and immunology, using interdisciplinary approaches. Expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced capacity, through institutional and international collaborations, to determine whether the rapid transcription and function characteristic of immune memory in response to stimuli is due to histone H3 variant and its associated nuclear bodies. This should provide significant benefits, such as understanding epigenetic mechanisms that underlie transcription initiation and maintenance across many species.Read moreRead less
The role of non-coding RNAs in T cell development. The goal of this project is to discover the genes responsible for the development of a healthy immune system. To achieve this goal, a battery of next generation genomics technologies are being applied for the discovery of new genes and to study their function.