Bridging The Gap Between Cartilage Biology And Osteoarthritis Risk Prediction
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$512,256.00
Summary
Osteoarthritis is a painful and debilitating cartilage disease affecting just under 1 in 10 Australians and costs the Australian economy roughly $12 billion per year. This project will develop computational models of cartilage with the ability to incorporate genetic and environmental risk factors into a predictive model of cartilage disease.
Mechanisms Of Propagation And Containment Of Gene Silencing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$272,223.00
Summary
Long-term and heritable repression of genes by epigenetic mechanisms is essential for health but can also be dangerous if it goes wrong. Mathematical modelling and biochemical experiments will be used to understand how this gene silencing propagates and spreads along the DNA, and how it can be stopped from spreading too far.
Malaria infection affects many millions around the world each year. This project brings together scientists working on mouse models of malaria and on clinical studies of malaria in Africa and Asia, with mathematicians and physicists who will analyse and model their experimental data. The project involves 'data mining' to apply novel statistical and mathematical modelling approaches to understand how the immune system controls malaria infection.
Optimising Severe Malaria Treatment Using Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic Modeling
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$218,490.00
Summary
Every year, severe malaria kills up to 800,000 people worldwide. To prevent death, a patient must be treated promptly and effectively. Children and adults vary in terms of their response to a malaria drug, and therefore may require a different dosing regimen. We will perform a rigorous analytical assessment of antimalarial drug concentration and efficacy data to determine dosing regimens. This will improve the treatment of severe malaria, and thereby, reduce malaria-related mortality.
Optimising Intervention Strategies To Reduce The Burden Of Group A Streptococcus In Aboriginal Communities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$856,896.00
Summary
Skin sores are highly prevalent in remote Australian Indigenous communities and can lead to invasive infections and rheumatic heart disease. We will develop mathematical models to understand the transmission of skin sores, allowing us to define the optimal extent (household, community, region), timing and triggers for interventions to interrupt transmission. This will guide public health policy in reducing the prevalence of skin sores and scabies, and their accompanying disease burden.
Cell Cycle Tracking Of B Cell Differentiation And Mutation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$719,666.00
Summary
Antibody-mediated immunity to infectious diseases requires the proliferation of infection-specific antibody-producing B cells. The fate of responding B cells is linked to this proliferation according to a poorly understood division-based “map”. This project will track B cell fates in vivo using advanced imaging techniques. We will define differences between B cells from young versus old individuals that may explain why the effectiveness of the immune system declines with age.
Biofocussed Prostate Cancer RadioTherapy (BiRT): A Personalised Approach To Delivering The Right Dose To The Right Place
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$753,565.00
Summary
We propose a new approach to treating prostate cancer with radiotherapy to move from the standard whole prostate treatment to a personalised treatment that varies radiation intensity throughout the prostate. We will mathematically combine features that influence radiotherapy effect from advanced imaging, clinical and biopsy information. This model will map out the radiotherapy dose required at each part of the prostate, to maximise killing of the cancer whilst minimising harm to normal tissue
Modelling The Impact Of Strategies To Control Gonorrhoea And Minimise The Threat Of Antimicrobial Resistance In Remote Indigenous And Other High Risk Populations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$467,079.00
Summary
Gonorrhoea is a serious public health issue in Australia. Notification rates are disproportionately high among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and men who have sex with men, and there is evidence of an emerging epidemic in the general heterosexual population. Additionally, available treatments are under threat from resistant strains. We will use mathematical modelling to evaluate strategies for controlling gonorrhoea and for minimising the threat of antimicrobial resistance.
A Theoretical Framework For Chemotherapy And Immunosuppression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$561,028.00
Summary
The team has discovered that potential alternative cell fates behave like autonomous timers, and are in competition in every cell. Variation in selected times within each cell alters the proportion that that die, divide or change into another cell type. The team have produced computational models of cell growth applicable to the immune response and cancer. Here they will apply their discovery to measure the effects of chemotherapeutic drugs and develop new protocols for enhancing the use of such ....The team has discovered that potential alternative cell fates behave like autonomous timers, and are in competition in every cell. Variation in selected times within each cell alters the proportion that that die, divide or change into another cell type. The team have produced computational models of cell growth applicable to the immune response and cancer. Here they will apply their discovery to measure the effects of chemotherapeutic drugs and develop new protocols for enhancing the use of such drugs in the clinic.Read moreRead less
Understanding And Manipulating Long-range DNA Looping In Gene Regulation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$351,025.00
Summary
The turning on and off of genes often involves physical interactions between the gene and other parts of the DNA that lie far away from the gene. Disruption of this gene regulation is likely to contribute to a wide range of diseases, including heart disease and cancer. This project seeks to better understand the complex puzzle of how the correct DNA connections are chosen over the large number of possible mis-connections, by trying to find the fundamental laws that control DNA-DNA interactions.