Coordinating Neuroimmune Sensory Networks In Health And Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$884,405.00
Summary
Living organisms use cellular rhythms to optimize their energy use and cellular responses. Our proposal aims to produce significant new fundamental knowledge by elucidating the fundamental cellular and molecular biology of innate cells, their role in mucosal homeostasis and tissue repair pathways in the gut. Understanding this foundational process of cellular regulation will generate new basic knowledge and may lead to better management systems.
The Role Of Host Proteases In Modulating Enteric Infectious Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,267,155.00
Summary
Bacterial pathogens that cause gut diseases result in 2.5 million deaths per year. The gut is a complex environment consisting of numerous factors that must be balanced to maintain enteric health. When these factors are unbalanced, disease can occur, and infections can cause imbalances. This project will increase our understanding of the role that host proteins play in gut infections, providing knowledge critical for developing improved strategies for disease treatment and prevention.
Wheat Proteins, The Duodenal Microbiome And Immune Activation In The Aetiopathogenesis Of Non-coeliac Gluten Sensitivity And Functional Dyspepsia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,997,150.00
Summary
Functional dyspepsia, characterised by troublesome pain in the upper abdomen, or an inability to finish a regular sized meal, is common, affecting up to 15% of Australians. There are no effective treatments. This project will evaluate the role of diet, in particular wheat, as a driver of the subtle inflammation and disturbances in the microbiome seen in the small intestine of functional dyspepsia patients, and test whether a gluten or wheat free diet is an effective treatment option.
Virulence Associated Small RNAs In Acinetobacter Baumannii
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$964,148.00
Summary
This proposal aims to understand how a superbug that causes severe infections in hospitalised patients worldwide and is known to be resistant to almost all available antibiotics, causes disease. We then plan on using this information to guide the development of a new type of therapy to treat this severe infection.
Presentation Of Metabolite Antigens By MR1 Molecules: A Fundamental System Of Immune Priming
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$883,832.00
Summary
Our immune system constantly monitors our body for disease-causing microbes, such as bacteria that cause illnesses like pneumonia or tuberculosis. Our cells have a molecular alarm-system called 'MR1' which alerts white blood cells that an infection by microbes is occurring, however this process is not well understood. This grant will allow me to discover the cells and molecular pathways that govern the MR1 alarm system, which may lead to new treatments against common diseases in our community.
Ovarian cancer is difficult to diagnose, patients present at a late stage of disease and it responds poorly to therapy. To improve treatment, it is crucial to gain new insights into ovarian cancer biology. We discovered a new protein, interferon epsilon, which is produced naturally by cells lining the female reproductive tract where it protects against infections and may even prevent development of cancers. We plan to characterise the action of IFNe on HGSOC and how best to use it for therapy.
Antibiotic Conjugates: Joining Together To Fight Antimicrobial Resistance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$697,675.00
Summary
New strategies are urgently needed to treat the rise of infections from multidrug-resistant bacteria, with standard antibiotic therapies becoming obsolete. This project will develop multiple innovative approaches to overcome antibiotic resistance, based on a core concept of appending additional functionality to existing antibiotic scaffolds. New conjugates will be synthesized, tested for antimicrobial activity, then optimized via a validated antimicrobial development pipeline.
How A Multidrug Resistant Bacterial Pathogen Has Become Pandemic
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,116,544.00
Summary
The pandemic spread of antibiotic resistant E. coli ST131 is a major human health problem. ST131 is the globally dominant cause of urinary tract and bloodstream infections. This project will use advanced genetics and animal infection models to understand the features of ST131 that have fueled its global dominance. The outcomes will unravel the molecular mechanisms that enable ST131 to persist and cause repeat infection, and guide the development of new precision medicine therapeutics.
Developing New Immunotherapeutics Through Studying Immune Effectors In Situ
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,369,054.00
Summary
The immune system deploys pore forming proteins to clear viral and bacterial infections and to eliminate cancerous cells. The unwanted activities of these molecules, however, results in chronic disease and in transplant rejection. We aim to understand how pore forming immune weapons interact with our own cells, with the goal of using this information to develop new approaches to treat immune driven disease and to improve the success of transplantation therapy.
Should You Be Eating That? Food-derived Bacteria And Their Role In Treating Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,405,182.00
Summary
The clinical application of medicines based on the microbes that exist as part of microbiomes is now a reality. Despite these rapid advances understanding how the bacteria are transmitted and recolonise after disruption is essential. Our preliminary data suggests that the average Australian adult consumes over 10 million bacteria per day in their diet. This project seeks to understand these relationships and how they can be exploited to develop the next generations of microbiome based medicine.