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Tracking blood and blood products for a healthy start to life. This project will aim to coalesce multiple data sources to track blood and blood products from supply to recipient and improve safe and appropriate blood product transfusions for mothers and newborns. Tracking blood will assist in early identification of adverse outcomes. Identification of at-risk women and babies will allow early prevention and treatment.
Improving Birth Outcomes in China: consequences and potentials of policy, state and professional interactions. The aim of the project is to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with birth by informing health systems improvement in China. We will develop an innovative methodology to study consequences of policy, state and professional interactions on birth outcomes. This work is also relevant in other settings. Macro economic reforms in China have produced paradoxical disparities between ri ....Improving Birth Outcomes in China: consequences and potentials of policy, state and professional interactions. The aim of the project is to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with birth by informing health systems improvement in China. We will develop an innovative methodology to study consequences of policy, state and professional interactions on birth outcomes. This work is also relevant in other settings. Macro economic reforms in China have produced paradoxical disparities between rich and poor and urban and rural populations evident in maternal morbidity and mortality. Results will inform facilitative policies and models of service to optimise safety and increase effectiveness in deployment of human and monetary resources.Read moreRead less
Understanding The Myometrial Transition At Term And Preterm Labour To Guide Tocolysis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$808,447.00
Summary
This grant seeks to understand how the muscle cells of the uterus transform at the time of labour. We propose that this transformation is organised by enzymes that modify the histones around key genes. We will test if a similar pathway operates in cases of preterm labour. The results will guide the development of new ways of treating premature labour that will use targeted nanoparticles to deliver siRNA directly to the muscle cells of the uterus.
Preterm birth is a major cause of neonatal death and cerebral palsy. This grant will provide proof-of-concept that a computer program can be developed to predict a pregnant woman�s risk of preterm birth. There is a large market (4M US and 8M Europe), there are no competing technologies. This is a unique collaboration between Biomedical Engineering and an Australian centre with an international reputation in preterm birth, assisted by a pathology company.
Molecular Regulation Of CRH Gene Expression In The Human Placenta
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$70,285.00
Summary
Approximately 70% of infant death is a result of premature birth. Preterm delivery occurs in 6-10% of pregnancies, and there has been no reduction in this rate in the last 30 years. This is largely because we remain ignorant of how normal and preterm birth is controlled. Understanding the physiology of human pregnancy is a critical step in the development of ways to detect and prevent preterm birth. Our group has demonstrated a link between production of a hormone (corticotropin releasing hormon ....Approximately 70% of infant death is a result of premature birth. Preterm delivery occurs in 6-10% of pregnancies, and there has been no reduction in this rate in the last 30 years. This is largely because we remain ignorant of how normal and preterm birth is controlled. Understanding the physiology of human pregnancy is a critical step in the development of ways to detect and prevent preterm birth. Our group has demonstrated a link between production of a hormone (corticotropin releasing hormone, CRH) in the placenta and the length of time the baby is carried in the mother. In women who will deliver prematurely the rise in CRH production occurs earlier and more rapidly, while in women who deliver late the rise occurs more slowly. This work has led to the concept of a biological clock that determines the length of time the fetus will be carried by the mother before birth, and in which production of CRH in the placenta plays a central role. We have been studying how the CRH gene is controlled in placental cells. We have discovered some regions in the DNA of the CRH gene which have important roles in controlling how much CRH is made by the placenta. The experiments described in this project will determine the molecular mechanisms that control the production of CRH in the human placenta. This will be done by examining the DNA sequences involved in controlling the CRH gene and by identifying the proteins that actually perform the regulating functions that result in either increased or decreased amounts of CRH being produced by the placenta. This important information will help us better understand how normal and preterm birth is controlled, and from that knowledge new ways to detect and prevent premature birth can be developed.Read moreRead less
Multicentre Trial Of Calcium Channel Blocker Versus Calcium Channel Blocker Plus Cox2 Inhibitor In Preterm Labour
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$644,130.00
Summary
Preterm birth is a major problem in our society, and has enormous consequences for parents and children. It also has a major impact on scarce financial resources. When women present in preterm labor, current therapies have only limited success in stopping contractions and postponing birth. They have not been shown to reduce the rates of the serious neonatal problems associated with prematurity. This project will be coordinated in Newcastle, N.S.W., and will involve major perinatal centres throug ....Preterm birth is a major problem in our society, and has enormous consequences for parents and children. It also has a major impact on scarce financial resources. When women present in preterm labor, current therapies have only limited success in stopping contractions and postponing birth. They have not been shown to reduce the rates of the serious neonatal problems associated with prematurity. This project will be coordinated in Newcastle, N.S.W., and will involve major perinatal centres throughout Australia, along with overseas centres. It will test a new combination of drugs for their ability to postpone delivery in women presenting with preterm labour. It is postulated that the combination of drugs will be more effective than existing therapies. The drugs used in the trial are Nifedipine and Rofecoxib. Complications of prematurity include neonatal death, cerebral palsy, visual and hearing impairment, and chronic lung disease. These complications are most significant in extremely premature infants - in particular, those under 28 weeks gestation at the time of their delivery. For this reason, the study will focus only on women presenting in labour below 28 weeks. The ability to stop labour is important, but the main aim of any treatment for preterm labour is to reduce the rates of neonatal death and handicap. Babies born to women enrolled in this study will be followed for a period of one year after birth to assess their outcomes. It is our hypothesis that the combination of Rofecoxib and Nifedipine will result in lower rates of death and handicap in babies than Nifedipine alone. In addition, we will examine the rates of side effects in women receiving therapy. Currently used therapies, including intravenous ventolin, have high rates of maternal side effects. Nifedipine and Rofecoxib have both been shown to have low rates of maternal side effects.Read moreRead less
Peopling educational policy: realising the new Australian English and mathematics curricula. Implementation of Australian curricula in English and mathematics provides an opportunity for school systems to re-examine practice. This project will identify resources and teacher learning opportunities needed to facilitate implementation of these curricula and use findings to develop interventions identified as likely to optimise implementation.
Improving student outcomes: coaching teachers in the power of feedback. This project aims to investigate how student outcomes can be augmented through coaching teachers in effective feedback practice. The project addresses a critical problem of stagnating levels of student achievement in Australian schools with the innovative research design combining evidence-based, pedagogies of feedback, formative assessment and instructional coaching to improve teacher practice and ultimately raise student a ....Improving student outcomes: coaching teachers in the power of feedback. This project aims to investigate how student outcomes can be augmented through coaching teachers in effective feedback practice. The project addresses a critical problem of stagnating levels of student achievement in Australian schools with the innovative research design combining evidence-based, pedagogies of feedback, formative assessment and instructional coaching to improve teacher practice and ultimately raise student achievement levels. The project aims to guide policy implementation in pedagogy to raise the quality of teaching standards and to improve learning outcomes for Australian students. Ultimately, outcomes from the research will help close the gap for low achieving students, and challenge and extend those who may already be meeting required benchmarks. Read moreRead less
Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. This project aims to develop discipline-specific pedagogies in senior physics, chemistry and biology to improve disadvantaged students’ engagement and achievement. Many students from disadvantaged backgrounds fail to develop the linguistic precision and symbolic representational dexterity needed to comprehend and communicate senior school science concepts. T ....Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. This project aims to develop discipline-specific pedagogies in senior physics, chemistry and biology to improve disadvantaged students’ engagement and achievement. Many students from disadvantaged backgrounds fail to develop the linguistic precision and symbolic representational dexterity needed to comprehend and communicate senior school science concepts. These pedagogies will ‘infuse’ multiliteracies in senior school science to improve access to science-based pathways for these students, and enable them to understand progressively more complex scientific concepts and demonstrate this in examinations. This project is expected to improve student retention, arrest declining enrolments in senior school science, and increase young people working in science.Read moreRead less
Using immersive virtual reality to enhance students’ science visualisation. This project aims to investigate the potential of advanced visualisation technology, immersive virtual reality, as a collaborative learning environment to support students to explore their ideas and learn a core chemistry concept, molecular structures and functions. Incorporating both data analytics and qualitative video analysis, the project will establish a deep understanding of how students learn about the molecular w ....Using immersive virtual reality to enhance students’ science visualisation. This project aims to investigate the potential of advanced visualisation technology, immersive virtual reality, as a collaborative learning environment to support students to explore their ideas and learn a core chemistry concept, molecular structures and functions. Incorporating both data analytics and qualitative video analysis, the project will establish a deep understanding of how students learn about the molecular world within an immersive virtual reality environment in relation to the learners’ experience, chemistry content, visual representations, learning tasks, and design features. The project will recommend evidence-driven design considerations for learning resources development and further educational research with advanced technologies.Read moreRead less