Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989920
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$750,000.00
Summary
Microbial and Cellular Imaging and Analysis Facility. The Microbial and Cellular Imaging and Analysis Facility will rapidly establish itself as one of Australia's premier science facilities. It will provide the capacity to investigate the structure and molecular dynamics of viruses and microbial, human, animal and plant cells with unprecedented high resolution in both pure and applied research settings, guided by Australia's leading experts in many research strengths. This facility addresses a c ....Microbial and Cellular Imaging and Analysis Facility. The Microbial and Cellular Imaging and Analysis Facility will rapidly establish itself as one of Australia's premier science facilities. It will provide the capacity to investigate the structure and molecular dynamics of viruses and microbial, human, animal and plant cells with unprecedented high resolution in both pure and applied research settings, guided by Australia's leading experts in many research strengths. This facility addresses a current unmet need for scientists in this country and will provide cutting-edge technologies to Australian researchers so they can better detect, understand, and treat human, animal and plant diseases and the environmental impact of climate change.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560661
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$245,300.00
Summary
Particulate Characterisation for Pharmaceutical and Engineering Applications. The aim of this proposal is to establish joint facilities between the University of Sydney, Monash University and UNSW for the characterization of surface properties and particle sizes of pharmaceutical aerosols and industrial powders. Such knowledge is important for controlling aerosol production and delivery of drug particles to the lungs. This will have a significant benefit to the pharmaceutical industry and patien ....Particulate Characterisation for Pharmaceutical and Engineering Applications. The aim of this proposal is to establish joint facilities between the University of Sydney, Monash University and UNSW for the characterization of surface properties and particle sizes of pharmaceutical aerosols and industrial powders. Such knowledge is important for controlling aerosol production and delivery of drug particles to the lungs. This will have a significant benefit to the pharmaceutical industry and patients requiring aerosol treatment. Further, the proposed facilities will enhance research in complex particulate processes and modelling, functional nanomaterials, and soft sensor development, thus keeping Australia at the forefront of powder research into various high value adding particulate areas.Read moreRead less
Effect of modification of structural and cellular properties of the arterial wall on functional stiffness of large arteries. The Australian population is ageing, becoming more obese and showing earlier onset of age-related conditions such as high blood pressure, heart failure and inflammatory disorders. All these conditions are associated with possible increase arterial stiffness. Inflammatory disorders in Australia affect one in six people, increasing to one in five in the next decade. An equa ....Effect of modification of structural and cellular properties of the arterial wall on functional stiffness of large arteries. The Australian population is ageing, becoming more obese and showing earlier onset of age-related conditions such as high blood pressure, heart failure and inflammatory disorders. All these conditions are associated with possible increase arterial stiffness. Inflammatory disorders in Australia affect one in six people, increasing to one in five in the next decade. An equal proportion is affected by cardiovascular disease. This combined effect poses a massive burden on the national health budget. This project aims to investigate basic mechanism leading to degeneration of function of larger arteries and therapies to reverse the process and reduce cardiovascular risk in the community.Read moreRead less
Modelling disease evolution and emergence. Approximately 75% of all emergent diseases have established in humans having switched from other species: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Malaria, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), Ebola, West Nile Virus and many more. Further, cross species infections put our biodiversity and economy at risk: plant and animal diseases entering Australia can destroy crops and at-risk native species. This project will provide for the first time the statistica ....Modelling disease evolution and emergence. Approximately 75% of all emergent diseases have established in humans having switched from other species: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Malaria, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), Ebola, West Nile Virus and many more. Further, cross species infections put our biodiversity and economy at risk: plant and animal diseases entering Australia can destroy crops and at-risk native species. This project will provide for the first time the statistical framework for scientists to assess risk of such diseases entering Australia as a key to combating them.Read moreRead less
The development of particle-depleted regions in dense suspensions of neutrally buoyant particles. We aim to measure the spatial variation of fluid speed and particle speed, and of particle concentration, across and along a pipe into which has been introduced a mixture of said particles and fluid. This problem has significance in mechanical and chemical engineering wherever particle/fluid mixtures are flowing. The expected outcomes are recognition of a major contribution to world research, as w ....The development of particle-depleted regions in dense suspensions of neutrally buoyant particles. We aim to measure the spatial variation of fluid speed and particle speed, and of particle concentration, across and along a pipe into which has been introduced a mixture of said particles and fluid. This problem has significance in mechanical and chemical engineering wherever particle/fluid mixtures are flowing. The expected outcomes are recognition of a major contribution to world research, as well as technological applications; one that motivates us is the blood shear in the bearings of a revolutionary Australian blood pump for cardiac assist that avoids both pivots and magnetic suspension for the single moving part.Read moreRead less
Tissue Engineering of Human Heart Valve Grown In Vitro. Tissue engineering (TE) of heart valves is a new approach to cultivate a functional heart valve from human autologous cells. This innovative study aims to develop the technology to transplant cells onto a 3D biocompatible valve scaffold that is capable of mimicking native valve. The work proposed is a ground breaking study that will encompass development of a new biomaterial, manufacture of scaffolds using the Fused Deposition Modelling ra ....Tissue Engineering of Human Heart Valve Grown In Vitro. Tissue engineering (TE) of heart valves is a new approach to cultivate a functional heart valve from human autologous cells. This innovative study aims to develop the technology to transplant cells onto a 3D biocompatible valve scaffold that is capable of mimicking native valve. The work proposed is a ground breaking study that will encompass development of a new biomaterial, manufacture of scaffolds using the Fused Deposition Modelling rapid prototyping process, hemodynamic optimisation and in vitro cell culture. This will advance our knowledge in cellular and scaffold technologies and may ultimately lead to the development of a TE heart valve.Read moreRead less
Fluid dynamics and mechanical stress of tissue heart valves. Major problems with thrombo-embolic complications and leaflet failure and calcification still exist with bioprosthetic valves. Valves fabricated from polyether urethanes are efficient and can offer more resistance to calcification. No complete study on the haemodynamics and structure interactions is found in literature. Moreover, todate the effect of aortic wall motion on the blood flow has never been examined. A complete holistic ap ....Fluid dynamics and mechanical stress of tissue heart valves. Major problems with thrombo-embolic complications and leaflet failure and calcification still exist with bioprosthetic valves. Valves fabricated from polyether urethanes are efficient and can offer more resistance to calcification. No complete study on the haemodynamics and structure interactions is found in literature. Moreover, todate the effect of aortic wall motion on the blood flow has never been examined. A complete holistic approach to simulataneuosly simulating the fluid dynamics, the valve motion and the stress in a synthetic Polyether urethane valve is proposed. Cell adhesion study will also be carried out. The findings may yield to new insights into valve research.Read moreRead less
Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types o ....Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types of tissues being generated for clinical applications, including possible applications in the treatment of heart disease, the largest killer of people in the Western world. Read moreRead less
Sequence Data Analysis. Sequence data analysis is about extracting information included in sequences of data in which the order of sequence matters. The project aims to work with two well known research groups in Germany with complimentary expertise to support two applications in this area: analysis of biological sequence data and detection and classification of sequence images, both with a very high significance to research and industry. It is planned to investigate on the diversity and the com ....Sequence Data Analysis. Sequence data analysis is about extracting information included in sequences of data in which the order of sequence matters. The project aims to work with two well known research groups in Germany with complimentary expertise to support two applications in this area: analysis of biological sequence data and detection and classification of sequence images, both with a very high significance to research and industry. It is planned to investigate on the diversity and the commonality in both applications leading to better and faster algorithms and their hardware implementations. It is expected to train high quality postgraduates and postdoctoral fellows at Melbourne and the host institutions.Read moreRead less
Regulation of large artery stiffness by endothelium-derived mediators and effects on the arterial pressure waveform. Stiffening of arteries is an important cardiovascular risk factor and increases with age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Cells that line the blood vessels (endothelial cells), become damaged and this reduces the available amount of a dilator substance, nitric oxide, and increases the activity of a constrictor substance, endothelin-1. We have shown that nitric ....Regulation of large artery stiffness by endothelium-derived mediators and effects on the arterial pressure waveform. Stiffening of arteries is an important cardiovascular risk factor and increases with age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Cells that line the blood vessels (endothelial cells), become damaged and this reduces the available amount of a dilator substance, nitric oxide, and increases the activity of a constrictor substance, endothelin-1. We have shown that nitric oxide regulates large artery stiffness and we believe that other endothelial mediators are also important regulators. Therefore, we aim to explore this in a series of studies. Regulation of stiffness of large arteries will improve treatment of age-related cardiovascular disease (eg isolated systolic hypertension)Read moreRead less