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Preventing Diabetic Complications Using Anti-inflammatory Peptides
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$805,146.00
Summary
The Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products (RAGE) triggers inflammation. It was thought that this receptor was only activated from outside the cell. However, we discovered that other receptors can activate it from the inside. This is called trans-activation. During this ideas grant, we will develop innovative ways to block trans-activation of RAGE and translate these findings to make new therapeutics that are highly-relevant to he development and progression of diabetes.
Over 2 million Australians have diabetes and up to one in three adults will develop diabetes or pre-diabetes in their lifetime with the associated burden of complications. It is not simply genetics, as the genetic variability cannot explain why some individuals and indeed some families appear to be programmed to have an inordinate burden of complications. Over the last decade we have developed state of the art technologies to characterise epigenetic changes in human clinical cohorts.
We aim to discover and develop a blood test that can predict which lung cancers have spread to lymph glands in the chest, to help decide on the best treatment options.
Hysterectomy, Oophorectomy And Long-term Chronic Disease - The HOLD Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$690,006.00
Summary
Hysterectomy, with or without the removal of ovaries, undertaken for non-cancerous problems may have long-term consequences for other health conditions like cardiovascular disease and cancer, but existing evidence is inconsistent. This large population-based study will use linked health data from the states and the Commonwealth to investigate these associations. The information from our study will help women and their doctors to make the better-informed decisions about their treatment.
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.
From Functional Genomics To Precision Medicine: Identifying The Cause And Finding Optimal Therapy For Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$855,992.00
Summary
There is an alarming increase in mouth cancer in young patients who have never smoked. This is a debilitating and potentially fatal cancer without many treatment options. If the patient survives, the quality of life is usually very poor. Our team of medical, genetic, and mathematics experts are dedicated to finding the cause, and developing new treatments, for young non-smoking patients affected by this devastating cancer.
Hijacking A Death Switch In Pancreatic And Lung Cancer Cells To Develop A Novel Therapy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$738,947.00
Summary
Pancreatic (PC) and lung (LC) cancer have a high mortality rate and poor response to current treatments. We have identified a protein whose inhibition in both PC and LC cells sensitises them to a cancer-cell specific therapy called TRAIL and switches signals that normally promote tumour growth into tumour death signals. This project aims to develop a novel therapeutic that inhibits our target and delivers TRAIL to PC and LC tumours, and could potentially improve survival for PC and LC patients.
Targeting Nerves In Tumours To Enhance Anti-cancer Immunity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,090,190.00
Summary
The cancer journey is an incredibly stressful experience for patients. We discovered that stress stops immune cells and helps cancer spread. The goal of this study is to reveal how stress signals alter anti-cancer immunity and impacts cancer treatments. We will use elegant tools from neuroscience and immunology to define if blocking stress helps the immune cells that kill cancer and explore how blocking stress can improve standard anti-cancer drugs, including chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Stopping Breast Cancer Progression By Targeting Tumour Stroma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$772,877.00
Summary
Our latest research demonstrated that CRELD2 protein that is secreted by breast cancer cells alters normal cells surrounding tumour. CRELD2 represents an ideal therapeutic target as it is not important for normal cells and it is a secreted protein and thus can be targeted by numerous means. Successful completion of this research proposal will provide foundation to find new targets for combining therapies affecting both tumour and it's altered environment in breast and potentially other cancers.
The Ins And Outs Of Endocytosis Inhibition: Providing Diverse Opportunities For Treatment Of Incurable Cancers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$912,353.00
Summary
The best new immune system anti-cancer drugs only work in ~30% of patients. We found a way to move the drug targets around in people's tumours temporarily to reverse resistance and have tested this in clinical trials. Here we propose to use immunology and the world's frontier electron microscope techniques to work out exactly what is happens to the tumours, immune cells and anti-cancer drugs when they interact in real clinical situations. The aim is to reach at least 60% patient response rate.