Mutational Signatures Of DDT: The Role Of A Controversial Persistent Endocrine Disrupting Pollutant On Prostate Cancer Aetiology
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$991,000.00
Summary
No carcinogen or prevention has been identified for prostate cancer (PCa). As carcinogens are commonly mutagens, we will use genomic interrogation to determine if extensive use of the hormone-disrupting pesticide DDT during the 40's to late 80's increased PCa globally. Having access to prostate tumours from men with biochemically confirmed lifelong DDT-exposure, will provide a measurable genomic signature to evaluate the impact of DDT globally, including Australia.
Understanding Tumour Plasticity And The Microenvironment Using Single-cell Technologies To Identify Novel Targets For Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$653,578.00
Summary
Most prostate cancer patients respond well to treatment, but some develop metastatic disease and respond poorly. During metastasis the cancer spreads to multiple organs and new combinations of genes become activated, making it difficult to develop new treatments. We will investigate these patterns of activation of genes in metastatic samples and how the immune system interacts with the cancer. We will use computational models to identify new drug targets and evaluate immunotherapy as an option.
Engineering CYP17A1 Inhibitors For Castrate-resistant Prostate Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$519,428.00
Summary
As prostate cancer progresses it becomes resistant to first line treatments and the current second line treatments have untoward side effects. This proposal will provide proof of principal for new selective drugs to be developed. We propose an innovative strategy to develop new selective drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer. This new therapeutic approach will identify new compounds for patients specifically with castrate sensitive and resistant prostate cancer.
Molecular Dissection Of Allergen Sensitisation And Immunotherapy: Direct Application To Precision Medicine In Treatment Of Asthma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,270,097.00
Summary
Asthma is a major global health burden with huge socioeconomic impact. Most asthmatic patients are allergic. Allergen immunotherapy is the only treatment to alter the natural disease course, but does not work in many treated patients, and robust laboratory biomarkers for patient selection and immune monitoring of treatment success are lacking. Therefore, allergen immunotherapy is not offered to most patients who then rely on medications indefinitely. This research will address these needs.
Biopsychosocial Risk And Protective Factors Of Trauma Exposure In First Responders: A Longitudinal Investigation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,137,427.00
Summary
Investigating individual differences in response to stress is crucial to improving both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for individuals at high risk for exposure to trauma. This world-first project will investigate pre and post-trauma psychological and biological trajectories associated with health outcomes in first-responders, contributing significantly towards our fundamental understanding of the biology of risk and resilience to trauma exposure, a key health issue.
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.
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.
Novel Modelling To Improve Decision-making For Neighbourhood Design To Reduce Chronic Disease Risk
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$901,564.00
Summary
Research on urban design that might support liveability and health (the 20-minute neighbourhood concept) has used analytic methods that do not account for the complexity of urban environments. This study innovatively uses a flexible and applicable approach (Bayesian Networks) to show where neighbourhood features operate uniquely or not, which features can be prioritised, which are cost effective, and how much of each feature is needed to achieve improvement in reducing risk of chronic disease.