The Role Of Past Sun Exposure, Infection History And Other Exogenous Factors In Multiple Sclerosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$92,011.00
Summary
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of the brain and spinal cord that leads to various degrees of disability. The causes of MS are not yet known, and there is presently no cure. However, there is strong evidence that both an inherited susceptibility and environmental factors are important. This environmental case control study will be conducted in Tasmania and will run concurrent to a genetic project on MS which allows assessment of gene-environment interactions. ....Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of the brain and spinal cord that leads to various degrees of disability. The causes of MS are not yet known, and there is presently no cure. However, there is strong evidence that both an inherited susceptibility and environmental factors are important. This environmental case control study will be conducted in Tasmania and will run concurrent to a genetic project on MS which allows assessment of gene-environment interactions. It focuses on infections, timing of childhood infections and long term sun exposure. It has been suggested that MS may be due to an immune disturbance following viral infection and that the timing of childhood infections may be initially important. Also, in Australia, there is a sevenfold increase in MS prevalence as one moves from Queensland to Tasmania. This latitudinal gradient might be due to ultra violet radiation, through an influence on immune function. Beside those main focuses, the study will include other environmental factors like chemicals, diet and vaccinations. Hopefully this project will contribute to a better understanding of the causes of MS, which are relevant for preventative strategies and devising optimal treatment.Read moreRead less
My goal is to develop substantial Australian capacity and international leadership in research on Health Impacts of Environment and Climate Change. Climate change poses diverse health risks, both direct (heatwaves, weather disasters, drought, urban air quality) and indirect (infectious disease patterns, food yields, economic loss, environmental refugee flows). My research group, with my own international connections and our strong cross-campus and external collaborative links, is ideally placed ....My goal is to develop substantial Australian capacity and international leadership in research on Health Impacts of Environment and Climate Change. Climate change poses diverse health risks, both direct (heatwaves, weather disasters, drought, urban air quality) and indirect (infectious disease patterns, food yields, economic loss, environmental refugee flows). My research group, with my own international connections and our strong cross-campus and external collaborative links, is ideally placed to do this research. Major outcomes will be: (i) enhanced understanding of the health risks from climate change and other human-induced environmental changes (including studies of their influences on patterns of infectious diseases); (ii) a broader evidence base for developing preventive-adaptive strategies to lessen health risks – and further development of my Centre’s high-level skills in translating research to social policy. My four specific aims are to: 1. Extend our research on the health impacts of climate change and other environmental changes. This will include strengthening further our international collaboration, developing new methods, and: (a) research on the health impacts of long-term drought in rural Australia; (b) elucidating the interplay of environmental, climatic, social and economic influences on infectious disease emergence and spread in the Australia-Asia region (to enhance ecological understanding, facilitate prevention-control strategies, and advance the biosecurity research agenda – including via ANU’s new Centre for Biosecurity). 2. Develop further our research on environmental and genetic influences on immune system function and autoimmune diseases, including studying the role of vitamin D. Answers to these research questions will be generalisable to the prevention and management of immune disorders. 3. Provide strong leadership in fostering international research activities, capacity and collaboration on the health impacts of global environmental-climatic changes (GEC). I have special opportunity and responsibility as co-chair of the International Council of Science project: ‘GEC and Human Health’. 4. Develop Australia’s population health research capacity with emphasis on training early-mid-career researchers. This fellowship research program would be greatly strengthened by retention of several high-performing and committed Team Investigators already working in the topic area. My central objective is to consolidate national research capacity and long-term momentum in the above areas, with high international engagement and profile. Under my directorship NCEPH has attained high visibility in: (i) climate change and health research; (ii) modeling infectious disease transmission and control; (iii) studying the environmental aetiology of immune disorders; and (iv) social-cultural epidemiological research into influences on health-reRead moreRead less
Melanoma is one of Australia?s major cancer problems, but we still do not completely understand why certain people are at higher risk than others. This study is focussed on people who have developed melanoma at an early age (under 40yrs) and will compare their family history of cancer, skin features, genetic characteristics and various aspects of their previous sun exposure with people who don?t have melanoma. The large number of people involved and the fact that they will be selected at random ....Melanoma is one of Australia?s major cancer problems, but we still do not completely understand why certain people are at higher risk than others. This study is focussed on people who have developed melanoma at an early age (under 40yrs) and will compare their family history of cancer, skin features, genetic characteristics and various aspects of their previous sun exposure with people who don?t have melanoma. The large number of people involved and the fact that they will be selected at random from the population of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane which have very different melanoma rates, means that the study will be able to clarify what roles genes and environment play in the disease. It is intended to be an international benchmark in this regard, and Australia is the only country in which a study of this scope could be mounted. Potential benefits from this research will be a better understanding of the way sun exposure affects people differently, depending on their genetic makeup, the place of genetic testing in assessing people?s risk of melanoma, particularly if they have relatives with the disease, and way in which skin features like moles should be taken into account in that assessment. Finally, it is likely that better information about the types of genetic susceptibility to melanoma in the population will translate to more effective programs for the prevention of melanoma and for detection of melanomas efficiently at the earliest possible stage.Read moreRead less
Cancer And Low-dose Radiation - Possible Effects Of CT Scans In Childhood
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$476,650.00
Summary
Despite 100 years of research there is uncertainty about effects of low dose radiation from background and medical X-rays. We will measure the incidence of cancer in Australians exposed to CT scans (medical X-rays) as children between 1985 and 2005. Our results, from follow-up to 2009, will show whether there is a small but signicantly increased risk of cancer and guide further improvement in radiation safety standards if these prove to be necessary.
Adult non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma (NHL) is one of the most rapidly increasing cancers of recent times. The rise has occurred worldwide in men and women of all ages. The reason for most of the rise is unknown. It has recently been proposed that part of the upsurge may be due to increases in sun exposure which have occurred during the same period. There is some indirect evidence to support this hypothesis. For example, the rate of occurrence of NHL is higher closer to the equator in Australia than it i ....Adult non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma (NHL) is one of the most rapidly increasing cancers of recent times. The rise has occurred worldwide in men and women of all ages. The reason for most of the rise is unknown. It has recently been proposed that part of the upsurge may be due to increases in sun exposure which have occurred during the same period. There is some indirect evidence to support this hypothesis. For example, the rate of occurrence of NHL is higher closer to the equator in Australia than it is in England and Wales, and NHL is diagnosed more frequently among British migrants to Victoria than it is in their homeland. The sunlight hypothesis will be tested by comparing the pattern of sun exposure in Tasmanians diagnosed with NHL during the years 1998-2001 and in a sample of Tasmanians without the disease. tasmania has been chosen because levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation are low there in all but the summer months, when it approaches the levels of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. There is therefore a greater difference in UV exposure between the most exposed and the least exposed in Tasmania, making it an ideal location to test the hypothesis. The link between NHL and a measure of melanin pigmentation in the skin will also be studied. The incidence of NHL is higher in lighter-skinned ethnic groups than it is in darker-skinned people living at the same latitude, but it is not known whether risk varies within Caucasian populations. A new measure of melanin in the skin, developed at the Menzies Centre for Population Health Research in Hobart, will better allow the effects of skin colour to be studied.Read moreRead less
Investigating Low Sun Exposure And Other Possible Early Life Determinants Of Type 1 Diabtes Mellitus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$342,795.00
Summary
Type 1 diabetes mellitus is becoming more common among Australian children. The project explores aspects of the modern child's environment that may increase the risk of type 1 diabetes. In particular it aims to assess whether very low sun exposure in early life is adverse. Low sun exposure may be adverse because sun exposure -derived vitamin D is vital for the developing child's immune system. We need to know what level of sunlight and vitamin D children need to prevent disease.