Defining the pathways of developmental brain injury, for a healthy start to life. Injury to the developing brain, whether sustained during pregnancy or at birth, is the underlying cause of many cognitive and motor disabilities, including cerebral palsy. This project will identify the cellular pathways that cause developmental brain injury, arising from the three principal complications of pregnancy or birth; intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), preterm birth with/without intrauterine infectio ....Defining the pathways of developmental brain injury, for a healthy start to life. Injury to the developing brain, whether sustained during pregnancy or at birth, is the underlying cause of many cognitive and motor disabilities, including cerebral palsy. This project will identify the cellular pathways that cause developmental brain injury, arising from the three principal complications of pregnancy or birth; intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), preterm birth with/without intrauterine infection and birth asphyxia. This project will utilise this knowledge of the causal pathways leading to brain injury to implement targeted therapies to reduce injury or repair the brain. It will progress fundamental biomedical discoveries into clinical practice to decrease the incidence and severity of newborn brain injury and cerebral palsy.Read moreRead less
Revealing the mechanobiology of neural tube formation. This project aims to understand the formation of the neural tube; a fundamental tissue structure that generates the brain and the spinal cord. Using interdisciplinary approaches and exploiting recent advances in transgenic and imaging technologies, we expect to reveal the complex interplay between cells and their environment that generates mechanical forces to direct neural tissue formation. Outcomes include knowledge of previously intractab ....Revealing the mechanobiology of neural tube formation. This project aims to understand the formation of the neural tube; a fundamental tissue structure that generates the brain and the spinal cord. Using interdisciplinary approaches and exploiting recent advances in transgenic and imaging technologies, we expect to reveal the complex interplay between cells and their environment that generates mechanical forces to direct neural tissue formation. Outcomes include knowledge of previously intractable developmental processes, training of future scientists and development of international collaborations. This should provide enhanced imaging capacity, a higher quality scientific workforce and position Australia at the forefront of cell and developmental biology.Read moreRead less
Novel mechanisms integrating the central and autonomic nervous system. This project aims to define molecular mechanisms controlling the exquisite connectivity of neurons in different parts of the body. The ability of higher-vertebrates to respond to different environmental conditions is essential for life, evolution, health, reproduction and growth, and is reliant on the autonomic nervous system. However, how the autonomic nervous system is integrated with the central nervous system to control h ....Novel mechanisms integrating the central and autonomic nervous system. This project aims to define molecular mechanisms controlling the exquisite connectivity of neurons in different parts of the body. The ability of higher-vertebrates to respond to different environmental conditions is essential for life, evolution, health, reproduction and growth, and is reliant on the autonomic nervous system. However, how the autonomic nervous system is integrated with the central nervous system to control holistic physiological responses is largely unknown. By deciphering how neural networks are formed this project aims to provide broad biological insight to wiring of the entire nervous system which is likely to have significant implications for the formation of synthetic neural networks and for regeneration.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102034
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
How did mammals evolve large brains? A multidisciplinary view from the pouch. This project applies novel data collection techniques to explain how the large brain sizes of today's mammals (including humans) are possible. The focus will be on brain structure, development, and evolution in the mostly Australian marsupials, whose ancestral mode of brain development makes them an ideal group for studies of brain size evolution.