Pain is one of the most frequent and costly health problems faced by Australia. Currently available painkillers often do not work, or have intolerable side effects. We thus need better approaches to treat pain. This project will define the role of the novel pain target Nav1.6 in clinically relevant pain states, including burns pain and chemotherapy-induced pain, with the aim to develop novel treatment approaches and painkillers for these difficult-to-treat conditions.
The Role Of Sodium Channels In Pain And Cold Allodynia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$349,306.00
Summary
Many types of chronic pain remain poorly treated and severely impact the quality of life of millions of Australians. Cold allodynia in particular, which occurs in several painful human conditions and leads to severe pain from simply touching a cool surface or item, is poorly understood and thus difficult to treat. The aim of this project is to determine the pharmacological mechanism of cold allodynia to develop novel treatment approaches.
Better Targets And Drugs For Improving Stroke Outcome?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,085,972.00
Summary
Infection is highly prevalent and is one of the leading causes of death in stroke. It is now recognised that stroke impairs the immune system, raising the possibility that reversing this impairment can decrease the rate of infection after stroke. Therefore, the focus of this project is to identify the signalling pathways that underlie abnormal immune function after stroke and also assess the potential of a novel pharmacological approach for reducing bacterial infection in stroke patients.