Pathogen sensing in systemic inflammatory disease. The initiation, amplification and quenching of an immune response is a carefully orchestrated process that eliminates invading pathogens while minimising collateral damage to host tissues. This research focuses on proteins that restrict immune responses to prevent inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. This work will also explore the role of a potassium channel that protects the host from or ....Pathogen sensing in systemic inflammatory disease. The initiation, amplification and quenching of an immune response is a carefully orchestrated process that eliminates invading pathogens while minimising collateral damage to host tissues. This research focuses on proteins that restrict immune responses to prevent inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. This work will also explore the role of a potassium channel that protects the host from organ failure during an infection, by coupling the energy requirements of mounting an immune response, and organ function. This may have important implications for the management of sepsis, a systemic immune response associated with infection and the leading cause of death in critically ill patients.Read moreRead less
A knockout approach to identifying genes involved in epidermal development and homeostasis. These studies will identify new genes which play a role in the development or maintenance of the skin, some of which may subsequently be shown to play a role in disease. The project capitalises on an investment of tens of millions of dollars by the Wellcome Trust in generating a significant cohort of knockout mice. Our involvement in this international initiative will ensure Australia's participation in ....A knockout approach to identifying genes involved in epidermal development and homeostasis. These studies will identify new genes which play a role in the development or maintenance of the skin, some of which may subsequently be shown to play a role in disease. The project capitalises on an investment of tens of millions of dollars by the Wellcome Trust in generating a significant cohort of knockout mice. Our involvement in this international initiative will ensure Australia's participation in a project at the forefront of mouse genetics, using cutting edge infrastructure and technologies to provide insights into the complement of genes involved in skin biology. Models of interest will be repatriated to Australia for further study capitalising on existing infrastructure provided through the NCRIS funding program. Read moreRead less
The role of palmitoylation in hair follicle and epidermal stem cell biology. A proteins activity can be shaped by sugar, phosphate and lipid modifications. This proposal will investigate the effects of the lipid modification called palmitoylation, about which we know very little. Our preliminary experiments suggest that palmitoylation is crucial for normal skin biology. We will explore its effects on the biology of the proteins which are modified, the cells in which they are found and the tis ....The role of palmitoylation in hair follicle and epidermal stem cell biology. A proteins activity can be shaped by sugar, phosphate and lipid modifications. This proposal will investigate the effects of the lipid modification called palmitoylation, about which we know very little. Our preliminary experiments suggest that palmitoylation is crucial for normal skin biology. We will explore its effects on the biology of the proteins which are modified, the cells in which they are found and the tissues in which they reside. Understanding more about these modifications will help us to learn more about the biology of our skin and will help us to understand diseases which affect our largest organ.Read moreRead less
Advanced micro-architecture and nanotopography for enhanced tissue growth in scaffolds. Tissue engineering scaffolds offer an urgently needed synthetic biomaterials solution to overcome disease transmission from donor transplants. This work will combine biomaterial chemistry and designed surface topography to trigger bone formation within a scaffold for the first time in the world. Collaboration with national research leaders on stem cell and animal testing of the new scaffolds will provide the ....Advanced micro-architecture and nanotopography for enhanced tissue growth in scaffolds. Tissue engineering scaffolds offer an urgently needed synthetic biomaterials solution to overcome disease transmission from donor transplants. This work will combine biomaterial chemistry and designed surface topography to trigger bone formation within a scaffold for the first time in the world. Collaboration with national research leaders on stem cell and animal testing of the new scaffolds will provide the necessary interdisciplinary approach to generate a new product for patients in need of bone regeneration. Australia will benefit from the contribution to medical science, the development of a new device for rapid prototyping tissue engineering scaffolds, retain biomaterials research expertise, and generate new biomedical products.Read moreRead less
Learning from errors: examining the neural mechanisms underlying performance monitoring and adaptive behaviour. This project aims to contribute to current scientific thinking on how the brain mechanisms underlying error processing influence adaptive behaviour. Self-recognition of errors deteriorates in many clinical conditions and is a predictor of poor prognostic outcome. However, it remains unclear how such dysfunction leads to the failure to adapt behaviour.
Central pathways regulating visceral pain. This project aims to investigate the neural pathways within the spinal cord and brain processing colorectal pain perception. The project aims to identify the spinal cord neurons relaying colorectal signalling into the brain and the influence of descending modulation from the brainstem upon these pathways. The outcomes will greatly benefit fundamental understanding of the central pathways processing visceral pain.
Central Representation of Electroacoustic Stimuli. Cochlear implantation, initially only provided to profoundly deaf individuals, is now routine in people with substantial residual hearing. Although stimulation via a cochlear implant and hearing aid in the same ear has been shown to improve speech understanding, particularly in noise, and to increase the aesthetic quality of sound, almost nothing is known about the physiological mechanisms underlying these benefits. The broad aim of our project ....Central Representation of Electroacoustic Stimuli. Cochlear implantation, initially only provided to profoundly deaf individuals, is now routine in people with substantial residual hearing. Although stimulation via a cochlear implant and hearing aid in the same ear has been shown to improve speech understanding, particularly in noise, and to increase the aesthetic quality of sound, almost nothing is known about the physiological mechanisms underlying these benefits. The broad aim of our project is to address this deficiency by measuring the patterns of neural activity evoked by speech sounds across the tonotopic axis in the inferior colliculus and auditory cortex and assess the extent to which the pattern of neural activity allows discrimination between the different speech sounds.Read moreRead less
Wiring the gut's nervous system: formation and maturation of synapses. This project aims to determine how nerve circuits controlling intestinal functions develop; specifically how communication between specific nerve cells is established once they appear in the embryonic gut. It will fill a major hole in existing knowledge of mechanisms regulating the development of normal digestive behaviours.
Neural Activity Shaping for Retinal and Cochlear Implants. This project aims to develop methods to control and optimise the spatial patterns of neural activity evoked by neural prostheses in order to improve the resolution of neuroprostheses. A major problem for neural prostheses is that the electrical current used to stimulate neurons causes a diffuse spread of activity in the neural tissue, which limits the resolution of the device. For patients this translates into limitations in sound qualit ....Neural Activity Shaping for Retinal and Cochlear Implants. This project aims to develop methods to control and optimise the spatial patterns of neural activity evoked by neural prostheses in order to improve the resolution of neuroprostheses. A major problem for neural prostheses is that the electrical current used to stimulate neurons causes a diffuse spread of activity in the neural tissue, which limits the resolution of the device. For patients this translates into limitations in sound quality, in the case of cochlea implants, or visual acuity, for retinal implants. The outcome of the project will be algorithms that optimally choose the currents on each electrode so as to shape neural activity at the finer resolution of electrode spacing rather than the coarser resolution of current spread.Read moreRead less
Thalamic inputs and cortical microcircuitry underlying the functional architecture of the visual cortex. This project seeks to reveal the fundamental circuitry of the visual cortex that enables visual perception. Such understanding is essential not only for explaining many perceptual disturbances, but also for providing a neuronal basis for developing functionally useful prostheses for the blind.