Artificial Synthesis Of The Type III Secretion System Translocon. A New Approach To Vaccine Design
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$668,742.00
Summary
Today hospitals are plagued with bacterial infections that do not respond to antibiotics. The problem exists because although antibiotics are effective at killing bacteria, this paradoxically also helps the drug-resistant bacteria thrive. We will pioneer a completely new approach to vaccine design that allows us to construct a vaccine that protects us from bacterial infection without killing the bacteria. The vaccine should therefore be far less susceptible to drug resistance.
Characterization And Inhibition Of Higher-order Assembly Signalling In Toll-like Receptor Pathways
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$711,995.00
Summary
The innate immune system is the first line of defence against pathogens. Inhibitors of innate immune pathways can be developed into therapeutic agents against a number of disorders including chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. We have discovered a new mechanisms of signaling by a set of key molecules in these pathways, through formation of large assemblies. We will characterize these assemblies and uncover ways to inhibit their formation.
Molecular And Structural Basis Of Signalling By TIR Domain-containing Adaptors In TLR Pathways
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$666,417.00
Summary
Humans first detect the presence of pathogens and respond to them through specific pathways termed innate immune pathways. The proposed research will study proteins that participate in these pathways, in particular their three-dimensional structures and how they interact with each other, to understand how they work together to mount an immune response, and to find ways to modulate this response in infectious diseases as well as chronic inflammatory diseases.
Identification Of Testis-specific Markers Of Male Infertility
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$617,008.00
Summary
Infertility affects 1 in 20 men, and carries major health and financial burdens. Patient management is difficult because there are no tests to monitor testicular function. While sperm number is normally used, their absence in the ejaculate provides no information whether sperm are present in the testis suitable for IVF, or if sperm production could be ‘kick-started’ with hormones. Our goal is to identify new markers of testis function in blood, and then use them to help treat infertile men.
Identification And Molecular Characterisation Of High-risk Premalignant Breast Lesions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$560,382.00
Summary
Understanding the full repertoire of genetic events that underlie the development of breast cancer may allow development of prevention strategies. This study will analyse genetic data of benign breast lesions that may be non-obligate precursors of breast cancer. Importantly, clinical management of these lesions is difficult. A reliable method of predicting the risk of progression to cancer would be a significant advance, with benefits to individual patients and also the health system.
High-throughput genetic assays are commonly used to study the molecular basis of disease and such technology requires sophisticated data analysis methods that account for significant biological and experimental complexity. Specialized methods will be developed in free public software that will greatly benefit future genetic profiling studies.
The Effects Of Different Alcohol Pricing Policies On Alcohol Consumption, Health, Social And Economic Outcomes, And Health Inequality In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$276,738.00
Summary
This project will examine the effects, effectiveness and cost-benefits of alcohol pricing policy initiatives in reducing risky drinking, health and social harms and health inequalities among priority populations in Australia. This project will provide key research evidence to cut through current policy debates and will point towards the most effective potential options for alcohol tax reform.
COMPARE- Constraint Induced Or Multi-Modal Aphasia Rehabilitation: An RCT Of Therapy For Stroke Related Chronic Aphasia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,035,668.00
Summary
COMPARE is a 3 arm national randomised controlled trial comparing two types of intensive speech pathology treatment to usual care, for people with language disability 6 months to 3 years following stroke. After stratification by aphasia severity, participants are randomised to Multi-modality Aphasia Therapy, Constraint Induced Aphasia Therapy, or usual care. Cognitive, language, and speech assessments at baseline will enable sophisticated predictors of treatment responsiveness to be defined.
Pathways To Avoidable And Unexplained Deaths In The Early Lifecourse
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,108,086.00
Summary
There continues to be unacceptable numbers of avoidable deaths in early life in Australia, particularity among disadvantaged groups. This project will use novel, large-scale population data to identify and quantify the impact of risks to early life mortality and preventable pathways. This new knowledge will inform new strategies to prevent stillbirth and child deaths for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other populations.
Our overall objective is to significantly improve the efficacy and efficiency of image-guided neurosurgery for brain tumours by including realistic computation of brain deformations, based on a biomechanical model, in a system to improve intra-operative visualisation, navigation and monitoring. The system will create an augmented reality visualisation of the intra-operative configuration of the patient’s brain merged with high resolution pre-operative imaging data.