Centre For Clinical Research Excellence In Aboriginal Health: Sexually Transmitted And Bloodborne Viral Infections
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,553,623.00
Summary
This proposed new CCRE will bring together the leading Australian institution dedicated to clinical research on sexually transmitted and blood borne viral infections, and the peak organisation for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. Working with nominated Aboriginal community controlled health services, the Centre will conduct innovative research that will identify new approaches to diagnosing and managing these infections while at the same time developing improved clinical guidelin ....This proposed new CCRE will bring together the leading Australian institution dedicated to clinical research on sexually transmitted and blood borne viral infections, and the peak organisation for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. Working with nominated Aboriginal community controlled health services, the Centre will conduct innovative research that will identify new approaches to diagnosing and managing these infections while at the same time developing improved clinical guidelines and research capacity within the sector.Read moreRead less
Deadly Liver Mob: Engaging Aboriginal People In Viral Hepatitis, HIV And Sexual Health Services
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$848,441.00
Summary
Rates of blood-borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections are high among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. A local initiative in western Sydney has trialed a new approach to engagement and care of Aboriginal people. We will implement this approach in services across NSW and evaluate its effectiveness as a sustainable and acceptable model for engaging Aboriginal people in care and develop an implementation plan for future roll-out to other services.
Imaging The Hepatitis C Virus Life Cycle In Real-time
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$477,504.00
Summary
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a serious viral pathogen that causes significant liver disease. This proposal plans to examine how two proteins from the HCV, core and NS5A, interact with host proteins and pathways to facilitate viral replication and release of HCV; two processes that are poorly understood. Specifically we will tag viral proteins to allow us to investigate the HCV life cycle in living cells and determine the role of core and NS5A in facilitating HCV replication. This proposal may unco ....Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a serious viral pathogen that causes significant liver disease. This proposal plans to examine how two proteins from the HCV, core and NS5A, interact with host proteins and pathways to facilitate viral replication and release of HCV; two processes that are poorly understood. Specifically we will tag viral proteins to allow us to investigate the HCV life cycle in living cells and determine the role of core and NS5A in facilitating HCV replication. This proposal may uncover novel therapeutic strategies to combat HCV.Read moreRead less
Regulation Of Key Pathways Causing Peri-implant Bone Loss.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$403,639.00
Summary
The failure of bone prostheses is becoming a major health problem in our aging population. Despite the impressive success of joint replacement surgery, a significant number of arthroplasties fail. It is now apparent that most implants fail due to bone loss around them which leads to loosening. This project aims to obtain a better understanding of the causes of implant failure and find ways to extend the life of these implants .
The Role Of Arousal And Respiratory Control Factors In The Pathogenesis Of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$567,924.00
Summary
Sleep apnoea (OSA) is a very common breathing disorder in sleep characterized by repetitive closure of the collapsible portion of the throat with serious effects on sleep quality and health. Basic causes of OSA are still largely unknown. We will investigate waking responses to breathing load and related respiratory control factors that we believe may be fundamental causes of OSA, and potentially explain many features of OSA including worsening in light sleep and with increasing age.
The Role Of Respiratory And Upper Airway Neural Control In Sleep Disordered Breathing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$346,018.00
Summary
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a disorder associated with snoring. It affects 4% of adult men and causes excessive daytime sleepiness leading to increased accidents, high blood pressure and premature cardiovascular disease eg. heart attacks and strokes. Patients with OSA obstruct the floppy portion of the upper airway (UA) during sleep and consequently experience frequent episodes of oxygen deprivation as well as sleep fragmentation. OSA is at least 2-3 times more common in men than women. Whi ....Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a disorder associated with snoring. It affects 4% of adult men and causes excessive daytime sleepiness leading to increased accidents, high blood pressure and premature cardiovascular disease eg. heart attacks and strokes. Patients with OSA obstruct the floppy portion of the upper airway (UA) during sleep and consequently experience frequent episodes of oxygen deprivation as well as sleep fragmentation. OSA is at least 2-3 times more common in men than women. While OSA patients seem, on average, to have smaller upper airways than normal subjects, the cause of OSA cannot be attributed to this factor alone. For example, a small UA cannot explain the male tendency for OSA. Abnormalities in breathing control or the control of upper airway muscles that normally hold the airway open might also be important in OSA. Men have previously been shown to have a greater increase in UA resistance during sleep than women, consistent with the idea that a gender difference in UA muscle control partly explains why more men than women have OSA. We aim to investigate how changes in breathing and UA dilator muscle control might lead to unstable patterns of breathing and to OSA. We propose that protective UA muscle reflexes are reduced during sleep more in men than women, and are reduced by low blood oxygen levels and alcohol (a known aggravator of sleep apnea). We further propose that low blood oxygen levels not only result from OSA but may also aggravate OSA by preferentially reducing the activity of UA dilating muscles, by making breathing patterns overall less stable and by depressing the ability of subjects to arouse from sleep to an airway blockage. We believe that this tendency to decrease UA activity may be exaggerated in OSA patients. We also propose that men are more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of low oxygen than women. We will also examine if men and snorers have exaggerated breathing responses on arousal from sleep.Read moreRead less
Tapasin And Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Antigen Presentation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$226,650.00
Summary
An effective T cell response (cellular immune response) to infections is vital to a functional immune system. Normally, proteins are cleaved into small molecules called peptides and these peptides are in turn presented by Major Histocompatibility Complex molecules to T cells. However, we have only partial understanding of what determines the choice of peptides that are finally presented to T cells. Recent research suggests that a molecule called tapasin may also influence the choice of peptides. ....An effective T cell response (cellular immune response) to infections is vital to a functional immune system. Normally, proteins are cleaved into small molecules called peptides and these peptides are in turn presented by Major Histocompatibility Complex molecules to T cells. However, we have only partial understanding of what determines the choice of peptides that are finally presented to T cells. Recent research suggests that a molecule called tapasin may also influence the choice of peptides. This research proposal aims to examine the role of tapasin in this regard. A thorough understanding of the basic principles of peptide presentation to T cells is crucial to the design of effective vaccines. Furthermore it will also broaden our understanding of immunological responses to cancer, autoimmune diseases and infections.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Arousal And Diaphragm Displacement In The Pathogenesis Of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$410,875.00
Summary
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 4% of men and causes excessive daytime sleepiness leading to increased accidents, high blood pressure and premature cardiovascular disease e.g. heart attacks and strokes. OSA is characterized by repetitive obstructions of the floppy portion of the throat during sleep with adverse effects on oxygen levels and sleep quality. OSA is strongly associated with obesity and is 2-3 times more common in men than women. How obesity and male gender predispose to OSA is ....Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 4% of men and causes excessive daytime sleepiness leading to increased accidents, high blood pressure and premature cardiovascular disease e.g. heart attacks and strokes. OSA is characterized by repetitive obstructions of the floppy portion of the throat during sleep with adverse effects on oxygen levels and sleep quality. OSA is strongly associated with obesity and is 2-3 times more common in men than women. How obesity and male gender predispose to OSA is not known. We will investigate two factors that we believe are most likely involved in causing and explaining this gender difference in OSA. We will examine if breathing responses with brief awakening are sufficient to promote OSA patterns of breathing in snorers and if they are greater in male than female OSA patients. We have already shown that healthy men have greater breathing response to arousal compared to women. These brief arousals occur hundreds of times a night in OSA patients, and over-breathing on arousal may increase the probability of upper airway obstruction on falling back to sleep. We will also investigate why even healthy men show greater breathing responses compared to women. Men tend to accumulate fat centrally, particularly in the abdomen, whereas in women fat tends to be distributed more to the hips and thighs. This could be very important in OSA because downward pull exerted on the upper airway by the diaphragm is likely to be reduced in people with more abdominal obesity. This mechanisms has not yet been studied in humans. We will therefore investigate if increased forces placed on the diaphragm during sleep make the upper airway more prone to collapse. We will also investigate these effects during sleep onset, when there may well be important changes in diaphragm position as muscles relax.Read moreRead less