Minimising Infection Risks Associated With Water Exposure And With International Travel: Addressing Data Gaps To Improve Policy And Practice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$401,361.00
Summary
This project will provide better understanding of health risks associated with two areas of infectious diseases: i) exposure to water, including water recycling and ii) imported infections associated with international travel. Both these issues are highly topical, and new information about exposure risks is important to help guide appropriate preventive advice.
Environmental And Host Contributors To Infectious Health Threats And Burden Of Infectious Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$474,712.00
Summary
Infections remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality. I will undertake research in a number of areas, with a focuses on: i)Imported infections: My lead role in and access to a global network of sites that track infections among travellers and immigrants will enable study of emerging priority issues among mobile populations. ii)Waterborne risks: I will perform studies to identify optimal strategies for improving water supply and associated health impacts in developing countries.
Monoclonal antibodies, such as the breast cancer therapeutic Herceptin, have revolutionised the treatment of cancer and inflammatory conditions. Will over $30 billion sales in 2011, they have also spawned a growing biotech industry. We have a generated a highly specific monoclonal antibody, which has shown efficacy in models of disease. This project will further advance and develop this monoclonal, allowing us to initiate clinical studies in patients.
Afinity Maturation And Development Of An Anti-inflammatory Monoclonal Antibody
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$387,489.00
Summary
Antibodies are a relatively new class of drugs that directly target molecular mechanisms of disease. Antibody therapies, such as the breast cancer drug Herceptin, have significantly increased our arsenal of effective therapeutics. In collaboration with G2 Therapies, we will use cutting-edge genetic engineering technology to produce fully human antibodies for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Tumour-on-a-chip Models For Ex-vivo Profiling Of Immune Checkpoint Blockades
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$431,000.00
Summary
The overall goal of this project is to build novel 3D biochips to culture primary human tumors with their immune cells, and to investigate patient specific responses to immune checkpoint blockade ex-vivo. Since there are currently no validated methodologies to study immunotherapy response in patient-derived cancer specimens, this proposal has the potential to provide a state-of-the art technology for the ‘personalization’ of immunotherapy.
This research will develop cutting-edge computational tools and statistical methods to analyse, model and visualise the way in which the human brain is interconnected. The tools developed will be used to identify biological markers in the brain’s network of axonal circuitry (the connectome) that are valuable for diagnosis and prognosis of psychiatric disorders. This research will bring to fruition the exciting potential of connectomics in neuroscience and psychiatry.