First Aid For Burns: The Use Of Ice Water And Ice?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$209,668.00
Summary
Millions of people worldwide receive burn injuries every year and last year the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane alone treated more than 500 children with new burn injuries. Many of these children with burn injuries will heal burn wounds with unsightly scars and impaired skin function. Cooling burns as first aid has been used since ancient time and is proved to be the most effective way to reduce skin temperature, lessen pain, minimize the depth of injury, and ultimately improve wound heali ....Millions of people worldwide receive burn injuries every year and last year the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane alone treated more than 500 children with new burn injuries. Many of these children with burn injuries will heal burn wounds with unsightly scars and impaired skin function. Cooling burns as first aid has been used since ancient time and is proved to be the most effective way to reduce skin temperature, lessen pain, minimize the depth of injury, and ultimately improve wound healing outcome. However, despite the evidence that cooling burns using ice water <4 C may be beneficial to burns, current first aid recommend to only use cold water 8-25 C and the use of ice-ice water is strongly discouraged for fear of the potential to cause hypothermia and deepen the existing burn injury. In this application we will examine the effect of ice-ice water 2 C on wound healing outcome compared to 15 C water as first aid, in an in vivo model. The wound healing will be clinically assessed by experienced clinicians weekly for six weeks, and then will also be assessed histologically and mechanically at week six. We will also determine the optimal cooling temperature and duration for injured tissue in burn wounds to recover and the conduction of cold through skin. With the coming new knowledge we wish to design an optimal cooling burn treatment which will maximize the beneficial of cooling to the burns but avoid adverse effect of excessive cooling. The success of this project will advance our knowledge on first aid treatment or burn cooling treatment and also wound healing process. It will enable us to offer better first aid treatment which may lead to wound healing with less scars, otherwise can not achieved by other current available treatments. The better healing of burn wounds will significantly improve burn patients' lives, particularly children with burn injuries. It will also release the burden on much needed health funds.Read moreRead less
Efficacy Of Activated Protein C To Treat Diabetic Leg Ulcers - A Randomised, Controlled Clinical Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$519,284.00
Summary
Chronic leg ulcers are a major public health burden. Research undertaken by the CIs and funded by a NHMRC Development Grant have shown that activated protein C heals chronic wounds in animals and now in humans, and resolved mechanisms underlying activated protein C's actions. The current chronic leg ulcer trial is an essential step to validate the therapeutic use of activated protein C in wound healing, which is likely to emerge as a cost-effective treatment for this difficult health problem.
Modulating Sphingolipid Signalling To Enhance Wound Healing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$698,447.00
Summary
Impaired wound healing is a major problem for diabetics, who often suffer with chronic unresolved wounds with serious effects on their quality of life and mortality. We have recently discovered a new pathway involving sphingolipids that shows great promise to improve wound healing in diabetics. In this project we will examine the targeting of this pathway, using existing and newly developed agents, to improve wound healing in advanced pre-clinical models of diabetes.
Fibroblast Senescence As A Driver Of Pulmonary Fibrosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$845,611.00
Summary
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has no cure. Currently we think that IPF develops like normal wound healing, but the normal “braking” mechanisms in the myofibroblasts (the cells that produce the connective tissue) don’t work, such that too much connective tissue is produced and oxygen transfer to the blood is stopped. We have identified a protein we think stops, the myofibroblasts from dying. Reducing the activation of this protein should return the myofibroblasts function to normal.
The Role Of The Actin Remodelling Protein, Flightless I, In Tissue Regeneration
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$568,868.00
Summary
Human embryos possess the remarkable capability to repair wounds perfectly with no scarring, unlike adults for whom major trauma can result in life-long disfigurement and immobility. We have identified a method that may be able to reinitiate the ability to repair wounds perfectly and we will test whether this is the case using animal models of fetal repair.
Diabetic foot ulcers are a common and costly complication associated with Diabetes. Current treatments are only modestly effective in promoting healing, and in many cases amputation is necessary. Through this project we will develop a new treatment strategy that involves the combination of adult stem cells and powerful signal molecules to promote robust diabetic foot ulcer repair.
Defining The Mechanisms Regulating Tissue Mechano-reciprocity In Wound Healing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$624,488.00
Summary
Wound healing is slow in people with diseases including diabetes or reduced blood circulation to the limbs. Wounds that remain unhealed for a long time may require surgery and limb amputations, often leading to disability and premature death, while costing the health system $3 billion/yr. We have found that wound healing can be accelerated more than 2-fold by the inhibition of a protein called 14-3-3zeta, and seek to find out how this occurs so that it may be exploited for therapy.
Epithelial Regeneration As A Novel Therapeutic Target In Asthma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$633,228.00
Summary
While allergies are very common, affecting ~40% of the population in Western countries, only a proportion of allergic people develop asthma, highlighting the importance of cell specific mechanisms that contribute to the disease. We will address how the structure and function of cells that line the airways, called epithelial cells contribute to asthma. We believe that in asthma, certain types of epithelial cells do not go through normal stages of development and differentiation and remain immatur ....While allergies are very common, affecting ~40% of the population in Western countries, only a proportion of allergic people develop asthma, highlighting the importance of cell specific mechanisms that contribute to the disease. We will address how the structure and function of cells that line the airways, called epithelial cells contribute to asthma. We believe that in asthma, certain types of epithelial cells do not go through normal stages of development and differentiation and remain immature.Read moreRead less
Mapping The Dynamics Of Corneal Stem Cell During Aging And After Wounding And Transplantation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$548,403.00
Summary
Restoring vision in patients with corneal blindness is our focus. Before this can be achieved we need to understand how corneal stem cells function. For many reasons these studies cannot be performed in man, so we engineered a mouse in which the location, migration, division, differentiation, death of these cells can be followed indefinitely. This information will allow us to improve current therapeutic options and develop new clinical solution for patients with blinding corneal disease.
Fetal Endothelial Progenitors From The Placenta As A Source For Cell Therapy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$384,072.00
Summary
The recent years have seen a rise in interest in collecting stem cells for future therapies. One example is the commercial offer of banking cord blood stem cells upon birth. In this project, we propose that the placenta, always discarded at the end of pregnancy, is another organ with high numbers of stem cells especially able to make blood vessels. We will examine if these cells can be expanded and used in treatment of situations with a need of increased blood supply such as cardiovascular disor ....The recent years have seen a rise in interest in collecting stem cells for future therapies. One example is the commercial offer of banking cord blood stem cells upon birth. In this project, we propose that the placenta, always discarded at the end of pregnancy, is another organ with high numbers of stem cells especially able to make blood vessels. We will examine if these cells can be expanded and used in treatment of situations with a need of increased blood supply such as cardiovascular disorders or skin wounds.Read moreRead less