Dr Gilchrist is a reproductive biologist studying factors that regulate the intrinsic quality of unfertilised eggs. He has developed a new form of hormone-free infertility treatment which he will test in a clinical trial over the next 5 years.
Learning The Mechanisms Of Programmed Cell Death And Tumour Suppression To Develop Novel Cancer Therapies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$863,910.00
Summary
Our bodies prevent the development of cancer through tumour suppressive processes, which also affect the outcome of cancer therapy. Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is one such process, and defects in apoptosis promote cancer development and impair the response of tumour cells to anti-cancer therapies. My laboratory uses molecular biology and cell biology approaches to investigate the mechanisms of cell death and tumour suppression, partnering with pharma to develop novel cancer therapies.
Defining The Mechanisms By Which ABCA7 And ApoE Control Alzheimer's Disease Risk. Functional Characterisation Of New Therapeutic Targets For Dementia Prevention And Treatment.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$687,975.00
Summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the major cause of dementia and is currently without a curative treatment. An understanding of the pathways that lead to AD is urgently required to develop approaches for treatments. We have discovered new pathways by which proteins called ApoE and ABCA7 control AD. We now aim to define precisely how these proteins work in the brain and use this information to develop therapeutic approaches to treat AD in humans.
Cellular Pathogenesis Of Neurodegenerative Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$124,530.00
Summary
Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease of the ageing population and is associated with toxicity of the Abeta peptide. Prion diseases (eg CJD in humans) are infectious neurodegenerative disorders caused by misfolding of the prion protein. This proposal aims to bring together similar features of these diseases using novel cell and animal based studies to develop better diagnostics and greater understanding of the molecular basis of these disorders with a view to developin ....Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease of the ageing population and is associated with toxicity of the Abeta peptide. Prion diseases (eg CJD in humans) are infectious neurodegenerative disorders caused by misfolding of the prion protein. This proposal aims to bring together similar features of these diseases using novel cell and animal based studies to develop better diagnostics and greater understanding of the molecular basis of these disorders with a view to developing interventional therapies.Read moreRead less
A common characteristic of cancer is the failure of cells to die when they normally would. One of the problems with many cancer therapies is that they rely on the integrity of signalling pathways to the normal ‘death machinery’ of the cell to do their job. By understanding how the molecular death machine operates we are fashioning new drugs that can target it directly, thus bypassing the very pathways that are so frequently disrupted in tumour cells.
Detailed images of protein molecules underpin our understanding of biological function and our attempts to find new medicines to counter biological malfunction. Proteins belonging to the so-called Bcl-2 family determine whether a cell lives or dies and, because failure to die on cue is a hallmark of many cancers, high resolution images of these molecules will reveal new targets for cancer therapies.
How The Bcl-2 Protein Family Controls Apoptosis And Impacts On Cancer Development And Therapy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$850,346.00
Summary
Impaired cell death (apoptosis) is now recognized as an important step towards cancer and a major barrier to effective therapy. The discoveries on apoptosis by Professor Jerry Adams and colleagues have galvanized the search for drugs that engage the cell’s apoptotic machinery as a new way to treat cancer. His proposed studies aim to clarify how apoptosis is controlled and how the control goes awry in cancer, and to determine how such drugs can be most effectively used to improve cancer treatment ....Impaired cell death (apoptosis) is now recognized as an important step towards cancer and a major barrier to effective therapy. The discoveries on apoptosis by Professor Jerry Adams and colleagues have galvanized the search for drugs that engage the cell’s apoptotic machinery as a new way to treat cancer. His proposed studies aim to clarify how apoptosis is controlled and how the control goes awry in cancer, and to determine how such drugs can be most effectively used to improve cancer treatment.Read moreRead less
Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) control cell communication networks referred to as cellular signaling. This proposal is focused on understanding the roles of PTPs in cellular signaling networks perturbed in human disease & delineating novel opportunities for therapeutic intervention