Determination of cellular mechanisms underpinning cancer cell metastasis through integrated in vivo imaging approaches. Understanding key steps that drive the spread of cancer is critical to improve current treatment strategies. Using cutting-edge imaging technology and in vivo model systems that mimic the disease, this project will pinpoint key events that are susceptible to drug intervention and identify new therapeutic targets.
Single molecule intracellular intravital imaging of actin dynamics. The project intends to develop imaging technology to visualise fundamental processes in cells within a living animal. The focus will be on the actin cytoskeleton, a dynamic macromolecular machine involved in key cellular processes including cell structure, mobility and division. It is exquisitely sensitive to environmental perturbations, requiring it to be studied in cells in living tissue. The project aims to extend the resolut ....Single molecule intracellular intravital imaging of actin dynamics. The project intends to develop imaging technology to visualise fundamental processes in cells within a living animal. The focus will be on the actin cytoskeleton, a dynamic macromolecular machine involved in key cellular processes including cell structure, mobility and division. It is exquisitely sensitive to environmental perturbations, requiring it to be studied in cells in living tissue. The project aims to extend the resolution of live imaging to the single molecule to understand the dynamics of actin assembly with implications for cellular processes that are hijacked in diseases. It also aims to provide a novel assay that may enable testing of the impact of drugs on cellular processes in real time.Read moreRead less
Drugging the undruggable: Development of novel technologies to selectively regulate the expression of targets driving cancer and other diseases. Transcription factors are “undruggable” targets playing a principal role driving cancer. This project will create novel therapeutic strategies to inhibit transcription factors and other elusive targets differentially expressed in diseased cells, without affecting normal tissue. It proposes to construct engineered proteins able to bind and modify specifi ....Drugging the undruggable: Development of novel technologies to selectively regulate the expression of targets driving cancer and other diseases. Transcription factors are “undruggable” targets playing a principal role driving cancer. This project will create novel therapeutic strategies to inhibit transcription factors and other elusive targets differentially expressed in diseased cells, without affecting normal tissue. It proposes to construct engineered proteins able to bind and modify specific key genes deregulated in cancer, to correct their expression and stably reprogram the phenotype of the tumour cell in a normal-like state. It outlines the engineering of novel synthetic agents to block specific protein-protein interactions in cancer cells and to induce potent tumour cell death. This work will generate novel and selective therapeutics to treat un-curable forms of tumours.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100488
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Cellular dynamics of nanoengineered particles. Nanotechnology has the capacity to drive a new wave of biological innovation through engineering materials at the nanoscale. This project will advance understanding of how nanoengineered materials interact with biological systems to enable the development of nanomaterials for future translational research.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101518
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$345,000.00
Summary
Cellular responses to nanoparticles from cells on micropatterned surfaces. The mechanisms underlying cell-nanoparticle interactions remain largely unknown. It has hampered the design and development of innovative nano devices to be used for drug delivery, biomarkers and diagnostics. This project aims to explore the influences of cell size, density, geometry, intercellular communication and substrate properties on cell-nanoparticle interactions. A micropatterning technology is applied to precisel ....Cellular responses to nanoparticles from cells on micropatterned surfaces. The mechanisms underlying cell-nanoparticle interactions remain largely unknown. It has hampered the design and development of innovative nano devices to be used for drug delivery, biomarkers and diagnostics. This project aims to explore the influences of cell size, density, geometry, intercellular communication and substrate properties on cell-nanoparticle interactions. A micropatterning technology is applied to precisely control cell behaviour and provide a novel in vitro cellular model for nanoparticle studies. This project aims to significantly improve the understanding of cell-nanoparticle interactions to provide new insight into nanoparticle design and improve the efficacy of nano devices.Read moreRead less
Multifunctional and Multimodal Theranostics: Manipulating Material Properties for Advanced Diagnostics. The utilisation of polymers in nanomedicine requires a bottom-up approach, where the fundamental chemistry is well-established and understood before it enables an application. This project develops branched polymers as new nanomaterials for theranostics; imaging modalities that “switch-on” when miRNA is released will quantify how much nanomaterial gets to a specific site, while a built-in sens ....Multifunctional and Multimodal Theranostics: Manipulating Material Properties for Advanced Diagnostics. The utilisation of polymers in nanomedicine requires a bottom-up approach, where the fundamental chemistry is well-established and understood before it enables an application. This project develops branched polymers as new nanomaterials for theranostics; imaging modalities that “switch-on” when miRNA is released will quantify how much nanomaterial gets to a specific site, while a built-in sensor based on physical changes in the nanomaterial will measure the onset and progression of necrosis. The aim is to develop a fundamental understanding of how polymer architecture and functionality can be utilised to drive device performance, providing a platform to probe new technology and methodologies for development of next generation theranostics.Read moreRead less
Theoretical modelling of the interaction of THz with hydrated materials. Terahertz (THz) technology is in use in diverse applications from security screening to biomedical imaging. A critical hurdle to the widespread adoption of the technology is the poor understanding of the basic interaction between THz radiation and hydrated materials. The aim of this project is to develop new mathematical and computer models for exploring the interaction of THz radiation with different materials. These model ....Theoretical modelling of the interaction of THz with hydrated materials. Terahertz (THz) technology is in use in diverse applications from security screening to biomedical imaging. A critical hurdle to the widespread adoption of the technology is the poor understanding of the basic interaction between THz radiation and hydrated materials. The aim of this project is to develop new mathematical and computer models for exploring the interaction of THz radiation with different materials. These models aim to create a platform for the future development of THz technology and applications, and are expected to lead to accelerated implementation for use in biology and protein analysis; pharmaceutical sciences, formulations and medicine; and burn assessment and cancer detection.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100234
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,000.00
Summary
Enhancement of South Australian high-performance computing facilities. These facilities will enable the efficient use of high-performance computing and will more than double the capability provided by eResearch SA for South Australian researchers. They will support large-scale applications, running over many processors in parallel (high-performance computing) or large numbers of single processors (high-throughput computing).