Quantifying The Effectiveness Of Pertussis Vaccine In Older Adults
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$448,703.00
Summary
Pertussis is the most poorly controlled vaccine preventable disease in Australia. Childhood pertussis is a well-known public health problem but adult pertussis is also common and has a significant burden on the health system, especially in adults over 65 years. Pertussis vaccines for adults are currently not funded by our national immunisation program. This project will provide vital data to inform whether pertussis vaccination is cost-effective in older Australian adults.
Characterising The Muscarinic Receptor Deficit In Schizophrenia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$476,543.00
Summary
Post-mortem examination of the brains of schizophrenia patients reveals a substantial loss of muscarinic receptors. This is likely to be clinically very important if it can also be confirmed in living patients. Having developed a new scanning technique that shows muscarinic receptors in the living brain, we will now scan patients with schizophrenia to see if they also show this receptor loss, and see how it affects them. This could open new doors to understanding and treating the disease.
Case-cohort Study Of The Association Between Pertussis Vaccination In Infancy And The Risk Of IgE-mediated Food Allergy.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$144,742.00
Summary
Allergic diseases are one of the most important causes of chronic morbidity among children in Australia. This is a retrospective case-controlled trial, utilising data from the Australian immunisation register and cases of confirmed food allergy, to examine the role of vaccination in protection against food allergy. If a relationship between the type of vaccination and protection against allergy is found, this would have implications for allergy prevention and immunisation policy.
Improving Warfarin Management- Identifying Risk Factors For Bleeding And Improving Monitoring Mechanisms
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$291,309.00
Summary
Warfarin is a drug commonly used in the elderly to prevent blood clots. While a very effective drug, it is also a dangerous drug and should be closely monitored. While we know many of the reasons why problems occur, we do not know whether organisation of care, mental health or social issues such as community support influence how well warfarin is managed. These are important questions to answer, so that we can make significant inroads into preventing death and disability from warfarin.
Understanding Causes Of The Rising Incidence Of Thyroid Cancer – What Can Mutations In The BRAF Oncogene Tell Us About Causes And Diagnostic Pathways For Thyroid Cancer?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$610,222.00
Summary
The occurrence of thyroid cancer has increased rapidly over the last 25 years but the cause is unknown. The increase may reflect ‘over-diagnosis’ of less harmful cancers or greater exposure to causes of this cancer. Evidence suggests that a gene mutation (BRAF) in thyroid cancers is important in understanding the drivers of the increase. This study will examine the increase in thyroid cancer by investigating causes and diagnostic pathways considering the presence or absence of BRAF mutations.