Identifying The Relationship Between Biochemical Markers And Healing In Chronic Leg Ulcers Treated With Compression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,159.00
Summary
Chronic leg ulcers are a significant cause of pain, immobility and decreased quality of life for 1 - 3% of the over 60 years age group. The condition is difficult to heal and commonly becomes a long term problem, costing the Australian health care system over $500 million - year. Additional costs to the community include loss of productivity and social support systems necessary for people with limited mobility. As the number of people aged over 65 years is expected to double in the next few deca ....Chronic leg ulcers are a significant cause of pain, immobility and decreased quality of life for 1 - 3% of the over 60 years age group. The condition is difficult to heal and commonly becomes a long term problem, costing the Australian health care system over $500 million - year. Additional costs to the community include loss of productivity and social support systems necessary for people with limited mobility. As the number of people aged over 65 years is expected to double in the next few decades, this problem will become increasingly significant. Most chronic leg ulcers are caused by venous disease, and compression bandage therapy is the accepted standard treatment. However, there is little information available on the cellular responses associated with compression treatment and how they promote wound healing. The project proposed here will examine the cellular responses to compression and investigate the relationships between these cellular responses and wound healing. Knowledge gained from the study will provide valuable information for improved techniques to promote wound healing, improved ulcer healing rates, informed decisions on wound care treatment, improved qualtiy of life and reduced health care costs.Read moreRead less
Effectiveness Of Training Somatosensation In The Hand After Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,660.00
Summary
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, requiring provision of rehabilitation services to help minimize impairment and its impact on the ability to resume daily activities. The ability to feel textures and objects through touch and to know where one s limbs are in space are impaired in up to 85% of people who have suffered a stroke. People with this loss are handicapped by difficulties in exploring objects through touch and in performing everyday tasks that require grasp and manipulat ....Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, requiring provision of rehabilitation services to help minimize impairment and its impact on the ability to resume daily activities. The ability to feel textures and objects through touch and to know where one s limbs are in space are impaired in up to 85% of people who have suffered a stroke. People with this loss are handicapped by difficulties in exploring objects through touch and in performing everyday tasks that require grasp and manipulation of objects. Yet clinicians are either not treating the problem or are using methods without a sound theoretical basis and controlled evidence to support their application. We have systematically investigated optimal methods of sensory training across different sensory abilities using a series of single-subject experiments. Marked improvement in the ability to discriminate trained and related untrained texture stimuli and limb positions was achieved and maintained in most participants. These findings have provided the foundation for development a scientifically based and clinically focused sensory retraining program that has apparently excellent therapeutic potential. The purpose of the proposed study is to test the effectiveness of this scientifically based, clinical sensory retraining program in a broad group of stroke clients using the internationally recommended randomized controlled group design. The program will train a range of functionally important sensory discrimination tasks, i.e. texture discrimination, limb position sense and tactual object recognition, in clinical and home environments. Demonstration of clinically important and statistically significant training effects will provide the evidence necessary to recommend the introduction of the program into routine health service delivery. Investigation of patient characteristics that may impact on the ability to benefit from training will assist in the targeting of services to appropriate individuals.Read moreRead less
An Integrated Approach For The Efffective Adoptive Immunotherapy Of Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$468,119.00
Summary
Killer T lymphocytes can penetrate tumors and their transfer into cancer patients has demonstrated some encouraging results, but this form of immunotherapy remain ineffective in most cancer patients. We propose to improve the tumor trafficking and anti-tumor activities of killer cells by genetically engineering them with proteins that will enable them to recognise and destroy cancer cells. The outcomes of this project will validate this novel approach for treatment of cancer patients.
GENETIC MANIPULATION OF TUMOURS TO INDUCE IMMUNE REJECTION
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$396,342.00
Summary
The ability to be able to modify tumour growth and bring about tumour rejection by activating the host immune system is a prime objective in many laboratories throughout the world. Our aim is to take advantage of the considerable advances in molecular technology of recent years to develop effective approaches to the modification of tumour cells so that their growth can be inhibited in vivo. The project has three main aims: (i) to identify combinations of genes which, when administered to or expr ....The ability to be able to modify tumour growth and bring about tumour rejection by activating the host immune system is a prime objective in many laboratories throughout the world. Our aim is to take advantage of the considerable advances in molecular technology of recent years to develop effective approaches to the modification of tumour cells so that their growth can be inhibited in vivo. The project has three main aims: (i) to identify combinations of genes which, when administered to or expressed in tumour cells will induce protective immune responses against the tumour (ii) to investigate the effectiveness of combination approaches to gene therapy whereby genetic manipulations which cause destruction of tumour cells, or inhibition of blood vessel growth in tumours can be combined with administration of immunologically relevant genes to enhance tumour destruction (iii) to identify molecules which can act as target tumour antigens for the immune response or which are involved in promoting tumour survival so that these genes may be manipulated to enhance the development of anti-tumour immunity. The model we will use to investigate these issues will be malignant mesothelioma (MM). This tumour type is currently untreatable and is resistant to all available forms of therapy. Achievement of the aims described above would lead to the capacity for early treatment of MM. The identification of suitable target antigens has the potential to lead to vaccination protocols for therapy or as a preventative measure. Furthermore, the principles defined in this project will be applicable to the treatment of a variety of other solid tumours which are currently resistant to conventional therapy.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Aire In Immunological Tolerance And Autoimmunity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$434,134.00
Summary
The immune system is designed to protect us from foreign pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and parasites. This is achieved through lymphocytes which recognise foreign pathogens. However in 5-6% of the population the immune system attacks the host and induces autoimmunity. We aim to understand the mechanisms which control the production of self-reacting lymphocytes and how we may reduce the incidence of autoimmunity.
Processes Underlying Establishment And Maintenance Of The Latent HIV Resevoir And Potential Impact Of Integrase Inhibitors
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$318,044.00
Summary
Therapy for HIV-infected individuals is currently able to control the growth of the virus, but cannot eradicate the viral infection. This is due to a pool of CD4+ T lymphocytes which contain HIV DNA in a latent state, ready to reactivate as soon as therapy is interrupted. This project aims to better understand how this pool of latently infected CD4+ T lymphocytes is established and maintained, particularly how it is linked to the essential T cell survival signal from interleukin 7.
Understanding The Pharmacology Of G-CSF For Treating Myocardial Infarction
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$429,393.00
Summary
Heart attacks remain the most common cause of heart failure. Unlike many other tissues the heart is unable to repair itself. Recently it has been recognised that bone marrow cells promote to a small degree repair. Our research confirms these findings and indicates that these can be affected by substances that increase the circulating bone marrow cell numbers. This project will explore how bone marrow cells improve repair and ways to further improve efficacy.