The transmission of malaria is dependent on gametocytes, the sexual stages of parasite development that are taken up by mosquitoes when feeding on an infected person. While gametocytes are not responsible for disease symptoms, it is clear that malaria eradication is not be possible without an understanding of their biology and the tools to prevent transmission. My research focuses on understanding the biology of gametocytes and identifying new drug targets for transmission blocking strategies.
Meaningful Engagement Of Adolescents In Health Programming And Evaluation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$128,224.00
Summary
Adolescence is a critical developmental period of immense potential where health behaviours can be established that affect the lifecourse, and indeed the next generation. The Jharkhand Initiative for Adolescent Health trial set in rural India is exploring how meaningful engagement and participation of adolescents in their own peer-led community health intervention groups can lead to better health in marginalised adolescent girls, assisting us to better help vulnerable adolescents everywhere.
Tissue factor is a central and major player in the clotting process. It exists in both active and inactive forms. The active form initiates clot formation. How it gets activated is one of the most important unanswered questions in this area of research. Our aim is to discover tissue factorÍs mechanism of activation. The outcome will provide more specific targets for therapeutic drug development for cardiovascular disease, strokes and deep venous thrombosis.
The Biophysical Basis Of HCN Channels In Human Peripheral Nerve
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$50,315.00
Summary
Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels play an important role as pacemakers in the cardiac and nervous systems. HCN channel dysfunction is implicated in a number of disorders including neuropathic pain and epilepsy. My aim is to determine the kinetics and voltage dependence of HCN channels in human peripheral nerve in vivo. Understanding these channels is a prerequisite to the development of safe targeted therapies against neuropathic pain.
Developing Salient Messages For Indigenous Tobacco Control In Rural Aboriginal Smokers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$117,331.00
Summary
I am a General Practitioner with a keen interest in smoking cessation particularly for Aboriginal people, who have a high rate of smoking. Media messages are not to date being completely effective in this group, so I am investigating how to make more relevant and persuasive messages to support Indigenous smokers and their families (importantly pregnant smokers) to become smoke-free and encourage them to use effective treatments to do so.
Improving The Quantity, Quality, Relevance And Conduct Of Clinical Trials Of Medicines In Children.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$102,576.00
Summary
I am a specialist clinical trials pharmacist focussed on the challenges associated with the conduct of medicinal trials in children. My intention is to collect evidence to determine the best strategies for improving the quantity, quality and relevance of clinical trials in children. This will help to ensure safe and effective age-appropriate drug therapies for children and improve the health outcomes of our children.
Application Of New Chemistry Approaches For Antimalarial Drug Discovery
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$74,263.00
Summary
Malaria kills approximately one million people annually. Currently there no vaccine and many of the available drugs are becoming less effective due the resistance of this highly adaptable parasite. My aim is to develop new chemical classes of drugs that inhibit different targets in the malaria parasite to the currently available drugs. In addition to this I aim to improve the present systems for assessing antimalarial drug effects using new chemical approaches and live parasite assays.
SFRP4 As A Novel Diagnostic And Therapeutic Target For Gastric Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$137,700.00
Summary
Gastric cancer is a common cancer with poor survival, but is and potentially curable when diagnosed at an early stage. However currently there are no non-invasive markers for the early detection of gastric cancer, and treatments for advanced cancer are limited. Secreted frizzled related protein 4 (SFRP4) is a protein that is thought to play a role in invasion of gastric cancer. This study will investigate the utility SFRP4 as a diagnostic test and possible therapeutic for gastric cancer.
The Use Of Real-World Evidence To Support Regulatory And Reimbursement Decisions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$91,538.00
Summary
Traditionally, medicines are studied extensively in clinical trials before they are widely available. More recently, some medicines have been allowed to enter the market without complete data on their benefits and risks. This means that these issues can only be studied once a medicine is on the market and used in routine clinical practice; this is referred to as real-world evidence. This research evaluates if this evidence is sufficient to prove that a medicine is safe and that it works
Population-level Vaccine Safety Monitoring: Risk Assessment And Policy Implications
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$85,649.00
Summary
Vaccines prevent millions of deaths worldwide but events can occur after vaccination which may or may not be related to the vaccine. It is vital to ensure vaccines are safe and that both the public and medical providers remain confident in vaccination programs. The PhD thesis will look at the various methods for monitoring vaccine safety in Australia, and compare the usefulness of each system. This will provide information for policy makers on the safety of vaccines in Australia.