A Biomimetic Prodrug Platform To Enable Oral Bioavailability And Target Lymphatic Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,768.00
Summary
This project will allow the advance of a unique translational technology platform that provides novel drug delivery solutions. The project aims to establish the potential for a drug delivery strategy to increase the efficacy, reduce the toxicity, and transform the impact of drug therapies for a variety of conditions, including pain, hormone dysregulation, and metabolic syndrome.
Integrating Drug Delivery Principles Into Drug Design To Transform The Treatment Of Immune Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$552,635.00
Summary
Immune system disorders (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, transplant rejection, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis) are often treated with immunosuppresant drugs. However, immunosuppressant drugs can cause significant toxicity and can lack efficacy. This proposal will show how the design of drugs used to treat immune disorders can be changed to allow drugs to be delivered specifically to their site of action (immune cells) thereby enhancing activity and reducing toxicity.
Specific Targeting Of Nanosystems By Cutaneous Delivery
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$985,026.00
Summary
Substances have long been applied to the skin for therapeutic or cosmetic purposes, but the range of suitable compounds is limited. Consequently, there is a need for a wider range of compounds which can be delivered effectively into the skin for targeted treatment, diagnostic imaging and vaccination. New nanomaterial drug delivery systems are being increasingly used for these purposes. We seek to understand the properties of nanosystems that will enable improved drug targeting via the skin.
Phosphonated Calixarenes For The Targeted Intracellular Delivery Of Anticancer Agents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$322,267.00
Summary
Many anticancer drugs have severe side effects due to their potency and non-specificity of action. To improve the treatment outcome for thousands of cancer patients, we aim to engineer calixarene-based nanocarriers that bypass normal tissues to selectively deposit drugs and imaging agents into tumour cells. Such delivery systems will optimize the performance of a host of anticancer agents that act within cells, and enable drug treatment and monitoring to be simultaneously realised.
New Treatments For Malaria Targeting Both The Sexual And Asexual Stages Of The Causative Parasite, Plasmodium Falciparum
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$731,155.00
Summary
We have discovered a potent antimalarial compound class. In this research plan we will improve their metabolic stability such that we can progress them as potential oral cures for malaria. We will also elucidate their mechanism of action and this will aid therapeutic development.
Discovery Of Single Agents To Treat Chagas Disease And Human African Trypanosomiasis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$527,189.00
Summary
In this project we aim to discover new drugs to treat Chagas disease and human African trypanosomiasis. These debilitating parasitic diseases are neglected by pharmaceutical companies and afflict millions of impoverished people worldwide. We aim to be able to treat both diseases with a single agent
A Pharmacological Targeting Approach Implementing Albumin As A Carrier Of A Novel Chemotherapeutic
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$560,659.00
Summary
New drugs for cancer therapy are essential to develop that overcome resistance to standard chemotherapeutics. We have developed potent anti-cancer chelators that bind to the abundant plasma protein, albumin. Our studies showed increased tumour cell uptake of the chelator, Dp44mT, mediated by albumin. We will elucidate the mechanisms of their albumin-mediated uptake, with the aim to implement albumin nanoparticles as carriers of novel chelators to selectively target tumours.
A Pharmacological Targeting Approach Implementing Albumin As A Carrier Of A Novel Chemotherapeutic
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$428,065.00
Summary
Novel agents that bind essential metals have emerged as a potential avenue for cancer therapy. My laboratory has developed potent anti-cancer agents, such as Dp44mT, that bind to the plasma protein, albumin. Notably, the uptake of Dp44mT into tumour cells was increased in the presence of albumin. My research will examine the mechanisms in the albumin-mediated increase in Dp44mT uptake into tumour cells, with the goal to develop albumin nanoparticles to selectively deliver our agents to tumours.
Targeting Cystic Fibrosis Using A Novel Inhalation Therapy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$421,545.00
Summary
Currently treatments for cystic fibrosis infection are via oral, intravenous or lengthy inhalation processes. This can lead to significant side effects, consequent poor patient compliance, and limited therapeutic efficacy. We will develop and test a novel high-dose inhalation dry power device containing an antibiotics for the rapid treatment of infection in cystic fibrosis therapy.
Understanding The Mechanisms Of Nanomedicine Absorption From The Lungs And The Application Of This Knowledge To Improving The Delivery Of Chemotherapeutic Nanomedicines Towards Primary And Secondary Lung Cancers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,388.00
Summary
The administration of chemotherapeutic 'nanomedicines' via the lungs has the capacity to improve the specific delivery of toxic anti-cancer drugs specifically towards primary and metastatic lung cancers. This project aims to evaluate how nanomedicines are absorbed from the lungs after an inhaled dose, and how they can be best developed as inhaled chemotherapeutics for the treatment of lung cancers.