Novel Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Activators For Pulmonary Artery Hypertension
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$474,087.00
Summary
Pulmonary hypertension (elevated blood pressure in the lungs) is a life-threatening condition with few treatment options. We have recently identified a new class of drug that may improve blood vessel function in the lungs and thereby provide a new drug for the management of this group of patients.
Combating Giardiasis By Investigating New Potent Compound Series As Leads For Improved Treatment Options
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$776,028.00
Summary
Giardia parasites infect ~1 billion people globally and are responsible for significant morbidity and disadvantage. There is no licensed vaccine and current treatment options are inadequate, resulting in poor compliance, treatment failures, rapid re-infection and drug resistance. New therapies are needed to combat this parasite and improve the health of millions world-wide. We will address this issue by investigating new drug candidates for the treatment of Giardia infections.
Development Of Fragment Hits Into Effective Antimalarials; Targeting Malaria Eradication
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$676,798.00
Summary
We have used a novel method that samples the diversity of natural products with a small sub-set of compounds, and observed direct interaction between these compounds and proteins important in the malaria parasite life cycle. This project will develop these identified active compounds towards the goal of producing a drug to fight stages of the malaria parasite’s life cycle that are not targeted by currently available antimalarial drugs.
Understanding Australia’s Drug Use: Prescription Psychotropics, Recreational Drugs And Novel Emerging Psychoactive Substances
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$763,409.00
Summary
Australians are consuming record levels of drugs that affect their mood and behaviour, both prescribed and illicit. They are also consuming an increasing array of novel synthetic drugs, the effects of which are largely unknown. Professor Iain McGregor engages in innovative research that examines the drugs we take, their effects on the brain, and their risks and benefits. His team also develops new medications that may become future treatments for anxiety, depression and addictions.
Discovery Of New And Better Treatments For Human African Trypanosomiasis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$837,615.00
Summary
Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis, is present in 36 countries where there are 60 million people at risk of infection, with 50,000-70,000 new cases and 48,000 deaths per annum. Transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly, this disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, and without treatment, death is inevitable. We have discovered some compounds that weakly inhibit T.brucei and the aim of this project is to make them potent enough to become drug candidates.
Small Molecule Therapeutics: From Infectious And Parasitic Diseases To Cancers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$763,845.00
Summary
I will lead a team of medicinal chemists to discover better treatments of diseases focused in two major domains. On one hand, I will discover new drugs to treat certain parasitic diseases such as Sleeping Sickness, Chagas disease and malaria, all caused by protozoal parasites. On the other hand, I will discover new drugs to treat certain cancers, in particular acute myeloid leukemia and Burkitt’s lymphoma, caused by dysfunction of certain types of enzymes called histone acetyltransferases.
In 2013 there were ~200 million clinical cases of malaria, causing ~600,000 deaths. All antimalarial drugs are now associated with malaria parasite resistance. Thus, new therapies are urgently needed, including new drugs to prevent this disease. We have made the exciting discovery that an existing antimalarial drug can kill malaria parasites in a unique, previously unknown, manner. Here, we will investigate how this occurs and develop new drug candidates for malaria prevention.
Novel Membrane-targeted Antibiotics Against Drug-resistant Gram-positive Bacterial Infections
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,351,496.00
Summary
This project aims to develop a best in class antibiotic, Vancapticin, with superior efficacy, broader spectra of action and improved therapeutic index than existing therapies for Gram-positive (G+ve) bacterial infections. The research team has identified lead candidates that offer equivalent &/or superior potency, efficacy & pharmacokinetic profiles compared to several clinical comparators. NHMRC Development funding is required to select a candidate for an Investigative New Drug application.
Mechanism Of Action And Targeting Of Hexokinase II In Glioblastoma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$643,607.00
Summary
Deaths from the brain cancer, glioblastoma, are as common as from the skin cancer in Australia. For most patients diagnosed with glioblastoma there is no realistic possibility of cure or even survival beyond a few years. We propose to understand and target glioblastomas aberrant metabolism of glucose, which may lead to better treatments for this devastating cancer.