Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100165
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$451,900.00
Summary
Engineering T cells to promote peripheral immunity. Tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) are key for immune protection against infections and cancer. This has led to much interest in understanding how these immune cells develop, although elucidation of molecules that regulate TRM are still scarce. This project aims to (i) identify genetic drivers of TRM in peripheral organs and (ii) modulate TRM generation utilising state-of-the-art genetic engineering techniques. Expected outcomes include gener ....Engineering T cells to promote peripheral immunity. Tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) are key for immune protection against infections and cancer. This has led to much interest in understanding how these immune cells develop, although elucidation of molecules that regulate TRM are still scarce. This project aims to (i) identify genetic drivers of TRM in peripheral organs and (ii) modulate TRM generation utilising state-of-the-art genetic engineering techniques. Expected outcomes include generating new knowledge that will contribute to the development of novel therapeutics against infectious disease and cancer, together with the benefit of promoting national and international collaboration with the ultimate goal of improving health.Read moreRead less
Novel Nanotechnology Strategies For Drug Co-delivery And Combined Therapies In The Brain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,512,250.00
Summary
Key challenges for treating brain diseases include effective delivery of drugs into the brain and targeted delivery to pathogenic areas. I have developed two world-first drug delivery systems that address these challenges. This project will expand their loading and brain delivery capability to deliver a broad range of novel multiple therapeutics to target sites in the brain. Human brain disease models will be used for systematic preclinical evaluation of novel delivery systems and therapeutics.
A Long-Lasting Oral Drug Delivery System Using Spiky Silica Nanoparticles
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$645,205.00
Summary
This project aims to develop a novel silica nanoparticle-based delivery system for long-lasting oral drug delivery. The particles will be engineered with a spiky morphology that will increase adhesion to the gastrointestinal tract enabling sustained drug release for days or even weeks. Longer lasting oral drug formulations would make it much easier for patients to adhere to the treatment schedules required in chronic diseases like HIV and increase the effectiveness of therapy.
Quantifying And Reducing The Burden Of New And Emerging Psychoactive Substances In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$645,205.00
Summary
The public health threat posed by emerging drugs of concern (e.g., new psychoactive substances (NPS) and crystalline methamphetamine) requires timely and effective public health interventions. This research program will strengthen estimates of the global NPS health burden, enhance the surveillance of unwitting drug consumption, and develop and evaluate novel harm reduction responses. Findings will inform policy and health service delivery, both globally and within Australia.
Systems-based Study, Intervention, Diagnosis And Control Of Gastrointestinal Parasites
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,538,220.00
Summary
Gastrointestinal parasites cause billions of infections and hundreds of thousand of deaths globally each year. Even in developed countries, these parasites remain an important public health risk, through the cost of their control, the acute impacts of infection and their contribution to post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue. My team employs cutting-edge methods to improve their diagnosis, surveillance, treatment and control.
Over the next 5 years my team and I plan to study parasite invasion and blood cell enslavement to guide the design of better vaccines and medicines. Malaria as a deadly parasitic disease caused by large-scale infection of the body’s red blood cells. To design more effective vaccines and improved drugs to globally eliminate malaria we need to improve our understanding of how parasites infect and enslave our blood cells so they can grow rapidly and avoid our immune system.