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.
The Role Of Preconception And Perinatal Substance Use And Misuse In Childhood Social, Emotional And Behavioural Problems
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,562,250.00
Summary
This project will use perinatal and preconception data from three long-running Australian studies that have tracked the health and wellbeing of several thousand participants prior to parenthood. The aim is to understand how parental histories of substance use, and patterns of use during pregnancy, and in early life, shape offspring social, emotional and behavioural outcomes across childhood. Results will inform new approaches to preventing substance-related harms within and across generations.
Ethical frameworks for responsible innovation of neurotechnology. This project aims to ensure the ethical and efficient innovation of emerging neurotechnologies, including implantable brain devices, synthetic drugs and direct-to-consumer brain devices. This project expects to generate Australian’s first responsible innovation framework through extensive community engagement. Expected outcomes of this project include: guidelines for the development of neurotechnologies; a national framework for r ....Ethical frameworks for responsible innovation of neurotechnology. This project aims to ensure the ethical and efficient innovation of emerging neurotechnologies, including implantable brain devices, synthetic drugs and direct-to-consumer brain devices. This project expects to generate Australian’s first responsible innovation framework through extensive community engagement. Expected outcomes of this project include: guidelines for the development of neurotechnologies; a national framework for responsible innovation; partnerships with international brain initiatives; and enhanced interdisciplinary capacity. The proposed research should provide significant benefits: innovation of technologies that meet Australians' needs, reduced misuse and harm, and greater social support for innovation in neuroscience.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.
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.
Digital Death and Immortality. This project will create a philosophically-informed ethical approach for managing the 'digital remains' of internet users who have died. Emerging artificial intelligence technologies make it possible to reuse and interact with these digital remains. This offers new ways of commemorating the dead and for managing grief. Yet these technologies also threaten to exploit the dead and to change our relationship to them in troubling ways. Expected outcomes of the project ....Digital Death and Immortality. This project will create a philosophically-informed ethical approach for managing the 'digital remains' of internet users who have died. Emerging artificial intelligence technologies make it possible to reuse and interact with these digital remains. This offers new ways of commemorating the dead and for managing grief. Yet these technologies also threaten to exploit the dead and to change our relationship to them in troubling ways. Expected outcomes of the project include guidance for the ethical use of these technologies and policy recommendations for regulating the reuse of digital remains. This will provide significant benefits by helping Australia to avoid the ethical dangers inherent in emerging technologies of 'digital reanimation.'Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100027
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$467,754.00
Summary
Making a life with less: youth underemployment over the life course. This project aims to investigate the experiences and impacts of underemployment on young people. Using high-quality longitudinal data and qualitative interviews, this project expects to generate new, foundational knowledge about the employment pathways young people take following underemployment and the strategies they use to mitigate its effects. In doing so, this project aims to reveal the impacts underemployment has on young ....Making a life with less: youth underemployment over the life course. This project aims to investigate the experiences and impacts of underemployment on young people. Using high-quality longitudinal data and qualitative interviews, this project expects to generate new, foundational knowledge about the employment pathways young people take following underemployment and the strategies they use to mitigate its effects. In doing so, this project aims to reveal the impacts underemployment has on young people’s lives within and outside work, including their relationships, family formation and well-being. This much-needed research aims to provide significant benefits for policymakers and service providers that improve the lives of young people.Read moreRead less
Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. This project aims to assess the risk of low rates of mixing in sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs, using environmental monitoring and numerical modelling. Emerging evidence suggests sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs could transition to low mixing states with increasing age and projected changes in global climate. While th ....Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. This project aims to assess the risk of low rates of mixing in sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs, using environmental monitoring and numerical modelling. Emerging evidence suggests sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs could transition to low mixing states with increasing age and projected changes in global climate. While this risk is poorly understood, it could significantly affect the long-term reliability of water supply and potable water treatment costs. Addressing this knowledge gap is expected to develop effective management responses to ensure the long term sustainable use of these water resources.Read moreRead less