Iron-Infection Interactions: Studies Of The Link Between Iron Metabolism And Infectious Diseases Of Global Significance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$383,244.00
Summary
Anaemia, malaria and HIV affect millions of people worldwide, but interactions between these conditions are poorly understood. A haematologist with training in public health, my interest is in finding ways to control the enormous global burden of anaemia. My research will focus on how iron status influences infection with malaria and HIV. It will provide evidence for anaemia control guidelines and help improve global policies for controlling iron deficiency where these infections coexist.
Investigation Of A Virulence Locus On Chromosome 9 Of Plasmodium Falciparum Utilising Improved Transfection Technology
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$211,527.00
Summary
Worldwide, there are approximately 500 million cases of malaria per year with over 1 million deaths, predominately in children under 5 years of age in Africa. We have identified a region of the malaria parasites' genome that we believe is responsible for two aspects of the parasites life cycle. Firstly, there is a gene responsible for the development of the sexual stage of the parasite that allows transmission from humans to mosquitoes and secondly there are two other genes that allow the parasi ....Worldwide, there are approximately 500 million cases of malaria per year with over 1 million deaths, predominately in children under 5 years of age in Africa. We have identified a region of the malaria parasites' genome that we believe is responsible for two aspects of the parasites life cycle. Firstly, there is a gene responsible for the development of the sexual stage of the parasite that allows transmission from humans to mosquitoes and secondly there are two other genes that allow the parasite to evade the human hosts immune system. We intend to investigate these genes using newly developed genetic engineering tools with the ultimate aim of finding agents or vaccines that can block their action, thus preventing either transmission of the parasite or the severe effects of infection.Read moreRead less
We propose to determine if a recently discovered biological mechanism plays crucial roles in the development of eggs and sperm. To achieve this, we will remove or mutate this pathway specifically in developing eggs and sperm , then examine the effect. Preliminary results indicate that the mechanism does play important roles mutated eggs fail to complete maturation. These studies will tell us more about what makes a healthy egg and sperm, and are relevant to female and male fertility.