Genetic And Environmental Risk Factors On Lifetime Risk Of Obstructive Lung Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$351,414.00
Summary
Classification of lifetime phenotypes of obstructive lung disease allows investigation of the effect of environmental and genetic influences on specific phenotypes along with the interactions between them. Through improved phenotyping ,the currently inconsistent relationships between asthma and COPD and their associations with genetic and environmental factors may become clearer.
An Investigation Of The Role Of Gene-environment Interactions And Epigenetics In Depression: Nature Combined With Nurture.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$337,602.00
Summary
Depression is one of the biggest public health problems, yet the causes remain largely unknown. This study aims to determine how environmental factors can combine with particular genes to increases an individual’s risk of depression. Environmental factors can also cause modifications to genes which can affect an individual’s health. This study will thus also examine whether women with post-natal depression and their children have different gene modifications than those without depression.
A Piggy-back Screen For Genes Involved In Cancer Epigenetics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$302,123.00
Summary
Cancer can be caused not only by mutations in genes, but also by changes to our epigenome, which controls whether genes are on or off. There is much still to learn about the epigenome. We have developed a method to identify epigenome regulators. The epigenome is disrupted in cancer, but it is not know whether this starts tumour growth. I will use mutant mice to study this and analyse human cancers for mutations in epigenome regulators. This may lead to preventative screening and new treatments.
The aim of my research is to investigate the role that physical activity and sedentary behaviour (too much sitting) play in the development of cancer. My research will increase our understanding of how physical activity and sedentary behaviour influence cancer, and may lead to new strategies for cancer prevention.
Proteins Involved In HIV Infection And Host Defense
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$323,244.00
Summary
I am a biochemist focused on answering the question: why is it that humans are susceptible to HIV infection, while certain monkeys are resistant? It is known that these monkeys have evolved proteins which can target and destroy the virus, but the equivalent human proteins don’t work against HIV. I intend to compare the monkey and human proteins to understand how the monkeys destroy the virus and why the human protein is defective. These studies will inform the next generation of HIV treatment.
How Do TRIM21 And TRIM5α Execute Dual Antiviral Effector And Signalling Functions?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$344,724.00
Summary
We encounter millions of potential pathogens each day that must be detected and disarmed by the immune system. Recently, two antiviral proteins, present inside cells, were shown to both detect viruses, alerting neighbouring cells to the infection, and target the viruses for destruction. These two functions provide important protection against viral infection and this research aims to understand at a molecular level, how these dual antiviral functions are coordinated.