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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101126
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
More than meets the egg: environmental effects on sperm quality, sperm competitive success, and offspring fitness. Can a male's environment affect his sperm quality and the health of his offspring? By experimentally testing how the paternal environment affects sperm quality, this project will help us understand (1) why sperm vary so much, and (2) what consequences variability in sperm quality has for paternity success and offspring fitness.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101226
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$423,000.00
Summary
Testing Effects of Environmental Exposures on Subsequent Human Generations. This project aims to develop new statistical models to determine how environmental exposures in pregnancy, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and diet, can impact the first and second generations of children. The project will fill a void in unbiased tools to disentangle genetic and environmental components in the inheritance of complex traits, and will be the first to determine objectively if and how effects from envir ....Testing Effects of Environmental Exposures on Subsequent Human Generations. This project aims to develop new statistical models to determine how environmental exposures in pregnancy, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and diet, can impact the first and second generations of children. The project will fill a void in unbiased tools to disentangle genetic and environmental components in the inheritance of complex traits, and will be the first to determine objectively if and how effects from environmental exposures can be inherited. Through international collaborations and advanced interdisciplinary approaches, this project will generate new knowledge in the emerging field of multigenerational inheritance to drive the future design of interventions and influence positive behaviours during pregnancy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100425
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,364.00
Summary
Genetic and Molecular Consequences of Non-Random Mating in Humans. This project aims to develop and apply novel statistical methods to quantify the effects on a large number of complex traits of two forms of non-random mating in humans, that is inbreeding and assortative mating. The innovation in this proposal lies in integrating multi-level phenotypes with next-generation sequencing data collected in more than half a million study participants. Expected outcomes of this research include advance ....Genetic and Molecular Consequences of Non-Random Mating in Humans. This project aims to develop and apply novel statistical methods to quantify the effects on a large number of complex traits of two forms of non-random mating in humans, that is inbreeding and assortative mating. The innovation in this proposal lies in integrating multi-level phenotypes with next-generation sequencing data collected in more than half a million study participants. Expected outcomes of this research include advanced analytical methods to perform this integration and dissection of the biological consequences of non-random mating in humans at an unprecedented phenotypically detailed scale. The benefit of this project will be to identify new drivers of mate choice that can contribute to economic, health and social inequalities. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100085
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$440,954.00
Summary
Forensic genomic toolkit for tracking the illegal wildlife trade. This project aims to analyse the illegal parrot trade by utilising conservation genomic approaches. The project will reveal wildlife trade routes in South-east Asia by developing cutting-edge forensic genomic techniques and criminological methods. Expected outcomes of this project include new field-deployable sequencing technology to provide in-situ genetic information for identifying the taxonomy and provenance of confiscated spe ....Forensic genomic toolkit for tracking the illegal wildlife trade. This project aims to analyse the illegal parrot trade by utilising conservation genomic approaches. The project will reveal wildlife trade routes in South-east Asia by developing cutting-edge forensic genomic techniques and criminological methods. Expected outcomes of this project include new field-deployable sequencing technology to provide in-situ genetic information for identifying the taxonomy and provenance of confiscated specimens, and a first ever genetic database of traded wildlife. The project will facilitate important countermeasures to the illegal wildlife trade including confiscation, reintroduction, improved law enforcement, and education for better biodiversity outcomes in our region.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100958
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$394,112.00
Summary
Understanding how shared between-sex genetic variance constrains the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Differences between males and females in the expression of shared traits have been of lasting interest to biologists. One fundamental question, which is as yet poorly understood, regards the extent to which a common genome restricts the independent evolution of the sexes. This project proposes a novel way of examining the degree to which the shared genetic architecture restricts the evolution of ....Understanding how shared between-sex genetic variance constrains the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Differences between males and females in the expression of shared traits have been of lasting interest to biologists. One fundamental question, which is as yet poorly understood, regards the extent to which a common genome restricts the independent evolution of the sexes. This project proposes a novel way of examining the degree to which the shared genetic architecture restricts the evolution of the sexes and the costs this imposes on population fitness. The results from the proposed experiments will give a clearer picture of how current measures reflect the true genetic constraint imposed on the sexes from a shared genetic architecture.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100388
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$437,977.00
Summary
Ecological and phylogenomic insights into infectious diseases in animals. This project aims to address major knowledge gaps in our understanding of Clostridium difficile, a leading cause of severe gastrointestinal disease in animals. The project is expected to define the epidemiology of C. difficile infection in Australian horses, characterise the genetic and phenotypic traits of C. difficile strains causing equine disease and develop a new tool for enhanced genomic tracking of C. difficile in a ....Ecological and phylogenomic insights into infectious diseases in animals. This project aims to address major knowledge gaps in our understanding of Clostridium difficile, a leading cause of severe gastrointestinal disease in animals. The project is expected to define the epidemiology of C. difficile infection in Australian horses, characterise the genetic and phenotypic traits of C. difficile strains causing equine disease and develop a new tool for enhanced genomic tracking of C. difficile in animals. These outcomes will support strategies by the veterinary sector to improve the detection, prevention and control of C. difficile infections in animals, providing long-term socio-economic benefits arising from reduced incidence and mortality associated with C. difficile infections in Australian horses and livestock.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100730
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$448,000.00
Summary
Strategies to minimise the societal impacts of zoonotic pandemics. The continuing pandemic has had unprecedented effects across society. Population mobility restrictions have been effective in slowing transmission, but are only effective while in place and have dramatic adverse effects. Despite Australia’s relative success, we have lacked a clear national strategy to guide the optimal deployment of such restrictions. During this fellowship, I will use robust software development practices to dev ....Strategies to minimise the societal impacts of zoonotic pandemics. The continuing pandemic has had unprecedented effects across society. Population mobility restrictions have been effective in slowing transmission, but are only effective while in place and have dramatic adverse effects. Despite Australia’s relative success, we have lacked a clear national strategy to guide the optimal deployment of such restrictions. During this fellowship, I will use robust software development practices to develop a unified software platform that integrates semi-mechanistic, particle filter and agent-based methodologies. I will then use this platform to quantify the effects of mobility restrictions and define the optimal strategic response that should be selected based on the characteristics of a newly emerged pathogen.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100635
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
Demographic distribution models for ecology, conservation & public health. This project aims to advance distribution modelling by developing a new demographic species distribution modelling (DSDM) framework that unites correlative and process-based approaches. This project will develop ecologically realistic models of the distributions of species and diseases, leading to better decision-making in conservation and public health. This will provide significant benefits, such as a better understandi ....Demographic distribution models for ecology, conservation & public health. This project aims to advance distribution modelling by developing a new demographic species distribution modelling (DSDM) framework that unites correlative and process-based approaches. This project will develop ecologically realistic models of the distributions of species and diseases, leading to better decision-making in conservation and public health. This will provide significant benefits, such as a better understanding of where and how to control mosquitoes to reduce malaria transmission in Africa, how best to conserve the vulnerable greater glider in Eastern Australia, and to forecast where and when outbreaks of Ross River virus are likely occur in Victoria.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100977
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$419,016.00
Summary
How ecology shapes the viromes of wild birds. This project will reveal the host factors associated with the diversity, evolution and dynamics of viruses using state-of-the-art metatranscriptomics in Australian wild birds. The structure of virus communities and their associated ecological drivers in wild animal hosts remain a black-box, even though they are the largest source of viral diversity in nature. This project expects to generate key insights into host-associated drivers of viral communit ....How ecology shapes the viromes of wild birds. This project will reveal the host factors associated with the diversity, evolution and dynamics of viruses using state-of-the-art metatranscriptomics in Australian wild birds. The structure of virus communities and their associated ecological drivers in wild animal hosts remain a black-box, even though they are the largest source of viral diversity in nature. This project expects to generate key insights into host-associated drivers of viral community dynamics and the subsequent effect of anthropogenic factors such as urbanisation and poultry production. Identifying host factors that affect viral ecology in wild birds will constitute a cornerstone in understanding the emergence of virulent viruses and/or their spread to poultry or humansRead moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100238
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,574.00
Summary
Chlamydial infections of birds, domesticated animals and humans. This project aims to investigate the epidemiology of an avian Chlamydia pathogen that is known to infect humans and animals, causing serious disease. Utilising molecular epidemiology approaches, this project will generate new knowledge about dynamics of where, when and how this infection spill-over occurs between different hosts. This project also aims to extend early development work on an innovative diagnostic system for detectio ....Chlamydial infections of birds, domesticated animals and humans. This project aims to investigate the epidemiology of an avian Chlamydia pathogen that is known to infect humans and animals, causing serious disease. Utilising molecular epidemiology approaches, this project will generate new knowledge about dynamics of where, when and how this infection spill-over occurs between different hosts. This project also aims to extend early development work on an innovative diagnostic system for detection of chlamydia in laboratory and point-of-care scenarios. The expected outcomes are a greatly enhanced understanding of infections in humans and animals caused by this understudied pathogen, which will allow for more effective control and management of these infections.Read moreRead less