Discovery And Development Of Better Pain Treatments
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$9,613,850.00
Summary
Many forms of pain remain poorly treated, leading to significant quality of life and economic losses. This Program grant will discover and characterise new peptides from cone snails and spiders that modulate specific channels in nerves that are critical to the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Using advanced chemical and structural approaches, promising leads will be optimised for potency and stability and evaluated in disease and pathway-specific models of pain to establish their clini ....Many forms of pain remain poorly treated, leading to significant quality of life and economic losses. This Program grant will discover and characterise new peptides from cone snails and spiders that modulate specific channels in nerves that are critical to the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Using advanced chemical and structural approaches, promising leads will be optimised for potency and stability and evaluated in disease and pathway-specific models of pain to establish their clinical potential.Read moreRead less
Spinal Cord Injury Pain: Understanding Mechanisms To Develop Treatments
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$597,675.00
Summary
Spinal cord injury has devastating effects on health and quality of life. Many of the major consequences of injury, such as chronic pain and loss of voluntary voiding, are "invisible" – i.e., they are not as visible as limitations of mobility. Our study aims to define the neurobiological changes that cause development of persistent pain after spinal cord injury and use pharmacological tools to attenuate the development of pain.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989384
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$233,000.00
Summary
High-speed, three-dimensional, x-ray fluoroscopy for accurate measurement of human joint motion. This proposal addresses one of the most difficult and long-standing problems in the field of biomechanics: How can human joint motion be measured accurately and non-invasively during common activities such as walking, stair ambulation and running? Low-dose, high-speed, three-dimensional, x-ray fluoroscopy provides an excellent solution to this problem and, in so doing, can play a pivotal role in heal ....High-speed, three-dimensional, x-ray fluoroscopy for accurate measurement of human joint motion. This proposal addresses one of the most difficult and long-standing problems in the field of biomechanics: How can human joint motion be measured accurately and non-invasively during common activities such as walking, stair ambulation and running? Low-dose, high-speed, three-dimensional, x-ray fluoroscopy provides an excellent solution to this problem and, in so doing, can play a pivotal role in healthcare, through clinical gait analysis and gait rehabilitation (diagnosis, prevention and treatment of movement disorders); in sports, through the development of personalized training programs for elite athletes; and in entertainment, through the creation of physics-based animations for the video/digital games industry.Read moreRead less
Development of a multivariate physiologic state space analysis framework for characterising functional properties of the cardiovascular system. Pathologies of the cardiovascular system arising from heart diseases make a major contribution to morbidity and mortality in the Australian community. This project will provide new diagnostic modalities based on advanced noninvasive bioinstrumentation, signal processing and model-based analytical methods to identify early signs of developing disease or t ....Development of a multivariate physiologic state space analysis framework for characterising functional properties of the cardiovascular system. Pathologies of the cardiovascular system arising from heart diseases make a major contribution to morbidity and mortality in the Australian community. This project will provide new diagnostic modalities based on advanced noninvasive bioinstrumentation, signal processing and model-based analytical methods to identify early signs of developing disease or the acute exacerbation of existing disease. The impact of these new technologies on the early diagnosis and improved triaging of patients in emergency departments is potentially profound and could result in improved healthcare outcomes for the patients and reduced admissions to hospital as well as the development of a substantial international market.Read moreRead less
Hybrid Sensor-based Physiological Control of an Implantable Rotary Blood Pump. With over 11 million people needing heart transplants worldwide and only 3000 donor hearts, an effective alternative therapy is needed. The Ventracor Ltd. rotary blood pump is one possible approach whereby a fully implantable mechanical device assists the failing heart. The innovative steps in this research proposal will be a means to robustly and safely control the speed of the pump to meet the metabolic needs of the ....Hybrid Sensor-based Physiological Control of an Implantable Rotary Blood Pump. With over 11 million people needing heart transplants worldwide and only 3000 donor hearts, an effective alternative therapy is needed. The Ventracor Ltd. rotary blood pump is one possible approach whereby a fully implantable mechanical device assists the failing heart. The innovative steps in this research proposal will be a means to robustly and safely control the speed of the pump to meet the metabolic needs of the body. Apart from the obvious health benefits for patients, this will provide the company with a huge market advantage that will also help to bolster the Australian medical device industry.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560661
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$245,300.00
Summary
Particulate Characterisation for Pharmaceutical and Engineering Applications. The aim of this proposal is to establish joint facilities between the University of Sydney, Monash University and UNSW for the characterization of surface properties and particle sizes of pharmaceutical aerosols and industrial powders. Such knowledge is important for controlling aerosol production and delivery of drug particles to the lungs. This will have a significant benefit to the pharmaceutical industry and patien ....Particulate Characterisation for Pharmaceutical and Engineering Applications. The aim of this proposal is to establish joint facilities between the University of Sydney, Monash University and UNSW for the characterization of surface properties and particle sizes of pharmaceutical aerosols and industrial powders. Such knowledge is important for controlling aerosol production and delivery of drug particles to the lungs. This will have a significant benefit to the pharmaceutical industry and patients requiring aerosol treatment. Further, the proposed facilities will enhance research in complex particulate processes and modelling, functional nanomaterials, and soft sensor development, thus keeping Australia at the forefront of powder research into various high value adding particulate areas.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology and Development. The Centre will create a multidisciplinary research team focusing on the molecular mechanisms that drive the specification and differentiation of male germ cells. This research will improve our fundamental understanding of how complex regulatory networks control the expression of a complex phenotype, the spermatozoon. It will also create a platform of knowledge from which we can stimulate the growth of the Australian Biotechnology indust ....ARC Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology and Development. The Centre will create a multidisciplinary research team focusing on the molecular mechanisms that drive the specification and differentiation of male germ cells. This research will improve our fundamental understanding of how complex regulatory networks control the expression of a complex phenotype, the spermatozoon. It will also create a platform of knowledge from which we can stimulate the growth of the Australian Biotechnology industry, the protection of the Australian Environment and the well-being of the Australian people. Key issues for this Centre include testicular cancer, male infertility, contraception, pest animal control, environmental impacts on human health and gene pharming.Read moreRead less
Integration of high-speed dynamic x-ray imaging and patient-specific computational modelling for non-invasive assessment of knee-joint function. The project will establish a new capability for the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis (joint disease) that will place Australia at the forefront of biomedical engineering research internationally. The ability to integrate high-speed, mobile, x-ray imaging of joint motion with patient-specific computer modelling is unique globally.
GABA(B) Receptor Modulation Of Gastrointestinal Function In Health And Disease By Alpha-Conotoxins
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$689,050.00
Summary
Chronic visceral pain is a common and debilitating condition arising from numerous diseases that affect our internal organs. There is a desperate need for more information about the mechanisms responsible for signalling chronic visceral pain to provide therapies and potentially find a cure for it. Our research focuses on ?-conotoxins (small peptides from marine cone snail venom) as novel potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of chronic visceral pain.
Modelling the human nervous system with human pluripotent stem cells. The human nervous system is one of the most complex structures evolved to date. In order to understand how it functions, and dysfunctions in a diseased state, it is fundamental to decipher how it develops to generate various neuronal populations that form this elaborate network. Human stem cells provide a valuable source to study such processes. The aim of this project is to use human stem cells to study how early progenitor c ....Modelling the human nervous system with human pluripotent stem cells. The human nervous system is one of the most complex structures evolved to date. In order to understand how it functions, and dysfunctions in a diseased state, it is fundamental to decipher how it develops to generate various neuronal populations that form this elaborate network. Human stem cells provide a valuable source to study such processes. The aim of this project is to use human stem cells to study how early progenitor cell types that structure the nervous system are generated and how their neuronal derivatives form connectivity and functional synapses. The outcome of these studies is that we will establish a cellular model of human neurogenesis that can be utilised to study developmental disease processes.Read moreRead less