Targeting The Crosstalk Between Metabolism And Epigenetics To Treat Liver Fibrosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,032,259.00
Summary
Virtually all liver disease related morbidity and mortality is a consequence of fibrosis that culminates in liver failure or liver cancer. Since anti-fibrotic drugs are not available, new approaches to drug development are required. We have discovered a novel strategy for such drug development by modifying the expression of a specific gene (RARRES1) in a highly targeted manner and thereby interrupting the energy production that is needed by cells to drive fibrosis.
User-centred Design Of A Technology-mediated, Theory Driven, Intervention Package To Reduce Incorrect Use Of Child Car Restraints
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$691,342.00
Summary
This project aims to develop and optimise an efficient, cost-effective intervention that provides instruction on how to correctly use child car restraints, as well as promoting behaviours required to achieve correct restraint of children in cars. This work offers potential paradigm shifting solutions to a long-standing problem that is currently putting more than 50% of children travelling in cars at a three-fold increased risk of serious injury and death
Hepatitis B is a leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Treatments for hepatitis B control the virus, but do not cure it, so people stay on treatment for many years. We have identified an exciting new treatment approach by targeting a gene that controls liver metabolism, called TM6SF2. We will target this gene to develop a cure for hepatitis B.
Serum Neurofilament Light As A Biomarker To Improve Management Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,092,781.00
Summary
There is increasing awareness that mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs), such as concussions, can lead to persistent or permanent neurological symptoms. Nonetheless, the identification and management of mTBIs remains notoriously difficult. In this proposal, we will assess exactly how a novel blood test can be implemented to assist in mTBI diagnosis, and the identification and management of individuals at risk of suffering persistent or chronic neurological problems.
Harnessing Neural Plasticity To Improve Functional Outcomes Following Burn Injury.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$667,984.00
Summary
Burn is painful and leads to long-term functional impairment and increased chronic disease. Pain and peripheral injury induce changes in the brain that can be functionally beneficial or maladaptive, yet we know little about brain changes following burn injury. This project will identify the mechanisms and functional impact of neural plasticity after burn injury, and test the efficacy of a neural intervention to reduce pain and improve functional recovery following burn injury.
BETTER MAN Project: Tailored Early Online Intervention For Men Using Intimate Partner Violence
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$506,202.00
Summary
Domestic violence damages the health of families, particularly women and children. We aim to make all families safer by generating new knowledge from a world-first trial of a healthy relationship website (BETTER MAN). This website assists men to identify their use of abuse and violence early and motivate them to seek help. We will tailor their help-seeking response to their individual experiences. We will have the safety, health, and well-being of women and children as our focus in this work.
Facial paralysis results in loss of the ability to blink, which is the primary means of protecting and lubricating the eye. The eye becomes dry and ulcerated and eventually vision loss ensues. No therapy exists that can reliably restore blink and hence treatment is mostly palliative today. BLINC is an implantable device that artificially restores eye closure. It is wirelessly powered and readily implantable. BLINC has achieved eye closure similar to natural blinking in human cadaveric models.
A Wireless Electric Nerve-guide For Peripheral Nerve Repair
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$805,064.00
Summary
We aim to deliver a radical new precision intervention for peripheral nerve repair to improve the lives of people with peripheral nerve damage. Drawing from our recently awarded work on 'electric neural tissue engineering', we will pre-clinically test our invention of a unique clinically-amenable electric nerve-guide (e-nerve-guide), designed to act as a protective nerve conduit and wirelessly electrically-stimulate damaged nerves for their regeneration and restoration of function.
Modulating COVID-19 Disease By Targeting Virus And Virus-induced Responses Through Pharmaceutical And Mechanical Ventilation Strategies: SARS-CoV-2 S-protein, ACE2 And TMPRSS2
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$628,856.00
Summary
COVID-19 is a current global pandemic that is likely to be an on-going threat. We need a multipronged strategy to combat COVID-19, including therapeutic anti-virals and clinical practice management strategy. We will address both these points to define the mechanisms triggering disease, test existing drugs targeting androgens and modify the way doctors use ventilators to treat COVID-19 disease in the intensive care unit. Outcomes will have impact beyond COVID-19 for managing viral lung disease.