Mechanisms Of Immune-evasion By Group A Streptococcus During Skin Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$602,609.00
Summary
Infections by Group A Streptococcus (GAS), or Streptococcus pyogenes, represent a global health concern. Currently no vaccine exists against GAS thereby mandating a better understanding of the immune response against the bacterium. Using in vivo microscopy, the aim of this proposal is to dissect in real time how neutrophils detect and destroy GAS following skin infection, and how the bacterium manages to circumvent the attack by innate immune cells.
Is Asthma In The Elderly A Disease Of The Peripheral Airways?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$502,437.00
Summary
Elderly asthmatics have poorer clinical outcomes compared with younger asthmatics. The reasons for this are unclear but may involve age-related changes in the disease itself. In this project we aim to show that asthma in the elderly is dominated by abnormalities of very small peripheral airways, in contrast to younger patients where the abnormalities occur in larger airways. The results will provide the basis for new and better targeted treatment strategies for asthma in the elderly.
Nanoparticle-based Anti-VEGF Treatment For Ocular Neovascularization
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$576,921.00
Summary
Diseases like AMD and DR are the leading cause for substantial and irreversible vision loss as a direct effect of pathologic ocular neovascularization and have a significant economic impact on individuals, families, health systems and countries. Nowadays, the treatment requires frequent intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF antibody with all the risks of an invasive intraocular procedure. Nanotechonoly-based drug delivery system will provide a less invasive treatment for this kind of disease.
Multimodel Phenotyping To Predict Oral Appliance Treatment Outcome In Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$525,777.00
Summary
Obstructive sleep apnoea is a common sleep-related breathing disorder. Oral appliances worn during sleep to gently hold the lower jaw in a forward position are a novel treatment modality often appealing to patients. Currently use is limited as there is no means to determine if patients will be treated successfully. There is a need for simple, clinical methods to predict which patients are best suited to this new treatment approach and this project will address this by developing such a method.
Increased Airway Smooth Muscle Mass As An Independent Determinant Of Asthma Pathogenesis And Severity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,966.00
Summary
Asthma is a major health burden to the community. The most common form of the disease is allergic asthma and it is thought that allergic inflammation drives associated airway abnormalities including increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass. This study tests a new hypothesis that airway abnormalities and allergy have separate origins but combine to produce allergic asthma, and it’s the individuals with the greatest amount of ASM who develop clinically severe asthma.
Heterogeneity Of Airway Smooth Muscle Remodelling In Asthma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$623,078.00
Summary
Increased smooth muscle in the airways causes excessive narrowing and asthma symptoms. The distribution of the increased muscle in the lung varies between people with asthma and may determine how severe the asthma is and what treatments are best. This project will use tissues from many cases of asthma to map this distribution and will use laser scanning in the airways to develop a test to safely examine the smooth muscle in living people, in order to better treat or prevent asthma.
The Central Role Of Connective Tissue Growth Factor In Remodelling Of Asthmatic Airways
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$689,019.00
Summary
In the asthmatic airway an increase in the number of blood vessels can affect an asthmatic's ability to breathe. We have recently found that growth factors which can promote vessel growth are increased in the airways of asthmatics. We want to understand how these growth factors act together to possibly control the blood vessels and how their behaviour is different in the asthmatic airways compared to the nonasthmatic airways.
Asthma causes wheeze and shortness of breath via airway narrowing, with asthma attacks commonly caused by virus infections. We plan to investigate how airway narrowing during an asthma attack decreases the body’s ability to fight off a viral infection, causing prolonged infection, worse asthma symptoms, more airway inflammation and long-term damage within the airways. We will attempt to use current and novel treatments to reverse these problems, and improve treatment for asthma.
Urokinase Is A Key Mediator Of Airway Inflammation And Tissue Remodelling In Asthma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$556,425.00
Summary
The scarring of airway tissue in asthma increases the difficulty of breathing. There is no effective treatment for airway scarring in severe asthma. This study looks at how proteins involved in dissolving blood clots influence wound healing and scarring in the airways. A better understanding of airway tissue scarring will lead to possible treatments for more serious forms of asthma which remain a major health and economic burden to our community.
Investigating The Effects Of Macrolides On Excessive Synthesis And Secretion Of Airway Mucins Using Novel Ex Vivo And In Vivo Approaches
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$520,821.00
Summary
Many people have difficulty breathing because the airway tubes that move air in and out of their lungs are blocked by excessive amounts of sticky mucus. Our project will use new techniques developed in our laboratories to investigate whether a group of medicines called “macrolides” can prevent the excessive production and release of mucus in the airways, and thus be beneficial in treating asthma, and potentially other lung diseases.