Personalised Medical Nutrition Therapy To Improve Diet Related Health Outcomes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$687,975.00
Summary
Poor eating habits are common across all lifestages and increase the risk for heart disease, diabetes and the cost of health care. This novel research will use technology to connect people to online assessment of their dietary intake with a personally tailored nutrition report provided in realtime. Healthcare professional will use these to help people improve their eating and health. This will create new knowledge on the impact of better nutrition on health outcomes and the cost of health care.
Changing Therapeutic Paradigms For Intestinal Health: Diet As A Therapeutic Strategy In Gastroenterology.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$640,210.00
Summary
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects 1 in 7 adults in Australia. IBS symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating and wind. My team has shown that fermentable short chain carbohydrates (FODMAPs) present in many foods are responsible for triggering these symptoms. The Low FODMAP diet is now being adopted worldwide as first-line management therapy for IBS. The delivery of this research worldwide has been possible through the use of a smartphone app: The Monash Uni Low FODMAP diet.
Dietary Nutrients As Novel Therapeutic Approaches To Appetite Regulation In Health And Disorders Of Eating
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$687,975.00
Summary
The goal of the proposed work is to translate the discoveries from our research on the effects of dietary nutrients, including specific fatty acids and amino acids, on energy intake suppression and blood glucose control into novel, and effective, nutrient-based prevention, management and treatment strategies for people with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Thus, our work will not only generate important new knowledge, but also lead to major health outcomes for the benefit of the general public.
Treatments that target cancer causing genes called oncogenes have resulted in new treatment paradigms for cancer. We suggest that outcomes of patients with cancer will be further substantially improved by understanding how cancers can overcome resistance to these treatments that develops in many patients. To accelerate the adoption of these and other new treatments for cancer we will also develop new frameworks for clinical trials.
Strategies For Enhancing The Treatment Of Colon Cancer.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$590,785.00
Summary
Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer related death in Australia. Strategies to improve outcomes for these patients are urgently needed. This NHMRC SRF Fellowship will seek to identify new molecules in cancer cells which can be targeted to treat this disease, and to discover genes which can be used to improve patient response to treatment.
Utilization Of Gene-engineered T Cells For Enhancing Cancer Immunotherapy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$761,656.00
Summary
Killer T lymphocytes can penetrate tumours and their transfer into cancer patients has demonstrated some encouraging results, but this form of therapy and other approaches including vaccination remain ineffective in most cancer patients. In this project, we propose to improve the tumour trafficking and anti-tumour activities of killer cells by genetically engineering them with proteins that will enable them to recognise and destroy cancer cells, whilst minimizing toxicity to normal tissue.
New Strategies For Enhancing Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cell Therapy For Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$849,540.00
Summary
The role of the immune system in cancer is now recognised as highly important, highlighted by the success of immunotherapy in patients. Yet many patients fail to respond to this form of treatment due to low frequency of lymphocytes present at the tumor site. A new form of immunotherapy involving transfer of gene-modified lymphocytes is a potential way to overcome this problem. This project will explore new strategies to enhance the utility of this approach against blood and solid cancers.
Integrated Basic And Clinical Cardiovascular Research For The Development Of Innovative Approaches To The Treatment Of Heart Failure
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$925,346.00
Summary
Heart failure (HF) is a common cardiovascular problem which causes disabling symptoms and reduces life expectancy. HF is the commonest cause or contributor to hospitalization in people over 65 years. For patients with advanced HF, survival is worse than that for aggresive cancers. At present, for patients with advanced HF and its complications, there are very few treatment options. Over the next 5 years I will conduct a comprehensive series of studies in animal models and in patients to develop ....Heart failure (HF) is a common cardiovascular problem which causes disabling symptoms and reduces life expectancy. HF is the commonest cause or contributor to hospitalization in people over 65 years. For patients with advanced HF, survival is worse than that for aggresive cancers. At present, for patients with advanced HF and its complications, there are very few treatment options. Over the next 5 years I will conduct a comprehensive series of studies in animal models and in patients to develop new treatment options.Read moreRead less
There is a need to improve early detection, monitoring of relapse, and treatments for melanoma, to increase long-term survival. My research vision is to use innovative and cutting edge approaches to conduct a range of complementary studies under three broad but inter-related themes: Theme 1 – Genetic predisposition to melanoma in the general population; Theme 2 – Genetic predisposition to melanoma in high-density families; Theme 3 – Somatic aberrations underlying melanoma development.
The goal of this research is to improve outcomes for people at risk of becoming blind or visually impaired. The focus is on those who require a corneal transplant, or who suffer from inflammatory eye disease or painful disease of the ocular surface, on neonates with retinopathy of prematurity, or those with the eye disease, keratoconus. We will investigate new treatment options for eye diseases and will examine the evidence for the success of surgical and other therapeutic interventions.