Modulation of air-conditioning settings to destroy respiratory viruses. This project aims to prove that manipulating the ambient humidity can rapidly degrade airborne viruses. The relationship between ambient humidity and airborne infection is poorly understood for viral pathogens including influenza and the common cold. The project will prove that indoor environmental conditions can be easily manipulated to kill airborne viruses. The findings will be used to develop indoor air humidity control ....Modulation of air-conditioning settings to destroy respiratory viruses. This project aims to prove that manipulating the ambient humidity can rapidly degrade airborne viruses. The relationship between ambient humidity and airborne infection is poorly understood for viral pathogens including influenza and the common cold. The project will prove that indoor environmental conditions can be easily manipulated to kill airborne viruses. The findings will be used to develop indoor air humidity control guidelines targeting the vulnerabilities of the viruses to minimise airborne infection.Read moreRead less
Optimising disease surveillance to support decision-making. COVID-19 has demonstrated the critical role of epidemic data and analytics in guiding government response to pandemic threats, reducing disease and saving lives. The demand for epidemic analytics for response to threats of national significance will only grow. The goals of this project are to 1) determine the combination(s) of surveillance methods that provide the most useful data for epidemic analysis and 2) translate these findings in ....Optimising disease surveillance to support decision-making. COVID-19 has demonstrated the critical role of epidemic data and analytics in guiding government response to pandemic threats, reducing disease and saving lives. The demand for epidemic analytics for response to threats of national significance will only grow. The goals of this project are to 1) determine the combination(s) of surveillance methods that provide the most useful data for epidemic analysis and 2) translate these findings into the blueprint for a next-generation infectious disease surveillance system for Australia. We will use a simulation-evaluation approach, coupling methods from infectious disease modelling with those from information theory optimal design. Outcomes will enable more tailored and effective pandemic response.Read moreRead less
Microeconomic effects of Australian natural disasters. This project aims to describe and identify the effects of Australian natural disasters – such as the Black Saturday bushfires and the Brisbane floods – on important microeconomic outcomes, including health, education and employment. Natural disasters have profound economic and social effects on individuals and communities. This project intends to bring evidence on how disasters affect individuals and how the effects can be lessened. The proj ....Microeconomic effects of Australian natural disasters. This project aims to describe and identify the effects of Australian natural disasters – such as the Black Saturday bushfires and the Brisbane floods – on important microeconomic outcomes, including health, education and employment. Natural disasters have profound economic and social effects on individuals and communities. This project intends to bring evidence on how disasters affect individuals and how the effects can be lessened. The project expects to inform policy-makers on these critical issues by analysing field, survey and administrative data on individuals before and after past disasters.Read moreRead less
Do insect-specific flaviviruses regulate the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases in Australia? Mosquito-borne viral diseases such as dengue occur in Australia. The research team recently discovered related viruses in mosquitoes from Darwin that do not infect humans, but may inhibit the spread of viral diseases by mosquitoes. This project will investigate the life cycles of these new viruses to understand how they affect the spread of viral diseases by mosquitoes.
Revealing the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of avian influenza virus. This project aims to understand how avian influenza virus (AIV) emerges, evolves and spreads in wild birds. AIV has the potential to devastate the poultry industry and cause human pandemics, but the factors that shape the genetic diversity of AIV in its wild bird reservoir are poorly understood. The project plans to combine genomic, ecological and phylogenetic approaches to reveal key aspects of AIV evolution, as well a ....Revealing the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of avian influenza virus. This project aims to understand how avian influenza virus (AIV) emerges, evolves and spreads in wild birds. AIV has the potential to devastate the poultry industry and cause human pandemics, but the factors that shape the genetic diversity of AIV in its wild bird reservoir are poorly understood. The project plans to combine genomic, ecological and phylogenetic approaches to reveal key aspects of AIV evolution, as well as the risk for future viral emergence. Using sampling sites in Australia and Antarctica, it plans to investigate AIV diversity, the evolutionary dynamics of AIV in wild birds and poultry, and the role played by environmental transmission in AIV ecology.Read moreRead less
Engineering approaches towards atomic imaging of bacterial cells. This project aims to develop novel approaches for analysis of single biological cells at atomic scale. The project will first develop an approach by utilising nanoscale ion beam to interact with the frozen cells in a controllable manner, followed by performing nanoscale dissection and analyses. By introducing engineered two-dimensional materials, namely graphene, atomic resolution three-dimensional imaging of the cellular chemistr ....Engineering approaches towards atomic imaging of bacterial cells. This project aims to develop novel approaches for analysis of single biological cells at atomic scale. The project will first develop an approach by utilising nanoscale ion beam to interact with the frozen cells in a controllable manner, followed by performing nanoscale dissection and analyses. By introducing engineered two-dimensional materials, namely graphene, atomic resolution three-dimensional imaging of the cellular chemistry will become feasible, which will shed light on various fundamental mechanisms inside the cells. This will provide significant benefits upon success, and will impact a wide spectrum of fields from understanding cellular functions to developing effective drugs.Read moreRead less
Understanding mutation and genetic reassortment in viruses: new mathematical models of viral dynamics and evolution. This project aims to understand how evolutionary processes and ecological conditions combine to ignite and sustain viral epidemics. Using novel mathematical models and statistical methods we will study the manner in which viral genes mutate and are recombined, as well as the rates of these important forces.
Nanosilver antimicrobial resistance in target pathogens. This project aims to elucidate the important phenomena of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial nanosilver, currently one of the most developed and commercialised products of nanotechnology. The integrated research approach comprises of concurrent identification of the origins and routes of nanosilver toxicity in bacteria and the arising emergence and mechanisms of bacterial defence to the toxicity. The generated knowledge is to form a bas ....Nanosilver antimicrobial resistance in target pathogens. This project aims to elucidate the important phenomena of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial nanosilver, currently one of the most developed and commercialised products of nanotechnology. The integrated research approach comprises of concurrent identification of the origins and routes of nanosilver toxicity in bacteria and the arising emergence and mechanisms of bacterial defence to the toxicity. The generated knowledge is to form a base template for novel nanosilver engineering with less tendency for resistance development and to facilitate tracking of resistance and its spread amongst microorganisms. The knowledge has far-reaching implications on the better governance of nanosilver use, including its disposal.Read moreRead less
The Molecular Basis of Nanoparticle Resistance in Mixed-Species Biofilm. The project aims to understand how the globally significant mixed-species growth of pathogens develop resistance to silver nanoparticle, currently one of the most important alternative antimicrobials to antibiotics. The integrated research is to elucidate, for the first time, the nanoparticle multi-targeting toxicity on mixed-species bacterial community and how, in turn, the bacteria activate their cell-to-cell signalling f ....The Molecular Basis of Nanoparticle Resistance in Mixed-Species Biofilm. The project aims to understand how the globally significant mixed-species growth of pathogens develop resistance to silver nanoparticle, currently one of the most important alternative antimicrobials to antibiotics. The integrated research is to elucidate, for the first time, the nanoparticle multi-targeting toxicity on mixed-species bacterial community and how, in turn, the bacteria activate their cell-to-cell signalling for a synergistic defence to adapt to the nanoparticle toxicity. The pioneering knowledge is the foundation for technologies targeting the interspecies metabolite cross-talking to overcome the resistance phenomena, ensuring a long-term efficacy of the alternative antimicrobial on the difficult-to-control pathogenic growth.Read moreRead less
How we remember and misremember traumatic experiences. The project addresses a significant and important problem: the role of memory distortion in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a global disorder with significant personal, societal and economic costs. The aim of this project is to empirically investigate the extent, causes and triggering conditions of errors in memory for traumatic experiences; particularly exaggeration of these memories, which has been linked to poor psychological adjus ....How we remember and misremember traumatic experiences. The project addresses a significant and important problem: the role of memory distortion in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a global disorder with significant personal, societal and economic costs. The aim of this project is to empirically investigate the extent, causes and triggering conditions of errors in memory for traumatic experiences; particularly exaggeration of these memories, which has been linked to poor psychological adjustment. Understanding how people exposed to trauma remember, and misremember, aspects of their experiences in ways that influence their recovery is both theoretically and practically important. Indeed, it will help us refine theory and identify possible points of intervention for PTSD sufferers.Read moreRead less