Unravelling early self-regulation: A longitudinal study. National data show persistent issues in Australian children's social-emotional vulnerability. Research shows we have had limited success shifting these trajectories through current education and intervention efforts. In short, we understand enough about self-regulation to establish it as a priority target in early childhood, yet not enough to meaningfully alter current trajectories. This project will develop a ‘big picture’ theory of child ....Unravelling early self-regulation: A longitudinal study. National data show persistent issues in Australian children's social-emotional vulnerability. Research shows we have had limited success shifting these trajectories through current education and intervention efforts. In short, we understand enough about self-regulation to establish it as a priority target in early childhood, yet not enough to meaningfully alter current trajectories. This project will develop a ‘big picture’ theory of children’s self-regulation abilities and change, supported by Australia’s first longitudinal study of early self-regulation, from preschool into early primary school (ages 4 to 6). This robust theory of change is expected to better position ongoing education and intervention efforts to succeed.Read moreRead less
Measuring pain in livestock: mechanisms, objective biomarkers and treatments. This project aims to create an objective blood test to measure pain in livestock, and to create a new drug treatment for persistent pain by targeting the immunology of the brain and spinal cord. This project expects to generate new knowledge of the involvement of the neuro-immune system in the creation and maintenance of persistent pain and how this can be quantified through the innovative use of peripheral blood tests ....Measuring pain in livestock: mechanisms, objective biomarkers and treatments. This project aims to create an objective blood test to measure pain in livestock, and to create a new drug treatment for persistent pain by targeting the immunology of the brain and spinal cord. This project expects to generate new knowledge of the involvement of the neuro-immune system in the creation and maintenance of persistent pain and how this can be quantified through the innovative use of peripheral blood tests. Expected outcomes of this project include a blood test capable of quantifying the extent of current pain experience, and a cumulative life measure of pain an animal has experienced. This should provide significant benefits to the Australian livestock industry by improving best practice.Read moreRead less
DNA repair: a critical quality control mechanism in the female germ line. This project aims to investigate the fundamental biological mechanisms required for the production of high quality gametes, which underpin female fertility and the propagation of all sexually reproducing species. By taking advantage of unique mouse and avian models, this project expects to define the role of the DNA repair protein TOP3A in the successful completion of meiosis and it's requirement for the survival and genet ....DNA repair: a critical quality control mechanism in the female germ line. This project aims to investigate the fundamental biological mechanisms required for the production of high quality gametes, which underpin female fertility and the propagation of all sexually reproducing species. By taking advantage of unique mouse and avian models, this project expects to define the role of the DNA repair protein TOP3A in the successful completion of meiosis and it's requirement for the survival and genetic integrity of gametes throughout their lifespan. In doing so, the intended outcome of this project is to dramatically improve our understanding of quality control in the female germ line. This should provide significant benefits to Australia by positioning it as a world leader in the field of Reproductive Science.Read moreRead less
Engaging the forgotten public health workforce. This Fellowship project aims to provide the first in-depth, coordinated, critical public health examination and application of consumer behaviour-informed methodology to examine health promotion and complementary medicine. The project aims to build on novel analyses and critical engagement with community members, health professionals and policymakers to advance public health scholarship of health information-seeking and chronic illness prevention. ....Engaging the forgotten public health workforce. This Fellowship project aims to provide the first in-depth, coordinated, critical public health examination and application of consumer behaviour-informed methodology to examine health promotion and complementary medicine. The project aims to build on novel analyses and critical engagement with community members, health professionals and policymakers to advance public health scholarship of health information-seeking and chronic illness prevention. It seeks to identify challenges and opportunities to improve Australian health promotion initiatives; provide an evidence-base to inform coordinated implementation of the National Preventive Health Strategy; and optimise the primary care workforce to benefit health promotion for Australians.Read moreRead less
Sensory orchestration for multimodal literacy learning in primary education. This project aims to advance new learning and pedagogical models of sensory orchestration for the enhanced multimodal and digital literacy learning of primary students. Multimodal literacy is increasingly important in the Australian curriculum and international research, yet research and education largely prioritise visual texts. This project will generate pedagogical and learning models to optimise students’ broadened ....Sensory orchestration for multimodal literacy learning in primary education. This project aims to advance new learning and pedagogical models of sensory orchestration for the enhanced multimodal and digital literacy learning of primary students. Multimodal literacy is increasingly important in the Australian curriculum and international research, yet research and education largely prioritise visual texts. This project will generate pedagogical and learning models to optimise students’ broadened use of the senses in multimodal and digital literacy learning. It will develop new sensory literacy programs with primary schools, community organisations, and art museums.
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Purinergic signalling in placentation and vascular adaptation in pregnancy. Our traditional understanding of purinergic signalling in the placenta is significantly outdated and incomplete. The placenta is critical for reproduction in all eutherian mammals, delivering critical nutrition and oxygen to the developing fetus. This project aims to define the role of purinergic signalling as a critical mechanism driving placentation and angiogenesis. This is the first study of its kind and will use sop ....Purinergic signalling in placentation and vascular adaptation in pregnancy. Our traditional understanding of purinergic signalling in the placenta is significantly outdated and incomplete. The placenta is critical for reproduction in all eutherian mammals, delivering critical nutrition and oxygen to the developing fetus. This project aims to define the role of purinergic signalling as a critical mechanism driving placentation and angiogenesis. This is the first study of its kind and will use sophisticated models to improve our fundamental understanding and ability to manipulate mammalian reproduction via the purinoreceptors. This proposal builds on my skills and expertise; improving our knowledge of the processes driving placental and vascular morphogenesis and offers important discoveries for reproductive science.Read moreRead less
Deciphering how plants control water and salt co-transport. This project aims to increase our understanding of how plant cells regulate solute transport. Crop growth depends on water uptake and transport, and the rapid movement of water across plant cell membranes requires transporters such as aquaporins. Preliminary data indicates that a series of signals can switch aquaporins between functioning as highly selective water channels and salt transport channels. The project aims to reveal the mole ....Deciphering how plants control water and salt co-transport. This project aims to increase our understanding of how plant cells regulate solute transport. Crop growth depends on water uptake and transport, and the rapid movement of water across plant cell membranes requires transporters such as aquaporins. Preliminary data indicates that a series of signals can switch aquaporins between functioning as highly selective water channels and salt transport channels. The project aims to reveal the molecular pathways that regulate water and salt co-transport, using genetics, molecular biology, and electrophysiology data to decipher how plants regulate and coordinate aquaporin solute transport during growth and in osmotic adjustment. The project has the potential to lead to improvements in crop-plant solute transport traits, enhanced agricultural productivity, and yield stability in saline and water limited environments.Read moreRead less
The Systems Biochemistry of Adaptation in Cellular Protein Networks. A living cell must process and interpret a host of diverse signals using a complex network of interacting proteins inside the cell. The detailed molecular mechanisms by which cells exhibit adaptation to these signals remains a fundamental question in biology. This project aims to develop a novel mathematical framework for analysing the capacity of intracellular protein interactions to contribute to cellular adaptation, along ....The Systems Biochemistry of Adaptation in Cellular Protein Networks. A living cell must process and interpret a host of diverse signals using a complex network of interacting proteins inside the cell. The detailed molecular mechanisms by which cells exhibit adaptation to these signals remains a fundamental question in biology. This project aims to develop a novel mathematical framework for analysing the capacity of intracellular protein interactions to contribute to cellular adaptation, along with a novel methodology for validating mathematical models against experimental data. These innovations offer a completely fresh approach to identifying and modulating the adaptive capacities of living cells, which may contribute to overcoming the problem of drug resistance in future therapeutic development.
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Decoding miRNA regulated genetic circuits. This project will aim to develop a much better understanding of how the process of making proteins from genes is regulated, and will develop scientific software capable of predicting how a cell will respond to changes in this regulation. The results will have widespread use, including assistance in deciding the best treatments for genetic diseases.