Cognitive Enhancement In Schizophrenia Via Selective Oestrogen Receptor Modulator.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$396,380.00
Summary
Cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia is resistant to treatment and related to poor community functioning and quality of life. In spite of the widely appreciated magnitude of the problem, there is still a critical gap in our knowledge concerning treatments to reverse these cognitive deficits. The proposed research is significant because it will clarify the role of hormones and genes in relation to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and it may help patients improve their level of functioning.
Molecular Mechanisms Of Receptor Activation And Signalling
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$571,980.00
Summary
Fundamental to our ability to respond to both immediate and long-term environmental changes and stresses is the coordinated regulation of cellular functions by hormonal and neurotransmitter stimuli. The great majority of such stimuli are sensed by G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), complex glycoprotein molecules on the surface of most cells that selectively bind and are activated by various hormones and neurotransmitters. Although GPCRs are a superfamily of proteins that now compromise several ....Fundamental to our ability to respond to both immediate and long-term environmental changes and stresses is the coordinated regulation of cellular functions by hormonal and neurotransmitter stimuli. The great majority of such stimuli are sensed by G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), complex glycoprotein molecules on the surface of most cells that selectively bind and are activated by various hormones and neurotransmitters. Although GPCRs are a superfamily of proteins that now compromise several hundred distinct but structurally-related members, the molecular mechanisms involved in their activation and, thus, their regulation of vital cellular functions, remains unclear. Based on insights that we have gained from the development and characterisation of several alpha1-adrenergic receptor mutants, we have developed a model of receptor activation. In this application we are proposing to further test and to extend the hypotheses underlying this model. Importantly, the functions regulated by GPCR include vital responses, such as the maintenance of circulatory homeostasis by augmenting heart pump function and by constricting vascular smooth muscle to maintain blood pressure. In addition, disordered cellular regulation by GPCR has been implicated in a wide variety of diseases, including hypertension, congestive heart failure and cardiac hypertrophy. Thus, the studies detailed here to further understand the molecular mechanisms of receptor activation have broad implications for our knowledge of critical physiological control systems, and may lead to novel therapeutic approaches to treat a variety of diseases.Read moreRead less
Developing A New Strategy For Treating Demyelinating Peripheral Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$496,250.00
Summary
Incomplete remyelination is a significant component of the persistent clinical disability of peripheral demyelinating neuropathy, contributing to conduction deficits and the secondary axonal damage. A crucial therapeutic challenge is to identify ways to promote remyelination. This project aims to develop a new strategy and a novel clinically relevant target for treating peripheral demyelinating neuropathy.
Pushing AR Toward Better Outcomes In Breast And Prostate Cancers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$998,754.00
Summary
Breast and prostate cancers kill >6000 Australians each year. These cancers are strikingly similar, both driven by hormone receptors that have ‘gone bad’. Current therapies aim to eradicate the receptors. While often effective, therapeutic resistance is common and results in fatal disease. We aim to develop new, less toxic treatments that switch receptor behaviour from good to bad, without destroying them. This should improve quality of life, while preventing drug resistance and loss of lives ....Breast and prostate cancers kill >6000 Australians each year. These cancers are strikingly similar, both driven by hormone receptors that have ‘gone bad’. Current therapies aim to eradicate the receptors. While often effective, therapeutic resistance is common and results in fatal disease. We aim to develop new, less toxic treatments that switch receptor behaviour from good to bad, without destroying them. This should improve quality of life, while preventing drug resistance and loss of lives.Read moreRead less
Preventing railway suicide: An open-systems perspective. Preventing railway suicide: An open-systems perspective. This project aims to develop an automated suicide risk detection system to reduce the incidence and impact of railway suicide, which has a devastating effect on victims’ families, station staff, train drivers, emergency workers, and bystanders. This project will use open-systems theory to develop two complementary information systems for more effective detection and reporting of suic ....Preventing railway suicide: An open-systems perspective. Preventing railway suicide: An open-systems perspective. This project aims to develop an automated suicide risk detection system to reduce the incidence and impact of railway suicide, which has a devastating effect on victims’ families, station staff, train drivers, emergency workers, and bystanders. This project will use open-systems theory to develop two complementary information systems for more effective detection and reporting of suicide risk; use these systems to investigate how different situational factors interact with different combinations of service interventions to influence suicide risk; and share the findings to reduce railway suicide in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Service Ecosystems Management for Collaborative Process Improvement. Australian government agencies currently explore opportunities for streamlining their business processes. A promising approach relates to the improvement of cross-agency processes based on service-enabled technologies. This project will use requirements within Queensland Government for the design of a service ecosystem and methodological and management concepts to derive a general framework for intra-organisational ecosystems. ....Service Ecosystems Management for Collaborative Process Improvement. Australian government agencies currently explore opportunities for streamlining their business processes. A promising approach relates to the improvement of cross-agency processes based on service-enabled technologies. This project will use requirements within Queensland Government for the design of a service ecosystem and methodological and management concepts to derive a general framework for intra-organisational ecosystems. Though the focus will be on government processes, the project will generalise beyond this scope for a wider uptake of service ecosystems in Australian organisations. This will lead to reduced process costs and risks and will leverage the exploration of new revenue streams, e.g. shared services and reward schemes.Read moreRead less
Intelligent Design Advisor for Manufacturing Process Knowledge within Concurrent Engineering in the Aerospace Industry. At present the design of engineering components in the aerospace industry is accomplished by experts from design and manufacturing either sequentially or in collaboration. If performed in sequence then time and quality is jeopardised. If performed in collaboration then more manpower than is necessary is expended. The aim of this project is to develop an intelligent design advis ....Intelligent Design Advisor for Manufacturing Process Knowledge within Concurrent Engineering in the Aerospace Industry. At present the design of engineering components in the aerospace industry is accomplished by experts from design and manufacturing either sequentially or in collaboration. If performed in sequence then time and quality is jeopardised. If performed in collaboration then more manpower than is necessary is expended. The aim of this project is to develop an intelligent design advisor for Manufacturing Process Knowledge that will provide this expert knowledge to the design engineer in order to speed up the design process while reducing costs and still maintaining the high standard of quality necessary in the Aerospace industry.Read moreRead less
Internet Timing for the Ages: Establishing the New Timekeeping System. All computers incorporate a software clock, essential to myriad software applications. An economic way to synchronize such clocks is over a network, however the approach the Internet currently depends upon is unreliable and vulnerable. This project aims to establish a new architecture for networked timekeeping, built on future-proofed fundamentals, that will for the first time address each of accuracy, reliability, and trust. ....Internet Timing for the Ages: Establishing the New Timekeeping System. All computers incorporate a software clock, essential to myriad software applications. An economic way to synchronize such clocks is over a network, however the approach the Internet currently depends upon is unreliable and vulnerable. This project aims to establish a new architecture for networked timekeeping, built on future-proofed fundamentals, that will for the first time address each of accuracy, reliability, and trust. The expected outcome is a national prototype, serving the public with accurate and trusted time, that will form the basis of the next generation timekeeping system for the Internet and the Internet of Things. Expected benefits include enhanced productivity across the digital economy, and resilience to GPS failures.Read moreRead less