An Olfactory 'stress Test' For The Early Detection Of Alzheimer's Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$743,450.00
Summary
Early detection of Alzheimer's disease will be especially important when treatments become available that can slow or halt the progress of the disease. The sense of smell (olfaction) is affected early in the evolution of Alzheimer's disease. We have introduced a simple, inexpensive modification to standard testing of olfaction that we believe may help identify individuals with very early stage Alzheimer's disease. Our study is designed to assess this promising new approach.
Significance Of Low-level Mosaicism To Intellectual Disability In Paediatric Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$483,402.00
Summary
My vision for the next 4 years is to improve outcomes for children and their families with inherited disorders associated with intellectual disability (ID) and autism through earlier diagnosis and intervention. This is of great importance with annual costs of ID close $14.72 billion to the Australian health system, and missed or delayed diagnoses being a significant problem, as ID is found in 1.7% of births, where a specific cause is currently identified in less than half.
Screening For Colorectal Cancer: Attitudes Affecting Participation And Implementation Of Strategies For Improvement.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$468,760.00
Summary
There is good evidence that population screening for bowel cancer (CRC), based on the detection of blood in stools, is effective in reducing deaths from bowel cancer by around 30-40%. Screening depends on the use of a simple test to identify those who most need the complex and costly test which is capable of accurately detecting curable cancers and precancer lesions. This can be achieved with moderate effectiveness using simple tests (FOBTs) which detect microscopic amounts of blood in the faece ....There is good evidence that population screening for bowel cancer (CRC), based on the detection of blood in stools, is effective in reducing deaths from bowel cancer by around 30-40%. Screening depends on the use of a simple test to identify those who most need the complex and costly test which is capable of accurately detecting curable cancers and precancer lesions. This can be achieved with moderate effectiveness using simple tests (FOBTs) which detect microscopic amounts of blood in the faeces. If we are to reduce the rate of death from CRC, we must have an effective way of encouraging people to do these tests. While much has been learnt from experience with screening for breast and cervical cancer, CRC presents a series of quite different issues that have never been comprehensively studied. These are: (1) men and women need to be screened. (2) symptoms due to CRC are more complex , (3) the high-risk settings for CRC are much more complex), (4) the community is not as aware of the benefit of screening, (5) the initial test can be performed at personal convenience in one's home, (6) participants must handle bodily excretions, and (7) inconvenience of attending a central facility is avoided. We will survey participants and non-participants to more accurately identify the barriers to screening, and the proportion who have not participated for informed reasons. To test the real value of attempts to overcome these, we will then offer screening by various approaches designed to overcome these. We are in a unique position to do this as we have well-identified populations who have been offered faecal occult blood test (FOBT)-based screening These studies will assist in the design and implementation of effective screening programs for the early detection of CRC in Australia, which in the long term will significantly reduce deaths from this disease.Read moreRead less
Evaluation Of Blood-based Screening Tests For Colorectal Neoplasia; From Biomarker Candidates To Accurate And Acceptable Tests
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$767,382.00
Summary
Current bowel cancer screening tests require people to collect a stool sample. While able to be done at home, this creates certain inconveniences and has other barriers to its use including being distasteful to some. Also, even though stool tests are useful they are not as accurate as we would like. We have discovered a molecule in the blood of patients with bowel cancer that could, if configured as a screening test, serve to be of even greater accuracy and also be more acceptable to people.
Population Testing Of An Internet-based Personalised Decision Support System For Colorectal Cancer Screening
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$480,230.00
Summary
This study will determine the impact of a fully developed computerised Personalised Decision Support (PDS) package on colorectal cancer screening participation. The PDS tool is designed to guide people through the decision processes relevant to deciding whether to undertake screening. The PDS presents personally tailored messages aimed at progressing individuals towards screening test use and has the potential to supplement traditional paper methods of increasing screening participation.
A Population Based Communication Strategy To Optimise Colorectal Cancer Screening Behaviour In Australia.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$532,425.00
Summary
There is good evidence that population screening, based on the detection of blood in faeces, is effective in reducing deaths from bowel cancer (CRC) by around 30-40%. The process depends on the use of a simple faecal occult blood test (FOBT) to identify those who need a more complex and costly test (colonoscopy), which is capable of accurately detecting curable cancers and precancers so that they can be removed. If we are to reduce deaths from CRC at the population level, we must have an effecti ....There is good evidence that population screening, based on the detection of blood in faeces, is effective in reducing deaths from bowel cancer (CRC) by around 30-40%. The process depends on the use of a simple faecal occult blood test (FOBT) to identify those who need a more complex and costly test (colonoscopy), which is capable of accurately detecting curable cancers and precancers so that they can be removed. If we are to reduce deaths from CRC at the population level, we must have an effective way of encouraging as many people as possible to do FOBT tests. While much has been learnt about how to offer screening from experience with programs for breast and cervical cancer, CRC screening involves different behavioural, psychological and social issues. We need to better understand how these factors influence participation in CRC screening. We plan a series of studies that will lead to improvements in participation in CRC screening programs: a) a survey of a randomly selected group of the general population to measure a range of behavioural features that are of importance to CRC screening, especially as they relate to participation. b) an offer of FOBTscreening to those invited to complete the survey, to match population characteristics with intentions and actual participation, c) on the basis of these studies, to design new screening program strategies, especially in relation to the communication of messages to encourage community participation, d) to test the effectiveness of the new communication strategies by offering FOBT screening to another randomly selected group from the general population. This will allow us to optimise the delivery of messages that encourage participation. If we can design a better communication strategy that achieves an increase in screening participation and has minimum cost implications, we will substantially reduce the number of deaths from CRC in Australia.Read moreRead less