Reducing The Burden Of Physical Inactivity And Excessive Sedentary Behaviour Through FIT (Feasible, Inclusive, Thorough) Guidelines
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,060,520.00
Summary
Public health guidelines concentrate on the least feasible (for the average adult) types of physical activity and place little emphasis on light intensity movement or sitting. My research program will inform future FIT (Feasible, Inclusive, Thorough) guidelines to assist policymakers, health professionals, and members of the public to improve healthy lifestyles in Australia.
Active Lifestyle Programs For Healthy Ageing (ALPHA)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,305,160.00
Summary
The growing healthcare and service needs of our ageing society warrant our urgent attention. My research program will identify critical gaps in our current understanding on how to make healthy ageing more equitable and evaluate the effectiveness of novel self-managed lifestyle interventions. Ultimately, this will reduce falls and falls injuries, improve healthy ageing and reduce the associated healthcare expenditure on acute care, rehabilitation and home care services.
Informing The Development And Real-world Translation Of A Home-based Physical Activity Intervention For Improving Postnatal Mental Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$566,164.00
Summary
Physical activity confers mental health benefits in postnatal women, including reducing postnatal depression (PND) risk. Yet most postnatal women are not active enough. Few strategies have successfully promoted physical activity in this group. With significant input from women experiencing PND symptoms and community groups servicing them, this research program will develop and evaluate the efficacy of a home-based physical activity program aimed at reducing PND symptoms.
Crosstalk Between The Repressive Histone Methyltransferases PRC2 And G9A: Structure-function Investigation To Open New Therapeutic Opportunities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$595,205.00
Summary
The gene expression programs need to be precisely regulated and the misregulation of these programs can cause a broad range of human diseases. My research will focus on two protein complexes, which heavily contribute to the regulation of gene expression. My study will open a new path for developing new therapeutic strategies.
Addressing Evidence Gaps And Developing A Novel Treatment To Reduce The Burden Of Post-traumatic Knee Osteoarthritis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$645,205.00
Summary
Arthritis caused by knee injury has a devastating personal and economic impact. Research is needed to develop strategies to prevent arthritis and improve outcomes for people living with arthritis. This research will improve treatment of knee injury to reduce arthritis risk, understand why some people are more likely to get knee arthritis, and develop a new treatment to improve outcomes for people living with knee arthritis. A clinical trial will determine if this treatment achieves this aim.
Improving Outcome For People With Heart Diseases Using Digital Health Technologies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$606,009.00
Summary
Digital technologies such as smart phones, wearable devices, sensors and artificial intelligence have shown promise to improve human health. However, evidence that these technologies can improve health outcomes in people with heart disease is lacking. My program of research in digital health will address this need and develop new model-of-care for people with heart disease to better monitor their health, take action before their health deteriorates and provide much needed support at home.
Circular RNAs As Genome Destabilisers In Human Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,163,220.00
Summary
Mutation of genes are hallmarks of both cancer and neurological disorders. My research group has identified roles for circular RNAs in both these processes. Now, we must close the loop by investigating the mechanism of these processes. This will inform not only why these genes are commonly mutated, but by exploiting the highly stable circular RNAs they may provide early prognostic/diagnostic biomarkers and even represent novel therapeutic targets for cancer and Huntington’s disease.
Atypical femoral fractures (AFF) are uncommon, but catastrophic, complications of the anti-osteoporosis medications, bisphosphonates. We aim to identify patients either protected from, or at risk of, AFF by identifying changes in their bone geometry, structure and quality, and genes increasing risk of these fractures. In this way, these cheap and effective anti-osteoporosis treatments can be targeted to patients at the lowest risk of AFF and alternative treatments to those at highest risk.
Reducing The Burden Of Breast Cancer Through Precision Prevention, Targeted Treatment And Enhanced Survivorship
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,491,192.00
Summary
Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 Australian women. Of all the cancers, breast cancer results in the largest number of years of healthy life lost from death and illness. My research will reduce this unacceptable burden of breast cancer for women and their families. Spanning prevention, through treatment to survivorship, it will facilitate reduced breast cancer incidence, more effective treatments and enhanced understanding of the effects of new treatments on ovarian function and fertility.
Structural Biology And Therapeutic Targeting Of Axon Degeneration
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,512,250.00
Summary
The molecular mechanisms underlying SARM1 (sterile alpha and TIR 1) function will be investigated, which will allow design of inhibitors of axon degeneration, which can be developed into therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative disease. Outcomes are not only anticipated to support excellence in basic research, but have potential of assisting health sectors and the economy, by reducing the burden of prevalent neurodegenerative diseases such as peripheral neuropathies and traumatic brain injury.