Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The pr ....Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The project will provide fundamental advances in our knowledge of the nutrient transport during pregnancy that is required to produce a healthy baby.Read moreRead less
Optimising the spring in your step to enhance footwear design. This project aims to examine how the nervous system adjusts the mechanical function of our feet across a spectrum of speeds, from slow running through to maximal effort sprinting. The proposed research will explore how the nervous system controls the function of the foot to meet the ever-varying demands of locomotion in the real-world. Expected outcomes of this project are to determine if running shoes help or hinder the natural spri ....Optimising the spring in your step to enhance footwear design. This project aims to examine how the nervous system adjusts the mechanical function of our feet across a spectrum of speeds, from slow running through to maximal effort sprinting. The proposed research will explore how the nervous system controls the function of the foot to meet the ever-varying demands of locomotion in the real-world. Expected outcomes of this project are to determine if running shoes help or hinder the natural spring-like function of the foot. It will explain a conceptually novel design allowing shoes to support our feet, whilst harnessing the energetic benefits of the foot's spring-like function. This research has the potential to revolutionise athletic footwear design and has direct implications for enhanced performance in running athletes.Read moreRead less
When caring ends: Understanding and supporting informal care trajectories. This project aims to advance understandings of how, why, when, and for whom caring ends, including the socio-cultural and relational factors that shape experiences before, during, and after caring. Using an innovative, multi-method sociological approach, and foregrounding carers’ voices, this project expects to generate new knowledge on the meaning and experience of care and caring. This project is significant in bringing ....When caring ends: Understanding and supporting informal care trajectories. This project aims to advance understandings of how, why, when, and for whom caring ends, including the socio-cultural and relational factors that shape experiences before, during, and after caring. Using an innovative, multi-method sociological approach, and foregrounding carers’ voices, this project expects to generate new knowledge on the meaning and experience of care and caring. This project is significant in bringing together leading researchers and key carer-focused organisations, spanning service sectors and moving across care relationships, life stages and contexts. Expected outcomes include enhanced service capacity with tangible policy and practice benefits that will enable sustainable and fulfilling informal caring experiences.Read moreRead less
How parents manage climate anxiety: coping and hoping for the whole family. This project studies how Australian parents manage climate anxiety for themselves and their families. Using mixed-methods/mixed-media approaches, it examines whether an increase in climate disasters is accelerating the spread of collective anxiety amongst families, how parents manage this anxiety for their children and partners, and if there are associated mental health burdens and gendered inequities in this management. ....How parents manage climate anxiety: coping and hoping for the whole family. This project studies how Australian parents manage climate anxiety for themselves and their families. Using mixed-methods/mixed-media approaches, it examines whether an increase in climate disasters is accelerating the spread of collective anxiety amongst families, how parents manage this anxiety for their children and partners, and if there are associated mental health burdens and gendered inequities in this management. It also looks at climate anxiety management across generations and climate histories, drawing out pessimistic/optimistic narratives about the future to enable action, resilience, and hope. It will produce an evidence base and photo-voice/documentary resources to help parents and support organisations combat climate anxiety.Read moreRead less
The Social Life of Death. This project aims to investigate experiences of death, dying and bereavement amidst rapid social, economic and political transformation. In the wake of COVID19, and as Australia’s anticipated ‘death boom’ approaches, how to foster good deaths has never been more uncertain, nor more urgent. Drawing on innovative methods and socio-cultural theory, and working in partnership with families and communities, this project aims to generate new knowledge to better inform and imp ....The Social Life of Death. This project aims to investigate experiences of death, dying and bereavement amidst rapid social, economic and political transformation. In the wake of COVID19, and as Australia’s anticipated ‘death boom’ approaches, how to foster good deaths has never been more uncertain, nor more urgent. Drawing on innovative methods and socio-cultural theory, and working in partnership with families and communities, this project aims to generate new knowledge to better inform and improve policy and spark cultural renewal around the end of life. Expected outcomes include setting the international benchmark for novel scholarly understandings of death, dying and bereavement, and centring community voices in addressing contemporary challenges to dying well.
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Confronting everyday harms: preventing abuse of people with disability. The findings of the Disability Royal Commission necessitate new approaches to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Framed by recognition theory, this project proposes empirical research with young people with cognitive disability, using a new concept of ‘everyday harms’ in their paid relationships. The results will inform early responses to poor quality interactions in disability support. The strategic alliance ....Confronting everyday harms: preventing abuse of people with disability. The findings of the Disability Royal Commission necessitate new approaches to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Framed by recognition theory, this project proposes empirical research with young people with cognitive disability, using a new concept of ‘everyday harms’ in their paid relationships. The results will inform early responses to poor quality interactions in disability support. The strategic alliances with the government, industry and community partners will develop a practice framework to prevent everyday harms and the escalation to abuse, and to promote safety and wellbeing. The research has policy benefits for capacity-building in the sector to act on the rights and voices of people with disability. Read moreRead less
How does an essential histone variant effect changes in gene expression? The mechanisms that determine how genes are switched on and off in different tissues and at different times are not clearly known. It is well established that gene expression patterns are determined in part by the molecular signals transmitted by variation in the proteins that package eukaryotic DNA. Our aim is to understand new aspects of these mechanisms that revolve around how our DNA is packaged. This foundational knowl ....How does an essential histone variant effect changes in gene expression? The mechanisms that determine how genes are switched on and off in different tissues and at different times are not clearly known. It is well established that gene expression patterns are determined in part by the molecular signals transmitted by variation in the proteins that package eukaryotic DNA. Our aim is to understand new aspects of these mechanisms that revolve around how our DNA is packaged. This foundational knowledge will deepen our understanding of gene regulation in all complex organisms and will inform future efforts to rationally modulate gene expression patterns in agriculture, research and other important areas.Read moreRead less
Sick, lonely and left behind? A sociological study of loneliness. Loneliness is a serious and rapidly growing social problem in Australia. Although the negative health effects and mounting healthcare costs of loneliness are known, effective responses to loneliness are not. Taking a sociological approach, this project aims to generate new knowledge about the experience and meanings of loneliness for people and communities, and the social factors implicated in the rise of loneliness in contemporar ....Sick, lonely and left behind? A sociological study of loneliness. Loneliness is a serious and rapidly growing social problem in Australia. Although the negative health effects and mounting healthcare costs of loneliness are known, effective responses to loneliness are not. Taking a sociological approach, this project aims to generate new knowledge about the experience and meanings of loneliness for people and communities, and the social factors implicated in the rise of loneliness in contemporary Australia. By focusing on loneliness in people with long-term health conditions, this knowledge will be used to develop policy and practice recommendations for the health- and community-care sectors in how to support people and communities experiencing loneliness.Read moreRead less
Can eco-evolutionary theories explain outcomes of microbiome coalescence . Environmental microbial communities are among the most abundant and diverse natural communities, responsible for many ecologically and economically important ecosystem functions, including primary productivity and climate regulation. This project aims to identify the biotic and abiotic factors that regulate community and functional outcomes of microbiome coalescence (the mixing of two different communities) caused by natu ....Can eco-evolutionary theories explain outcomes of microbiome coalescence . Environmental microbial communities are among the most abundant and diverse natural communities, responsible for many ecologically and economically important ecosystem functions, including primary productivity and climate regulation. This project aims to identify the biotic and abiotic factors that regulate community and functional outcomes of microbiome coalescence (the mixing of two different communities) caused by natural and anthropogenic activities. The outcomes will provide a unifying ecological framework to predict variation in microbiomes across different scales, ecosystem types and disturbances, and will generate critical knowledge for the development of effective microbiome products, a rapidly growing industryRead moreRead less
Deciphering the regulatory principles of metazoan development. This proposal aims to elucidate how regulatory elements in the genome, known as enhancers, determine the identity and function of animal tissues. Currently, it is believed that enhancers cannot be traced across evolutionarily distant animals. The project uses novel concepts, computational and molecular approaches to identify deeply conserved enhancers. It further dissects the mechanism of function by proteomics and high-throughput ge ....Deciphering the regulatory principles of metazoan development. This proposal aims to elucidate how regulatory elements in the genome, known as enhancers, determine the identity and function of animal tissues. Currently, it is believed that enhancers cannot be traced across evolutionarily distant animals. The project uses novel concepts, computational and molecular approaches to identify deeply conserved enhancers. It further dissects the mechanism of function by proteomics and high-throughput genomics. The expected outcomes will overturn our current view on enhancer evolution and reposition our understanding of how enhancers are functionally encoded in the genome. The work is an important contribution to understanding cellular complexity and species evolution with wide-ranging impact in genetics.Read moreRead less