A Multi-national Trial To Predict Treatment Response In Subtypes Of Depression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$387,489.00
Summary
Treatment of MDD using trial and error can have serious consequences. It can prolong the patient’s suffering (depression is associated with substantial morbidity, and mortality), prolong their absence from work and other productive activity and increase the burden on their family-carers. This multi-national study will collect genetics, brain function and behavioural data from a large number of participants, allowing for sensitive predictors of response to be determined.
Predictors Of Response To Antidepressants: Utility Of Behavioural, Neuroimaging And Genetics Data
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$310,071.00
Summary
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is projected to cause the second greatest global burden of disease by 2020, highlighting the urgent need for valid predictors of effective treatment response. Currently, there are no accurate predictors of response to antidepressants in MDD, and successful treatment relies greatly on 'trial and error'. This process is demanding on health resources, and may be a factor in the high suicide rates in depressed patients. Previous research on treatment response has been ....Major depressive disorder (MDD) is projected to cause the second greatest global burden of disease by 2020, highlighting the urgent need for valid predictors of effective treatment response. Currently, there are no accurate predictors of response to antidepressants in MDD, and successful treatment relies greatly on 'trial and error'. This process is demanding on health resources, and may be a factor in the high suicide rates in depressed patients. Previous research on treatment response has been limited by recruitment of small, heterogeneous patient samples, lack of placebo control, and a failure to examine task related activity in brain imaging studies. Perhaps one of the more troubling aspects of research that aims to predict treatment response to antidepressant medications is the use of commonly used outcome measures such as the Hamilton Rating Depression Scale (HAM-D), which were developed long before current classification systems of depression came into use. The US Federal Drug Administration has recently identified what they call a translational gap such that behavioural and biological measures are the most robust for detection of disorders such as depression, yet these measures remain to be translated into clinical tools that can be used to evaluate treatment. The aim of the current study therefore is to determine whether genetic variability is related to treatment outcome as defined by a more objective outcome measure (facial expression perception) using a randomised controlled design. The study will also determine whether brain measures (fMRI, EEG) enhance the prediction of SSRI response to both clinical and behavioural measures, over and above the genetic contribution.Read moreRead less
Increased Vulnerability To Stress During Opiate Dependence: Molecular, Anatomical, And Behavioural Correlates
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$272,640.00
Summary
Heroin addiction is a major health and societal problem in Australia. It is consistently associated with an adverse impact upon individual users, their families, and communities. It is a chronically relapsing condition for which few, if any effective prevention and treatment strategies exist. Moreover, why an individual initiates and maintains heroin taking remains unclear. Stress and negative emotions have a strong impact on heroin use. Stress may drive some individuals to start using heroin, s ....Heroin addiction is a major health and societal problem in Australia. It is consistently associated with an adverse impact upon individual users, their families, and communities. It is a chronically relapsing condition for which few, if any effective prevention and treatment strategies exist. Moreover, why an individual initiates and maintains heroin taking remains unclear. Stress and negative emotions have a strong impact on heroin use. Stress may drive some individuals to start using heroin, stress increases the pleasurable effects of heroin and stress increases the aversive effects of heroin withdrawal. These effects will encourage addiction and discourage addicts from seeking treatment. Stress can also cause an otherwise drug-free individual to relapse to heroin addiction despite having been drug-free for some time. In this project we will study why stress has such a large impact on heroin addicts and heroin addiction. We will test the hypothesis that heroin use actually produces profound alterations in the neural network in the brain which controls responses to stress. This project uses a simple animal model of heroin addiction whereby rats are injected with morphine to study the regulation of several genes which are important in responding to stress. We will also study how this exposure and changes in gene expression alter neurobiological, cardiovascular, and behavioural responses to stress. This project will identify parts of the brain that are altered during heroin addiction, and will also identify why heroin addicts are more vulnerable to stress than the general population. Therefore, this project will help us to identify targets for therapeutic intervention (both psychological and pharmacological) and possibly disrupt the addictive cycle.Read moreRead less
IMPROVING PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS (TB) OUTCOMES: Investigating Novel Adjunctive Immunotherapies And Addressing HIV-TB Co-infection In Papua, Indonesia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$217,846.00
Summary
Tuberculosis remains a major regional and global problem, especially in resource-limited settings such as Australia’s northern neighbours. Three key challenges are to make TB cure easier by shortening treatment, improve HIV-TB co-infection management, and tackle drug resistance. We address these issues in Indonesia’s Papua Province, where we are testing whether simple supplements given with TB treatment might accelerate cure; improving HIV care in people with TB, and detecting drug-resistant TB.
Novel Tools For The Imaging Of Tumor Hypoxia Using PET
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$727,856.00
Summary
Fast growing tumors often outgrow the ability of blood vessels to properly supply them with nutrients and oxygen. This creates tissue areas within the tumor that are lacking oxygen and are highly resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Imaging these areas using nuclear medicine techniques has now become important for therapy planning of cancer sufferers. This project aims to improve the properties of the existing agents in order to better select patients for a particular type of treatment.
Upper Gastrointestinal Function And Glycaemic Control In Diabetes Mellitus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$780,872.00
Summary
There is now increasing recognition that the stomach and intestines, by regulating the absorption of nutrients into the body and by releasing hormones that enhance insulin secretion, play a central role in the control of blood glucose in diabetes mellitus. We seek to understand the nature and causes of disturbed gut function in diabetes, so that we can optimise dietary and drug strategies to prevent and treat this condition.
Predictors Of The Outcomes For Joint Inflammation And Damage In Recent Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$255,750.00
Summary
Currently, it is difficult to predict what will happen to an individual patient who presents with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis, either as a result of the natural history of the disease or as a result of drug treatment. It is also difficult to decide which drug treatment to offer a patient and when to decide to change the treatment to obtain a better clinical response. This study will investigate whether it is possible to predict the outcomes for a particular patient with rheumatoid arthr ....Currently, it is difficult to predict what will happen to an individual patient who presents with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis, either as a result of the natural history of the disease or as a result of drug treatment. It is also difficult to decide which drug treatment to offer a patient and when to decide to change the treatment to obtain a better clinical response. This study will investigate whether it is possible to predict the outcomes for a particular patient with rheumatoid arthritis for joint inflammation and joint destruction, based on the findings in the joint lining tissue. This study will also investigate whether it is possible to make decisions on the likely success of drug treatment given to a patient with rheumatoid arthritis based on the initial or subsequent joint lining tissue biopsies. If successful, this study will lead to a greater ability to advise patients about likely outcomes from their condition, either with or without treatment and also to predict whether a treatment is likely to work at an early stage. In addition, this study may identify future potential treatments for rheumatoid arthritis.Read moreRead less
Immunomodulatory Molecules Of Parasitic Helminths As Novel Therapeutics For Allergic Disorders.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$321,532.00
Summary
Australia has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world with almost 3 million Australians are affected by this disease. Previous research has shown that infection with various types of parasitic worms lessens the severity of asthma. The aim of this research is to find out why this happens and to isolate the ingredients from the parasite that suppress asthma. Once found, these molecules can be used to create new drugs for the prevention of asthma and allergies in children and adults.