A Randomised Controlled Trial Of Magnetic Seizure Therapy In Major Depressive Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,049.00
Summary
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the only established treatment for a substantial sub-population of patients who fail to respond to other therapies. However, there are significant complications of ECT including memory related side-effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a new form of treatment for severe depression, magnetic seizure therapy, which appears to have a substantially reduced rate of cognitive side-effects.
A Double-blind Sham Controlled Trial Of RTMS In Treatment Resistant Major Depression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,491.00
Summary
Treatment Resistant Depression is clearly a major health issue - depression is common, results in marked morbidity and mortality and a large percentage of patients do not respond to, or cannot tolerate standard treatment. The development of new treatments for this condition is undoubtedly required. International efforts are underway to try and establish the efficacy of high frequency left Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (HFL-TMS) to the point where the technique may be approved by regulatory a ....Treatment Resistant Depression is clearly a major health issue - depression is common, results in marked morbidity and mortality and a large percentage of patients do not respond to, or cannot tolerate standard treatment. The development of new treatments for this condition is undoubtedly required. International efforts are underway to try and establish the efficacy of high frequency left Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (HFL-TMS) to the point where the technique may be approved by regulatory authorities and clinically introduced. However, clearly the response rate to HFL-TMS is suboptimal for its widespread use. The overall goal of this research program is to develop repetitive TMS (rTMS) methods to the point at which they are highly relevant and applicable to clinical practice. None of the substantial international studies is focusing on novel applications such as sequential bilateral rTMS (SBrTMS). The planned outcome of this study is that it may change the focus of rTMS application and practice nationally and internationally. If we can follow our well received initial study of this technique with a substantial comparative trial as planned here, it will provide enough evidence for the more widespread adoption and testing of SBrTMS as a viable alternative to HFL-TMS. Ultimately, this or a modification of it, may become the rTMS administration method of choice. Additionally, we will have a sufficient sample size to start to explore meaningful predictors of clinical response including biological, psychosocial-personality variable predictors.Read moreRead less
A Double-blind Placebo Controlled Trial Of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation In The Treatment Of Depression.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$366,775.00
Summary
Depression is a severe and often disabling illness that occurs frequently in the general population. Depression is a treatable illness and the majority of patients will respond to anti-depressant medication, a form of psychotherapy or a combination of these. However, a significant percentage of patients with depression fail to respond to these therapies and currently require electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This entails the complications and costs of multiple anaesthetics, memory impairment and ....Depression is a severe and often disabling illness that occurs frequently in the general population. Depression is a treatable illness and the majority of patients will respond to anti-depressant medication, a form of psychotherapy or a combination of these. However, a significant percentage of patients with depression fail to respond to these therapies and currently require electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This entails the complications and costs of multiple anaesthetics, memory impairment and substantial social stigma. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is being researched as a potential alternative for these patients. It is administered to patients who are awake and alert and appears to have fewer side effects. TMS uses the unique properties of a magnetic field to produce or disrupt electrical activity in superficial areas of the brain, targeted to the areas thought to be involved in the cause of depression. Our research study will compare the two most promising types of TMS with an inactive or placebo condition. This is important to establish that the effects of TMS arise from the actual stimulation and to investigate whether one of two types of TMS administered is superior. We will administer this treatment for between 2 and 4 weeks and assess the response. We anticipate that our research will contribute to the development of TMS as a treatment methodology for this important patient group. It is crucial that a new treatment be thoroughly evaluated prior to wide dissemination of it in clinical practice. We will help define the effectiveness of this treatment and the most appropriate way in which it can be administered.Read moreRead less
A Double-blind Controlled Trial Of RTMS In The Treatment Of Bipolar Depression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$401,605.00
Summary
Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) is a serious mental illness of substantive impact but there has been relatively sparse investigation of treatments for it. One of the only substantially new treatments developed for depression in recent years has been rTMS. Repetitive TMS has been evaluated in over 30 trials conducted, but no substantive trials have explored its use in bipolar depression. We propose to do this, conducting a large scale clinical trial.
NK Cells As The Missing Link Between Anti-cancer Chemotherapy And CD8 T Cell Responses
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$488,478.00
Summary
Cytotoxic chemotherapy is the standard of care for most tumors but it rarely cures. The immune system has the capacity to destroy malignant cells but tumors usually evade immune destruction. Combination of chemo- immunotherapy may change this. DNA damage in tumor cells, caused by chemotherapy, induces expression of a set of molecules that activate Natural Killer cells. These cells can then activate anti-tumor T cells. Therapies that enhance this pathway may induce sustained anti-tumor effects.
Androgen Receptor Signalling And Progression Of Prostate Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$462,750.00
Summary
Prostate cancer is a major health problem in Australia, being the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men. Although there have been improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, there are no effective treatments for advanced (metastatic) disease that has spread to other parts of the body. Currently, the only therapy for advanced disease involves the reduction in circulating androgens such as testosterone by surgical or medical castration, i.e. androgen ablation. Because pr ....Prostate cancer is a major health problem in Australia, being the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men. Although there have been improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, there are no effective treatments for advanced (metastatic) disease that has spread to other parts of the body. Currently, the only therapy for advanced disease involves the reduction in circulating androgens such as testosterone by surgical or medical castration, i.e. androgen ablation. Because prostate cells are dependent on testicular androgens for their survival, surgical or medical castration results in an initial tumour regression. However, tumours inevitably develop resistance to current forms of androgen ablation therapy. Inappropriate activation of androgen signalling by non-testicular androgens or other agents may stimulate tumour growth following androgen ablation. In this study, we aim to identify and characterise determinants of the specificity and sensitivity of activation of the androgen receptor, which is the primary mediator of androgen action. Current androgen ablation treatments for prostate cancer only target the availability of androgenic ligands. We propose that it is also necessary to target the androgen receptor itself, because it can be activated by ligands other than testicular androgens. Therefore, we will also evaluate a panel ofagents that target different aspects of the androgen signalling axis, combined with androgen ablation using a cyclical approach to prevent or delay disease progression.Read moreRead less
Antibiotic Resistance And Multiple Antibiotic Resistance In Human Commensal Escherichia Coli In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$509,202.00
Summary
Antibiotic resistance, particularly resistance to all or nearly all of the antibiotics available for treatment is now very common and impacts heavily on the treatment of bacterial infections. This project will track resistance genes in reservoirs where antibiotic resistance genes may be present in high concentrations as these are a likely source of the resistance genes in disease-causing bacteria. One such reservoir, the bacteria in the intestines of healthy humans will be examined.