Microglia and the inflammation spectrum - not just good or bad. Cell-mediated tissue clearance following brain injury is a universal mechanism. However, our understanding of the cells that perform these tasks is very limited. Our project will characterise this inflammatory response at a single-cell level using the zebrafish spinal cord as a versatile experimental model. The project is expected to strongly contribute to the molecular understanding of the mechanisms underlying debris removal and w ....Microglia and the inflammation spectrum - not just good or bad. Cell-mediated tissue clearance following brain injury is a universal mechanism. However, our understanding of the cells that perform these tasks is very limited. Our project will characterise this inflammatory response at a single-cell level using the zebrafish spinal cord as a versatile experimental model. The project is expected to strongly contribute to the molecular understanding of the mechanisms underlying debris removal and will advance innovative technologies that facilitate intellectual progress in neuroscience. It will produce new insights into the process of neuronal degeneration, promote Australia’s growing reputation as a global leader in neuroscience, and provide high quality training for early career researchers.Read moreRead less
Development of an electrode for stimulation of a transplanted neosphincter. This project aims to develop a novel electrode as an integral component of a new treatment for severe stress urinary incontinence. Treatments for severe stress urinary incontinence are associated with complications and are not completely effective. The new electrode is designed to be activated by an implanted stimulator to control an innervated smooth muscle graft (the neosphincter) to regulate the flow of urine from the ....Development of an electrode for stimulation of a transplanted neosphincter. This project aims to develop a novel electrode as an integral component of a new treatment for severe stress urinary incontinence. Treatments for severe stress urinary incontinence are associated with complications and are not completely effective. The new electrode is designed to be activated by an implanted stimulator to control an innervated smooth muscle graft (the neosphincter) to regulate the flow of urine from the bladder. Project research into the design of the electrode will focus on providing safe, effective and efficient stimulation of the neosphincter, while ensuring minimal damage to the surrounding tissues and affording straightforward implantation at surgery.Read moreRead less
Development of an electrode assembly for the stimulation of a transplanted innervated smooth muscle sphincter. This project will design and assess a number of different electrode designs for use in a medical device being developed for the treatment of severe stress urinary incontinence. The project will identify an optimal electrode design, which will be used in future clinical trials of the device.
Beyond Neuroinflammation: The Role of Microglia in Synaptic Plasticity. Microglia are the immune cells of the brain and are known to respond to infectious and non-infectious insults to the nervous system. This project aims to use the transparent and genetically amenable brain of the zebrafish, to explore new functions of microglia at the single cell level in the intact, behaving animal, through visualization of cellular components of the brain (neurons, glia, microglia, blood vessels, synapses), ....Beyond Neuroinflammation: The Role of Microglia in Synaptic Plasticity. Microglia are the immune cells of the brain and are known to respond to infectious and non-infectious insults to the nervous system. This project aims to use the transparent and genetically amenable brain of the zebrafish, to explore new functions of microglia at the single cell level in the intact, behaving animal, through visualization of cellular components of the brain (neurons, glia, microglia, blood vessels, synapses), and through the genetic manipulation of synaptic density, and real time observation of microglia in the process.Read moreRead less
Blood pressure control by neural activation: underlying mechanisms of electric field stimulation and photostimulation of genetically targeted neurones. This project aims to understand how nerve stimulation can be used to treat drug-resistant high blood pressure. The project will lead to new benchmarks for interfacing novel technology with the nervous system and to development and enhancement of commercial devices similar to a cardiac pacemaker for patients with limited treatment options and poor ....Blood pressure control by neural activation: underlying mechanisms of electric field stimulation and photostimulation of genetically targeted neurones. This project aims to understand how nerve stimulation can be used to treat drug-resistant high blood pressure. The project will lead to new benchmarks for interfacing novel technology with the nervous system and to development and enhancement of commercial devices similar to a cardiac pacemaker for patients with limited treatment options and poor prognosis.Read moreRead less
Design and deployment of practical anonymous access systems. This project aims to design, test and deploy a practical and highly secure anonymous access system for online businesses that offer services on a free trial basis. Currently, online businesses are unable to take advantage of feedback from customers during and after trial periods; nor do currently available mechanisms offer practical privacy protection to customers. The project expects to overcome these barriers by developing innovative ....Design and deployment of practical anonymous access systems. This project aims to design, test and deploy a practical and highly secure anonymous access system for online businesses that offer services on a free trial basis. Currently, online businesses are unable to take advantage of feedback from customers during and after trial periods; nor do currently available mechanisms offer practical privacy protection to customers. The project expects to overcome these barriers by developing innovative cryptographic solutions and security testing methods that will inform new protocol design and implementation, which will bring long-term benefits to online businesses and their customers. The project also aims to develop new, distributed ledger technology, which is a strategic technology trend. This will provide significant benefits such as a practical, reliable and highly secure anonymous access system for online businesses, in Australia and worldwide, that offer services on a free trial basis, which would enable these service providers to add value to and enhance their product offerings.Read moreRead less
Secure Crowdsourcing Classification with Privacy Protection against Servers. This project aims to enable comprehensive quality data classification via secure crowdsourcing. The quality of a data-intensive process, such as a Machine Learning algorithm, depends on the input data quality. By using a crowdsourcing classification, the project expects to overcome the painstaking and costly process of humans correctly annotating extensive input data from diverse real information. The expected outcomes ....Secure Crowdsourcing Classification with Privacy Protection against Servers. This project aims to enable comprehensive quality data classification via secure crowdsourcing. The quality of a data-intensive process, such as a Machine Learning algorithm, depends on the input data quality. By using a crowdsourcing classification, the project expects to overcome the painstaking and costly process of humans correctly annotating extensive input data from diverse real information. The expected outcomes are innovative technologies, guaranteeing accuracy and confidentiality of annotation results whilst protecting the privacy of data classification results. It enhances data-intensive outputs quality, which will benefit large data-intensive applications, such as cybersecurity protections via intrusion detection.Read moreRead less
Efficient Multi-key Homomorphic Encryption and Its Applications. Multi-key homomorphic encryption (MKHE) is a key technology that functions to allow multiple users to supply their private input for collaboration in the cloud while keeping the user data confidential. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to obtain efficient MKHEs. This project aims to overcome this challenge by enabling novel efficient MKHEs. The expected outcomes of this project are to develop innovative cryptographic technologies ....Efficient Multi-key Homomorphic Encryption and Its Applications. Multi-key homomorphic encryption (MKHE) is a key technology that functions to allow multiple users to supply their private input for collaboration in the cloud while keeping the user data confidential. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to obtain efficient MKHEs. This project aims to overcome this challenge by enabling novel efficient MKHEs. The expected outcomes of this project are to develop innovative cryptographic technologies which realise efficient MKHEs, together with their cryptographic libraries and practical applications in solving industry problems. This will provide direct economic benefits to Australian industry through the enablement of advanced technologies and low-cost business solutions which are developed in Australia.Read moreRead less
Enabling Anonymity and Privacy for Blockchain Technology in a Quantum World. Blockchain is a promising technology in the digital world today. However, existing approaches for enabling blockchain applications, particularly with privacy protection and anonymity, are vulnerable to quantum computer attacks. This project aims to enable novel cryptographic mechanisms together with their cryptographic libraries for protecting blockchain in the quantum world, hence, post-quantum secure blockchain. The e ....Enabling Anonymity and Privacy for Blockchain Technology in a Quantum World. Blockchain is a promising technology in the digital world today. However, existing approaches for enabling blockchain applications, particularly with privacy protection and anonymity, are vulnerable to quantum computer attacks. This project aims to enable novel cryptographic mechanisms together with their cryptographic libraries for protecting blockchain in the quantum world, hence, post-quantum secure blockchain. The expected outcomes of this project include innovative technologies, as well as secure and practical post-quantum protocols for protecting future blockchain applications. This will provide economic and social benefits to Australian industry through the enablement of advanced technologies which are developed in Australia.Read moreRead less
Developing novel aerosol inhalers for pulmonary drug delivery from the fundamental understanding of powder dispersion mechanisms. The project seeks to understand how powder aerosol inhalers can be significantly improved. The outcome will provide therapeutic benefits to the Australian community for better treatment of respiratory diseases and facilitate environmentally friendly technology since these inhalers do not require any harmful organic solvents to operate.