Low Dose Aspirin And Age-related Macular Degeneration: Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,043,189.00
Summary
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of visual impairment in advanced countries, responsible for nearly half of all legal blindness in Australia. Due to increased life expectancy, the number of people with this progressive late onset disease will double by 2025. Aspirin could prevent or delay the onset of AMD in older persons but its bleeding risk also needs to be considered. This project will determine whether treatment with low dose aspirin reduces incidence or progression o ....Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of visual impairment in advanced countries, responsible for nearly half of all legal blindness in Australia. Due to increased life expectancy, the number of people with this progressive late onset disease will double by 2025. Aspirin could prevent or delay the onset of AMD in older persons but its bleeding risk also needs to be considered. This project will determine whether treatment with low dose aspirin reduces incidence or progression of AMD.Read moreRead less
Circuit Class Therapy For Rehabilitation Clients. A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial Of Therapy Intensity (CIRCIT).
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$526,361.00
Summary
Loss of independence is common after stroke, and may lead to reduced quality of life and admission to nursing home care. We will investigate if an increased amount of rehabilitation following stroke leads to improved mobility. Two ways of delivering more intense rehabilitation will be compared with usual care to find out which leads to improved physical mobility, and how they compare economically. This will allow health service providers to optimise services and will benefit people with stroke.
Improving Patient Management Pathways In Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$181,065.00
Summary
Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of vision impairment in Australians aged over 50 years. In recent years, there have been a number of diagnostic tests and new interventions developed for AMD, but it has proven challenging to communicate this information to all primary eye care practitioners. This project will investigate the reasons management guidelines are not always being followed, and develop online training to provide direct bench-to-bedside AMD education.
Novel Morphological Retinal Vascular Features As Early Biomarkers Of Vision-threatening Eye Diseases.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$107,169.00
Summary
Vision loss is not just a personal health burden, but a huge socio-economical burden. Management of major vision-threatening eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma will be improved if we can successfully identified persons at risk of developing the disease before clinical presentation to benefit from preventive treatment. My research aims to contribute to the prediction of these blinding diseases using advanced computer imaging analysis for simpl ....Vision loss is not just a personal health burden, but a huge socio-economical burden. Management of major vision-threatening eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma will be improved if we can successfully identified persons at risk of developing the disease before clinical presentation to benefit from preventive treatment. My research aims to contribute to the prediction of these blinding diseases using advanced computer imaging analysis for simple retinal photographs.Read moreRead less
The Fetal And Early Childhood Origins Of PCOS: A Prospective Cohort Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$499,116.00
Summary
The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) affects up to 10% of women of reproductive age, which translates into around 350,000 women in Australia. It is the most common hormonal disorder in women. The syndrome has far-reaching adverse implications for general and reproductive health, including menstrual disorder, obesity, infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy complications, increased risk of diabetes and possibly heart disease. PCOS also commonly causes cosmetic problems such as excess body hair and ac ....The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) affects up to 10% of women of reproductive age, which translates into around 350,000 women in Australia. It is the most common hormonal disorder in women. The syndrome has far-reaching adverse implications for general and reproductive health, including menstrual disorder, obesity, infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy complications, increased risk of diabetes and possibly heart disease. PCOS also commonly causes cosmetic problems such as excess body hair and acne. The underlying causes of PCOS are not known but are thought to arise during intrauterine (fetal) life and to be modified by aspects of childhood health, particularly overweight and obesity. Using a large and well established cohort of adolescents followed up since fetal life and throughout childhood and currently aged 13-15 years old (the Raine cohort), we will define for the first time the intrauterine and early childhood correlates of PCOS. PCOS will be diagnosed by a specialist gynacologist using current international criteria. We will then utilise extensive existing data from this cohort combined with new measurements on existing samples to determine the contribution of key factors including fetal growth restriction, low birth weight, fetal androgen exposure, rapid postnatal growth, childhood adiposity, elevated fasting glucose and insulin and age at menarche to PCOS. In this way, we will address for the first time the hypothesis that PCOS arises as a result of events during fetal life and is affected by factors during childhood. The results from these studies will improve our understanding of PCOS and eventually improve reproductive and metabolic health for a substantial population of women internationally. It is essential that these studies are conducted as soon as possible or the opportunity will be missed. Girls with persistent menstrual irregularity are likely to be commenced on hormonal treatments which will make the diagnosis of PCOS impossible.Read moreRead less
Regulation Of Lipid Metabolism By AMP Activated Protein Kinase
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$478,776.00
Summary
Western communities are experiencing an epidemic of overweight and obesity that is contributing to diabetes, heart disease, and premature death. This project is investigating an enzyme, called AMP-activated protein kinase, that plays a pivotal role in controlling how our bodies control energy metabolism in response to exercise. Improved understanding about how this enzyme regulates the body's storage and breakdown of fat and responsiveness to insulin will enable the development of new medicines ....Western communities are experiencing an epidemic of overweight and obesity that is contributing to diabetes, heart disease, and premature death. This project is investigating an enzyme, called AMP-activated protein kinase, that plays a pivotal role in controlling how our bodies control energy metabolism in response to exercise. Improved understanding about how this enzyme regulates the body's storage and breakdown of fat and responsiveness to insulin will enable the development of new medicines for the treatment of obesity and the prevention of diabetes.Read moreRead less
Identification of genes regulating breast cancer progression and metastasis. Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in women in Australia. Although the treatments have improved over the last thirty years, many women still die from relapse of the disease. Our goal is to identify genes involved in the regulation of breast cancer progression and metastasis. This may lead to the discovery of druggable molecules for better targeted therapies for patients.
The role of P2X7 and P2X4 receptor mediated innate phagocytosis in pathogenesis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. This project will identify how inherited variation in two proteins of the brain can accelerate the removal of neurones and predispose to a range of neurodegenerative diseases. Knowledge of the biological basis of this finding will allow a search for new compounds which will slow and protect against this form of neurodegeneration.
Identifying mitogenic signalling proteins with phosphatidyl inositol lipids. Health care of an ageing population is a national priority of the community. In order to understand the factors that control cell growth and death in cancer cells signalling proteins can be identified and studied and compared with model systems from quiescent cells. Using phospholipids attached to 'fishing lines' we can search for, identify and study the function of all the downstream signalling proteins in activated c ....Identifying mitogenic signalling proteins with phosphatidyl inositol lipids. Health care of an ageing population is a national priority of the community. In order to understand the factors that control cell growth and death in cancer cells signalling proteins can be identified and studied and compared with model systems from quiescent cells. Using phospholipids attached to 'fishing lines' we can search for, identify and study the function of all the downstream signalling proteins in activated cancer cells. This will provide the basic information for drug discovery processes to target specific molecules that inhibit and control the function of the signalling proteins implicated in the growth of cancer cells.Read moreRead less
Synthesis of phosphatidylinositol and inositol polyphosphate derivatives to probe key signalling proteins associated with cell growth and cancer. Health care of an ageing population is a national priority of the community. In order to understand the factors that control cell growth and death in cancer cells signalling proteins can be identified and studied and compared with model systems from quiescent cells. Using phospholipids and inositol polyphosphates attached to 'fishing lines' we can sea ....Synthesis of phosphatidylinositol and inositol polyphosphate derivatives to probe key signalling proteins associated with cell growth and cancer. Health care of an ageing population is a national priority of the community. In order to understand the factors that control cell growth and death in cancer cells signalling proteins can be identified and studied and compared with model systems from quiescent cells. Using phospholipids and inositol polyphosphates attached to 'fishing lines' we can search for, identify and study the function of many of the downstream signalling proteins in activated cancer cells. This will provide the basic information for discovery processes to target specific molecules that inhibit and control the function of the signalling proteins implicated in the growth of cancer cells.Read moreRead less