Apoptotic signalling in virally infected and normal cells. Viral diseases contribute substantially to mortality and morbidity, in Australia and internationally. Emerging viral diseases, including H5N1 avian influenza, have the potential to severely impact on human health and the global economy. Concerns also exist that viruses may be used as bioweapons. This project seeks to define the mechanisms by which cell death occurs and is regulated in healthy cells, and how this is altered in virally inf ....Apoptotic signalling in virally infected and normal cells. Viral diseases contribute substantially to mortality and morbidity, in Australia and internationally. Emerging viral diseases, including H5N1 avian influenza, have the potential to severely impact on human health and the global economy. Concerns also exist that viruses may be used as bioweapons. This project seeks to define the mechanisms by which cell death occurs and is regulated in healthy cells, and how this is altered in virally infected or oncogenically transformed cells. Outcomes of this work may contribute to development of novel anti-cancer and anti-viral therapies, diagnostic reagents and vaccines.Read moreRead less
Structural investigations into the regulation of programmed cell death. One in three men and one in four women in Australia will develop cancer by the age of 75 at current incidence rates. At its heart, cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell proliferation. One of the body's main defence mechanisms against excess cell proliferation is Programmed Cell Death, a process which becomes dysfunctional in cancer cells. This work will provide three dimensional images of the machinery that controls Progr ....Structural investigations into the regulation of programmed cell death. One in three men and one in four women in Australia will develop cancer by the age of 75 at current incidence rates. At its heart, cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell proliferation. One of the body's main defence mechanisms against excess cell proliferation is Programmed Cell Death, a process which becomes dysfunctional in cancer cells. This work will provide three dimensional images of the machinery that controls Programmed Cell Death. This information is critical for the development of drugs designed to re-initiate Programmed Cell Death in cancer cells.Read moreRead less
Understanding the critical processes that control cell death and using this knowledge to kill cells that have evaded death. Cell death is essential for protecting the body against cancer, and defects in cell death pathways contribute to cancer progression. To design new and better cancer therapies we must understand the critical processes which control cell death, and develop effective ways to either reset, or bypass, defects in cell death pathways that contribute to cancer. The program as outl ....Understanding the critical processes that control cell death and using this knowledge to kill cells that have evaded death. Cell death is essential for protecting the body against cancer, and defects in cell death pathways contribute to cancer progression. To design new and better cancer therapies we must understand the critical processes which control cell death, and develop effective ways to either reset, or bypass, defects in cell death pathways that contribute to cancer. The program as outlined will elucidate the process of mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization, a critical event in cell death by apoptosis, and determine how to kill cells in which this event is blocked.Read moreRead less
Role of Histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) in intestinal epithelial cell homeostasis and tumorigenesis. Colon cancer is the most common cancer that affects men and women in Australia. Annually, in Victoria alone, more than 3400 people are diagnosed with colon cancer. Colon cancer arises through the accumulation of mutations in key genes over time. Identification of cancer causing genes provides the basis for the design of new cancer therapies. We recently identified a gene called Histone deacetylase ....Role of Histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) in intestinal epithelial cell homeostasis and tumorigenesis. Colon cancer is the most common cancer that affects men and women in Australia. Annually, in Victoria alone, more than 3400 people are diagnosed with colon cancer. Colon cancer arises through the accumulation of mutations in key genes over time. Identification of cancer causing genes provides the basis for the design of new cancer therapies. We recently identified a gene called Histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) as potentially involved in promoting colon cancer. The current proposal will now extend and validate this finding in mice. Importantly, drugs which inhibit HDAC3 have recently been developed for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Defining the role HDAC3 plays in colon cancer will justify testing these drugs in colon cancer patients.Read moreRead less
Studies on the regulation of the pro-apoptotic protein Bim in mammalian development and cancer. This project is aimed at understanding the regulation of a gene, which is a tumour suppressor and is often mutated or down regulated in many different forms of cancers. A better understanding of how this gene works may eventually lead to better therapeutics to treat these cancers. This is relevant in the Australian context given that our aging population and obesity epidemics (the link between obesity ....Studies on the regulation of the pro-apoptotic protein Bim in mammalian development and cancer. This project is aimed at understanding the regulation of a gene, which is a tumour suppressor and is often mutated or down regulated in many different forms of cancers. A better understanding of how this gene works may eventually lead to better therapeutics to treat these cancers. This is relevant in the Australian context given that our aging population and obesity epidemics (the link between obesity, insulin resistance and various forms of cancers is well established) are leading to a rapid increase in new cancer cases, thus driving a rapid increase in demand for better treatments. This is particularly relevant in Indigenous health where obesity is on the rise following the transition from a traditional to an urban lifestyle.Read moreRead less
Integrating teachers’ knowledge and affect to improve mathematics teaching and raise attainment. Mathematics teachers need to know their subject and how to teach it and need passion for the discipline and for inspiring their students to love it. They must believe that their students can learn mathematics and set high academic expectations for all of them. Knowledge and beliefs must be addressed in order to improve teaching, but exactly how can this be done? This project aims to build on existin ....Integrating teachers’ knowledge and affect to improve mathematics teaching and raise attainment. Mathematics teachers need to know their subject and how to teach it and need passion for the discipline and for inspiring their students to love it. They must believe that their students can learn mathematics and set high academic expectations for all of them. Knowledge and beliefs must be addressed in order to improve teaching, but exactly how can this be done? This project aims to build on existing work to develop theoretical insights that will lead to innovative approaches towards teacher change based on the integration of teacher knowledge and affect.Read moreRead less
Polarity in lymphocytes: Regulation of immune function and cancer. The Fellow will elucidate the mechanisms and consequences of a fundamental new phenomenon in immunology. This is likely to profoundly impact upon approaches to detecting and treating immune-related diseases such as autoimmunity, transplantation, vaccination and immunodeficiencies. The ongoing project and the work that led to our discovery involves interdisciplinary collaborations between physicists and biologists to apply frontie ....Polarity in lymphocytes: Regulation of immune function and cancer. The Fellow will elucidate the mechanisms and consequences of a fundamental new phenomenon in immunology. This is likely to profoundly impact upon approaches to detecting and treating immune-related diseases such as autoimmunity, transplantation, vaccination and immunodeficiencies. The ongoing project and the work that led to our discovery involves interdisciplinary collaborations between physicists and biologists to apply frontier laser technologies to biological studies. These technologies will not only facilitate our elucidation of immune development and function, but will also be made available to other research in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
School retention and second chance schooling. This project is concerned with ensuring that students who experience systemic disadvantage are not excluded from the benefits of a formal education. It provides an account and critique of the growth of second chance schooling options catering to such students in both Australia and the UK.
Unlocking the potential of bacterial polymers by defining key determinants. Sugary structures that coat the surface of some bacteria, known as capsules, can be modified by bacterial viruses (bacteriophage) in the environment. For the bacterial genus Acinetobacter, this influences their use as naturally renewable 'green' biopolymers for remediating environments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. This project aims to characterise crucial capsule polymerase enzymes using a combination of bio ....Unlocking the potential of bacterial polymers by defining key determinants. Sugary structures that coat the surface of some bacteria, known as capsules, can be modified by bacterial viruses (bacteriophage) in the environment. For the bacterial genus Acinetobacter, this influences their use as naturally renewable 'green' biopolymers for remediating environments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. This project aims to characterise crucial capsule polymerase enzymes using a combination of bioinformatics and experimental methodologies to establish how bacteriophage influence Acinetobacter capsules. Outcomes include the development of an innovative genomics pipeline to detect capsule change, improving the use of living bacteria for bioremediation and sustainable rehabilitation of natural ecosystems.Read moreRead less
What shapes our brain? This project aims to improve our fundamental understanding of the biological mechanisms that drive folding of the cerebral cortex, which occurs during development of the brain. Cortical folding is unique to humans and higher mammals, and is thought to underpin the emergence of intelligence and contribute to higher-order brain functions. This project will enhance knowledge of how the cerebral cortex folds and develop novel tools for analysing brain development. The project ....What shapes our brain? This project aims to improve our fundamental understanding of the biological mechanisms that drive folding of the cerebral cortex, which occurs during development of the brain. Cortical folding is unique to humans and higher mammals, and is thought to underpin the emergence of intelligence and contribute to higher-order brain functions. This project will enhance knowledge of how the cerebral cortex folds and develop novel tools for analysing brain development. The project will provide significant benefits including the generation of fundamental knowledge with implications for future understanding of cortical folding abnormalities in babies born preterm, following fetal growth retardation in utero, or when exposed to maternal alcohol. In the longer term, the project will contribute to improvements to human neurodevelopment and brain health.Read moreRead less