A Tough Resilin Based Hydrogel Platform for Repair and Regeneration. This project seeks to develop novel hydrogels that mimic the properties of the body. In the field of repair and regeneration, our challenge is to make hydrogels that retain the fatigue and resilience properties of the natural body part, but are comprised of nontoxic material. Resilin is a remarkable material exhibiting a broad range of stimuli-responsive behaviour and outstanding elasticity. The project aim is to create a tough ....A Tough Resilin Based Hydrogel Platform for Repair and Regeneration. This project seeks to develop novel hydrogels that mimic the properties of the body. In the field of repair and regeneration, our challenge is to make hydrogels that retain the fatigue and resilience properties of the natural body part, but are comprised of nontoxic material. Resilin is a remarkable material exhibiting a broad range of stimuli-responsive behaviour and outstanding elasticity. The project aim is to create a tough and responsive hydrogel platform from this disordered protein family through greater understanding of structure and mechanical function and incorporating adequate stiffness, strength and biocompatibility. Such tough hydrogels would be applicable to a range of biotechnological applications (eg intervertebral disc repair or artificial skin tissue engineering).Read moreRead less
Protein biosensors for detecting smoke exposure of grapes. Bush fires and controlled burns that take place in the vicinity of vineyards can lead to grape contamination with tasteless phenolic glucosides. Their hydrolysis during wine making leads to “smoke taint” – an unpleasant medicinal taste that can render wine undrinkable. We will apply a combination of organic synthesis, protein engineering and directed evolution to develop protein-based biosensors of phenolic glucosides. These biosensors w ....Protein biosensors for detecting smoke exposure of grapes. Bush fires and controlled burns that take place in the vicinity of vineyards can lead to grape contamination with tasteless phenolic glucosides. Their hydrolysis during wine making leads to “smoke taint” – an unpleasant medicinal taste that can render wine undrinkable. We will apply a combination of organic synthesis, protein engineering and directed evolution to develop protein-based biosensors of phenolic glucosides. These biosensors will be used to devise a simple portable colorimetric test that can be performed in the vineyard or the winery. The ability to rapidly determine the level of grape contamination with phenolic glucosides would give Australian wine growers and wine makers a powerful tool to mitigate the effects of bushfires.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE200100190
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$620,000.00
Summary
Electrophysiology Platform for Ion-channel Characterisation. Ion channels are ubiquitous pore-forming membrane proteins, with the human genome encoding >300 ion channels. The diverse roles of ion channels include action potential generation, control of ion flow across secretory and epithelial cells, and regulation of cell volume, motility and proliferation. Pharmacological modulators are powerful tools for probing ion channel function, but for most channels these tools are lacking. Thus, this p .... Electrophysiology Platform for Ion-channel Characterisation. Ion channels are ubiquitous pore-forming membrane proteins, with the human genome encoding >300 ion channels. The diverse roles of ion channels include action potential generation, control of ion flow across secretory and epithelial cells, and regulation of cell volume, motility and proliferation. Pharmacological modulators are powerful tools for probing ion channel function, but for most channels these tools are lacking. Thus, this project aims to develop the first comprehensive toolbox of ion channel modulators using an integrated in vitro/in vivo electrophysiology platform. These pharmacological tools will be made freely available to the Australian research community for probing the mechanism and physiological function of ion channels.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. This Centre aims to create on-demand, zero-waste, high-efficiency plants and plant products to address grand challenges in sustainability for Space and on Earth. Significant advances in plant, food, and sensory science; process and systems engineering; law and policy; and psychology are expected to deliver transformative solutions for Space habitation – and create enhanced plant-derived food and bioresour ....ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. This Centre aims to create on-demand, zero-waste, high-efficiency plants and plant products to address grand challenges in sustainability for Space and on Earth. Significant advances in plant, food, and sensory science; process and systems engineering; law and policy; and psychology are expected to deliver transformative solutions for Space habitation – and create enhanced plant-derived food and bioresources to capitalise upon emergent and rapidly expanding domestic and global markets. Anticipated outcomes include industry uptake of innovative plant forms, foods, technologies, and commodities; and an ambitious education and international co-ordination agenda to position Australia as a global leader in research supporting Space habitation.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100174
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$800,000.00
Summary
Innovative synchrotron science - program for access to the Australian National Beamline Facility and cutting-edge beamlines at international synchrotrons. Synchrotron science dramatically affects the community through the innovative scientific, engineering and medical research outcomes it produces. This program for access to synchrotron beamlines is aimed at enhancing Australia's high international standing in synchrotron science and will have many flow-on effects in areas such as health and ind ....Innovative synchrotron science - program for access to the Australian National Beamline Facility and cutting-edge beamlines at international synchrotrons. Synchrotron science dramatically affects the community through the innovative scientific, engineering and medical research outcomes it produces. This program for access to synchrotron beamlines is aimed at enhancing Australia's high international standing in synchrotron science and will have many flow-on effects in areas such as health and industry.Read moreRead less
Linking for Life: Enhancing pathways to well-being for all Australians. The Linking for Life Project will identify pathways to wellbeing and better social outcomes across the life-course for high-risk/vulnerable individuals and their families to streamline service provision, improve outcomes and identify cost-efficiencies across government agencies. The work will expand cross-sectoral data linkage capability, enhancing research capacity to generate evidence-based policy to improve integrated ser ....Linking for Life: Enhancing pathways to well-being for all Australians. The Linking for Life Project will identify pathways to wellbeing and better social outcomes across the life-course for high-risk/vulnerable individuals and their families to streamline service provision, improve outcomes and identify cost-efficiencies across government agencies. The work will expand cross-sectoral data linkage capability, enhancing research capacity to generate evidence-based policy to improve integrated service delivery across government. The project will also trial innovative data linkage models including the creation of data repositories to improve efficiency for data provision and access, which will have application nationally and enable more timely access to whole-population linked cross-sector data.Read moreRead less
Are the kids alright? Understanding the wellbeing of Australian children in their middle years. This project will produce the first comprehensive national stock-take of wellbeing among Australian children in their middle years, with a special focus on children who experience disadvantage. Findings will reflect children's views and experiences, have direct policy relevance and lay the groundwork for comparing and monitoring of child wellbeing.
Reducing health disparities for culturally and linguistically diverse peoples. This project aims to develop a greater understanding of migrants and the factors that predict poor health outcomes related to blood-borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections. The delayed access by migrants to healthcare from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds results in late diagnosis, low treatment uptake, and poorer health outcomes, with enhanced risk of infection and increased burden on the h ....Reducing health disparities for culturally and linguistically diverse peoples. This project aims to develop a greater understanding of migrants and the factors that predict poor health outcomes related to blood-borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections. The delayed access by migrants to healthcare from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds results in late diagnosis, low treatment uptake, and poorer health outcomes, with enhanced risk of infection and increased burden on the health system. The data collected in this project will assist in developing health services to meet these needs.Read moreRead less
Evolutionary origins of sexual parasitism in an Australian freshwater fish. Carp gudgeons are the most abundant, widespread and biodiverse freshwater fishes in southeastern Australia. The unacknowledged presence of many cryptic species and sexually-parasitic lineages severely taints all research on this cornerstone group. This project aims to provide unrivalled evolutionary, genomic, and taxonomic insights into this new instance of vertebrate sexual parasitism, which offers a unique mix of resea ....Evolutionary origins of sexual parasitism in an Australian freshwater fish. Carp gudgeons are the most abundant, widespread and biodiverse freshwater fishes in southeastern Australia. The unacknowledged presence of many cryptic species and sexually-parasitic lineages severely taints all research on this cornerstone group. This project aims to provide unrivalled evolutionary, genomic, and taxonomic insights into this new instance of vertebrate sexual parasitism, which offers a unique mix of research advantages not displayed by any other sexual/unisexual complex. The knowledge gained could impact many research fields, including evolutionary theory addressing the unexplainable prevalence of sex, native fish ecology, and environmental monitoring of the Murray-Darling Basin, an ecosystem of world significance.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH140100013
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,972,614.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture. ARC Research Hub for Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture. This research hub aims to provide Australian growers and industrial stakeholders with improved plant materials to maximise production, environmental sustainability and profitability. In particular, the research aims to improve the nitrogen delivery capacity of legumes and their resilience to abiotic stress, which will be an important consideration as our climate changes. Grain legu ....ARC Research Hub for Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture. ARC Research Hub for Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture. This research hub aims to provide Australian growers and industrial stakeholders with improved plant materials to maximise production, environmental sustainability and profitability. In particular, the research aims to improve the nitrogen delivery capacity of legumes and their resilience to abiotic stress, which will be an important consideration as our climate changes. Grain legumes are often grown in rotation with cereal crops for their high nutritional seed value and their unique ability to develop a self-sufficient nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with soil bacteria. Maintaining legume productivity against the challenges of climate change and the need for increased food production is important to the future of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less