Elucidating The Role Of Transthalamic Pathways In Cortical Processing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$792,688.00
Summary
Your brain senses the world and produces a suitable motor response by processing information between brain regions, such as primary sensory cortex to secondary cortex. Surprisingly, cortical pathways have a parallel route through the thalamus (transthalamic pathways) but their function is entirely unknown. We will use novel genetic and viral tools to shut down neural pathways while mice make decisions, thus identifying new circuits in our understanding of disorders with cognitive deficits.
Motivation For Starvation: Understanding The Neurobiology Of Anorexia Nervosa
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$773,142.00
Summary
Anorexia nervosa is a debilitating psychiatric disorder which is currently untreatable. It is characterised by disrupted reward and cognitive processing. This project, which will ultimately inform treatment strategies, utilises the activity-based anorexia rat model combined with innovative behavioural paradigms and sophisticated techniques to manipulate and record from neural circuits. This will furnish a comprehensive understanding of the neurobiology involved in pathological weight loss.
Betacellulin: Defining A Novel Sub-type In Schizophrenia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$907,515.00
Summary
Schizophrenia is a severe lifelong mental disorder affecting 0.7% of the world population with only partially effective symptomatic treatments. Its cause is unknown and thus cures cannot be developed currently. A promising candidate is betacellulin a growth factor which is very reduced in the brain and blood of people with schizophrenia. Little is known about its role in the brain and this project seeks to identify its relevance to schizophrenia as a step to develop new treatments.
Validating CaMKK2 As A Rational Treatment Target For Bipolar Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$688,175.00
Summary
Bipolar disorder is a disabling, chronic mental illness that profoundly impairs the ability of affected individuals to function in daily life. Existing treatments for bipolar disorder are inadequate and lack the necessary efficacy and tolerability required for long-term therapy. This project will validate the enzyme, CaMKK2, as a rational treatment target for bipolar disorder, which will guide the development of more effective and safer drugs to improve patient outcomes.
Targeting PD-1 Expressing T-peripheral Helper (Tph) Cells And Dysregulated Checkpoint Molecules: Improving Outcomes In Rheumatoid Arthritis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$597,168.00
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease, causing pain, swelling and irreversible deformity of the joints. We propose to investigate the immune cell environment that drives this disease. In particular, we will focus on a new type of cell called Tph cells and related immune pathways. We will also study how they may be used as therapeutic targets or as markers to monitor disease activity. Our findings may translate into clinical practice and form a basis for new therapeutic strategies.
Innate Threat Detection Circuits In The Superior Colliculus Co-ordinate Respiratory And Cardiovascular Responses To Visual Stimuli
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$517,958.00
Summary
Our surroundings affect our bodies: light pollution, traffic, and aircraft noise all significantly affect cardiovascular health. This project will investigate interactions between brain systems that subconsciously scan our surroundings for interesting or threatening features, and those that co-ordinate the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. We will generate new knowledge that describes how the brain detects danger and translates this into signals that contribute to cardiovascular risk.
Functional Brain Age Measurement In Children And Adolescents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$700,433.00
Summary
An important aspect of medicine is measuring the function of the human body. It is often advantageous to convert complex functional measures into simpler, intuitive measures such as 'age'. We can compare functional age to chronological age to diagnose disease. In this project, we will build an estimate of 'brain age' in children and adolescents using recordings of the electrical activity of the brain. We will test this 'brain age' as a diagnostic tool in several neurological disorders.
Unravelling The Behavioural And Brain Mechanisms Of Compulsive Disorders, And New Ways To Treat Them
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$635,076.00
Summary
Disorders of compulsion, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and substance use disorder, are chronic, debilitating, and present a significant cost to the individual and to society. Together, these disorders affect more than 10% of the population. Moreover, 40-60% of these individuals are resistant to current treatment. The current project is aimed at improving the preclinical research underlying our understanding the behavioural and brain mechanisms of such disorders and how to treat them.
Genetic testing of IVF embryos promises to improve success but shows no effect of live-birth rates. Many embryos are mosaic: containing cells with correct and incorrect chromosome numbers. Current testing is an invasive biopsy which fails to diagnose how many cells are abnormal in the cells that develop into the baby. Here we will use imaging to determine the ratio of abnormal:normal cells resulting in a non-invasive diagnostic that will improve IVF success.
Developing Exon Replacement Gene Therapy To Cure Rett Syndrome: An Innovative Model For Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$475,105.00
Summary
There is no cure for neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett syndrome which is caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. Gene therapy is ineffective due to the 'Goldilocks' effect where too little, as well as too much expression of MECP2 causes disease. Here a gene editing therapy will be tested in patient cells and mouse model that will maintain the normal cellular expression of MECP2 by cutting out the mutated regions of the gene (exons) and replacing them with repaired copies.