A Course Of Oxytocin Nasal Spray To Improve Social Communication In Young People With Autism
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$293,735.00
Summary
Autism is characterised by impairments in social behaviour and communication, and is a cause of major lifelong disability. A novel intervention, Oxytocin, enhances social communication in autism and non-clinical populations. This project will determine whether Oxytocin, taken twice daily over 8 weeks, improves social interaction skills in everyday life for young people with autism. This project represents a crucial step in developing a novel and effective new treatment for Autism.
The Effects Of Oxytocin Nasal Spray On Mechanisms Of Social-communication In Young People With Autism
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$191,400.00
Summary
Autism is charcterised by deficits in social behaviour and communication, and is a cause of major lifelong disability. A novel intervention, Oxytocin, enhances social communication in non-clinical populations. This project will determine whether OT improves social communication deficits characteristic of autism. This project is a critical first step towards treating a core deficit of autism.
Dissecting The Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome With Complementary Genetic, Proteomic And Biophysical Strategies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$490,352.00
Summary
Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX) is an eye condition in which flaky material deposits in the eye, greatly increasing the risk of cataract and glaucoma which can lead to blindness. PEX is also associated with heart disease, strokes and aneurysms. Cataract surgery in PEX patients has a higher rate of complications. In this project we will determine the nature of PEX material and why it forms. This knowlege will facilitate better diagnosis and treatment of PEX preventing associated blindness.
Strabismus is the pathological misalignment of the eyes associated with loss of binocular vision and is one of the most common human ophthalmological disorders. Patients with comitant strabismus have full eye movements, whereas patients with incomitant strabismus have limited eye movements, which causes the angle of strabismus to vary with gaze direction. This project aims to define genetic contributors to comitant congenital strabismus.
A Glint Or A Squint Should Make You Think! A Randomised, Controlled Study To Determine The Impact Of An Eye-health Awareness Program For New Parents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$95,348.00
Summary
Retinoblastoma (RB) is a rare, blinding and sometimes fatal, childhood eye cancer. The earliest diagnosis affords the child the best prognosis for retaining their sight, eye or their life. This project will examine parents’ current understanding of the symptoms and signs for RB, identify barriers to early diagnosis of RB, and to develop, implement and evaluate a sustainable public health awareness program to potentially improve the timing of diagnosis and subsequent outcomes for this disease.
Translating Genetic Determinants Of Glaucoma Into Better Diagnosis And Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$9,466,000.00
Summary
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. By 2020, it will affect 80 million people, and in Australia over the next decade, the overall cost of glaucoma will reach $4.3 billion per annum. This Program will use genetic advances to personalise treatment. Blindness will be prevented in individuals at highest risk, new ways to treat patients will be developed, and better outcomes for patients will result from less treatment and monitoring of low risk cases.
Neuro-feedback For Improved Efficacy Of Retinal Prostheses
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$653,655.00
Summary
Bionic eyes offer the possibility to return sight to the blind. Existing retinal implants are effective at delivering basic visual percepts, namely brief spots of light. Our team is now working on building the second generation of bionic eyes that include the ability to both stimulate the visual system (the retina) and record its response. By recording the evoked responses, we can adjust and optimize the stimulation to restore a persistent high spatial resolution sense of vision to the blind.
Development Of A High Acuity, Diamond Retinal Prosthesis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,010,214.00
Summary
Over recent years our team has developed a retinal implant to restore sight to people with certain types of blindness. With 256 independently controllable electrodes this device is among the most sophisticated in the world. We aim to conduct experiments to demonstrate that our device can provide improved better visual acuity than the world leaders with a view to developing a competitive commercial medical technology.
Most eye diseases have a genetic contribution, whether rare disorders affecting children such as retinoblastoma or congenital cataracts through to common disorders of older people such as myopia, age-related macular degeneration or glaucoma. We will continue our successful research to find genes that cause these diseases and use this to improve patient care and prevent blindness. We will work out how families can use this genetic information to participate in trials to develop new treatments.
Young Adult Myopia: Genetic And Environmental Associations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$809,271.00
Summary
Myopia affects 80% of school leavers in the cities of East Asia, 45% of Asian Australian school leavers and is probably on the rise in European Australian adolescents. Increased levels of education and lack of time outdoors are known to increase the risk of myopia. We will examine 2,000 young adults to find the genes that interact with these risk factors. In addition to confirming when these risk factors are most important, identifying molecular pathways opens the avenue of new treatments.