The “New” Biochemistry of Polyamines: When Metabolic Pathways Collide. Basic biochemistry and the metabolic regulation of proliferation remain as the fundamental building blocks of knowledge in cell biology that have enabled breakthrough advances in biology and medicine. Polyamines are unique and ubiquitous low-Mr amines that play vital roles in many biological processes, including proliferation, DNA/RNA synthesis, etc. This proposal will mechanistically dissect the "new" biochemistry of polyami ....The “New” Biochemistry of Polyamines: When Metabolic Pathways Collide. Basic biochemistry and the metabolic regulation of proliferation remain as the fundamental building blocks of knowledge in cell biology that have enabled breakthrough advances in biology and medicine. Polyamines are unique and ubiquitous low-Mr amines that play vital roles in many biological processes, including proliferation, DNA/RNA synthesis, etc. This proposal will mechanistically dissect the "new" biochemistry of polyamines, as we have discovered that polyamines are regulated by iron at 2-major levels, involving >10-key polyamine pathway proteins. This proposal represents first-in-field studies specifically designed to dissect mechanisms involved in this relationship. Our Central Hypothesis is that iron regulates polyamine metabolism.Read moreRead less
A novel platform-technology for long-term subcutaneous neurophysiology. This project aims to develop a novel miniature device for subcutaneous and tetherless brain sensing. It addresses the lack of a device solution for brain-sensing that combines ultra-long-term reliable sensing capability and small dimensions for minimally-invasive procedures. We achieve this through our novel electrode architecture that significantly enhances the quality and reliability of recorded brain signals. We introduce ....A novel platform-technology for long-term subcutaneous neurophysiology. This project aims to develop a novel miniature device for subcutaneous and tetherless brain sensing. It addresses the lack of a device solution for brain-sensing that combines ultra-long-term reliable sensing capability and small dimensions for minimally-invasive procedures. We achieve this through our novel electrode architecture that significantly enhances the quality and reliability of recorded brain signals. We introduce a platform technology designed for subscalp anatomy with future use in various brain-machine interfacing applications relying on reliable, long-term and easy-to-implant systems. This project's device manufacturing, training, and intellectual property are expected to strengthen Australia's position in bioelectronics.Read moreRead less
Communicating to promote engagement in using electronic medical records. This reflexive ethnographic and co-design project aims to examine how patient and family participation occurs with health professionals in using the electronic medical record within hospitals, especially for patients with complex needs. Its significance involves working with patients and families to consider how they could take part in decision making activities across transitions of care and influence health care activitie ....Communicating to promote engagement in using electronic medical records. This reflexive ethnographic and co-design project aims to examine how patient and family participation occurs with health professionals in using the electronic medical record within hospitals, especially for patients with complex needs. Its significance involves working with patients and families to consider how they could take part in decision making activities across transitions of care and influence health care activities. Outcomes are new knowledge and practices about how communication occurs with the electronic medical record and strategies adopted for effective engagement. Benefits are increased understanding of how and under what circumstances, engagement can take place in using the electronic medical record.Read moreRead less
Diamond glass: An all-carbon technology for neural networks and biosensing. This project aims to use plasma deposition to synthesise diamond glass with the highest purity and the most diamond-like character so that it meets the strict requirements for emerging device applications. The extreme properties of diamond glass arise from the diamond-like bonding of the majority of its atoms. This amorphous, wide bandgap semiconductor is also the hardest known glass. The maximum diamond-like content pos ....Diamond glass: An all-carbon technology for neural networks and biosensing. This project aims to use plasma deposition to synthesise diamond glass with the highest purity and the most diamond-like character so that it meets the strict requirements for emerging device applications. The extreme properties of diamond glass arise from the diamond-like bonding of the majority of its atoms. This amorphous, wide bandgap semiconductor is also the hardest known glass. The maximum diamond-like content possible in diamond glass coatings is unknown, so determining its ultimate performance is difficult. Expected applications include medical diagnostics, non-volatile memories and programmable chips.Read moreRead less
Developing the basis for an quality control platform for human pluripotent stem cells and their differentiated derivatives. Biophotonic techniques based on spectroscopy have the potential to provide low-cost, automatable measurements for the quality control of stem and differentiated cells produced for use in industry and regenerative medicine. This project is aimed at acquiring the fundamental scientific knowledge base required to bring this about.
Complete blood fractionation using a low-cost microfluidic system. This project aims to understand particle focusing in inertial microfluidic systems to design efficient devices for cell sorting. The field of microfluidics could ultimately advance medical research but device design is primitive. Microfluidic particle separations are not thoroughly simulated before fabrication to predict performance. This project is expected to accelerate progress in design of efficient microfluidic devices. The ....Complete blood fractionation using a low-cost microfluidic system. This project aims to understand particle focusing in inertial microfluidic systems to design efficient devices for cell sorting. The field of microfluidics could ultimately advance medical research but device design is primitive. Microfluidic particle separations are not thoroughly simulated before fabrication to predict performance. This project is expected to accelerate progress in design of efficient microfluidic devices. The knowledge and models developed in this project should help design and develop a microfluidic device for efficient fractionation of complex fluids into valuable components.Read moreRead less
New quantitative methods in X-ray imaging using crystal optics. This project will enhance Australian science's international leadership in the area of x-ray imaging. This powerful type of X-ray imaging, which makes use of optical elements made of perfect crystals, is specially tailored to image samples which are invisible to conventional x-ray techniques. Such "extended x-ray vision" is extremely important for imaging in medicine, biology and materials science. Furthermore, we will train x-ray s ....New quantitative methods in X-ray imaging using crystal optics. This project will enhance Australian science's international leadership in the area of x-ray imaging. This powerful type of X-ray imaging, which makes use of optical elements made of perfect crystals, is specially tailored to image samples which are invisible to conventional x-ray techniques. Such "extended x-ray vision" is extremely important for imaging in medicine, biology and materials science. Furthermore, we will train x-ray scientists of tomorrow, whose expertise will allow Australia to capitalize on its investment in the Australian Synchrotron.Read moreRead less
Microprobe and Nanoprobe Studies on Intracellular Disease Processes and Their Treatment. Breakthrough microprobe and nanoprobe technologies, involving X-ray, visible and infrared light can focus into different components of mammalian cells in order to interrogate the biochemistry that is occurring therein. Each of the different wavelengths of light provides complementary biochemical information that enables a deeper understanding of changes in cells that occur as a function of drug treatments an ....Microprobe and Nanoprobe Studies on Intracellular Disease Processes and Their Treatment. Breakthrough microprobe and nanoprobe technologies, involving X-ray, visible and infrared light can focus into different components of mammalian cells in order to interrogate the biochemistry that is occurring therein. Each of the different wavelengths of light provides complementary biochemical information that enables a deeper understanding of changes in cells that occur as a function of drug treatments and disease processes. This will provide unprecedented information as to where drugs go and how they are transformed inside cells that, in turn, may revolutionalise the way in which new drugs are designed that have higher specificity and fewer side effects.Read moreRead less
Understanding the T cell repertoire in health and disease. Immune recognition of viruses usually involves a large number of different 'killer T cells' that kill cells infected by virus. However, during prolonged infection or in the elderly the number of different killer T cells that recognise the virus is greatly reduced. This reduction in the diversity of the immune response allows the virus to avoid immune recognition, and leads to more severe infection. We aim to understand how diversity is ....Understanding the T cell repertoire in health and disease. Immune recognition of viruses usually involves a large number of different 'killer T cells' that kill cells infected by virus. However, during prolonged infection or in the elderly the number of different killer T cells that recognise the virus is greatly reduced. This reduction in the diversity of the immune response allows the virus to avoid immune recognition, and leads to more severe infection. We aim to understand how diversity is generated in the immune response, and how it becomes narrowed with age or prolonged infection. This information can be used to design vaccines for persistent infections such as HIV, and to improve immune control of infection in the elderly.Read moreRead less
The dynamics of viral latency in chronic infection. Although many acute infections can now be controlled, we still suffer from a large number of chronic infections such as HIV or herpes that cannot be eradicated. Many of these infections persist because they can lie dormant in a 'latent' state. How this latent state is established, and how long it lasts are important to understand if we want to control these infections. We have assembled a team of mathematicians, immunologists and virologists in ....The dynamics of viral latency in chronic infection. Although many acute infections can now be controlled, we still suffer from a large number of chronic infections such as HIV or herpes that cannot be eradicated. Many of these infections persist because they can lie dormant in a 'latent' state. How this latent state is established, and how long it lasts are important to understand if we want to control these infections. We have assembled a team of mathematicians, immunologists and virologists in order to study latent infection at the cellular level, and within infected monkeys. This will provide the first insights into the dynamics of latency - how these cells are produced and die - and should lead to novel approaches to controlling chronic infection.Read moreRead less