Dissecting the physiology of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells to develop vaccine candidates for respiratory disease. The project aims to gain an understanding of how a type of adult stem cell inhibits immune responses that cause asthma. The project will produce new stem cell products and facilitate the design of a vaccine for asthma and other respiratory diseases, which would greatly reduce the burden of such conditions.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100986
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
An innovative platform using non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNAs) to control stem cell differentiation outcomes. It is difficult to control the tissue type that stem cells will form when combined with biomaterials, as the outcome is influenced by the 'stiffness' of the surface to which the stem cells attach. This project will determine how non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNAs) control stem cell behaviours and use this information to direct stem cell differentiation outcomes.
Redefining tissue-specific endothelial cells through bioengineered matrices. This project aims to improve our understanding of the biological mechanisms that drive blood vessel formation and function. The endothelial cells that make up each blood vessel are inherently unique across different sites within the human body and this project expects to generate new knowledge regarding their organ specificity. Using advanced bioengineering approaches, this project will map human endothelial cell specif ....Redefining tissue-specific endothelial cells through bioengineered matrices. This project aims to improve our understanding of the biological mechanisms that drive blood vessel formation and function. The endothelial cells that make up each blood vessel are inherently unique across different sites within the human body and this project expects to generate new knowledge regarding their organ specificity. Using advanced bioengineering approaches, this project will map human endothelial cell specificity and develop state-of-the-art modelling technologies to improve knowledge of environmental influence on endothelial cell fate and function. This should provide a new framework to modulate the adaptive capacities of endothelial cells and can potentially enable more predictive and targeted drug efficacy and safety testing.Read moreRead less
Hardware Acceleration for Neural Systems. To really understand how brains work, we need to simulate neural networks of a size similar to that of the human brain (100 billion neurons, 100 trillion connections). Simulating such a network on standard computers in not possible because of its sheer size. Several groups are currently building very expensive and proprietary hardware to solve this, but the output from these projects will not be accessible to other researchers. In order to make real prog ....Hardware Acceleration for Neural Systems. To really understand how brains work, we need to simulate neural networks of a size similar to that of the human brain (100 billion neurons, 100 trillion connections). Simulating such a network on standard computers in not possible because of its sheer size. Several groups are currently building very expensive and proprietary hardware to solve this, but the output from these projects will not be accessible to other researchers. In order to make real progress in neuroscience, many more researchers need to be enabled to participate. To do this, the project will build a system from commercial hardware (FPGAs) that will cost only a few ten thousand dollars and it will make this design and software available for free. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100850
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$330,000.00
Summary
Dynamic adaptive software configuration. The aim of this project is to use computational intelligence in software engineering processes to achieve self-optimising products. Many mobile device users bemoan inadequate battery life, and device size is largely determined by the battery. In addition, information and communications technology uses six per cent of the global electricity production. The expected outputs of this project will be packages of optimisation components that software engineers ....Dynamic adaptive software configuration. The aim of this project is to use computational intelligence in software engineering processes to achieve self-optimising products. Many mobile device users bemoan inadequate battery life, and device size is largely determined by the battery. In addition, information and communications technology uses six per cent of the global electricity production. The expected outputs of this project will be packages of optimisation components that software engineers can incorporate into next generation products: the products analyse their collected usage data, perform what-if analyses, and optimise their configurations accordingly for the next usage period. Hence, the products may respond faster, be more reliable, and consume less energy.Read moreRead less
Tracing nature's template: using statistical machine learning to evolve biocatalysts. In this project new computational methods will be developed to design nature-inspired, biological catalysts for industrial purposes. Such methods will enable catalysts to be designed that can improve the effectiveness and environmental footprint of drug development, agricultural and specialist chemical production and environmental remediation.
Advanced planning systems for vertically integrated supply chain management. This project will integrate various algorithms into an adaptive, dynamic and intelligent system that deals with the vertically integrated supply chains. The outcomes include publications in the quality outlets, generation of intellectual property, and dissemination of this research amongst the research and business communities.
A Micro-Physiological System to Mimic Human Microbiome-Organ Interactions. This project aims to mimic gut microbiome-organ interactions by developing a microbial-gut coculture chip, which can reversibly interface with other organs-on-chips. This is achieved through the systematic integration of highly customisable biofabrication and microfluidic technologies. This project fills a critical technological gap in the availability of an animal-alternative system to investigate microbiome-host interac ....A Micro-Physiological System to Mimic Human Microbiome-Organ Interactions. This project aims to mimic gut microbiome-organ interactions by developing a microbial-gut coculture chip, which can reversibly interface with other organs-on-chips. This is achieved through the systematic integration of highly customisable biofabrication and microfluidic technologies. This project fills a critical technological gap in the availability of an animal-alternative system to investigate microbiome-host interactions, which will greatly complement existing meta-omics approaches. The deliverables include a proof-of-concept system validated for gut-liver axis as well as the creation of new knowledge and framework to assimilate design thinking and advanced manufacturing to elevate tissue engineering into physiology engineering. Read moreRead less
The control of chromosome division during female meiosis. Mammalian eggs are stored life-long and finally mature in the hours before ovulation. This project examines how the chromosomes in the egg are separated properly so as to produce a mature egg capable of being fertilized by a sperm. Often in eggs chromosome division is imprecisely executed, and this project will help us understand why this occurs.
Micro/nano smart surfaces to unlock the potential of multipotent stem cells. This project aims to determine the interplay of micro/nanostructures on stem cell mechanotransduction and to control the cellular environment. It is expected that this will expand our knowledge on how to control stem cell fate. Expected outcomes are novel scalable technologies for micro/nanostructures and smart surfaces, controlled stem-cell expansion and differentiation, and the creation of a library of protein express ....Micro/nano smart surfaces to unlock the potential of multipotent stem cells. This project aims to determine the interplay of micro/nanostructures on stem cell mechanotransduction and to control the cellular environment. It is expected that this will expand our knowledge on how to control stem cell fate. Expected outcomes are novel scalable technologies for micro/nanostructures and smart surfaces, controlled stem-cell expansion and differentiation, and the creation of a library of protein expression based on the cell interactions. These outcomes will provide critical information required for the future development of instructive biomaterials to drive stem cell expansion and tissue-regeneration. Those materials should benefit the future development of efficient and cost-effective regenerative medicine solutions.Read moreRead less