Transformational diagnostics. Australia has established world-leading capabilities in optical fibres and surface science that, when brought together, have the potential to transform applications that require non-invasive, real-time and/or portable biological detection tools. We propose a novel and ambitious suite of projects that bring together these capabilities with experts in reproductive health, forensics and explosives to solve pressing problems in each of these areas that have the promise ....Transformational diagnostics. Australia has established world-leading capabilities in optical fibres and surface science that, when brought together, have the potential to transform applications that require non-invasive, real-time and/or portable biological detection tools. We propose a novel and ambitious suite of projects that bring together these capabilities with experts in reproductive health, forensics and explosives to solve pressing problems in each of these areas that have the promise to develop into new industries for Australia as well as to explore rich science opportunities at the boundaries of these disciplines.Read moreRead less
Nanoimaging the cellular architecture of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The immediate benefit of this work will be in the understanding and treatment of malaria - a disease that kills approximately 1 million children annually. The ability to image the three-dimensional structure of cells at high resolution will allow us to ask fundamental questions about the cellular architecture of the malaria parasite and to design novel antimalarial strategies. By developing new methods for cor ....Nanoimaging the cellular architecture of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The immediate benefit of this work will be in the understanding and treatment of malaria - a disease that kills approximately 1 million children annually. The ability to image the three-dimensional structure of cells at high resolution will allow us to ask fundamental questions about the cellular architecture of the malaria parasite and to design novel antimalarial strategies. By developing new methods for correlating structure and elemental location, the work in this proposal will offer a new paradigm for the study of cellular function and disease. This represents an important advance in the suite of investigative tools available to the biotechology sector and will see a corresponding improvement in our understanding of a wide range of disease states.Read moreRead less
Towards operational monitoring of key climate parameters from synthetic aperture radar. Agricultural productivity is a major contributor to the Australian economy, but is experiencing significant stress in response to climate change. Moreover, soil moisture controls vegetation dynamics that contribute to carbon storage, atmospheric processes leading to severe weather, and runoff generation processes leading to floods and runoff yield from urban water storage catchments. Consequently, high reso ....Towards operational monitoring of key climate parameters from synthetic aperture radar. Agricultural productivity is a major contributor to the Australian economy, but is experiencing significant stress in response to climate change. Moreover, soil moisture controls vegetation dynamics that contribute to carbon storage, atmospheric processes leading to severe weather, and runoff generation processes leading to floods and runoff yield from urban water storage catchments. Consequently, high resolution time-series information on soil moisture and vegetation status from space represents a powerful tool for understanding climate change impacts on Australia. It is therefore imperative that products be developed specifically for the Australian environment to take full advantage of radar data from satellites.Read moreRead less