Rhinovirus impairs physiological and immunological lung development and causes exacerbation of allergic airways disease. Rhinovirus (RV) infections account for around 90 per cent of asthma exacerbations, yet the mechanisms behind this are unknown. This project will use mouse models to study the effects of early life RV infection and allergic sensitisation on respiratory and immunological development, with the expectation that early life RV infection disrupts anitgen presenting cell function.
Towards an influenza virus glycan interaction map (Glycointeractome). This project will use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to map carbohydrate interaction used by the virus to cause infection and spread. This information will provide new direction in anti-influenza drug discovery.
Competing demands on the axial muscles: Effects, consequences, compensations and mechanisms. Back and neck pain are major health issues and are associated with considerable cost to society and an individual's quality of life. A major issue is to identify factors that increase the chance of developing pain. This project will investigate a novel and innovative possibility; that competition between the many functions of the trunk muscles may increase the possibility for injury. We will study how th ....Competing demands on the axial muscles: Effects, consequences, compensations and mechanisms. Back and neck pain are major health issues and are associated with considerable cost to society and an individual's quality of life. A major issue is to identify factors that increase the chance of developing pain. This project will investigate a novel and innovative possibility; that competition between the many functions of the trunk muscles may increase the possibility for injury. We will study how the nervous system coordinates functions as diverse and movement of the spine, breathing, and control of head and eye movement. A key issue will be to identify whether situations arise in which control of the spine is compromised, potentially leading to increased risk of pain and injury. Such data can aid prevention and rehabilitation.Read moreRead less
Digitally-Integrated Smart Sensing of Diverse Airborne Grass Pollen Sources. Grass pollen is the main outdoor allergen source globally, triggering hayfever and asthma in up to 500 million people. With over 10,000 species, the influence of grass type, location and climate on pollen in the air is not yet known. This is a key issue since subtropical and temperate grasses differ in response to environmental factors. The project aims to use artificial intelligence on digital camera images to learn to ....Digitally-Integrated Smart Sensing of Diverse Airborne Grass Pollen Sources. Grass pollen is the main outdoor allergen source globally, triggering hayfever and asthma in up to 500 million people. With over 10,000 species, the influence of grass type, location and climate on pollen in the air is not yet known. This is a key issue since subtropical and temperate grasses differ in response to environmental factors. The project aims to use artificial intelligence on digital camera images to learn to see local grass flowers and integrate this with air sensors trained to detect grass pollen types. The expected outcomes are new capacities to track airborne grass pollen types. These outcomes can transform how pollen can be monitored to reduce the burden of allergies, and provide evidence of changing airborne pollen loads.
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Understanding the mechanism of Wolbachia-mediated antiviral protection. Insects are involved in the transmission of many viral diseases of both plants and animals. A considerable number of these diseases have adverse effects for public health or cause large economic losses in agriculture. We were the first to discover that a common bacteria protects insects from virus infection. Knowledge of the mechanisms used by the bacteria to interfere with virus accumulation will facilitate novel strategies ....Understanding the mechanism of Wolbachia-mediated antiviral protection. Insects are involved in the transmission of many viral diseases of both plants and animals. A considerable number of these diseases have adverse effects for public health or cause large economic losses in agriculture. We were the first to discover that a common bacteria protects insects from virus infection. Knowledge of the mechanisms used by the bacteria to interfere with virus accumulation will facilitate novel strategies for control of virus disease. The findings of this project will enable Australian researchers and industry to design innovative approaches to control diseases that are transmitted by insects.Read moreRead less
Estimation of non-additive genetic variance for complex traits using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphyisms and sequence data. Finding genes for traits of importance in agriculture, ecology and human health depends on understanding the genetic basis of these traits. This project will investigate whether variation in traits in humans, cattle and wild sheep are influenced by gene-gene interactions.
The genetic architecture and evolution of quantitative traits. Most important traits are controlled by many genes and by the environment, however there is little knowledge of how many genes are involved in these complex traits and what their effects are. This project will describe the number of genes and their effects for complex traits in humans and livestock and explain how these genes evolve.
Control of Wolbachia replication: maintaining a stable symbiosis. This project will use a comparative genomics approach to better understand how Wolbachia infections of insects are able to maintain themselves in insects without causing pathology. The results will allow us to better understand a distinguishing characteristic of an intracellular symbiont, namely replication control. The results also have the potential to lead to new approaches to insect pest control through a better understanding ....Control of Wolbachia replication: maintaining a stable symbiosis. This project will use a comparative genomics approach to better understand how Wolbachia infections of insects are able to maintain themselves in insects without causing pathology. The results will allow us to better understand a distinguishing characteristic of an intracellular symbiont, namely replication control. The results also have the potential to lead to new approaches to insect pest control through a better understanding of how Wolbachia might be used to skew insect population age structure.Read moreRead less
Do insect-specific flaviviruses regulate the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases in Australia? Mosquito-borne viral diseases such as dengue occur in Australia. The research team recently discovered related viruses in mosquitoes from Darwin that do not infect humans, but may inhibit the spread of viral diseases by mosquitoes. This project will investigate the life cycles of these new viruses to understand how they affect the spread of viral diseases by mosquitoes.
Mutational genetic variance and the fitness optimum. Mutation and selection are ubiquitous forces in nature, but we do not understand how genetic variation produced by mutation is maintained in the presence of selection that depletes it. The recent discovery of apparent stabilising selection on traits with high levels of genetic variation provides a new approach to understanding this paradox.