TRF2 Protein And T-loop Replication In Alternative Lengthening Of Telomeres
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$398,156.00
Summary
Telomere loss acts as a clock telling cells when to stop proliferating. Cancer cells ignore this clock and grow indefinitely by preventing the normal loss of telomeres. Little is known about one of the methods cancers use to preserve telomeres, called ALT, which is employed by some brain tumours and other cancers. We will determine if the TRF2 protein is involved in controlling ALT. This will lay the basis for future anti-cancer treatments targeted at ALT.
Hyperbaric Oxygen In Lower Limb Trauma: A Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$729,288.00
Summary
HOLLT is an international multi-centre randomised clinical trial aimed at assessing the impact of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) on acute complication rates and long term outcomes following severe musculoskeletal trauma. The study will enrol 250 patients with severe, open tibial fractures over a 2-3 year period. Enrolled subjects will be followed up for 2 years with radiological, clinical and quality of life measures.
RISK AND PROTECTION FACTORS FOR NORMAL AND ABNORMAL BRAIN AGEING: A LONGITUDINAL EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MRI STUDY
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$153,020.00
Summary
Brain is considered the last frontier of medicine, and ageing the major challenge to health care in the 21st century. In this proposal, we bring these two challenges together in a major new longitudinal study of ageing in Canberra that has recently been initiated. This is a longitudinal study of a random community sample covering 3 age groups - 20-24 years, 40-44 years and 60-64 years, with at least 2000 participants in each age group - who are being assessed in 1999-2001, and will be followed u ....Brain is considered the last frontier of medicine, and ageing the major challenge to health care in the 21st century. In this proposal, we bring these two challenges together in a major new longitudinal study of ageing in Canberra that has recently been initiated. This is a longitudinal study of a random community sample covering 3 age groups - 20-24 years, 40-44 years and 60-64 years, with at least 2000 participants in each age group - who are being assessed in 1999-2001, and will be followed up at 4-yearly intervals for 20 years. The focus of the study is on neuropsychiatric disorders (anxiety, depression, substance use and cognitive disorders). In this application, we propose to perform MRI scans and blood tests on a quarter (n-500) of the 60-64 sample to obtain an epidemiological sample for brain morphology. Not only will we be able to study changes in brain morphology over time, and relate it with cognitive function and psychiatric disorder, we will also be able to assess the role of risk and protection factors. We are particularly interested in brain reserve, dietary factors (anti-oxidants, omega 3, wine and folate) and drugs (anti-inflammatory drugs, hormone replacement and vitamin supplements) as protection factors, and hypertension, homocysteine levels, white matter lesions on MRI and low hippocampal volumes as risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia. We also want to study the brain morphological correlates of Depression in a community sample. The study will enhance our understanding of the ageing brain, both in health and disease, and identify factors that increase or decrease the risk of cognitive impairment and psychiatric disorder in old age.Read moreRead less
Preventing Prenatal Brain Injury In Fetal Growth Restriction
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$511,294.00
Summary
Intrauterine fetal growth restriction (IUGR) is a serious complication of pregnancy associated with increased perinatal morbidity and mortality. In particular, IUGR infants have a high risk of perinatal brain injury which is likely to arise from damage before birth. Our aim is to use an ovine model of IUGR to define the causes of that brain injury and to develop new therapies that could be offered to women to protect their unborn baby.
FETAL BRAIN INJURY RESULTING FROM INTRAUTERINE INFECTION: LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES AND THE POTENTIAL FOR INTERVENTION
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$452,640.00
Summary
Brain damage during fetal life is a significant cause of later neurological problems such as cerebral palsy. Recent studies have shown that brain injury detected in infants is usually caused by adverse conditions within the uterus prior to labour, but the exact causes are poorly understood. It is also apparent that babies born prematurely are at increased risk of suffering serious brain damage. Unfortunately, at present, it is not possible to prevent or effectively treat brain damage in the fetu ....Brain damage during fetal life is a significant cause of later neurological problems such as cerebral palsy. Recent studies have shown that brain injury detected in infants is usually caused by adverse conditions within the uterus prior to labour, but the exact causes are poorly understood. It is also apparent that babies born prematurely are at increased risk of suffering serious brain damage. Unfortunately, at present, it is not possible to prevent or effectively treat brain damage in the fetus or newborn, partly due to ignorance about how and when the damage is occurring. In recent years it has become evident that infections in the mother, may be linked to both premature birth and brain damage. It has been proposed that the certain chemicals (cytokines) which are released during an infection can across the placenta to the fetus, causing inflammatory changes that lead to brain damage. However, although associations have been shown in studies of women, there is little evidence that infections actually cause brain damage in the fetus. This project will define the effects of an inflammation inducing chemical (bacterial endotoxin) on the fetal brain and the pattern of inflammation it sets up in the fetus. We will also examine the effects of brain damage caused by endotoxin in the newborn lamb, and relate this to alterations in behaviour. Once we have defined the effects of endotoxin on brain structure, we will test the effects of chemicals that are known to block the actions of inflammatory cytokines. We hope that by blocking the chemical pathway that leads to the production of harmful cytokines we may be able to prevent brain injury from occurring when the fetus is exposed to an infection in the mother. It is expected that this project will provide important information that helps us to understand how infection in the mother can cause brain injury in the fetus. This information is vital if strategies to prevent or treat brain injury are to be developed.Read moreRead less
Cerebrovascular Effects Of Intrauterine Hypoxia: Contribution To Perinatal Brain Injury
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$579,138.00
Summary
During pregnancy, delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the growing fetus is sometimes disturbed, and can lead to injury of the developing brain. In this project we investigate the idea that low oxygen (hypoxia) causes brain demage to blood vessels in the fetal brain, and new blood vessesl produced in an attempt to repair this damage are fragile and prone to rupture, explaining the high incidence of bleeding in the brain of prematurely-born and full term infants that experience birth hypoxia.