Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is the most common form of dementia, accounting for between 50-70% of all cases. There is general agreement that current treatments for AD/dementia are inadequate so new treatment strategies are desperately needed. I am addressing these challenges by developing new technologies to generate next generation treatments for AD.
To understand how Hendra virus multiplies in infected cells, we will investigate the structure of its replicative machinery. This will provide the basis for rational drug design increasing Australia’s preparedness against the emergence of Hendra-like viruses.
Harnessing Lipid-reactive Immunity To Combat Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$341,458.00
Summary
Critcial to the survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) is its unique waxy (lipid)-rich cell wall. This proposal aims to target components of its cell wall to devlop novel therapeutic strategies. Specifically, the Australian-Singapore alliance will examine how the immune system "sees" lipid based antigens from M. tuberculosis, and then will ultimately use this information towards the devlopment of novel lipid-based vaccines.
A Suite Of Engineered Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines To Facilitate The Generation Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$881,221.00
Summary
Our goal is to develop tools that address major bottlenecks that have prevented the generation of blood forming stem cells in culture for therapeutic use. We will generate human embryonic stem cell reporter lines that can be used to monitor key milestones in blood stem cell development. These lines will serve as tools to identify growth conditions to improve the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to functional blood stem cells.