WALK 2.0: Investigating The Internal And External Validity Of Web 2.0 Applications In Promoting Physical Activity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$934,436.00
Summary
More then half of the Australian population do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity to achieve health benefits. Internet based physical activity interventions which include innovative technology have the potential to reach large groups of individuals and contribute to physical activity promotion. This study evaluates the efficacy and utility of Web 2.0 applications to promote physical activity.
Developing A Research Base For Intravenous Peripheral Catheter Resites. The DRIP Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$440,772.00
Summary
Most Australians will have an IV catheter (IV drip) in their hand or arm during a hospital stay. Catheter insertion is painful and costly. It is repeated during hospitalisation because it was thought catheters could only be used for 3-4 days without vein irritation or infection. Newer catheters and preliminary research suggest catheters can actually be used until no longer needed. This research will confirm whether this approach reduces pain and costs without increasing side effects.
Individual Nutrition Therapy And Exercise Regime: A Controlled Trial Of Injured, Vulnerable Elderly (INTERACTIVE Trial).
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$572,542.00
Summary
Hip fractures are a common and growing problem for older Australians. Unfortunately recovery is incomplete in most people. In this study two factors believed to be important for recovery will be investigated - exercise and nutrition. After a hip fracture the ability to walk is severely compromised, as are appetite and dietary intake. These factors are likely to contribute to the loss of muscle mass and strength frequently observed amongst this patient group. There is considerable evidence to sug ....Hip fractures are a common and growing problem for older Australians. Unfortunately recovery is incomplete in most people. In this study two factors believed to be important for recovery will be investigated - exercise and nutrition. After a hip fracture the ability to walk is severely compromised, as are appetite and dietary intake. These factors are likely to contribute to the loss of muscle mass and strength frequently observed amongst this patient group. There is considerable evidence to suggest that this loss has serious consequences in terms of ability to return to pre-injury levels of function, restriction in independence and ultimately transfer into a hostel or nursing home. Given these facts it makes sense that an exercise program incorporating strength and functional activities, and a nutrition program aimed at achieving nutritional requirements, will improve ability to walk, but there is no conclusive evidence that this is so. Only a small number of studies have tested whether an exercise program improves recovery after a hip fracture and these have mostly commenced weeks or months after the injury when it is likely that there has been irreversible decline in muscle mass and strength. In contrast, most of the nutrition studies commence soon after the injury but provide protein and calories insufficient to meet requirements, provide supplements that patients find difficult to drink or provide the supplements for only a short duration. This study will use the best quality research methods to test whether providing a 6-month individualised exercise and nutrition program to hip fracture patients soon after injury improves walking and other important health outcomes. Patients will be followed for 12 months to determine what difference the exercise and nutrition programs make. If they help then health services will have the evidence they need to recommend this type of program to the growing number of older Australians that suffer a hip fracture.Read moreRead less
The Physiology Of Health Systems: Port Lincoln As A Case Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,228,073.00
Summary
No health system in Australia has a complete, population-wide view of how they are used, by whom, and with what effect on health. Our plan is to capture and describe comprehensively all health system activity relating to a sizeable and carefully-defined Australian population and to complement this with a population-wide census of health status. Such 'intelligence' is fundamental to evaluating the current performance of health systems and to planning changes to them.
Drugs are applied to the skin for the treatment of a wide range of conditions including both local (inflammation, pain, eczema, psoriasis) and systemic (angina, nicotine withdrawl, hormone replacement therapy) therapies. Unwanted skin absorption also occurs following exposure to environmental and occupational chemicals, including those applied deliberately to the skin such as insectisides, sunscreens and cosmetics. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the chemical structure of ag ....Drugs are applied to the skin for the treatment of a wide range of conditions including both local (inflammation, pain, eczema, psoriasis) and systemic (angina, nicotine withdrawl, hormone replacement therapy) therapies. Unwanted skin absorption also occurs following exposure to environmental and occupational chemicals, including those applied deliberately to the skin such as insectisides, sunscreens and cosmetics. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the chemical structure of agents, the types of formulations in which they are applied and their penetration into the various layers of the skin and underlying tissues. We intend to further our research into important areas relating to the ability to predict the likely behaviour of a solute which comes into contact with the skin from the aspect of optimising both topical drug delivery systems and risk assessment procedures. We will also be examining techniques of facilitating drug transport through the skin using (i) the knowledge gained of the mechanisms by which vehicles act on the skin, (ii) the synthesis of ester and amide lipophilic prodrugs and (iii) physical techniques such as iontophoresis, whereby small electrical currents are applied to charged drug species on the outside of the skin.Read moreRead less
A Novel Tumour-targeting Nanoliposome Drug Delivery System For The Treatment Of Malignant Gliomas
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$445,097.00
Summary
Most patients with malignant brain tumours die within a year after diagnosis due to the difficulty in effectively delivering drugs to the tumour cells. We aim to develop a safe and novel drug delivery system to effectively deliver anticancer drugs and novel anticancer agents to brain tumour cells that remain in normal brain after surgery. The success of this project will bring us a step forward in our efforts to significantly improve the survival rate and quality of life of such patients.
Antibiotic Loading Of Bone Allografts For The Prevention Of Peri-operative Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,847.00
Summary
Bone is the second most often transplanted tissue after blood, with thousands of grafts done every year in Australia. Allograft bone (taken from another person) is used to replace bone removed due to cancer, but is prone to infection. Infected grafts must be removed, and can lead to amputation. We are developing a process to put antibiotics into allograft bone, to prevent infections from taking hold. Reducing infections can increase the success of limb salvage surgery for cancer patients.
MPM Non-invasive Imaging Of Biological Interactions Following Drug Delivery With Micro-nanoprojection Patches.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$403,612.00
Summary
The overarching aim of my research is to develop and evaluate effective, practical and reproducible physical methods for delivering genes and drugs to specific immunologically-sensitive cells in the skin to ultimately treat and vaccinate against human diseases. I recently patented a method using arrays of nano-scale projections on a patch to accurately, efficiently and safely deliver biomolecules not just to specific skin cells, but also to organelles within them. Conceptually, the delivery devi ....The overarching aim of my research is to develop and evaluate effective, practical and reproducible physical methods for delivering genes and drugs to specific immunologically-sensitive cells in the skin to ultimately treat and vaccinate against human diseases. I recently patented a method using arrays of nano-scale projections on a patch to accurately, efficiently and safely deliver biomolecules not just to specific skin cells, but also to organelles within them. Conceptually, the delivery device is a set of microscopic nanoneedles coated with drug substance and applied to the skin as a small patch. The device is practical, needle-free and pain-free. The aim of this current project is to use the micro-nanoprojection array patches-configured to uniquely deliver biomolecules to cells within given strata-to find: 1) what delivery sites of antigen-expression plasmid- toll like receptor (TLR) agonist lead to strong humoral immune responses in the intact animal. 2) whether delivery of different TLR agonists have different effects on the maturation and migration of the different professional antigen presenting cells (APCs) in the skin, as visualised locally by Multi-Photon Microscopy (MPM). 3) whether differences in APC maturation and migration are associated with different systemic antibody responses. We will identify optimal delivery sites of drugs-vaccines to the skin (layer, cells targeted, duration of delivery) with MPM for desired systemic immune responses. This will have important contributions towards improving immunotherapeutics of major diseases via skin targeting with micro-nanoprojection array patch technologies (and other methods).Read moreRead less
Charged Lipophilic Dendrimers: Delivery Of Oligonucleotides With Therapeutic Potential
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$422,036.00
Summary
Choroidal neovascularisation, which is the most severe form of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the major cause of blindness in the developed world. The disease usually affects people above the age of 75-80. With an ageing population, reaching 3.5 million (over 65) in Australia by year of 2020, AMD is quickly becoming a significant socio-economic problem. Gene therapy could be a cure for the above disease. Currently, there are large numbers of antisense oligonucleotides that have the po ....Choroidal neovascularisation, which is the most severe form of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the major cause of blindness in the developed world. The disease usually affects people above the age of 75-80. With an ageing population, reaching 3.5 million (over 65) in Australia by year of 2020, AMD is quickly becoming a significant socio-economic problem. Gene therapy could be a cure for the above disease. Currently, there are large numbers of antisense oligonucleotides that have the potential to be developed as new medicines. However, a lack of absorption-cellular uptake and poor in vivo stability are major hurdles that must first be overcome, before any of these compounds will reach the clinic. Synthetic DNA delivery agents are of interest for gene therapy as an alternative to viral vectors, since they carry potentially fewer risks in terms of immuneresponse and propagation. Gene transfer with synthetic compounds is a growing field of research and the largest family of such agents is based on positively charged lipids which are able to self-associate and to form complexes (salts) with DNA conferring a compacted state on the plasmid. Our project will address these major issues through a highly novel strategy involving ion pair formation of lipophilic dendrimer (tree-like compounds with positive charges on the surface) constructs. This multidisciplinary approach has the potential to develop and test new DNA-dendrimer complexes and test them in a well established animal model for neovascularisation. Successful completion of this project might offer a potential therapy for choroidal neovascularisation, with a good chance of entering into human clinical trials by year 2004.Read moreRead less
Targeting Alpha-conotoxin MII To Inhibit Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Alpha3beta2 Receptors Of The CNS
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$218,334.00
Summary
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play a central role in nerve signal transmission, neurite growth and development and are the representative model of the ligand-gated ion channel superfamily. Recent studies, including those from Dr Lewis' and A-Prof Alewood's laboratories, have identified alpha-conotoxin peptides which can discriminate among the different nAChRs, apparently by binding to the specific interfaces formed by different subunit combinations. Thus alpha-conotoxins are unique ....Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play a central role in nerve signal transmission, neurite growth and development and are the representative model of the ligand-gated ion channel superfamily. Recent studies, including those from Dr Lewis' and A-Prof Alewood's laboratories, have identified alpha-conotoxin peptides which can discriminate among the different nAChRs, apparently by binding to the specific interfaces formed by different subunit combinations. Thus alpha-conotoxins are unique tools with which to identify and determine the physiological role, played by the different native neuronal nAChRs. Moreover, they are unusually stable peptides and can withstand enzyme and acid treatment. These findings have encouraged us to pursue the viability of alpha-conotoxin MII as a new and selective antagonist for the neuronal nictotinic receptor alpha3 beta2 which is involved in nicotine addiction. The challenge and major goal of this project is to deliver alpha-conotoxin MII efficiently into the brain. A-Prof Toth has developed a novel drug-delivery system for the oral administration of drugs and peptides, which in their unmodified form are poorly absorbed or biologically unstable. In this project alpha-conotoxin MII will be combined with a specifically designed lipopolysaccharide delivery system . The delivery system can be specifically tailored to transport a wide variety of peptides through the different biological barriers. The peptides can be conjugated to the delivery system in such a way as to release the peptide after it has been absorbed (prodrug), or to form a biologically stable and active novel molecule. The outcomes of this work will include the first delivery system of nicotinic antagonists to the brain and new knowledge concerning the importance of the neuronal nictotinic receptor alpha3 beta2 in nicotine addiction.Read moreRead less