Determinants Of Sustained Virological Response After Discontinuation Of Long-term Nucleoside Analogue Therapy In Chronic Hepatitis B Patients
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$976,778.00
Summary
Guidelines currently recommend lifelong treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis B, with associated cost and risks of drug resistance and side effects. It has recently been suggested that up to 50% of patients may safely and successfully stop drug after long-term treatment. Our project will identify which patients can safely stop treatment, by performing detailed studies of the human immune system and the hepatitis B virus. This will be an important advance for patient care.
This proposal investigates processes that regulate the cell cytoskeleton to control shape and the dynamics membranes, with a view to developing a generic antiviral therapy. As viruses rely upon the cell cytoskeleton to initiate an infection, we posit that enzymes that control the cytoskeleton can be targeted to block infection.
Targeting Novel Sites On Reverse Transcriptase For HIV Treatment And Prevention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$978,994.00
Summary
HIV/AIDS remains a major global threat with 37 million individuals living with HIV in 2014. Antiretroviral drugs have transformed HIV from a death sentence into a chronic disease. Public health organisations recommend dramatic scale up of drugs for HIV treatment and prevention. However, a major threat is that drug options will be exhausted due to drug resistance and toxicity. The major aim of this study is to undertake fundamental studies to advance the development of a new HIV drug class.
A Multicentre Randomised Clinical Trial Of Physical Activity For The Treatment Of Patients With Alzheimers Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$773,752.00
Summary
The number of older adults living with Alzheimer's disease (AD) will increase from 26.6 million to 106.2 million by 2050. In the absence of curative treatment options it is important to focus on non-pharmacological interventions such as physical activity. We propose to investigate whether a home-based physical activity program of 24 weeks for patients with AD can successfully decrease the rate of cognitive and functional declince and improve quality of life and psychological well-being.
Long Term Persistence Of HIV In The Liver And The Clinical Impact On HIV-HBV Co-infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,393,245.00
Summary
This grant will address a major question in HIV cure research - the role of the liver as an HIV reservoir and the impact of HIV persistence in HIV-infected patients on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) on liver disease, in the setting of HIV-HBV co-infection. We will trial a novel intervention to reduce HIV infection of the liver that could potentially reduce chronic liver disease in this setting.
Towards A New Class Of Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor For HIV Prevention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$688,833.00
Summary
There remains an urgent need for new HIV prevention strategies. New HIV drugs that block the virus by distinct ways are needed to prevent transmission of drug resistant HIV. This study seeks to identify very small molecules called “fragments” that bind to previously undiscovered pockets on the HIV reverse transcriptase to stop its function, and that can be used as building blocks to design more potent HIV drugs to be used solely for HIV prevention.
HIV/AIDS remains a major global threat with ?37 million individuals living with HIV in 2014. Antiretroviral drugs have transformed HIV from a death sentence into a chronic disease. Public health organisations recommend dramatic scale up of drugs for HIV treatment and prevention. However, a major threat is that drug options will be exhausted in the long-term due to drug resistance and toxicity. The major aim of this study is to advance the development of an entirely new drug class for HIV.
Predictors And Correlates Of Health-related Quality Of Life And Morbidity In Overweight/obese Adolescents: Cohort Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$512,525.00
Summary
There is now no doubting the size and long-term risks to health of the childhood obesity epidemic. However, very little research has examined at population level its immediate consequences for mental health and physical functioning, what pathways confer risk and protection for these consequences, and their likely healthcare consequences. This study will utilise an existing cohort of approximately 1500 Victorian adolescents followed since childhood to examine neglected aspects of the genesis and ....There is now no doubting the size and long-term risks to health of the childhood obesity epidemic. However, very little research has examined at population level its immediate consequences for mental health and physical functioning, what pathways confer risk and protection for these consequences, and their likely healthcare consequences. This study will utilise an existing cohort of approximately 1500 Victorian adolescents followed since childhood to examine neglected aspects of the genesis and impacts of overweight and obesity. The Health of Young Victorians Study was originally assembled in 1997 when the children were in Grades Prep-3. In addition to information on putative risk and protective factors for overweight-obesity and direct measures of height and weight, it is unique in having collected data on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) since children were first recruited during the early primary school years. Eight years after the first wave, the children will be adolescents in Grades 8-11. This third wave will retain a focus on HRQoL. Innovations include study of potential emotional, behavioural and physical consequences of childhood obesity that may in turn affect the natural history of obesity. This large, population-based longitudinal study will redress neglected aspects of child and adolescent overweight-obesity specifically identified in 2003 by the NH and MRC. As well as establishing whether a range of common problems are related to overweight-obesity, it will be able to shed light on mechanisms of adverse outcomes associated with adolescent overweight-obesity, and study protective factors predicting remitting overweight from childhood to adolescence that may inform preventive activities. The study will make an international contribution to knowledge about pathways, prevalence and preventive opportunities for child and adolescent overweight-obesity.Read moreRead less
Crosstalk Between The Repressive Histone Methyltransferases PRC2 And G9A: Structure-function Investigation To Open New Therapeutic Opportunities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$595,205.00
Summary
The gene expression programs need to be precisely regulated and the misregulation of these programs can cause a broad range of human diseases. My research will focus on two protein complexes, which heavily contribute to the regulation of gene expression. My study will open a new path for developing new therapeutic strategies.