Evaluating The Genetic Contribution To Rheumatic Heart Disease Pathogenesis In Australian Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Communities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,782,074.00
Summary
Rheumatic heart disease is highly prevalent in Aboriginal people in Australia and leads to early cardiac disease. Despite decades of research, the underlying genetic mechanisms for why it occurs are not well understood. We are conducting a genetic study to better understand why some people are susceptible to RHD and others are not. The study will involve substantial Aboriginal leadership and consultation and will be a model for the conduct of genetic studies in Aboriginal populations.
Engineering and expression of recombinant antibodies that interact with plant pathogenic phytoplasma membrane proteins - a model for phytoplasma disease management. . In Australia phytoplasmas are associated with serious diseases including papaya dieback and strawberry lethal yellows. Phytoplasmas cannot be cultured so there is a paucity of knowledge at the genomic level. We have identified the ABC Transporter and FtsH genes and expressed these phytoplasma membrane proteins (MP) in E. coli . We ....Engineering and expression of recombinant antibodies that interact with plant pathogenic phytoplasma membrane proteins - a model for phytoplasma disease management. . In Australia phytoplasmas are associated with serious diseases including papaya dieback and strawberry lethal yellows. Phytoplasmas cannot be cultured so there is a paucity of knowledge at the genomic level. We have identified the ABC Transporter and FtsH genes and expressed these phytoplasma membrane proteins (MP) in E. coli . We will generate antibody fragments that bind these MP and express them in tomato. We will analyse antibody expression in tomato and study their association with the phytoplasma membrane. Transgenic plants will be inoculated with phytoplasma and monitored for resistance. This work represents a major step towards engineering resistance to phytoplasmas.Read moreRead less
Multivariate Algorithmics: Meeting the Challenge of Real World computational complexity. This Project will result in better methods for designing the algorithms that all computer applications depend on. Algorithms are the instruction sets that tell computers how to process information. Some information processing tasks are intrinsically difficult, even for computers working at enormous speeds. This Project will deliver new mathematical approaches to overcome these difficulties. More efficient al ....Multivariate Algorithmics: Meeting the Challenge of Real World computational complexity. This Project will result in better methods for designing the algorithms that all computer applications depend on. Algorithms are the instruction sets that tell computers how to process information. Some information processing tasks are intrinsically difficult, even for computers working at enormous speeds. This Project will deliver new mathematical approaches to overcome these difficulties. More efficient algorithmic approaches for difficult problems enable advances in all areas of computer applications such as medical diagnosis and health prediction, national security, communications efficiency, industrial productivity and all fields of science and engineering.Read moreRead less
Tectonic geography of the world's oldest petroleum play, the McArthur Basin. This projects aims to develop a 4D tectonic geography framework to support the effective exploration of the McArthur Basin. This project will construct this by a) investigating the evolving tectonic setting, b) examining intra-basin correlations and trace the source to sink sediment provenance, c) unraveling the depositional geography using novel isotopic proxies, and, d) constructing the subsequent thermal history of ....Tectonic geography of the world's oldest petroleum play, the McArthur Basin. This projects aims to develop a 4D tectonic geography framework to support the effective exploration of the McArthur Basin. This project will construct this by a) investigating the evolving tectonic setting, b) examining intra-basin correlations and trace the source to sink sediment provenance, c) unraveling the depositional geography using novel isotopic proxies, and, d) constructing the subsequent thermal history of the basin. The techniques developed through this project will de-risk the exploration for petroleum in this basin, and be applicable in opening up Proterozoic petroleum elsewhere in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989147
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$950,000.00
Summary
Advanced high throughput genomics facility for biological, medical, agricultural, environmental and evolutionary research. Infrastructure requested will expand the capacity of researchers in NSW/NT to undertake environmental, medical and evolutionary studies using state-of-the-art technologies based on the recent advances in DNA sequencing analyses. It will ensure the retention of leading researchers in the exciting areas of genomics and Systems Biology and make a significant contribution to bi ....Advanced high throughput genomics facility for biological, medical, agricultural, environmental and evolutionary research. Infrastructure requested will expand the capacity of researchers in NSW/NT to undertake environmental, medical and evolutionary studies using state-of-the-art technologies based on the recent advances in DNA sequencing analyses. It will ensure the retention of leading researchers in the exciting areas of genomics and Systems Biology and make a significant contribution to biomolecular research in medicine, agriculture and environmental biology, thereby providing major benefits to the wider community. The application will enhance existing genomic technologies by substantially increasing the scope of experiments that can be performed leading to important advances in gene discovery.Read moreRead less
Local reoptimization for turbocharging heuristics. Theoretical computer science has up until now had little impact on the design of effective heuristics. While data sets may be large, significant structure is almost always present and important to take into account when designing algorithms. Parameterised complexity considers the underlying structure by parameterising not only on the size of the input but also on structural parameters. This project aims to take advantage of the many opportunitie ....Local reoptimization for turbocharging heuristics. Theoretical computer science has up until now had little impact on the design of effective heuristics. While data sets may be large, significant structure is almost always present and important to take into account when designing algorithms. Parameterised complexity considers the underlying structure by parameterising not only on the size of the input but also on structural parameters. This project aims to take advantage of the many opportunities for new theories in the design of new heuristics and in turbocharging existing heuristics for computationally hard problems.Read moreRead less
Impact Of Co-morbidities On Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment And Survival Of Cervical Cancer Amongst Australian Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Women: 1997-2009
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$98,236.00
Summary
Indigenous women are more likely than non-Indigenous Australian women to be diagnosed with cervical cancer and are less likely to survive it. This study will investigate the impact of co-exisiting chronic diseases (co-morbidities) on cervical cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment and survival outcomes for Indigenous compared to non-Indigenous women. Results from this study will assist in directing future public health initiatives that aim to improve outcomes for women with cervical cancer.
Estimating the potential supply of environmental services by landholders. Wilderness, natural habitats, biodiversity and other aspects of natural capital and their associated ecosystem services are in decline. Increasing scarcity is driving a surge in interest in these services and their value. It potentially provides opportunities for landholders to be generating income from environmental services provision, and lessens dependency on livestock, crop and fibre production. But how realistic are t ....Estimating the potential supply of environmental services by landholders. Wilderness, natural habitats, biodiversity and other aspects of natural capital and their associated ecosystem services are in decline. Increasing scarcity is driving a surge in interest in these services and their value. It potentially provides opportunities for landholders to be generating income from environmental services provision, and lessens dependency on livestock, crop and fibre production. But how realistic are these prospects? A critical aspect of potential markets for environmental services is their supply. This project examines the supply side of environmental services by exploring determinants of ability and willingness of landholders to provide these services.Read moreRead less
Novel isotope techniques to explore the Centralian Superbasin, Australia. This project will leverage new advances in analytical instrumentation and isotope techniques to generate improved geochronological and stratigraphic framework for the Centralian Superbasin, a vast ancient depositional system covering much of central Australia. The project aims to apply novel laser-based dating of sedimentary rocks, coupled with metal isotope proxy reconstructions of the basin’s palaeogeography, hydrologica ....Novel isotope techniques to explore the Centralian Superbasin, Australia. This project will leverage new advances in analytical instrumentation and isotope techniques to generate improved geochronological and stratigraphic framework for the Centralian Superbasin, a vast ancient depositional system covering much of central Australia. The project aims to apply novel laser-based dating of sedimentary rocks, coupled with metal isotope proxy reconstructions of the basin’s palaeogeography, hydrological connectivity and past redox conditions, which are all critical parameters to guide and de-risk future exploration of sediment-hosted resources in this frontier basin. Anticipated outcomes will benefit Australia's resources economy, while providing insights into the evolution of Earth’s surface environment in deep time.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing the Beetaloo/Greater McArthur Basin System . This project aims to build a stratigraphic and water chemistry framework for the greater McArthur Basin—a rock system that covers northern Australia from WA to Queensland. This will be a vital resource for researchers and energy/mineral explorers. This project expects to develop novel sediment dating and isotopic proxies for salinity, redox and bioproductivity and use them to build a sequence stratigraphic framework of the basin. The ex ....Reconstructing the Beetaloo/Greater McArthur Basin System . This project aims to build a stratigraphic and water chemistry framework for the greater McArthur Basin—a rock system that covers northern Australia from WA to Queensland. This will be a vital resource for researchers and energy/mineral explorers. This project expects to develop novel sediment dating and isotopic proxies for salinity, redox and bioproductivity and use them to build a sequence stratigraphic framework of the basin. The expected outcome is a unique 3D lithological, geochronological and geochemical framework for the basin. Expected benefits include de-risked information for the petroleum and minerals industry, assisting northern Australia's resources economy, as well as insights into the development of our planet in deep time.Read moreRead less