Radiotherapy Treatment For Prostate Cancer - A Change In Practice Based On Direct Evidence For Targeting And Toxicity Effects Using Real Outcomes Data
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$555,129.00
Summary
Radiotherapy for prostate cancer treatment will be more effective when we have better knowledge of what patient anatomy needs to be targeted, and what needs to be avoided. This project will combine data collected during a large Australasian prostate cancer radiotherapy trial, ‘RADAR’, with data collected using new patient imaging methods to determine how patient anatomy impacts on the effectiveness of their treatment and the side-effects they experience.
Controlling interactive music performance: enhancing live performances by human musicians and algorithmic computer systems. This project will investigate techniques for the control of computer music systems during performances with a musician. It will identify and evaluate parameters and patterns for expressive variation of music algorithms, contribute new theories of music representation, and provide insights into human interactions with semi-autonomous technologies.
Designing digital aquatic play to foster Australians’ engagement with water. From the beach to the pool, aquatic play is key to Australians’ quality of life and advances physical, mental and social wellbeing. This project harnesses our increasing use of interactive technology (such as wearables) to develop the world’s first design theory on interactive aquatic play. The project creates and evaluates three inspirational aquatic play prototypes, advancing confidence in water skills, self-expressio ....Designing digital aquatic play to foster Australians’ engagement with water. From the beach to the pool, aquatic play is key to Australians’ quality of life and advances physical, mental and social wellbeing. This project harnesses our increasing use of interactive technology (such as wearables) to develop the world’s first design theory on interactive aquatic play. The project creates and evaluates three inspirational aquatic play prototypes, advancing confidence in water skills, self-expression through movement and employment of safe practices to enrich Australian’s physical engagement with water. Digital media developers, government interventions and wellbeing groups can use the derived design knowledge to leverage digital technology and aquatic interactivity to foster Australians’ physical engagement with water.Read moreRead less
Heparin-induced Thrombocytopenia And Thrombosis: Better Understanding Of Pathogenesis And Improving Diagnosis And Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$653,137.00
Summary
Heparin, a widely used drug, can cause an adverse effect which results in a fall of the platelet count and the development of serious thrombosis. This drug complication is mediated by an immune mechanism. This proposal aims to provide a better understanding of the disease mechanism. It also aims to develop a new test that will improve the diagnosis, and to produce a novel drug that will effectively suppress the immune reaction and improve the treatment.
Cholestasis And Hepatocyte Injury In Chronic Liver Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$615,967.00
Summary
The aim of this project is to understand the consequences of long-term cholestasis or impaired bile excretion/flow on normal liver cells (hepatocytes) and to test whether specific bile acids can cause irreversible damage to hepatocytes leading to their transformation into pre-malignant cells and hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer). The results from this project will inform new strategies in screening, prevention and treatment of liver cancer in children and adults with cholestasis.
Development Of A New High Throughput Screen For Drug Binding To HERG K+ Channels
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$351,320.00
Summary
Inadvertent drug block of hERG, a potassium channel in the heart, can cause cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Screening for hERG toxicity has become a major hurdle for development of new drugs. We will use a mutant hERG protein that has enhanced drug binding to develop a high throughput test for hERG toxicity. Identification of dangerous drugs early in the drug discovery process will save the pharmaceutical industry millions of dollars in the costs of brining new drugs to market.
Antimalarial Drugs In Pregnancy: Preclinical And Clinical Studies Of Conventional And Novel Agents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$470,115.00
Summary
Women in malaria-endemic areas such as coastal PNG are at high risk of malaria in pregnancy. To prevent the substantially increased malaria-associated morbidity and mortality in mother and child, and because even asymptomatic infections can be deleterious, there has been a move to giving antimalarial drugs regularly during pregnancy regardless of the mother's clinical or parasitological status. In poor tropical countries, such treatment usually comprises safe and inexpensive agents such as chlor ....Women in malaria-endemic areas such as coastal PNG are at high risk of malaria in pregnancy. To prevent the substantially increased malaria-associated morbidity and mortality in mother and child, and because even asymptomatic infections can be deleterious, there has been a move to giving antimalarial drugs regularly during pregnancy regardless of the mother's clinical or parasitological status. In poor tropical countries, such treatment usually comprises safe and inexpensive agents such as chloroquine and Fansidar. There are two main issues with this approach. First, the efficacy of such conventional agents is waning and this increases the risk of break-through malaria. Second, there are few data on how the drugs are handled in pregnancy on which to base recommendations for treatment. We plan to collect information on the disposition and effectiveness of chloroquine and Fansidar in women with malaria in pregnancy in PNG that should allow a critical appraisal of the usefulness of current regimens in PNG and in other tropical countries where parasite resistance to these agents is emerging. Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) in the form of a novel artemisinin drug and a longer-acting partner has been suggested as the most promising alternative therapy for malaria in pregnancy if conventional drugs fail. We plan to assess the safety of a leading ACT formulation, namely dihydroartemisinin and the chloroquine-like drug piperaquine (DHA-PQ), in animals before extending our studies to women with malaria in PNG. These latter studies will allow an evaluation of the safety and efficacy of DHA-PQ as novel therapy for malaria in pregnancy in PNG and other tropical countries.Read moreRead less
Drug-induced Immune Thrombocytopenia: Understanding The Disease Mechanisms Is The Key To Better Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$509,550.00
Summary
Many very commonly used medications cause an allergic reaction in a small number of patients that receive them. The allergic reaction results in platelets being destroyed and puts the patients at risk of bleeding. The patient recovers slowly if the drug is stopped but there is no other treatment and no way to reverse the effect quickly if the patient starts to bleed. This project will try to understand the mechanism of the condition and test a potential treatment.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100081
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$220,000.00
Summary
DomeLab: an ultra-high resolution experimental fulldome. DomeLab - an ultra-high resolution experimental fulldome: This project will establish the first ultra-high resolution (4000 x 4000 pixels) experimental fulldome in Australia (DomeLab). This fulldome facility will provide a powerful immersive dome-based video projection environment. Partners will work collaboratively across three themes: interactive media, future museology and experimental humanities. Through the national research services ....DomeLab: an ultra-high resolution experimental fulldome. DomeLab - an ultra-high resolution experimental fulldome: This project will establish the first ultra-high resolution (4000 x 4000 pixels) experimental fulldome in Australia (DomeLab). This fulldome facility will provide a powerful immersive dome-based video projection environment. Partners will work collaboratively across three themes: interactive media, future museology and experimental humanities. Through the national research services AARNet and Intersect's research data storage infrastructure, DomeLab will extend pioneering research in aesthetic frameworks and frontier technologies to benefit artistic, cultural, museological and humanities researchers. DomeLab is designed as a touring system and will be installed throughout the country at leading institutions. Read moreRead less
Transforming the early modern archive: the Emmerson Collection at SLV. In 2015, State Library Victoria (SLV) received the bequest of the Emmerson Collection: a national treasure of over 5000 early modern rare books and manuscripts, the first and only early modern archive of scale to be held by an Australian institution. Bringing together experts in early modern studies and the digital humanities with specialist library staff, this project will uncover the contents and scope of the collection and ....Transforming the early modern archive: the Emmerson Collection at SLV. In 2015, State Library Victoria (SLV) received the bequest of the Emmerson Collection: a national treasure of over 5000 early modern rare books and manuscripts, the first and only early modern archive of scale to be held by an Australian institution. Bringing together experts in early modern studies and the digital humanities with specialist library staff, this project will uncover the contents and scope of the collection and promote its international scholarly significance to the wider world. In doing so, it will develop new digital tools designed to unlock the value of this unique public resource for a wide range of end-users.Read moreRead less