Mechanisms And Therapies In Cardiovascular Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$8,360,700.00
Summary
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) claims 1 person every 10 min in Australia and causes 1 in 3 deaths worldwide. The molecular and cellular processes underlying atherosclerosis, vascular injury and thrombosis are highly complex and not well understood. A multifaceted approach is needed to effectively address these key challenges. This Program brings together world experts in these areas to interrogate gaps in our basic understanding of CVD, and to develop novel therapies for CVD patients by exploiting ....Cardiovascular disease (CVD) claims 1 person every 10 min in Australia and causes 1 in 3 deaths worldwide. The molecular and cellular processes underlying atherosclerosis, vascular injury and thrombosis are highly complex and not well understood. A multifaceted approach is needed to effectively address these key challenges. This Program brings together world experts in these areas to interrogate gaps in our basic understanding of CVD, and to develop novel therapies for CVD patients by exploiting new knowledge through integrated research.Read moreRead less
Estimating And Alleviating The Impacts Of Age-Related Sensory Decline
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$323,767.00
Summary
Sensory loss and dementia disproportionately affect older adults, often co-occur, and are the two leading contributors to disability burden among older Australians. This research will investigate the consequences that hearing and vision loss have for older adult health and wellbeing, informing strategies to reduce the disability burden of age-related sensory loss. These impacts include cognitive decline and dementia, mental health, quality of life, disability and independent living.
Structural And Functional Analysis Of A Cancer-linked Co-regulator Complex
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$729,571.00
Summary
We seek to understand the mechanisms by which genes are switched on and off throughout our lifetime. A number of multi-component protein machines are involved in this process but their make-up and mechanism of action is not understood. We will investigate the structure and function of one of these machines that has been strongly linked to cancer.
Preparing Australia For Genomic Medicine: A Proposal By The Australian Genomics Health Alliance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$25,000,000.00
Summary
The sequencing of the human genome brings the possibility of more accurate identification of the underlying basis of many diseases. This technology has moved so rapidly, however, that clinical access has been limited. In this application, a national alliance of clinicians, researchers, health economists and policymakers will evaluate the case for clinical genomics across inherited disease and cancer, determine how best to deliver this to the patient and train a capable workforce.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function. The Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function will address one of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century to understand how the brain works. We will investigate complex functions such as attention, prediction and decision-making, which require the coordination of information processing by many areas of the brain. This will require a highly collaborative approach involving neurobiologists, cognitive scientists, eng ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function. The Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function will address one of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century to understand how the brain works. We will investigate complex functions such as attention, prediction and decision-making, which require the coordination of information processing by many areas of the brain. This will require a highly collaborative approach involving neurobiologists, cognitive scientists, engineers and physicists, allowing us to translate our discoveries into novel technologies for the social and economic benefit of all Australians. We will also train a new generation of multidisciplinary researchers, and contribute our expertise to a range of public education and awareness programs.Read moreRead less
Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will ....Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will resolve the roles of environmental drivers of soil respiration across forests; integrate mechanistic understanding of differing plant and microbial responses to temperature within a common modelling framework; and evaluate the implications of this knowledge in predictions of climatic impacts on terrestrial carbon cycling.Read moreRead less
Reducing The Greatest Uncertainty In Radiotherapy.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$594,197.00
Summary
The weakest link in radiotherapy is defining treatment volumes (contouring). Lack of accuracy and consistency in clinical trial contouring has been shown to result in reduced patient outcomes. Manual review of contouring is resource intensive, expensive and for advanced treatments unachievable in a timely fashion. We will assess an automated approach to contouring assessment using 4 clinical trial datasets, changing practice for future studies and enabling consistent assessment in the clinic.
The Treatment Of BOoking Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Study: The TOBOGM Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,197,280.00
Summary
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) related pregnancy complications are reduced with treatment from 24-28 weeks pregnant. Many women are diagnosed/treated earlier without evidence of benefit and possible risk of harm. In TOBOGM women under 20 weeks pregnant with mildly raised blood glucose will be allocated by chance to either immediate treatment, or awaiting a repeat diabetes test at 24-28 weeks pregnant to decide treatment. Harmful and beneficial effects on mother and baby will be compared.
To grow or to store: Do plants hedge their bets? This project aims to resolve a long-standing question about the function of perennial plants: how much of the carbon taken up by photosynthesis is used immediately for growth, and how much is kept in reserve as insurance against future stress? This question is important to our understanding of how plants respond to stresses such as severe drought, and yet lack of data and theoretical modelling currently hampers our ability to answer it. By applyin ....To grow or to store: Do plants hedge their bets? This project aims to resolve a long-standing question about the function of perennial plants: how much of the carbon taken up by photosynthesis is used immediately for growth, and how much is kept in reserve as insurance against future stress? This question is important to our understanding of how plants respond to stresses such as severe drought, and yet lack of data and theoretical modelling currently hampers our ability to answer it. By applying novel data analysis and modelling tools to recent experimental results, the project plans to test hypotheses for how plants allocate carbon between growth and storage in response to stress. Insights from the project may underpin better management of Australia’s vulnerable ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Linking phytoplankton to fisheries using zooplankton size spectra. This project aims to develop innovative numerical methods to understand the dynamics, carbon export, and trophic structure of zooplankton. The trophic links between phytoplankton, zooplankton and fisheries are unknown. The size- frequency distribution of zooplankton (size spectrum) is an innovative method for estimating their growth, predation and production as food for fish. Analysis of a global synthesis of zooplankton size dis ....Linking phytoplankton to fisheries using zooplankton size spectra. This project aims to develop innovative numerical methods to understand the dynamics, carbon export, and trophic structure of zooplankton. The trophic links between phytoplankton, zooplankton and fisheries are unknown. The size- frequency distribution of zooplankton (size spectrum) is an innovative method for estimating their growth, predation and production as food for fish. Analysis of a global synthesis of zooplankton size distributions from tropical to polar environments are expected to reveal these vital rates of pelagic ecosystems. The zooplankton rates will reveal, for the first time, the link between phytoplankton and fisheries, and will significantly improve ecosystem models and global assessments of environmental change.Read moreRead less