The Molecular Determinants Of Immunological Tolerance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$473,477.00
Summary
Autoimmune diseases, such as type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis, are debilitating disorders that impose a massive toll on wellbeing in Australia and worldwide. This fellowship will support research aimed at determining the genes and mechanisms that control autoimmunity. New technologies will be brought to bear to track immune cells throughout their development, maturity and malfunction in disease settings. We aim to uncover new therapeutic targets to prevent and reverse autoimmune disease.
How Does NF-kB2 Regulate Thymic Selection To Prevent Organ-specific Autoimmune Disease?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$787,600.00
Summary
Autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes and thyroiditis arise from defects that cause the immune system to confuse self and non-self. Normally, this distinction is programmed in the thymus. We recently identified the gene that causes a form of autoimmune disease. We also made an important discovery about how the thymus gland regulates self-non-self discrimination. We will build on these two discoveries to gain a precise understanding of how the immune system normally avoids autoimmune disease.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a major chronic disease affecting over 100,000 Australians. Its treatment and complications impose a significant burden on affected individuals and their families and on the health system. T1D occurs when the immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the islet cells of the pancreas. The team has developed ways to identify at-risk people, defined immune and genetic causes of T1D and is undertaking prevention trials and Australia's first islet transplant program. Th ....Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a major chronic disease affecting over 100,000 Australians. Its treatment and complications impose a significant burden on affected individuals and their families and on the health system. T1D occurs when the immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the islet cells of the pancreas. The team has developed ways to identify at-risk people, defined immune and genetic causes of T1D and is undertaking prevention trials and Australia's first islet transplant program. Their multidisciplinary research is taking us closer to the prevention and cure of T1D.Read moreRead less
De Novo Mutations And The Pathogenesis Of Childhood-onset Autoimmune Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,406,510.00
Summary
This project aims to reveal the gene abnormalities that cause devastating autoimmune diseases to develop in some children, such as Type 1 diabetes, juvenile arthritis and autoimmune destruction of blood cells. The project will use new technologies to identify alterations in the DNA sequence of a child compared to either of their parents, and to test suspicious DNA alterations in laboratory mice in order to understand the gene effects and evaluate new treatments.
Population Health Planning For Rural Medicare Locals: Evaluating A Community Participation Method For Delivering Outcomes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$438,587.00
Summary
The study, in six communities, will evaluate whether an evidenced based method of rural community participation from the UK translates to assist healthcare planning by Medicare Locals. Medicare Locals must involve local people in designing services to improve health, but lack methods to do this. The focus of the study is oral health, a major issue in rural areas. The study evaluates whether new services are designed and implemented and whether there is change to health knowledge and behaviours.
New methodologies for representing and accessing resources on endangered languages: a case study from South Efate. Linguists produce material which has immense cultural significance as it is often the only record of endangered cultures. With new technologies come new ways of working with indigenous languages. This APD will develop an innovative methodology for documenting and archiving data from a language of the Pacific. It will do this by linking a dictionary, texts, audio, video, images and a ....New methodologies for representing and accessing resources on endangered languages: a case study from South Efate. Linguists produce material which has immense cultural significance as it is often the only record of endangered cultures. With new technologies come new ways of working with indigenous languages. This APD will develop an innovative methodology for documenting and archiving data from a language of the Pacific. It will do this by linking a dictionary, texts, audio, video, images and a grammar to facilitate presentation of both the data and its analysis to speakers, fellow linguists, and the general public. The methodology developed in this APD will result in innovative linguistic data management techniques conformant to emerging international standards.Read moreRead less
Oral Tradition, Literacy and Education in Two Eastern Indonesian Societies. This project will improve our understanding of social and cultural change in eastern Indonesia, a region of strategic importance to Australia. The research will contribute significantly to knowledge of the educational system and literacy levels in eastern Indonesia. This knowledge will be of practical use in development projects in the region and to policy makers in Canberra who are concerned with Indonesian affairs. The ....Oral Tradition, Literacy and Education in Two Eastern Indonesian Societies. This project will improve our understanding of social and cultural change in eastern Indonesia, a region of strategic importance to Australia. The research will contribute significantly to knowledge of the educational system and literacy levels in eastern Indonesia. This knowledge will be of practical use in development projects in the region and to policy makers in Canberra who are concerned with Indonesian affairs. The involvement of a PhD student in the project will increase our national research capacity in eastern Indonesia. The contributions to anthropological theory and method this research will produce will enhance Australia's international reputation as a centre of anthropology, southeast Asian studies and the study of literacy.Read moreRead less