Interactions Between Excretory-secretory Proteins Of The Carcinogenic Liver Fluke And Host Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$489,122.00
Summary
Throughout East Asia, there is a strikingly high prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA - cancer of the bile ducts) in regions where the human liver fluke is endemic. How the parasite casues cancer is multi-factorial, but one suspected mechanism is via the secretion of parasite proteins that enter bile duct cells and cause them to proliferate. We aim to understand this process and ultimately develop new control strategies to reduce the prevalence or the infection and CCA.
Mechanism Of Neurological Complications In Cerebral Malaria
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$53,609.00
Summary
Malaria kills 1 million young children every year. About the same number are saved by treatment with anti-malarial drugs but have brain damage, leading to problems of understanding, learning or memory. The processes in the brain that lead to these changes are unknown. I will investigate a biochemical pathway that is activated during malaria infection, because I propose that this may cause the brain damage that leads to the long-term cognitive problems in survivors.