Development Of A Sensitive Point Of Care Diagnostic Assay For Troponin I
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$137,650.00
Summary
This research aims to develop a diagnostic for immediate monitoring of patients presenting with chest pain, with the presumption of heart attack. The novel diagnostic platform will enable the estimation of a key indicator of heart muscle damage to be performed within a ten to fifteen minute window. This will aid speedier diagnosis and propoer triage of patients presenting with chest pain.
Despite recent advances in therapeutic options, chronic viral infections, including infection with hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus, continue to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Australia and affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. This R&D program aims to develop a cheaper drug formulation that is easier to deliver and more stable for transport to remote areas.
Therapeutic Strategies And Screening Methods For PKC Epsilon Antagonists In The Treatment Of Type 2 Diabetes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$157,375.00
Summary
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease affecting over a million Australians and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Its prevalence is rising due to several factors such as an increase in caloric intake, the aging of the population, and the common sedentary lifestyle of Western civilization. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin for the body to cope with rising blood glucose levels after a meal, and has been strongly linked to obesity. We have now shown ....Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease affecting over a million Australians and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Its prevalence is rising due to several factors such as an increase in caloric intake, the aging of the population, and the common sedentary lifestyle of Western civilization. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin for the body to cope with rising blood glucose levels after a meal, and has been strongly linked to obesity. We have now shown that an enzyme found in the pancreas becomes inappropriately activated under conditions of fat oversupply, and plays an important role in the development of defects in insulin release from the pancreas in response to glucose. Excitingly, we have also shown that inhibition of this enzyme can partly reverse these defects once they have been established. We now intend to further validate this enzyme as a drug target by determining the optimum dosing regimen for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in a mouse model, and testing whether this approach can be used in conjunction with previously-developed drugs which promote insulin action, to improve bood glucose handling better than either treatment alone. This would promote the enzyme as a therapeutic strategy in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. We also plan to develop a high throuhput screen to identify novel inhibitors of the enzyme, which will further increase the attractiveness of the project to pharmaceutical companies, who are better able to implent full commercialization of our findings.Read moreRead less