Sonia - Database
Sonia - Database
- MMS Honours projects for Sonia
- All Department 2019 projects
- Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health
- Clinical Pathology
- Critical Care
- General Practice
- Infectious Diseases
- Medicine and Radiology
- Medical Education
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Paediatrics
- Psychiatry
- Rural Health
- Surgery
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
MMS Honours projects for Sonia
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Projects Title | Research Node (Project Site) | Department | Project Description | Number of Places Available (Masters) | Number of Places Available (Honours) | Primary Supervisor UoM Staff ID Number | Primary Supervisor Title | Primary Supervisor First Name | Primary Supervisor Surname | Primary Supervisor Email | Co-Supervisor 1 Title | Co-Supervisor 1 First Name | Co-Supervisor 1 Surname | Co-Supervisor 2 Title | Co-Supervisor 2 First Name | Co-Supervisor 2 Surname | Co-Supervisor 3 Title | Co-Supervisor 3 First Name | Co-Supervisor 3 Surname | Additional Supervisors (Please include the title and full name) | Opportunity |
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: Unravelling the role of breast milk ether lipids in modulating immune function in early life | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | In this project we will combine our lipidomics expertise with our unique mouse models of ether lipid modification to define the role of breast milk ether lipids in modulating immune function in infants. | Professor | Peter | Meikle | peter.meikle@baker.edu.au | Dr | Sudip | Paul | n/a | PhD students; Honours students | |||||||||
A clinical trial-in-a-dish using iPSC-derived cartilage and bone organoids | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | We have developed new protocols to differentiate induced pluripotent stem cells into cartilage and bone cells so that we can model inherited skeletal disorders. This project focusses on a disorder called metaphyseal chondrodysplasia, type Schmid (MCDS) which is an autosomal dominant genetic skeletal disease caused by mutations in COL10A1, the gene for the hypertrophic cartilage structural protein collagen X. It is a serious chronic medical condition. We have shown that MCDS mice treated with carbamazepine (CBZ), a drug that relieves ER stress by stimulating intracellular protein degradation, have improved long bone growth and decreased hip dysplasia. Based on this, an EU funded world-wide clinical trial is underway to test if CBZ, an FDA approved drug, can be repurposed to treat MCDS. Most MCDS patients have private mutations and the precise cellular pathology will vary between mutation types and affect therapeutic outcomes. | A/Prof | Shireen | Lamande | shireen.lamande@mcri.edu.au | Prof | John | Bateman | Dr | Louise | Kung | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
A cytokine pathway in the control of inflammation and pain | Medicine | Chronic pain has led significantly to the opioid epidemic and the need for improved therapy. With this in mind the project is designed to understand how a particular protein controls inflammation and its associated pain. | Professor | John | Hamilton | jahami@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ming-Chin (Kevin) | Lee | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||
A high throughput drug screen to identify candidate targets for the treatment of Neurofibromatosis Type 1. | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | NF1 is a single-gene disorder caused by a loss-of-function mutation in the NF1 gene resulting in a reduction of the protein neurofibromin. Cognitive deficits occur in approximately 80% of children with the genetic syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), making them the greatest cause of disability for individuals with this lifelong genetic condition. These manifest as academic failure due to learning disabilities (70%), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; 40%) and a significantly increased risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD; 25%). | Dr | Kiymet | Bozaoglu | kiymet.bozaoglu@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Paul | Lockhart | A/Prof | Jonathan | Payne | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
A monoclonal antibody (mAb1F5) has been developed that identifies a unique marker, a membrane protein expressed by pericytes and meningeal cells | Austin Health | Medicine | The expression pattern identified by a novel antibody has been characterised in a number of foetal and adult tissues including pericytes associated with tumour vasculature, meningeal cells of the foetal brain and osteoblasts of developing bone. These observations are consistent with the identification of a novel (growth) factor that would also play an important role in foetal development, neuron homeostasis and tumourogenesis. The proposed strategy for the identification of this target protein will include the purification of the protein/peptide from an osteoblast or meningeal cell line and sequencing of peptide fragments using proteomics and further molecular studies. | Dr | Peter | Wookey | pwookey@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
A novel approach in improving lipidomics throughput for population profiling | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | This study aims to generate a novel approach in comprehensive lipidomic profiling using high resolution mass spectrometry approaches in conjunction with computational biology. | Professor | Peter | Meikle | peter.meikle@baker.edu.au | Dr | Kevin | Huynh | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
A systematic review of end of life quality of care indicators | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | Increasingly services around the world are seeking to benchmark the quality of the care that is provided to patients receiving palliative care. A series of indices have been developed to seek to enable assessment between and within services of the quality of palliative care delivered. However, different indices are used in different settings and such indices cross domains including health service use indicators, and patient and family reported outcomes. A systematic understanding of the indices available and their strengths and limitations is required in order to take this important field of work forward. | Prof | Jennifer | Philip | jphilip@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Anna | Collins | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
A systematic review of the management of sleep in palliative care cancer patients | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | Sleep disturbance is very common in a cancer illness, resulting from symptoms from the cancer itself, symptoms related to cancer treatment and the psychological effects of having a cancer diagnosis. This problem frequently escalates in patients with advanced disease. The management of sleep in this setting is currently the subject of a developing program of clinical trials using pharmacological agents. This systematic review would provide the foundational tenets for this program of work. | Prof | Jennifer | Philip | jphilip@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Anna | Collins | n/a | Masters by Research | |||||||||
A therapeutic strategy for killing cancer cells by DNA repair inhibition | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | DNA damage drives cancer formation but also its treatment. BLM helicase is an enzyme that acts as a quality control factor during the repair of DNA damage. In this project you will drive the development of new small molecule-based strategies for targeting BLM for cancer treatment. | A/Prof | Andrew | Deans | adeans@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Abnormal Placental Stem Cells And Their Role In Human Pregnancy Pathologies | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | This project will explore the molecular mechanisms by which extracellular vesicles derived from normal and pathological placental mesenchymal stem cells, modulate endothelial cell function. | Dr | Bill Kalionis | kalionis@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Maria Kokkinos | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Activated platelets targeted drug therapy | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Developing a novel targeted fibrinolytic drug that is directed against activated platelets. Fibrinolysis is a valuable alternative for treating myocardial infarction when an invasivesurgical procedure is not available in a timely fashion. | Dr | Xiaowei | Wang | xiaoweiw@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Karlheinz | Peter | Dr | Laura | Bienvenu | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Adapt an evidence-based healthy lifestyle program to an Australian context | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | The goal of this program of research is to identify what information young people with cerebral palsy need, and how best to provide this education in order for them to live a healthy and happy life. This work sits within the NHMRC funded Centre for Research Excellence 'CP-Achieve' program, and aims to develop and test a consumer-informed evidence-based healthy lifestyle program. | Prof | Dinah | Reddihough | dinah.reddihough@rch.org.au | Prof | Prue | Morgan | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Adipocytes as Weapons of Bone Destruction: The bone as a War Zone | Western Health | Medicine | Osteoporosis in older persons is the consequence of predominant differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) into fat at the expense of osteoblastogenesis and bone formation. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr. | Ahmed | Al Seadi | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Adjunct Cord Blood Cell Therapy for Paediatric Heart Failure | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Our work examines how cord blood immune and stem cells influence adaptive processes involved in muscle growth and metabolism, inflammation and fibrosis by promoting growth and limiting adverse myocardial remodelling in the paediatric heart at risk of failure. Project opportunities may involve studies of immune cell metabolism, paracrine cell-cell interactions in models of inflammation, fibrosis and angiogenesis, in vitro and in surgical models, in addition to clinical trial work (medical/nursing graduates). | A/Prof | Salvatore | Pepe | spepe@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Christian | Brizard | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Adverse health consequences of infant food allergy: a population-based longitudinal study. | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | A PhD project is available for a student to assess the adverse health consequences of food allergy throughout childhood and adolescence. | Dr | Rachel | Peters | rachel.peters@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Jennifer | Koplin | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
An anti-calcitonin receptor (CTR) antibody for detection of programmed cell death: the role of CTR in a novel adaptive response to cell stress | Austin Health | Medicine | Programmed cell death (PCD) is an essential process in life. | Dr | Peter | Wookey | pwookey@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
An antibody (mAb2E1) that detects a novel, high molecular weight surrogate ligand of calcitonin receptor is detected in malignant glioma cells, developing brain and bone, and an osteosarcoma cell line | Austin Health | Medicine | An antibody was developed that binds high molecular weight targets (HMWT) with similar properties to the natural ligands of the calcitonin receptor (CTR). | Dr | Peter J | Wookey | pwookey@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | David | Hare | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
An exploration of the experience of care at the end of life for patients with a history of illicit drug use: A qualitative medical record review | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | People with a current or past history of illicit drug use who are receiving palliative and end of life care have unique and significant care needs, including managing symptoms, particularly pain, finding an appropriate setting for healthcare delivery, managing concurrent physical and psychological comorbidity, which can be concealed by ongoing drug use, and navigating complex psycho-social circumstances. We have a program of work examining the end of life care of this patient cohort, with mixed methods data collection from patients and health care professionals. We are seeking to add a qualitative medical record review to provide an additional dimension to facilitate understanding and improve care. | Prof | Jennifer | Philip | jphilip@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Anna | Collins | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Analysis of Synovial Fluid and Peripheral Blood Samples from Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Using Patients with Osteoarthritis as Controls | Western Health | Medicine | Better understanding of the pathophysiology of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has led to the development of new therapeutic strategies. Despite this there is still an unmet need with an important number of patients not achieving low disease states or remission. | A/prof | Keith | Lim | kklim@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | John | Hamilton | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Animal models of Brain Development assessed using histology | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Cognitive and memory deficits underlie and, in some cases, precede the diagnosis of many neuropsychiatric disorders from depression to autism and schizophrenia. The hippocampus is a key brain region responsible for cognitive and memory processing. The aim of the current project is to model hippocampal functioning in the mouse brain using a combination of histological and biochemical techniques, and to determine whether differences are present between age groups. | Professor | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Liliana | Laskaris | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Animal models of Brain Development assessed using MRI | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | A newly commenced Program Grant aims to map brain-structure-function relationships and molecular signatures across developmental stages in the mouse, as measured through novel neuroimaging techniques and microscopy. The aim of the current project is to model hippocampal structure in the mouse brain using a combination of structural and spectroscopy neuroimaging techniques, and to determine whether differences are present between age groups. | 1 | Prof | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Warda Taqdees | Syeda | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||||||
Anxiety and neurodegeneration in preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The project will provide a unique opportunity to work on an Australian dataset with midlife and late-life data collected (data over 20 years), and will suit a candidate with interest in cognition and ageing. There is also opportunity for publication. | Dr | Andrew | Hua | healthy-ageing@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Cassandra | Szoeke | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Application of computational biology approaches to identify and develop biomarkers to predict preeclampsia | Austin Health | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Placental growth factor (PlGF) is a protein produced by the placenta during pregnancy that is critical to normal placental development. We know that it is reduced in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia or fetal growth restriction. This project will focus on studying whether a signalling pathway, the JAK/STAT pathway, regulates PlGF in human placenta, and possibly identifying therapeutics that inhibit its expression/activation. | 1 | Dr | Fiona | Brownfoot | fiona.brownfoot@gmail.com | A/Prof | Tu'uhevaha | Kaitu'u-Lino | n/a | PhD students; Honours students | ||||||||
Application of computational biology approaches to identify and develop biomarkers to predict pregnancy disorders and guide clinical practice. | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction and pre-term birth affect up to 10% of all pregnancies. This project will apply bioinformatics tools to develop biomarkers which may identify which women will develop preeclampsia leading to a predictive test for preeclampsia and personalised treatment options. | Professor | Eva | Dimitriadis | eva.dimitriadis@unimelb.edu.au | A/Professor | Kim-Anh | Le Cao | Dr | Ellen | Menkhorst | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Application of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to treat childhood syndromes | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | This project will develop new cutting-edge technologies for the correction of inherited mutations responsible for all manner of human disease. | A/Prof | Andrew | Deans | adeans@svi.edu.au | Dr | Astrid | Glaser | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Artificial intelligence in ophthalmology: from data to algorithm and real-world application | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | This project aims to further evolve artificial intelligence technology to develop and validate a clinical decision system that can predict disease outcomes and prognosis, as well as help clinicians decide on treatment options, based on real-world multi-modality clinical data. | Professor | Mingguang | He | mingguang.he@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Artificial intelligence system to detect eye and cardiovascular diseases | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | Using the advanced deep learning system that has been developed and validated by the team as a basis, this project brings together medical research institutes, technical developers, industry, consumer organisations, government policy and service providers to develop, translate and prove an all-in-one AI system (A-Eye) that aims to create innovative solutions for multiple health disciplines and needs, including an opportunistic screening model, diagnosis standardisation and a cross-disciplinary model of risk prediction for cardiovascular diseases. | Professor | Mingguang | He | mingguang.he@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Assessing the therapeutic effects of plasmalogen supplementation in a mouse model of heart failure | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Approximately 60% of men and 45% of women with heart failure die within five years of diagnosis. Additional therapies are required to address this major unmet need. Lipids are a major component of all cell membranes including heart muscle cells. Recent studies have shown that lipids (molecules such as fats) are altered in various pathologies, such as cardiovascular disease. Plasmalogens are a specific type of lipid that are enriched in the heart. Previous studies have demonstrated that plasmalogen levels were reduced in settings of type 2 diabetes. I have recently published results that demonstrate an association of reduced plasmalogen levels to heart failure in mice. The role of plasmalogens in the heart however, is currently unclear. This study aims to assess the potential of treating a surgical mouse model of heart failure(Ischemia reperfusion) by using a dietary supplement that increases plasmalogens levels in the heart. | 1 | Dr | Yow Keat | Tham | yowkeat.tham@baker.edu.au | Prof | Julie | McMullen | n/a | Honours students | ||||||||
Assessment and management of fatigue following paediatric acquired brain injury | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Assessment and management of fatigue following paediatric acquired brain injury | Dr | Sarah | Knight | sarah.knight@mcri.edu.au | A/Prof | Adam | Scheinberg | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Assessment of the Falls and Fractures Prevention Clinic as the Most Effective Setting toReduce Falls and Fractures in High-Risk Older Persons: A Care Program Assessment | Western Health | Medicine | Western Health is one of the two centres in Australia that have implemented a new Falls and Fractures Prevention Clinic (FFPC). However, the effectiveness of this care model has not been assessed. We will assess the impact of the FFPC at reducing falls and fracture risk from initial assessment to six month follow up. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Associations Between Sarcopenia, Intramuscular Fat, Mental/Physical Function and Brain Atrophy: An Imaging and Machine Learning Approach | Western Health | Medicine | Through a collaboration between AIMSS and our co-investigators in Norway we will quantify the volume of muscles of interest and the volume of intra/inter-muscular adipose tissue (IMAT) on MRI images of older adults. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ebrahim | Bani Hassan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Atrophic Age-Related Macular Degeneration (Expediting Translation of New Therapies to Clinical Care) | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | Patients who develop atrophic complications of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) currently face an inevitable future of progressive central vision loss since no effective treatments are available to prevent or slow the unrelenting degeneration of the retina. However, this prospect may soon change as new therapies are beginning to show promise for slowing disease progression in atrophic AMD, and several challenges need to be addressed to expedite their translation into clinical care. | A/Prof | Zhichao | Wu | wu.z@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Robyn | Guymer AM | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Balance Gym for Falls Prevention in Older Adults | Western Health | Medicine | The Gait and Balance Gym provides a community program for falls and fracture prevention in older adults through traditional and novel methods | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Biofabrication of an in vitro 3D osteosarcoma model | St Vincent's Hospital | Surgery | The goal of this project is to generate a 3D in vitro model of osteosarcoma using primary tumour cells and 3D bioprinting technologies. | Dr | Serena | Duchi | serena.duchi@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Carmine | Onofrillo | Prof | Peter | Choong | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Bone Substrate Composition Affecting Bone Cell Formation, Function and Bone Turnover | Western Health | Medicine | Bone substrate can affect both bone cell formation and bone cell function. Dysregulation of bone cells and altered turnover of bone are central to pathophysiology of bone. Both physical properties and chemical components may play a role. This project has been designed to assess whether carbonate substitutions and phosphorylation of bone substrate can affect the formation of bone and then the function of these cells. | A/prof | Damian | Myers | damianem@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Natalie | Sims | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
BRACE trial PhD opportunities | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Looking for a clinical or laboratory PhD project? If you’re interested in being part of the world’s largest study on the off-target effects of BCG vaccine, you’re in the right place. Based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the BRACE trial has some exciting opportunities for both clinical and laboratory PhD projects. | Prof | Nigel | Curtis | brace@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Nicole | Messina | Dr | Laure | Pittet | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Brain development and the pathophysiology of psychosis | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | This PhD project will conduct a program of research that investigates brain developmental changes associated with the emergence and pathophysiology of psychotic disorders. | Dr | Vanessa | Cropley | vcropley@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Brain mapping: Brain atlases with multiple topographic features | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Map innovative atlases of the human brain that incorporate multiple topographic features | Associate Professor | Andrew | Zalesky | azalesky@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ye | Tian | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Brain stimulation and clinical translation | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Develop innovative brain stimulation therapies for depression and other psychiatric disorders based on new knowledge of aberrant brain circuits and systems | Associate Professor | Andrew | Zalesky | azalesky@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Robin | Cash | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Brain storming therapeutics for neurodegeneration with novel research models | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Our current understanding as to the pathways that cause and progress neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease is poorly understood. Much information stands to be gained from studying preclinical models of these conditions, in which we can study the early and late changes that occur in the brain that associate with disease severity. This project will use several novel preclinical models to identify novel therapeutic targets that may be used in the future to treat these conditions | 1 | A/Prof | Brian | Drew | brian.drew@baker.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Honours students | |||||||||||
Brain Tumours Online – Implementing and evaluating a digital platform for people affected by brain cancer | Royal Melbourne Hospital | This project offers various opportunities for graduate research students from the fields of health and computer sciences. Our team of researchers, digital health experts, health professionals and brain cancer advocates have co-designed a digital platform for people affected by brain cancer, called Brain Tumours Online. The platform will provide reliable information, a supportive online community and self-care tools for Australians affected by brain tumours. The aim of this project is to implement and evaluate the online platform, including the evaluation of user experiences, implementation and integration processes, the human-computer-interaction and the economic value of the platform. This research has been initiated by Professor Kate Drummond, Head of Neurosurgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Professor of Surgery at the University of Melbourne. | 2 | 2 | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | |||||||||||||||
Brainwave and Electrophysiological Biomarkers of Cognition Enhancing Drugs | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Dr | Chris | French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||||
Can the allergic march from infant food allergy to asthma be prevented? | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | A PhD project is available to (1) evaluate the role food allergy and eczema play in the development of asthma, hayfever, and impaired lung growth up to age 10 years, and (2) identify modifiable risk factors for the progression from infant food allergy to chronic allergic and/or respiratory disease. | A/Prof | Rachel | Peters | rachel.peters@mcri.edu.au | A/Prof | Jennifer | Koplin | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Can we Fix Dementia with Deep Brain Stimulation? | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Dr | Chris | French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||||
Cancer drug discovery by inhibition of a DNA repair pathway with Crispr/Cas9 gene editing and biochemistry | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | In this project, you would learn about DNA repair, genetic diseases like familial breast cancer, and a variety of laboratory-based techniques (CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing in breast cancer cell lines, AlphaScreen drug discovery assays, recombinant DNA technology, drug discovery, cell-based chemotherapy response assays, pharmacokinetics, protein purification and in vitro enzyme assays). | Dr | Wayne | Crismani | wcrismani@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
CASE: Cartilage Analytic Screening Environment | St Vincent's Hospital | Surgery | The goal of our research is to prevent the onset of Osteoarthritis by regenerating cartilage using a unique 3D printing technology, that requires multiple iteration steps to select the optimal combination of a biocompatible material and stem cells, to efficiently regenerate cartilage. | Dr | Carmine | Onofrillo | carmine.onofrillo@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Serena | Duchi | Prof | Peter | Choong | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Causes of Depressive Symptoms in Early Ageing | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Major benefits of this study are: 1. There is opportunity for publication 2. You will have access to a unique database with two decades of psychological and social data 3. This study would be particularly suited to an individual wishing to gain experience in the areas of geriatric psychology and/or depression. | 1 | Professor | Cassandra | Szoeke | healthy-ageing@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Lorraine | Dennerstein | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Driving Anthracycline-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Children | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Anthracyclines such as doxorubicin are effective chemotherapeutic agents for treating childhood cancers with a survival rate of 84% in Australia . More recently however, it has been reported that survivors treated with doxorubicin during childhood risk a 6-10 fold increased incidence of developing early onset heart failure. By applying advanced genetic, flow cytometric, imaging and single cell transcriptomic approaches, the aim of this project is to determine the impact of doxorubicin on the cardiac cellular landscape and the development of pathological cardiac remodelling. Specifically, this project will test the hypothesis that doxorubicin age- and sex-specifically remodels the cardiac cellular landscape. | 2 | 2 | Dr | Alexander | Pinto | alex.pinto@baker.edu.au | Dr | Malathi | Dona | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Driving Anthracycline-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Children | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Anthracyclines such as doxorubicin are effective chemotherapeutic agents for treating childhood cancers with a survival rate of 84% in Australia . More recently however, it has been reported that survivors treated with doxorubicin during childhood risk a 6-10 fold increased incidence of developing early onset heart failure. By applying advanced genetic, flow cytometric, imaging and single cell transcriptomic approaches, the aim of this project is to determine the impact of doxorubicin on the cardiac cellular landscape and the development of pathological cardiac remodeling. Specifically, this project will test the hypothesis that doxorubicin age- and sex-specifically remodels the cardiac cellular landscape. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Alexander | Pinto | alex.pinto@baker.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||||||||
Cerebellar grey and white matter changes in children with Autism spectrum disorders | Psychiatry | Recent evidence suggests that the cerebellum may be a key site of neuropathology in individuals with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and may therefore play a critical role in the symptoms that characterise these disorders. This study will examine cerebellar grey matter and white matter changes during maturation and with the emergence of ASD symptoms. | Professor | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Stan | Skafidas | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||
Characterising Respiratory Infections in Immune-suppressed Haematology and Transplant Patients | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Invasive fungal and viral infections are frequent complications in malignant haematology and transplant patients leading to high morbidity and mortality. This project aims to evaluate the host immune response in blood and lung through a prospective clinical study at the Royal Melbourne Hospital | Professor | Monica | Slavin | Monica.Slavin@mh.org.au | Dr | Michelle | Yong | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Characterization of Osteosarcopenia in Older Persons: A Bench to Bedside Approach | Western Health | Medicine | In older persons, the combination of osteopeniaosteoporosis and sarcopenia has been proposed as a subset of frailer individuals at higher risk of institutionalization, falls and fractures. However, the particular clinical, biochemical and functional characteristics of the osteosarcopenic (OS) patients remain unknown. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Characterizing brain-body relationship with respect to biological aging in elderly population | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | This project aims to comprehensively characterize patterns of aging in various human biological systems including the brain and other organ systems such as the cardiovascular, respiratory and skeleton systems, and to understand the relationship between the brain and the body with respect to the aging trajectory and health outcomes. | Dr | Ye | Tian | ye.tian2@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Vanessa | Cropley | A/Prof | Andrew | Zalesky | n/a | Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||||
Circulating Osteogenic Precurors: Building Bone from Blood | Western Health | Medicine | Circulating Osteogenic Precursor (COP) cells are a newly discovered type of stem cell located in the blood. It is hoped that these cells could be a readily accessible target for cellular therapies in a range of diseases in the aging musculoskeletal system, however before they can be utilised clinically their biological nature and relationships with both normal physiology and pathology must be investigated. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | A/Prof | Kulmira | Nurgali | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Clinical features in a common inherited cause of kidney failure | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The aim of this project is to correlate mutations with clinical features. This project includes attending clinics, taking retinal photographs, searching clinical records, and examining mutations for pathogenic features (bioinformatics). | Professor | Judy | Savige | j.savige@unimelb.edu.au | A/Prof | Deb | Colville | A/Prof | Heather | Mack | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Cognition and brain connectivity in psychosis | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | The aim of this project is to determine whether impairments in episodic memory, attentional set-shifting, and spatial working memory are related to disrupted brain connectivity (as measured by MRI-derived structural covariance; see Wannan et al, 2019) in key regions associated with performance on these tasks in individuals with first-episode psychosis. | 1 | Prof | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Ms | Cassandra | Wannan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||||||
Cognitive training for behavioural and psychological symptoms in young onset dementia | Royal Women’s Hospital | Psychiatry | This project focused on the development and evaluation of an intervention targeting BPSD in people with young onset dementia | Dr | Alex | Bahar-Fuchs | alex.bahar@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Common severe childhood infections, innate inflammatory responses and cardiometabolic risk: The VASCular changes aFter INfectious Diseases (VASCFIND) study | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Infection, the commonest reason for childhood hospital admission, is a major driver of inflammation and is associated with cardiometabolic risk and disease. This established prospective study investigates how severe childhood infection affects innate inflammatory immune responses and cardiometabolic health. It encompasses both clinical assessments and laboratory studies. | Prof | David | Burgner | david.burgner@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Siroon | Bekkering | Dr | Toby | Mansell | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Computational neuroscience: Simulating brain dynamics and generative modelling of brain networks | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Simulate a person's brain activity based on their connectome and develop models to grow brain networks in silico | Associate Professor | Andrew | Zalesky | azalesky@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Caio | Seguin | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Concussion Essentials: A clinical trial for reducing persisting symptoms after child concussion | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | A single-centre randomised controlled trial to assess if a novel multimodal intervention can speed recovery from child concussion compared to usual care. | Professor | Vicki | Anderson | Vicki.Anderson@rch.org.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Controlled mechanical stimulation for cartilage regeneration modelling with 3D bioprinting techniques | St Vincent's Hospital | Surgery | Promising treatment options of cartilage injuries combine the use of 3D-printed biomaterials with stem cells, commonly referred to as bioscaffolds, to produce hyaline cartilage. Although this repair strategy has good prospects, its main shortcomings are the difficulty in matching and mimicking cartilage development in the in vitro studies required to validate the specific 3D bioprinting system. The aim of this project is to characterize the rate of chondrogenic differentiation of 3D bioprinted samples laden with mesenchymal stem cells, by mechanical stimulation. | Dr | Carmine | Onofrillo | carmine.onofrillo@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Serena | Duchi | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Controlling nephron patterning and segmentation in kidney organoids | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Controlling nephron patterning and segmentation in kidney organoids | Prof | Melissa | Little | melissa.little@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Jessica | Vanslambrouk | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Decoding neural mechanisms underpinning human cognition in health and disease using machine learning | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | This project aims to understand the neural mechanisms underpinning higher-order cognitive function in humans. This student will be guided in using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques and machine learning to decipher the complex network of brain circuits that give rise to individual variation in cognition in healthy adults as well as abnormal brain changes associated with cognitive decline in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Ye | Tian | ye.tian2@unimelb.edu.au | A/Prof | Andrew | Zalesky | Dr | Vanessa | Cropley | n/a | Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||
Defining new biomarkers and therapeutic targets in heart failure | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle weakens and is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. It is a major public health issue, affecting 30,000 patients each year in Australia. Recent research shows that the hormones aldosterone and cortisol may play a key role in heart muscle deterioration by activating the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). | 1 | 1 | Associate Professor | Morag | Young | morag.young@baker.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||||||
Defining the essential functions of red blood cell modifying proteins in malaria parasites | Burnet Institute | Infectious Diseases | Infection with malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites afflicts hundreds of millions of people per year, tragically resulting in nearly half a million deaths. The development of new drugs and vaccines can be informed by greater knowledge of the parasite’s biology. This project seeks to understand how parasites extensively modify the red blood cells (RBC) they infect by studying the multitude of proteins the parasite exports into the RBC compartment. In particular, several exported proteins predicted to be essential for parasite survival will be studied to determine what functions they perform and how this contributes to parasite proliferation and immune evasion. | 1 | A/Prof | Paul | Gilson | paul.gilson@burnet.edu.au | Dr | Hayley | Bullen | n/a | Honours students | ||||||||
Defining the mechanisms that underpin the beneficial off-target effects of BCG | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | In addition to protecting against its target disease, tuberculosis, the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has beneficial off-target ('heterologous' or 'non-specific') effects on human health. This includes reducing all cause infant mortality, likely by protecting against non-mycobacterial infectious diseases. The protection is proposed to result from the immunomodulatory effects of BCG. | Dr | Nicole | Messina | nicole.messina@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Nigel | Curtis | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Defining the Role of Transcriptional Stress Pathways in Cancer Cell Resistance Towards Anti-Cancer Therapeutics | Western Health | Medicine | De novo and acquired resistance of cancer cells towards chemotherapeutics, hormonal treatments, as well as recently developed targeted therapeutics such as those that inhibit the actions of EGF-R family members like HER2, has become a major clinical issue. Almost always co-associated with the emergence of an aggressive and often highly metastatic cancer phenotype, drug resistance is intimately linked with cancer recurrence and in most cases precedes poor patient health, the escalation of disease progression ultimately leading to the death of the patient. | A/prof | John | Price | john.price@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Detecting the tissue of origin of circulating cell free DNA | Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) | Clinical Pathology | The aim of this project is to analyse sequence data on circulating cell free DNA to identify methylation patterns which indicate the tissue of origin. | Professor | Lachlan | Coin | lachlan.coin@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Determinants of COVID-19 risk and severity | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | This project will establish an immune signature of COVID-19 susceptibility and reveal key immunological pathways for protection against COVID-19 to be targeted in future vaccine development and COVID-19 treatments. | Dr | Nicole | Messina | Prof | Nigel | Curtis | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||
Developing a drug therapy for hearing loss | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | Hair cell loss is the leading cause of deafness, occurring in almost half a billion people worldwide. Despite the prevalence, there are no biological treatments available for deafness. The current standards of care are restricted to palliative devices including hearing aids or cochlear implants that provide only partial hearing restoration for a limited patient population. As such, there is a significant demand for the development of a pharmacological treatment for hearing loss. | Dr | Niki | Gunewardene | NGunewardene@bionicsinstitute.org | A/Prof | Andrew | Wise | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Developing nanoparticles for targeted theranostics delivery of drug and gene therapeutics | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Research in the Molecular Imaging and Theranostics lab focus on translational research that links the findings from basic science to the practical applications that enhance human health and well-being in clinical settings. Developing new bio-compatible nanoparticles that can be used for targeted delivery and localize the drugs/genetic therapy to the site of disease, thereby eliminating reduce side effects. | 1 | Dr | Xiaowei | Wang | xiaoweiw@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Laura | Bienvenu | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||
Developing platelet derived nanoparticles for targeted thrombolysis | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and major morbidity worldwide. Despite this, the current thrombolytic (clot busting) therapies remain largely ineffective and many patients are resistant to therapy. There is a need for improved thrombolytic drugs and strategies for overcoming thrombolysis resistance. One strategy for achieving this is using targeted drug delivery to deliver high local concentrations of thrombolytic drugs to the thrombus to improve the efficacy of drug treatment. To achieve this, we are proposing using platelet derived nanoparticles loaded with thrombolytic drugs to achieve targeted thrombolysis. | Prof | Karlheinz | Peter | karlheinz.peter@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Mitchell | Moon | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | |||||||||
Development and validation of a high throughput clinical lipidomics platform | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | This project will work to develop a Clinical Lipidomic Platform, which would measure several hundred different plasma lipids via LC/MS in a rapid and cost-effective manner, designed for clinical use. | Professor | Peter | Meikle | peter.meikle@baker.edu.au | Dr | Thomas | Meikle | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Development of a low cost, point-of-care diagnostic platform | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | To develop a novel rapid, ultrasensitive real-time point of care platform targeting molecules in blood or saliva. This will be integrated on a single chip platform. | Professor | Patrick | Kwan | patrick.kwan@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Jianxiong | Chan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Development of malaria transmission blocking drugs. | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Infectious Diseases | Our laboratory investigates the cellular mechanisms underpinning malaria parasite transmission and disease. We investigate the novel banana shaped sexual stages of Plasmodium falciparum, focused on understanding their unique biology and how this contributes to transmission. We are interested in developing and testing drugs and vaccines that may block transmission of the parasite from infected humans to Anopheles mosquitos. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Matthew | Dixon | matthew.dixon@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | James | McCarthy | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | |||||||
Development of Marrow Fat Quantification as a Predictor of Poor Outcomes in Osteosarcopenia | Western Health | Medicine | The number of diagnostic methods for osteosarcopenia remains limited especially those with the reliability to predict poor outcomes in older persons.The aims of this project are to develop and validate a new potential diagnostic method for osteosarcopenia based on the fat volume within the bone marrow and muscles of humans (prospective study and retrospective analysis of images obtained in major human studies). | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Development of novel point-of-care diagnostics tests and surveillance tools for malaria | Burnet Institute | Medicine | There is an urgent need for diagnostic and surveillance tests that could be used in clinical settings and rural and remote communities. This project will work towards the development of novel semi-quantitative rapid tests for assessing malaria exposure and transmission in communities | Prof | James | Beeson | beeson@burnet.edu.au | Assoc Prof | David | Anderson | Dr | Herbert | Opi | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||
Development of novel vaccines against malaria | Burnet Institute | Medicine | This project is suitable for a student with a keen interest in humoral and cellular immunology and vaccine development. | Prof | James | Beeson | beeson@burnet.edu.au | Dr | Gaoqian | Feng | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Development of regenerative therapy for photoreceptor losses using cellular reprogramming technology | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | Photoreceptors are light-sensing cells that form the basis of our vision by converting light into electrical signals that can be decoded by the brain. the loss of photoreceptors is a key hallmark of many blinding diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. These diseases affect millions of patients and cause a significant socis-economic burden on our healthcare system. Currently, there are no effective means to cure blindness once photoreceptors are lost. We must therefore find a new approach to help restore vision to these patients. Regenerative therapy to replace photoreceptors has the very real prospect of helping patients to restore vision. | Dr | Raymond | Wong | wongcb@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Diagnosis and therapy of inflammatory diseases using molecular ultrasound imaging | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | With steadily increasing health care expenses, a promising translational imaging application using ultrasound can fulfil the need for a cost-effective and non-invasive diagnostic tool. This project aims to investigate whether VCAM-1 targeted microbubbles will locate inflamed vessels using molecular ultrasound imaging, thereby providing a better diagnostic technology | Dr | Xiaowei | Wang | xiaoweiw@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Karlheinz | Peter | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Diet and Healthy Ageing | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | You will have the opportunity to work with a rich database with lifestyle data that spans over 20 years. This project will provide clinical skills experience as it involves direct hands-on participant evaluation, and will suit a student with an interest in nutrition who is interested in publishing findings. | Professor | Cassandra | Szoeke | healthy-ageing@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Alexandra | Gorelik | Dr | Monique | Stagnitti | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||||
Discovering novel genes and pathways to ataxia | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Discovering novel genes and pathways to ataxia | Prof | Paul | Lockhart | paul.lockhart@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Martin | Delatycki | Dr | Justin | Read | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Discovering the mechanisms and targets of immunity against malaria | Burnet Institute | Medicine | Conduct immunologic assays to understand the mechanisms of protective immunity to malaria and identify key targets. This knowledge will be use to inform vaccine development | Prof | James | Beeson | beeson@burnet.edu.au | Dr | Herbert | Opi | Dr | Linda | Reiling | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Disease detection and quantification with inertial sensors | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | People with movement disorders (e.g. Parkinson’s disease and dystonia) find it challenging to perform activities of daily living (such as getting dressed, eating, and drinking) that most take for granted. Fine motor skills are stifled by tremors, movement becomes strenuous due to increased muscle stiffness, and postural instability leads to falls. Evaluating these symptoms is crucial to managing therapy, seeking new interventions via clinical trials and understanding mechanism of disease through research. Existing assessment techniques rely on subjective methods such as surveys, patient diaries, and observation-based rating scales. This project will develop a medical device that allows us to overcome several limitations associated with subjective techniques. | Dr | Thushara | Perera | TPERERA@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Do short chain fatty acids prevent gut leakiness and enhanced haematopoiesis induced by a high salt diet? | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Our laboratory has discovered that a high salt diet promotes a breakdown of the intestinal barrier in the gut which causes activation of the immune system and changes within the bone marrow microenvironment, altering blood production. This project will explore the hypothesis that supplementation of butyrate, an anti-inflammatory short chain fatty acid, will prevent high salt diet-induced gut leakiness, immune cells activation and protect the bone marrow microenvironment from being destructed. This will allow for the retention of haematopoietic stem cells and normal blood production. This project will employ a variety of assays and experimental readouts to address this hypothesis and give the student a valuable insight into immune and stem cell biology within a highly successful world class research laboratory. | Prof | Andrew | Murphy | andrew.murphy@baker.edu.au | Dr. | Sam | Lee | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | |||||||||
Does epicardial adipose tissue contribute to atrial fibrillation in endurance athletes? | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Exercise has substantial health benefits with pleomorphic vascular, metabolic, psychological and anti-neoplastic actions resulting in improved quality of life and longevity. Despite these many benefits, numerous studies have shown that endurance athletes are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation (AF) than non-athletes. The type, intensity and amount of sport appears to influence the risk of developing AF. Several endurance sport activities have been shown to increase the risk of developing AF but an excess in AF has not been shown in non-endurance sports. Furthermore, lifetime hours of participation appear to increase the risk of developing AF. Intriguingly, women appear relatively protected and an association between endurance sport and AF has not been clearly demonstrated amongst female endurance athletes. The mechanisms by which endurance sport promotes the development of AF are unclear. There are, however, a number of pathophysiological mechanisms which are known to increase the risk of AF in non-athletes which have correlates in athletes. This project will investigate the relationship between epicardial fat and atrial fibrillation in endurance trained athletes. | 1 | Dr | Erin | Howden | erin.howden@baker.edu.au | A/Prof | Andre | La Gerche | n/a | Honours students | ||||||||
Does neonatal BCG vaccination protect against infection and allergic disease in the first 5 years of life? | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Using data collected from participants in MIS BAIR you will investigate the clinical off-target effects of BCG in the first 5 years of life. Moreover, you will identify factors which influence the off-target effects of neonatal BCG vaccination. In this project you will have the opportunity to combine clinical findings with existing immunological data from MIS BAIR. | Prof | Nigel | Curtis | nigel.curtis@rch.org.au | Dr | Nicole | Messina | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Drug delivery to treat hearing loss | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | This project will focus on developing a treatment for hearing loss. We have recently made significant progress in the development of a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system that overcomes some of the barriers for drug delivery to the inner ear. The project will involve in vivo deafness models to characterise the drug delivery system, and to test its safety and efficacy in repairing hearing loss. | 1 | A/Prof | Andrew | Wise | awise@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||||
Drug development for metabolic diseases | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a central regulator of cellular energy metabolism that phosphorylates multiple protein targets to adapt cellular metabolism to energy and nutrient availability. AMPK dysregulation is associated with a range of prevalent metabolic diseases (e.g. type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease), thus huge efforts are being made to develop AMPK-targetting drugs. Our aim is to develop beta 2-specific AMPK activators to trigger AMPK signalling in these tissues without complications associated with off-target effects. | A/Prof | Jon | Oakhill | joakhill@svi.edu.au | Prof | Bruce | Kemp | Dr | Chris | Langendorf | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Dynamic microfluidic in vitro differentiation of stem cells for cartilage regeneration in surgical 3D bioprinting | St Vincent's Hospital | Surgery | With this study we aim to characterize in vitro the characteristics of newly regenerated cartilage starting from 3D bioprinted stem cells once dynamically stimulated (using a diffusion bioreactor) with chondrogenic differentiation media. | Dr | Carmine | Onofrillo | carmine.onofrillo@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Serena | Duchi | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Early Stages of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (Imaging Biomarkers for Treatment Discovery) | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | A major impediment to the discovery of preventative interventions in the early stages of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the need for large and lengthy clinical trials to assess their efficacy. This is due to our current inability to identify those at high risk of progression to target for such trials, and the lack of effective disease biomarkers to act as earlier indicators of treatment efficacy. There is thus an urgent need for such biomarkers to pave the way for therapeutic innovation to prevent irreversible vision loss. | A/Prof | Zhichao | Wu | wu.z@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Robyn | Guymer AM | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
EEG/ MEG network measures as a biomarker in pre-surgical planning for epilepsy patients | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | In both neuroscience and neurology, there is a plethora of data that has not been quantitatively analysed. One interesting way of analysing this `big data’ is to convert it into a functional network that is spatially sampled at different points. This not only reduces the order of the data, but also provides a way of examining the internal structure of the data. Using various network measures, this project aims to find a functional biomarker that indicates cortical hyper-excitability. We can then use this to systematically analyse brain networks for pre-surgical planning for resective surgery in epilepsy patients. | Dr | Alan | Lai | alan.lai@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Andre | Peterson | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Effect of HMB and Vitamin D Supplementation on osteosarcoPenia In oldeR pErsons (EMPIRE) | Western Health | Medicine | Unfortunately, advancing age may comprise musculoskeletal health, with osteoporosis (low bone mass) and sarcopenia (low muscle mass and function) two chronic diseases, which together form a geriatric syndrome, coined osteosarcopenia. This syndrome predisposes an older person to increased risk of falls and fractures, compared to either disease alone, and induces alarming health care costs. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ben | Kirk | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Effective relationships in dementia community care: Promoting Independence though quality dementia care at home (the PITCH project). | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | This project focuses on developing a three-way triad tool (person with dementia, family carer, home care worker) to improve communication and relationships in community dementia care. This project will involve data collection in a RCT, developing the tool, and validity and reliability testing. | Dr | Anita | Goh | goha@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Briony | Dow | Dr | Steven | Savvas | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||
Effects of Drugs on Cognition-Related Brain Wave Signals in the Rat | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | In this project, signals related to cognitiveprocessing, including gamma frequency oscillations and place cells will be recorded with microelectrodearrays. The effects of antipsychotic drugs and some related compounds, including potassium and sodiumchannel modulators, will be examined | Dr | Chris French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||||
Effects of Drugs on Cognition-Related Brain Wave Signals in the Rodents | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Dr | Chris | French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||||
Effects of Vitamin D Status on DEXA Femoral Neck BMD in Children and Adolescents | Western Health | Medicine | Vitamin D deficiency is a well-established risk factor for femoral neck fracture in the elderly. Furthermore, the antecedents to the development of osteoporosis in later life typically occur across the lifespan. Lifestyle factors leading to decreased direct sun exposure together with increased skin pigmentation, are major risk factors for vitamin D deficiency. | A/prof | Christine | Rodda | christine.rodda@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Effects of Vitamin D Status on Forearm Fracture Healing Rates in Children and Adolescents: A Pilot Study | Western Health | Medicine | The effect of Vitamin D deficiency on fracture healing rates in children and adolescents is currently unknown. This is a pilot study to investigate the use of pQCT in the evaluation of fracture healing rates, with or without vitamin D deficiency. | A/Prof | Christine | Rodda | christine.rodda@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Electrophysiological Properties of Human Brain Neuronal Tissue | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Dr | Chris | French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||||||
Elucidating molecular signalling pathways controlled by anti-inflammatory steroids | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | In this project you will use genome-wide approaches such as microarray to indentify the genes that are regulated by glucocorticoids. | Dr | Adrian | Achuthan | aaa@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Enabling earlier and more accurate detection | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy characterised by the progressive loss of the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). However, up to 50 per cent of the RGCs need to be lost by the time abnormalities can be detected on a standard visual field test. This represents a significant missed opportunity for early detection and prevention of irreversible vision loss. | A/Prof | Zhichao | Wu | wu.z@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Engineering a tissue flap | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Surgery | We have assembled pre-vascularized scaffolds in the laboratory, by seeding human induced pluripotent stem cell derived endothelial cells (iPSC ECs) into a porous scaffold, with the formation of an interconnected human capillary network within 24 hours. When implanted in vivo into a wound this pre-vascularized scaffold survives and connects to the host blood circulation. We have also successfully connected this human capillary network to a large artery and vein in an animal model thereby establishing the basis of a tissue flap – large vessels connected to a capillary network. This project will progress our hiPSC flap tissue with the addition of muscle tissue, and or fat tissue and/or skin tissue, largely developed from hiPSC. | Dr | Geraldine | Mitchell | gmitchell@svi.edu.au | Dr | Anne | Kong | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Enteric Neuropathy as a Target to Alleviate Gastrointestinal Side-effects of Chemotherapy | Western Health | Medicine | Chemotherapy is given to most cancer patients before or after surgery. Diarrhoea, constipation, oral mucositis, nausea and vomiting are experienced by 80-90% of patients as gastrointestinal (GI) side-effects of chemotherapeutic medications. As a result, patients often develop malnutrition and dehydration. Early death rates of up to 5% associated with chemotherapy are primarily due to GI toxicity. | A/prof | Kulmira | Nurgali | kulmira.nurgali@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Evaluating the use, impact and ongoing sustainability of maternal and newborn health training programs in LMIC of immediate newborn care programs in the Asia-Pacific region | This project will allow the student to gain experience in global maternal and perinatal health epidemiology, systematic review and quantitative analysis methodologies, with a view to a scientific publication and pursuing a PhD. | Prof | Caroline | Homer | caroline.homer@burnet.edu.au | Dr | Joshua | Vogel | Dr | Michelle | Scoullar | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||||||
Expanding pancreatic progenitor cells for treatment of type 1 diabetes | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | The goal of this project will be to identify factors that can expand human PSC-derived pancreatic progenitor pools, thus allowing for efficient generation of large numbers of human PSC-derived endocrine cells for subsequent use in transplantation therapies. | Prof | Ed | Stanley | ed.stanley@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Jacqui | Schiesser | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Expanding the molecular understanding, and advancing personalised therapeutics for KIF1A-Associated Neurological Disorders | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Background Kinesin-3 family member 1A (KIF1A) encodes a neuron-specific kinesin motor protein essential for ATP-dependent anterograde axonal transport of synaptic cargos along the microtubule network in brain cells. The N-terminal motor domain of KIF1A forms the “head” that “walks” along the microtubules in a stepwise manner for anterograde transportation of specific cargos docked at the C-terminal “tail” domain using energy from ATP hydrolysis. Variants in the KIF1A gene have been found to result in a complex spectrum of neurodegenerative conditions, collectively referred to as KIF1A-associated neurological disorders (KANDs). In this proposal, we will address a wide gap in our understanding of KIF1A at the molecular and therapeutic level. Success in this project has the scope to accelerate the long-term vision of scientific therapeutics-based research to improve the health of children battling with the progressive KAND disorder and related neurological disorders. | Dr | Simranpreet | Kaur | simran.kaur@mcri.edu.au | Prof | John | Christodoulou | A/Prof | Wendy | Gold | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Exploring data from ENROLL-HD - an international observational study in Huntington’s disease | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Enroll-HD is a worldwide observational study for Huntington’s disease families, which monitors how the disease appears and changes over time in different people, and is open to people who either have HD or are at-risk. There are more than 23,000 participants that have been enrolled into Enroll-HD and over 1 million aliquots of DNA, lymphoblastoid cell lines and PBMCs that are available for research. This project involves data mining of the latest periodic dataset release. | Dr | Anita | Goh | goha@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Dennis | Velakoulis | Dr | Samantha | Loi | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||||
Exploring how a high salt diet promotes bone destruction through immune cell activation | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Diets rich in salt have been linked to bone pathologies. This has generally been attributed to mineral exchange, causing weaker bones. However, our group hypothesized that this process is biologically driven. We have made initial discoveries to show that specific immune cells are produced and activated by a high salt diet that is linked with bone destruction. This project will focus on the novel mechanisms contributing to this discovery. Specifically, this project will determine how the immune cells interact and activate osteoclasts within the bone and will explore where these immune cells are first activated. We anticipate these findings being important across several age groups and will explore ways to offset these detrimental effects of high salt intake. The student will be exposed to a world class research environment and cutting-edge techniques, with excellent supervision. Techniques will include flow cytometry, sectioning of tissues (including bones), immunofluorescence, micro CT and multiphoton microscopy. | Prof | Andrew | Murphy | andrew.murphy@baker.edu.au | Dr. | Sam | Lee | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | |||||||||
Exploring how diabetes causes increased proliferation of haematopoietic stem cells carrying a mutation in DNMT3A | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminant potential (CHIP), caused by somatic mutations in haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) causes a growth advantage in these cells causing them to outcompete non-mutated HSCs. CHIP was commonly thought to be a prerequisite to leukaemia, the disease ultimately responsible for death in these individuals. However, it was recently shown that people with CHIP more frequently die of cardiovascular disease. Interestingly, there is an association with CHIP and diabetes, but this has not been explored experimentally. We discovered that diabetes enhances the proliferation of HSCs carrying the most common mutation in CHIP (DNMT3A). This project will explore mechanism behind this using a variety of unique animal models and experimental techniques. This project will give the student a valuable insight into stem cell biology within a highly successful world class research laboratory. | Prof | Andrew | Murphy | andrew.murphy@baker.edu.au | Dr. | Dragana | Dragoljevic | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||||||||
Exploring mosaic brain variants that cause focal epilepsies | Austin Health | Medicine | This project will explore pathogenic variants present in only a fraction of brain cells (mosaicism) of patients with focal epilepsies. These mosaic variants are sufficient to disrupt neuronal development and lead to focal epilepsy. To better understand the genetics of focal epilepsies the student will take advantage of existing resected brain tissue from patients undergoing epilepsy surgery. The candidate will implement novel, minimally invasive sampling approaches to identify brain mosaicism in the absence of resected tissue. These methods are significant because most patients with focal epilepsies are not candidates for epilepsy surgery. This project will have the funding support of 2021 MRFF Genomics Health Futures Mission and NHMRC Investigator grants. | Associate Professor | Michael | Hildebrand | michael.hildebrand@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Samuel | Berkovic | Professor | Ingrid | Scheffer | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Exploring the contribution of intrinsic lipids to immune cell development and function | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | This project is focused on exploring how unique lipid signatures (lipidomes) of immune cells influence their function and/or development. The overarching goal is to identify ways to manipulate specific lipids to alter cell function in disease. | 2 | Professor | Andrew | Murphy | andrew.murphy@baker.edu.au | Doctor | Graeme | Lancaster | n/a | PhD students; Honours students | ||||||||
Exploring the effect of neural dead regions in the cochlea on hearing with a cochlear implant | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | Neural dead regions in the cochlea are regions of the cochlea in a deaf person where there is poor survival of auditory nerve cells. Such regions are not suitable for electrical stimulation with a cochlear implant, but are difficult to identify. The presence of these regions is one main reason that some cochlear implant users do not understand speech well. This project, undertaken with cochlear implant users, will develop an objective method for identifying these dead regions in individuals. | 1 | Prof | Colette | McKay | cmckay@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||||
Exploring the therapeutic potential of protein phosphatases in cardiometabolic disease | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Heart failure is a debilitating condition in which the ability of the heart to meet the body's demands for oxygenated blood is compromised. Prognosis is poor, with approximately 50 per cent of patients with heart failure dying within 5 years of diagnosis. There is a clear need for new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of heart failure. This project will explore the role of a family of proteins known as ‘protein phosphatases’ in the development of heart failure, and whether phosphatases can be selectively targeted to improve outcome in mouse models of heart failure. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Kate | Weeks | kate.weeks@baker.edu.au | n/a | Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||||||||
Factors that determine islet antigen-specific T cell expansion before the onset of Type 1 diabetes | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | Our goal is to prevent the cytotoxic CD8+ T cell-mediated destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells that leads to type 1 diabetes. Islet-specific CD8+ T cells appear in cycles in the blood reflecting waves of clonal proliferation, they expand just before diagnosis of diabetes and their quantity in the islets reflects the extent of pathology. | Prof | Helen | Thomas | hthomas@svi.edu.au | Dr | Bala | Krishnamurthy | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Ferroptosis in Schizophrenia | Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health | Psychiatry | Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness that disrupts the functioning of the mind, with onset typically occurring in young adulthood. Impairments in certain cognitive functions, such as working memory, are core features of Sz, which are not addressed for existing drug targets. Our general hypothesis is that schizophrenia is a complex disease resulting from a loss-of-function of key pathways that govern neurodevelopment, neurotransmission, intracellular redox state and synaptic connectivity. Our data indicate that iron is elevated in the orbitofrontal cortex in post mortem brain samples from individuals with schizophrenia relative to age- and sex-matched controls. We propose that a rise of cytosolic iron is upstream of key lesions associated with negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, including neuronal development (e.g., parvalbumin-interneurons and synaptic pruning), neurotransmission (e.g., GABAergic and glutamatergic pathways), as well as iron homeostasis, antioxidant defence (e.g., haem oxygenases), and ferroptosis (e.g., an iron-dependent pathway for lipid peroxidation recently associated with loss of parvalbumin-interneurons). The project aims to investigate the status of proteins involved in iron metabolim as well as levels of markers of oxidative stress. | 1 | 2 | Professor | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Ashley | Bush | Dr | Carlos | Opazo | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||
Fertility decision tools for young women with breast cancer | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | “As hard as the cancer treatment was, losing my fertility was the hardest thing” | Dr | Michelle | Peate | mpeate@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Fertility preservation in children with cancer | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | One in 900 children is a cancer survivor. Cancer treatment can significantly affect future fertility. | Dr | Yasmin | Jayasinghe | yasmin.jayasinghe@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Finding a cure for a devastating form of epilepsy | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Epilepsy is a devastating disease with no cure for most. We have engineered a genetic mouse model based on a human mutation to better understand the disease and develop new therapeutic strategies. | A/Prof | Christopher | Reid | christopher.reid@florey.edu.au | Dr | Paulo | Pinares-Garcia | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Finding a needle in the haystack: ctDNA detection for tracking cancer evolution and refining cancer risk | Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) | Clinical Pathology | This project will explore the correlation between ctDNA and somatic mutation status derived from formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue. This will involve micro-dissecting normal colonic epithelium and tumour region that will then be profiled using next generation sequencing techniques. The project will also explore the correlation between immune indices determined from the blood and the quantity of ctDNA. | Associate Professor | Daniel | Buchanan | daniel.buchanan@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ryan | Hutchinson | Dr | Mark | Clendenning | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||||
Foot deformities in children with cerebral palsy | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | This project will explore methods for analysing foot function from 3D motion analysis and plantar pressure data, and their relation to structural measures from radiology and physical examination. These methods will be used to compare foot structure and function pre- and post-surgery and will ultimately serve as an objective clinical measure for assessing and grading foot deformities in children. | Dr | Elyse | Passmore | elyse.passmore@rch.org.au | A/Prof | Erich | Rutz | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
From causes to cures: Improving health outcomes for women’s gynaecology and reproductive health | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Nearly all women during their reproductive years (typically 12-50 years of age) will see their gynaecologist for benign gynaecological problems. These include common disorders such as heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, infertility, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and menstrual disturbances due to contraception. Each of these problems can have a significant negative impact on physical, psychological, and reproductive health as well as quality of life and work productivity. Despite the significant healthcare, social and quality of life costs of benign gynaecological issues, research into these problems has been limited, with little advancement in novel treatments over the past 20 years. Our group has a large patient network and an established biobank of gynaecological patient samples available for analysis. This project will investigate genes and gene pathways that contribute to the pathogenesis of benign gynaecological conditions and aims to identify new therapeutic targets and diagnostic possibilities for patients. | Professor | Peter | Rogers | parogers@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Meaghan | Griffiths | Dr | Jacqueline | Donoghue | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Function and cryo-EM structure of the breast cancer predisposition gene BRCA1 | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | The Genome Stability Unit at St Vincent’s Institute seek an honours or PhD student to join their multidisciplinary team, to uncover the molecular level details of the BRCA1 protein. BRCA1 contributes to the majority of known familial breast cancer risk in women by promoting DNA repair, a process critical to suppression of aging and cancer. | A/Prof | Andrew | Deans | adeans@svi.edu.au | Dr | Rohan | Bythell-Douglas | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Functional role of VEZT over expression in endometrium | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | VEZT is the first protein coding gene that can be directly linked to increased susceptibility for endometriosis. At a population level, SNPs associated with an increased risk for endometriosis are also associated with increased VEZT expression in the endometrium. To date, it is unclear what functional role VEZT has in the development or progression of endometriosis. To generate new knowledge about VEZT and endometriosis, we have developed a novel mouse model that conditionally over-expresses VEZT ubiquitously including the reproductive system. Our primary aim is to characterise the impact increased expression VEZT has on fertility as well as endometrial lesion formation. This project will include working with an animal model of endometriosis, protein and molecular studies. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Jacqueline | Donoghue | jacqueline.donoghue@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||||||||
Future Health Today Changing the course of cardiovascular disease | Western Health | General Practice | This project will involve the development and implementation of a cardiovascular disease quality improvement platform as part of the larger Future Health Today program. | Associate Professor | Jo-Anne | Manski-Nankervis | jomn@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Gene regulation in the developing retina and the childhood eye cancer retinoblastoma | Royal Melbourne Hospital,Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) | Paediatrics | Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer of infancy and childhood; these tumours are considered to be developmental in origin. The seven cell types of the retina all derive from a pool of retinal progenitor cells (RPC). The distalless (DLX) family of evolutionarily-conserved homeobox genes encode transcription factors expressed in the developing and mature retina as well as the majority of retinoblastoma tumours examined to date. The DLX transcription factors are necessary for retinal ganglion cell (RGC) development, in part due to direct regulation of other transcription factors that are either activated or repressed during eye development. The student will undertake RNAseq and ChIPseq studies in the developing mouse retina to identify DLX2 gene regulatory networks, validate in transgenic mouse models available in the laboratory and assess expression of these DLX2 targets in retinoblastoma and/or retinal organoids. The student will also contribute to the generation of a conditional, retina-specific knockout of Dlx2 or both Dlx1/Dlx2 in the developing and/or postnatal mouse. The student will learn key methods in molecular, cell and developmental biology, including primary cell culture, 3D organoids, and advanced microscopy skills. The student should preferably have an undergraduate or advanced background in cell, developmental and/or molecular biology. | Prof | David | Eisenstat | david.eisenstat@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Maree | Faux | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Gene signatures of the ‘lymphaticome’ | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Surgery | We would like to gain an understanding of the genetic signatures of the “lymphaticome”. This information will allow for a greater understanding of the lymphatic system and diseases relating to it and provide an avenue to develop organ specific therapeutics. | Dr | Tara | Karnezis | tkarnezis@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Generation of an ex vivo regeneration model for 3D bioprinting applications | St Vincent's Hospital | Surgery | The goal of our research is to prevent the onset of OA by regenerating cartilage using a unique 3D printing technology, that requires multiple iteration steps to select the optimal bioink to efficiently regenerate cartilage.New models for evaluating cartilage repair/regeneration are of great value for transferring various culture systems into clinically relevant situations. The repair process can be better monitored in ex vivo systems than in in vitro cell cultures. The aim of this project is to establish an ex vivo osteochondral model prepared from human articular cartilage harvest. | Dr | Carmine | Onofrillo | carmine.onofrillo@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Serena | Duchi | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Genetic Diagnosis of Children with Vascular Anomalies for a Therapeutic Clinical Drug Trial | Austin Health | Medicine | Our understanding of the genetics of vascular anomalies is rapidly advancing but remains incompletely understood. This project provides the opportunity to work in an established multidisciplinary clinical and laboratory research team with clinical trial expertise. In addition to clinical experience and laboratory techniques, the development of project management, sample coordination and communication skills will be fostered. | 1 | A/Professor | Michael | Hildebrand | michael.h | n/a | Honours students | |||||||||||
Genetics of childhood hearing loss | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Genetics of childhood hearing loss | Dr | Valerie | Sung | valerie.sung@rch.org.au | Prof | David | Amor | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Genome-wide expression profiling of keratoconus and non-keratoconus corneas | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | Keratoconus is a potentially blinding eye disease of the cornea. Typically, it occurs in childhood and various intervention measures are currently used to slow its progression but there is no cure. While its aetiology is due to genes and environment, the involvement of these factors is still poorly understood. In this proposal we will greatly advance our understanding of disease through genetic analysis of this disease. | 1 | Dr | Srujana | Sahebjada | Srujana.sahebjada@unimelb.edu.au | A/Prof | Mark | Daniel | Prof | Paul | Baird | n/a | Masters by Research | |||||
Genomics of asthma mortality due to thunderstorm asthma | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Thunderstorm asthma is a global phenomenon with Melbourne Australia having the most frequent reports and severe episodes. The episode on 21st November 2016 was the most severe ever recorded and included 10 asthma fatalities. We have (following ethics approval and informed consent from families) obtained samples from 9 of those who died on that night. This project is to explore the genomics of thunderstorm asthma fatalities. | 1 | Prof | Jo | Douglass | jdouglass@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Vanessa | Bryant | n/a | PhD students; Honours students | ||||||||
Genotype and Phenotype Characterisation Human Circulating Osteo-Progenitor (COP) Cells | Western Health | Medicine | COP (circulating osteogenic progenitor cells) is a term referring to circulating bone marrow-derived progenitor stem cells, which are able to participate in bone formation such as bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC). The origin and function of COP cells remain unknown. However, some studies have reported that COP cells are recruited from bone marrow and perivascular niche to fracture sites in order to enhance healing. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Glaucoma Progression Transforming the Detection and Prediction of Progression | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | One in three people with glaucoma, a progressive optic neuropathy, become blind in at least one eye within 20 years of diagnosis. A key contributor to this is our difficulty in being able to predict who is at the greatest risk of vision loss, and in detecting disease progression within a short timeframe. Substantially better tools to address these challenges are thus urgently needed to help us prevent irreversible vision loss in glaucoma. | A/Prof | Zhichao | Wu | wu.z@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies in Papua New Guinea – The impact of nutrition, malaria, and other infections on pregnant women and infants | Burnet Institute | Medicine | In resource-poor regions globally, pregnant women experience high rates of malaria, under-nutrition, and viral and bacterial infections, which can lead to maternal morbidity and mortality and low birth weight in infants, which results in a large number of infant deaths each year. The objective of this project is to determine the major preventable causes of poor maternal health and low birth weight to enable the development of future interventions to improve health and pregnancy outcomes. This project is offered as a laboratory or epidemiological project, or a combination of the two depending on student interests | Prof | James | Beeson | beeson@burnet.edu.au | Dr | Michelle | Scoullar | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Healthy Trajectories: Promoting wellbeing and quality of life for those with child-onset disability and their families | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Stipend available for successful applicant Healthy Trajectories has several programs of research. This doctoral scholarship is available for those interested in research that focuses on either of the following areas of need: (i) reducing co-morbidities associated with disability to improve wellbeing and quality of life; or (ii) research about the complex and intersecting needs of those experiencing multiple disadvantages that compound the experience of disability. | Prof | Christine | Imms | christine.imms@unimelb.edu.au | A/Prof | Adrienne | Harvey | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
healthYpulse: A Learning Healthcare System for Improving Paediatric Patient Experience and Outcomes | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | healthYpulse: A Learning Healthcare System for Improving Paediatric Patient Experience and Outcomes | Prof | Jim | Buttery | jim.buttery@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Gerardo Luis | Dimaguila | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Hearing but not listening: Using behavioural training in pre-clinical studies to test the ability to listen to complex sounds | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | Behavioural training of animals allows the testing of perception of complex sounds. When applied to animals with cochlear implants or treated with hearing therapeutics, this provides important information on the performance of the intervention. This can provide more clinically relevant information than is obtained with traditional functional measurements or from histology. This added information is important, as many treatments or stimulation techniques look promising in pre-clinical models but fail in the clinic. Using behavioural training, we aim to reduce the gap between pre-clinical and clinical studies. | A/Prof | James | Fallon | JFALLON@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Heart Health in Women: Role of Physical Activity to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Gender plays a major role in modulating the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet, women are underrepresented in clinical trials that aim to prevent heart disease, and outcomes are rarely specified in sex-specific terms. Physical activity levels play a key role in preventing the development of many chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. In a broader context, physical activity levels in women could produce different long-term CVD outcomes to men. Our group has extensively studied female athletes and physiological remodelling in response to lifetime exercise training. Extending work into physical activity rates and physiological response in a population-based cohort would enable our work to extend beyond physiological mechanism, to a translatable population-based approach. Our research has two separate aims: • Gender-specific risk factors (e.g disorders of pregnancy, high parity) accelerate CVD development in women. We aim to determine how physical activity acts as a modifier for CVD events after a pregnancy-based event. • Vigorous exercise produces a pronounced central and peripheral physiological adaptations. Female gender may have a protective effect during vigorous exercise. | Dr | Erin | Howden | erin.howden@baker.edu.au | Dr | Leah | Wright | A/Prof | Andre | La Gerche | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Heterogeneity of treatment response in advanced cancer: role of intrinsic and microenvironmental factors | Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) | Clinical Pathology | This project aims to identify and characterise the contribution of tumour-intrinsic and microenvironmental factors in driving the drug resistance of aggressive cancer cell subsets. The project uses tumour organoids derived from colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients. | AProfessor | Frederic | Hollande | frederic.hollande@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
High Dimensional Immune and Epigenetic Profiling of Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) | Royal Melbourne Hospital,Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) | Paediatrics | Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease that is one of the leading causes of childhood disability, affecting around 6000 Australian children. It typically causes joint pain and inflammation in the hands, knees, ankles, elbows and/or wrists. Despite its relatively high incidence, the molecular and cellular changes associated with JIA remain poorly understood. We hypothesise that blood cells (e.g. T cells, monocytes and B cells) from JIA patients will show differences in cellular proportions, responses to activation in culture, and have a distinct molecular profiles relative to controls. We will test this in the current project by applying state-of-the-art immunology and molecular genomic sequencing techniques to circulating blood cells from JIA patients and matched controls as part of our CLARITY (Childhood Arthritis Risk factor Identification Study) biobank which is one of the largest, most biospecimen- and information-dense collections in the world. | Prof | Richard | Saffery | richard.saffery@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Boris | Novakovic | A/Prof | Jane | Munro | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
How are autophagic processes involved in bone mineralisation? | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | Our recent discoveries indicate that intracellular vesicles, including autophagy (intracellular recycling), are involved in mineral secretion by osteoblasts and osteocytes. We have carried out RNA-sequencing in bones from mice with brittle bones, and found changes in a range of autophagic genes. This provides new information about the way that cells in the skeleton control bone composition. | Prof | Natalie | Sims | nsims@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
How do Anti-Epileptic Drugs Work? | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Dr | Chris | French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||||
How do bone marrow microenvironments regulate B lymphocyte production? | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | B lymphocytes, which are essential in eliminating pathogens such as viruses and bacteria, decline during aging, in part due to a reduced bone marrow microenvironment (the factory for B lymphocyte production). The changes that occur in the B lymphocyte factory that cause this decline are unclear and will be investigated in this project. | 1 | 1 | Professor | Louise | Purton | lpurton@svi.edu.au | Dr | Gavin | Tjin | Ms | Diannita | Kwang | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||
How do we improve the knowledge and skills of midwives and doctors in assessment and classification of perineal tears? | Burnet Institute | This project will involve a systematic review to examine initiatives undertaken to educate and train midwives and doctors in perineal anatomy and classification of perineal tears. | Dr | Alyce | Wilson | alyce.wilson@burnet.edu.au | Prof | Caroline | Homer | Dr | Joshua | Vogel | Dr | Meghan | Bohren | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||
Identification and Characterisation of Molecular Mediators of Cancer Metastasis | Western Health | Medicine | Cancer accounts for 1/3 of all Australian deaths and is a major social and economic burden. The prime feature of treatment failure as well as the cause of majority of death in cancer patients is due to the spread of the cancer to other sites within the body, a process termed metastasis | A/prof | John | Price | john.price@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Identification of additional markers of ferroptosis with mass spectrometry | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Interrogate the role of ether lipids (with antioxidant properties) in ferroptosis and their potential to mediate and regulate the process in various biological settings. | 1 | 1 | Professor | Peter | Meikle | peter.meikle@baker.edu.au | Dr | Kevin | Huynh | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | |||||||
Identifying better therapies for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | In this project you will determine the effects of potential therapies for a pre-leukaemic disease called myelodysplastic syndromes. You will learn different techniques including flow cytometry, cell culture, drug studies and develop an understanding of blood cell production and blood-forming stem cells. | Professor | Louise | Purton | lpurton@svi.edu.au | Dr | Jessica | Holien | n/a | Masters by Research | |||||||||
Identifying circadian clock and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) interactions in heart disease | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) is best known for the physiological control of blood pressure acting in the kidney under the control of the hormone aldosterone. The MR is also found in many other cell types including the heart and inflammatory cells where another hormone cortisol, not aldosterone, activates the receptor. Until recently the role of cortisol-MR signalling was largely unknown. | 1 | 1 | Associate Professor | Morag | Young | morag.young@baker.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||||||
Identifying state and trait components of sensory and motor disturbances across the schizophrenia spectrum | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Sensorimotor dysfunction is frequently observed in people with schizophrenia as well as their unaffected relatives, which has led to proposals that these disturbances represent a vulnerability (or trait feature) of the disorder. However, there are reports that sensorimotor signs may also represent state features. This study will examine the heterogeneity of sensorimotor dysfunction across the schizophrenia-spectrum by identifying unique and causal links between specific sensorimotor signs and trait and state features of psychotic illness. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Vanessa | Cropley | vcropley@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||||||||
Identifying targets and mechanisms of acquired immunity to severe malaria in children | Burnet Institute | Medicine | This project aims to identify immune responses that protect against severe malaria in young children. It will involve testing samples from young children in specific immunologic assays | Prof | James | Beeson | beeson@burnet.edu.au | Dr | JoAnne | Chan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Identifying the causes of brain malformation in children | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Identifying the causes of brain malformation in children | Prof | Paul | Lockhart | paul.lockhart@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Richard | Leventer | Dr | Sarah | Stephenson | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Immunity, Chronic Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Our research focuses on understanding the immunological mechanisms that drive inflammation in cardiovascular diseases. In doing so, we aim to facilitate the development and implementation of effective anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating therapies for patients with cardiovascular disease. | Professor | Karlheinz | Peter | karlheinz.peter@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Jonathan | Noonan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | |||||||||
Impedance triggered therapeutic intervention after cochlear implantation | Surgery, Otolaryngology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | We are pioneering the use of intra-operative monitoring of hearing function during cochlear implantation to actively preserve this function in theatre. However, even after an atraumatic surgery, many patients lose their residual hearing function in the following weeks. The loss of this hearing is often accompanied by a sudden, drastic increase in the electrical impedance of the implant. The purpose of this project is to test whether the monitoring of electrical impedances can be used to trigger a therapeutic intervention to prevent subsequent hearing loss. | 1 | Dr | Christofer | Bester | christofer.bester@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Stephen | O'Leary | Dr | AAron | Collins | n/a | PhD students | |||||
IMpleMenting Effective infection prevention and control in ReSidential aged carE (IMMERSE) | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Summary Older people living in aged care homes are susceptible to infections such as influenza. Our aim is to protect their health by promoting a strong focus on infection prevention and control (IPC). We will investigate gaps in IPC procedures such as how staff training is provided, how residents participate in IPC, and gaps in staff IPC practice, and identify solutions to address gaps. We will upskill IPC leads to drive change and co-design a community of practice that enables IPC leads to share knowledge, experiences, and resources. PhD Scholarship Opportunity: The PhD candidate will work with the project team to investigate the features of community of practice among nurse IPC leads that improve infection control practices in residential aged care facilities. | Prof | Wen Kwang | Lim | Kwang.Lim@mh.org.au | Prof | Jill | Francis | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
IMpleMenting Effective infection prevention and control in ReSidential aged carE (IMMERSE) | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Older people living in aged care homes are susceptible to infections such as influenza. Our aim is to protect their health by promoting a strong focus on infection prevention and control (IPC). We will investigate gaps in IPC procedures such as how staff training is provided, how residents participate in IPC, and gaps in staff IPC practice, and identify solutions to address gaps. We will upskill IPC leads to drive change and co-design a community of practice that enables IPC leads to share knowledge, experiences, and resources.
PhD Stipend Opportunity: The PhD candidate will work with the project team to investigate the features of community of practice among nurse IPC leads that improve infection control practices in residential aged care facilities. *Applications are invited for the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) funded PhD Stipend in Implementation Science* To learn more or to apply go to: https://melbourneuni.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Dk5qqGiHjAtPDw |
Professor | Jill | Francis | jillian.francis@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Wen Kwang | Lim | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Implementing the Gait and Balance Gym and the Effect on Falls and Falls Risk Factors | Virtual-reality balance training has recently gained prominence, particularly with the use of systems such as the Nintendo Wii. Our clinic makes use of the Balance Rehabilitation Unit (BRU) by Medicaa, a virtual-reality system which is valid and reliable in the assessment and training of static balance. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||||
Improve the diagnostic prediction of imaging measures in dementia and epilepsy | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The aim of this study is to study the impact of neuroimaging tools driven by machine learning on clinical diagnosis in dementia and epilepsy . | Dr | Vijay | Venkatraman | vijay.venkatraman@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Roland | Bammer | Dr | Chris | Steward | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||
Improving palliative care in residential aged care using telehealth (IMPART) | Medicine | Residential aged care facilities are important care settings where people live and die, yet the quality of end-of-life care can vary considerably across facilities. To support aged care staff in end-of-life care and discussions, we have developed the IMPART program. The IMPART program is a collaborative, NHMRC-funded trial that aims to improve palliative care in residential aged care using telehealth and staff education. We are seeking a PhD student to evaluate aspects of the implementation of the trial through focus groups and interviews with aged care staff, residents and family members. The PhD student will explore which aspects of the intervention worked well, identify barriers to engagement and contextual factors that impacted the trial. This will offer important insights and inform future trial roll-outs. PhD funding is available for 3 years and can potentially be extended for up to six months. | 1 | A/Prof | Kirsten | Moore | k.moore@nari.edu.au | Dr | Katrin | Gerber | Prof | Kwang | Lim | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Improving speech understanding of cochlear implant users with neural dead regions | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | Many cochlear implant users do not understand speech very well. One reason for this is the presence of neural ‘dead regions’ in the cochlea. These dead regions affect speech understanding by making it difficult for each component frequency in a speech signal to be independently heard. Thus, implant users experience a ‘scrambled’ speech signal. In this project, conducted with adult cochlear implant users, we will use a psychophysical method to determine which parts of the cochlear contain neural dead regions in each individual. | 1 | Prof | Colette | McKay | cmckay@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||||
Improving the dispatch of Australia's first stroke ambulance | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The project will involve the analysis of real-world data from the Melbourne Mobile Stroke Unit, Australia's first stroke treatment ambulance, to improve the dispatch of this service. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Henry | Zhao | henry.zhao@mh.org.au | Prof | Bruce | Campbell | Prof | Stephen | Davis | n/a | Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||
In vitro brain tumour model – studying epileptic seizure development and sensitivity to anti-cancer therapy | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | .The project has two aims – to examine the effects of conventional and novel treatments on the tumours aswell as the development of e | Dr | Chris French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Rod Luwor | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||
Inequities in children’s mental health: evidence to inform precision policy responses | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | The project will use a mixed-methods approach to investigate how evidence related to the modifiable social determinants of inequities in children’s mental and developmental health can inform policy decision making and action. The project will involve quantitative analysis of existing data and interviews with stakeholders. | Professor | Sharon | Goldfeld | sharon.goldfeld@rch.org.au | Associate Professor | Susan | Woolfenden | Dr | Sarah | Gray | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Infertility in women and embryo implantation failure: identifying how infertility develops using new technologies | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Embryo implantation failure is a significant bottleneck for IVF treatment and a major reason for infertility in women. Currently there are no treatments for implantation failure. Embryo implantation requires an adequately endometrium to allow embryos to firmly adhere to initiate and establish pregnancy. There is no non-invasive method established to diagnose a receptive endometrium before embryo transfer. Human endometrial organoids have recently been established and pilot studies demonstrate that organoids recapitulate the histological phenotype of the tissue they are isolated from (for instance endometrial cancer). We have established a 3D human endometrial organoid culture system and will use these to investigate why women may be infertile. Identification of the mechanisms why women are infertile which is the first step to developing treatments for implantation failure and resultant infertility. | 2 | 2 | Prof | Eva | Dimitriadis | eva.dimitriadis@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Wei | Zhou | Dr | Ellen | Menkhorst | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||
Inflammation-induced Cancer: Mechanisms and Novel Treatments | Western Health | Medicine | Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most commonly reported cancer in Australia. It accounts for over 1.4 million reports with over 700,000 deaths globally. Chronic inflammation has been considered a direct link to CRC susceptibility. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is considered a risk factor for CRC. | A/prof | Kulmira | Nurgali | kulmira.nurgali@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Inflammation-induced Osteosarcopenia: Mechanisms and Novel Treatments | Western Health | Medicine | Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), comprising two main pathologies ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, affects >85,000 Australians. Almost 50% of patients with IBD are affected by osteoporosis or osteopenia and with risk of bone fracture 40% higher than the general population. Many young Crohn’s disease patients have osteoporosis and 60% of CD patients have sarcopenia when they should be at the peak bone and muscle strength. To date, no therapy proven to be efficacious in IBD-related osteoporosis/sarcopenia. | A/Prof | Kulmira | Nurgali | kulmira.nurgali@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Inflammatory cytokines involved in obesity and osteoarthritis | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Osteoarthritis (OA) is a most common form of arthritis and is associated with many risk factors, for example, obesity. Inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in facilitating OA progression. This project will use animal models of OA to identify a novel potential therapeutic target(s) for treating OA symptoms (i.e. pain) | 1 | 1 | Dr | Kevin | Lee | mingchinl@unimelb.edu.au | Prof. | John | Hamilton | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||
Inflammatory mediators in the development of preeclampsia and pre-term birth. | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Preeclampsia, pre-term birth and still birth are severe conditions affecting 10-15% of pregnancies worldwide. There are no treatments. This project will identify how these diseases develop and may lead to the development of new therapeutic targets. | Professor | Eva | Dimitriadis | eva.dimitriadis@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||||||||
Inhibition of microglia inflammation by AMPK for obesity treatment | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | This project will investigate whether AMPK activation in microglia can suppress hypothalamic inflammation and damage of appetite-regulating neurons resulting in reduced body weight gain with high-fat feeding. The study will involve the isolation and culture of primary microglia and handling of knockout and transgenic mice to investigate hormone signalling pathways, gene expression, whole-body energy homeostasis and hepatic glucose production. | Dr | Sandra | Galic | sgalic@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Bruce | Kemp | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Integration of population level ‘omics data to target cardiometabolic disease | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Development of a plasma lipid profiling test to enable the early detection of patients at increased risk of type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. In addition we will develop methods to monitor treatment. Identification of individuals prior to the development of disease will enable early intervention and will have a profound effect on the health of the Australian population. | Professor | Peter | Meikle | peter.meikle@baker.edu.au | Dr | Corey | Giles | n/a | PhD students; Honours students | |||||||||
Integrative genomics and immunobiology in Hairy Cell Leukaemia | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Hairy cell leukaemia is a rare and slowly growing cancer of B lymphocytes. While many patients treated with frontline treatment achieve durable remission, as many as 50% of patients will relapse and need further treatment. Why some patients require additional treatment and others have long term remissions remains unknown. We believe that understanding the genetics of the hairy cells and how the immune system responds to them will help answer this question. | Professor | David | Ritchie | david.ritchie@mh.org.au | Dr | Rachel | Koldej | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Interrogating the spatial dynamics of gene regulatory networks during embryonic development and disease | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | The aims of this project are to first, reconstruct developmental GRNs at single-cell and spatio-temporal resolution by integrating mining bulk, single-cell, spatial transcriptomics and epigenomic datasets with imaging data. Second, the GRNs will then be mined to identify region- and time-specific developmental circuits that if perturbed, would lead to specific forms of congenital defects. | A/Prof | Mirana | Ramialison | mirana.ramialison@mcri.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Investigating 'silent' newborn viral infections and outcomes in the GenV cohort | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Investigating 'silent' newborn viral infections and outcomes in the GenV cohort | A/Prof | Valerie | Sung | valerie.sung@rch.org.au | A/Prof | Gabrielle | Haeusler | Prof | Melissa | Wake | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Investigating a novel mechanism for improving beta-cell function in type 2 diabetes | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | We aim to investigate whether pharmacological inhibition of Y1 receptor signalling will enhance β-cell function and improve glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetes. | Dr | Kim | Loh | kloh@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Investigating a Unique Dwelling Space for New Mothers and Babies | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Ensuring a calm and healthy first two weeks of life is thought to provide important health outcomes for both mother and infant. Yet this immediate post-partum period is largely under investigated. This study is embedded in a complimentary residential facility specifically designed to provide a supportive and comfortable environment for post-partum mothers and their babies. But how do their outcomes compare with those mothers and infants who are unable to benefit from such a facility? | Prof | Samuel | Menahem | samuel.menahem@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Margaret | Hay | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Investigating cardiovascular disease in Friedreich's ataxia using human induced pluripotent stem cells | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Surgery | This project aims to generate patient-specific cardiovascular cells from induced pluripotent stem cells to establish novel human Friedreich's Ataxia disease models for disease modelling and drug discovery | Dr | Shiang (Max) | Lim | maxlim@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Jarmon | Lees | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Investigating Lipotoxic Impacts of Fatty Acid Synthesis on: (1) Osteoblasts, and (2) Osteoclast, in Vitro and (3) Skeletal Muscle | Western Health | Medicine | Bone is a dynamic organ that remodels and changes in composition throughout the lifespan. As a vital organ, bone is required for weight-bearing and motion, for haematopoiesis and energy storage, among others (Suchacki et al. 2017). | Aprof | Damian | Myers | damianem@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Investigating the Anabolic Effect Drugs (Picolinic Acid) on Osteocytes in Vitro | Western Health | Medicine | Wnt signalling proteins are small secreted proteins that are active in embryonic development, and tissue homeostasis. Wnt proteins bind to receptors on the cell surface, initiating a signalling cascade that leads to β-catenin activation of gene transcription. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ahmed | Al Seadi | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Investigating the electrophysiology of neuronal network dynamics | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | The aim of this project is to understand the relationship between brain structure and brain activity. Specifically, the aim is to uncover the relationship between the structure of in vitro and in vivo neuronal networks and their behaviour, specifically their synaptic connectivity and patterns of neuronal firing. Of particular interest is the pathological case of Epileptic networks that produce abnormal electrical activity. | Dr | Andre | Peterson | peterson@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Steve | Petrou | A/Prof | Chris | Reid | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Investigating the link between phenotype change and treatment resistance in prostate cancer | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Surgery | The development of resistance to androgen (male sex hormone) deprivation therapy (ADT), the primary treatment for aggressive prostate cancer, is not clearly understood. | Associate Professor | Niall | Corcoran | niallmcorcoran@gmail.com | Professor | Christopher | Hovens | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Investigating the Rapamycin Effect on Induced-Palmitic osteocytes in Vitro | Western Health | Medicine | The accumulation of fats in central regions of the body or peripherally can affect normal organ function, a condition referred to as lipotoxicity. This can also occur in bone and may affect bone health largely through the dysregulation of bone cell interactions and bone turnover | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr. | Ahmed | Al Seadi | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Investigating the relationship between fat, bone and muscle | Western Health | Medicine | Osteoporosis, sarcopenia, frailty, falls and fractures in older Australians are a huge burden on the economy and health system. There is a great opportunity to address the issue by investigating how changes in the musculoskeletal system can lead to the weakening of our bones and muscles as we age; and how we can prevent falls and fractures by understanding such changes. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Investigating the role of FBX proteins in Neurodevelopment | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Investigating the role of FBX proteins in Neurodevelopment | Dr | Sarah | Stephenson | sarah.stephenson@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Paul | Lockhart | Dr | Jordan | Wright | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
IRIS: Patient-level meta-analysis of 6 randomized controlled studies on direct thrombectomy(IRIS) | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Six randomized controlled studies of the effects of direct thrombectomy have been completed. We have a rare opportunity to ask specific questions using pooled data of the 6 studies. These questions include predictors of patient outcome using advanced machine learning techniques. | Professor | Bernard | Yan | bernard.yan@mh.org.au | Professor | Peter | Mitchell | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Learning Health System for identification and prevention of vaccination errors | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Learning Health System for identification and prevention of vaccination errors | Prof | Jim | Buttery | jim.buttery@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Hazel | Clothier | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Lifestyle Factors and Cognitive Health | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The main opportunities for this project are: 1. An opportunity for publication 2. Hands-on involvement in participant evaluation 3. Work with a large database with over 20 years of lifestyle data 4. This project would suit a candidate with an interest in neuropsychology | 1 | Professor | Cassandra | Szoeke | healthy-ageing@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||
Lifestyle factors and effects on mood in elderly women | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The Women’s Healthy Ageing Project (WHAP) has prospective longitudinal, epidemiological data on alcohol consumption and mood of Australian women from age 45 over 25 years. This project will provide the opportunity for publication, as well as participant contact and clinical skills experience. | Professor | Cassandra | Szoeke | healthy-ageing@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Lorraine | Dennerstein | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Linking determination of cell fate in the developing nervous system to paediatric brain tumours | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Linking determination of cell fate in the developing nervous system to paediatric brain tumours | Prof | David | Eisenstat | david.eisenstat@mcri.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Lipidomic Profiling of Atrial Fibrillation Progression in a Murine Model | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is a growing epidemic which is expected to double in prevalence by 2030. It is the most common rhythm disorder of the heart with series clinical implications, most notably stroke, where the risk can increase five-fold. Current treatments for AF have limited efficacy and/or have potentially dangerous side effects. New therapeutic targets therefore are required to address this unmet need. The area of lipidomic profiling has seen major advances due to the improvements in mass spectrometry technology in the past decade. Our lab and others have demonstrated the benefits of harnessing large scale (~800 individual lipids) lipidomic profiling in uncovering new potential therapeutic targets and/or biomarkers for the treatment/detection of various diseases, including heart failure. This study aims to comprehensively track changes in the lipidomic profile of the circulation, heart and surrounding tissues in a murine model as it develops AF. | 1 | Dr | Yow Keat | Tham | yowkeat.tham@baker.edu.au | Prof | Julie | McMullen | n/a | Honours students | ||||||||
Lipoproteins and Cardiovascular Risk from Mid- to Late-life in Women | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | This project will provide the opportunity to work with a rich database with data that spans over 20 years, as well as having participant contact and clinical skills experience. This project would suit a candidate who is interested in cardiovascular disease. There is also opportunity for publication. | Senior Research Fellow | Alexandra | Gorelik | healthy-ageing@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Cassandra | Szoeke | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Longitudinal and secular trends in outcomes for adolescents with hearing impairment in Victoria | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Longitudinal and secular trends in outcomes for adolescents with hearing impairment in Victoria | Dr | Valerie | Sung | valerie.sung@rch.org.au | Dr | Lisa | Mundy | Dr | Jing | Wang | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Machine learning prediction of brain and body ageing | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Your brain and other organs may be older (or younger) than your chronological age! Why? | Associate Professor | Andrew | Zalesky | azalesky@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ye | Tian | Dr | Vanessa | Cropley | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||
Malaria: Going bananas for sex | Infectious Diseases | Our laboratory investigates the cellular mechanisms underpinning malaria parasite transmission and disease. We investigate the novel banana shaped sexual stages of Plasmodium falciparum, focused on understanding their unique biology and how this contributes to transmission. We are interested in developing and testing drugs and vaccines that may block transmission of the parasite from infected humans to Anopheles mosquitos. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Matthew | Dixon | matthew.dixon@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | James | McCarthy | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||||||
Manipulating Recipient Immunological Microenvironment to Improve Outcomes in Allogeneic Transplantation | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Allogeneic stem cell transplant (alloSCT) cures blood cancers by establishing a new immune system from the donor. Currently, AlloSCT has significant side effects including graft versus host disease (GVHD) and toxicity from strong chemotherapy. We will use new types of drugs to more safely modify recipient’s immunity prior to transplantation and examine how modifications in immunity allows for successful engraftment, freedom from toxicity (including GVHD) and improve anti-cancer responses. | Prof | David | Ritchie | david.ritchie@mh.org.au | Dr | Rachel | Koldej | Dr | Joanne | Davis | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Mapping cerebellar connectivity in neurodevelopmental disorders | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Recent evidence suggests that the cerebellum may be a key site of neuropathology in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study will examine both the direct effects of cerebellar pathology, and the role of cerebello-cortical circuitry, on the aetiology of ASD symptoms. | Professor | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Stan | Skafidas | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Markers in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (MiND) study | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | The Markers in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (MiND) aims to study whether neurofilament light and other biomarkers, clinical, cognitive, imaging and other markers can improve diagnosis, prognostication, care and treatment, and health economic outcomes, for people with cognitive, neuropsychiatric and neurological symptoms. By studying a broad range of symptoms and conditions, from neurodegenerative dementias such as Alzheimer disease and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, to many other neurological and neurodegenerative disorders, to schizophrenia and other severe psychiatric illnesses, the MiND study ultimately aims for clinical translation such as a screening blood test and precision care use of biomarkers and other markers, to improve outcomes for patients, their families, clinical trials and healthcare systems. | Prof | Dennis | Velakoulis | dennisv@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Dhamidhu | Eratne | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Marrow Adipose Tissue Functions: Studying Lipotoxicity in Hip Replacement Candidates | Western Health | Medicine | Seven million Australians (28%) have musculoskeletal conditions, resulting in the fourth largest overall contributor to direct health expenditure in Australia, accounting for 8.7% ($5.690 billion) of total health-care expenditure, above all types of cancers combined (AIHW 2014).1 The majority of expenses are spent on two conditions: osteoporosis (OP) with associated fractures and osteoarthritis (OA). Yearly 144,000 older Australians sustain osteoporotic fractures at a significant cost of greater than $3.36 billion, excluding the burden, morbidity and mortality associated with osteoporotic fractures.2 | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ebrahim | Bani Hassan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Massively Parallel Optical Imaging of Cognition Events in Neuronal Networks in Freely Behaving Mice | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Dr | Chris | French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||||
Measuring developmental outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | This PhD opportunity is focusing on the design, validation and evaluation of a psychometric measure to evaluate developmental outcomes in Australian Aboriginal children. | Dr | Anita | d'Aprano | anita.daprano@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Mechanotransduction in blood cells and consequences for thrombosis and inflammation | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | This project will determine the effects of blood flow on immune cell function and identify receptors that control such effects. | Professor | Karlheinz | Peter | karlheinz.peter@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Sara | Baratchi | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Mesenchymal Stem Cell-based Therapies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Colorectal Cancer | Western Health | Medicine | Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), comprising 2 main pathologies, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, affects >85,000 Australians. The severity of chronic inflammation leads to gut perforations, fistulae, cancer and death. Current therapeutics for IBD are very toxic, have severe adverse effects and become ineffective over time. | A/prof | Kulmira | Nurgali | kulmira.nurgali@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Microbial changes following pneumococcal conjugate vaccination | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Pneumococci are a major global pathogen. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) protect against a subset of pneumococcal serotypes. Introduction of PCVs result in major changes to pneumococcal epidemiology and to the microbiota more broadly. In this project, you will examine nasopharyngeal samples and isolates collected from children from vaccine studies in low-income settings from the Asia-Pacific region. You will apply traditional and molecular microbiology approaches including culture and serotyping, qPCR, DNA microarray, whole-genome sequencing and antimicrobial resistance testing. Your results will inform vaccine strategies world-wide. | A/Prof | Catherine | Satzke | catherine.satzke@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Laura | Boelsen | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Mid-Thigh Bone and Muscle Mass Measurements as an Assessment Tool for Diagnosis of Osteoporosis/penia, Sarcopenia and Osteosarcopenia: A Longitudinal Validation Study | Western Health | Medicine | As we get older we lose bone and muscle mass and quality, known as osteoporosis and sarcopenia, respectively.As we lose bone mass our bones become brittle and easier to break. With less muscle mass we become weaker and possibly frail, in addition to becoming prone to falls. Those who have both weak muscles and brittle bones are called osteosarcopenic. Such patients are very prone to frailty, falls and fractures. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ebrahim | Bani Hassan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Mineralocorticoid receptor activation pathways in macrophages ; new mechanisms of heart failure | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) is best known for regulating sodium, potassium, fluid balance and blood pressure control via actions in the kidney. Our work has shown that the MR also has important functional roles in other tissues and cell types including cardiac myocytes, vascular smooth muscle cells and inflammatory cells such as macrophages. In these cells, the actions of the MR play a central role cardiac inflammation and fibrosis, which, are hall marks of heart disease. | 1 | 1 | Associate Professor | Morag | Young | morag.young@baker.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||||||
Modelling cardiovascular diseases using human cardiac organoids | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Surgery | This project aims to construct a multicellular cardiac organoid model using cardiomyocytes and non-myocyte cell populations derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells to study heart disease. | Doctor | Shiang | Lim | mlim@svi.edu.au | Doctor | Jarmon | Lees | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Modellling severe childhood epilepsy | Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health | Medicine | Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder with a third of patients not responding to currently available treatments. To better understand the underlying mechanisms, our lab is developing and analysing disease models for genetic forms of epilepsy. | Dr | Snezana | Maljevic | snezana.maljevic@florey.edu.au | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Molecular remodelling of endothelial cells in response to specific lymphocytes and other signals | Royal Melbourne Hospital,Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) | Paediatrics | This project will reveal novel insights into the role of circulating lymphocytes and other factors in modulating endothelial molecular function, a key determinant in a range of adverse health outcomes, including atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. | Prof | Richard | Saffery | richard.saffery@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Boris | Novakovic | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Molecular signalling pathways controlling gene expression during chronic disease progression | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | In this project you will explore in molecular terms how a particular inflammatory cell type (macrophage/dendritic cell) can adapt to provide a pro-inflammatory environment with consequences for persistence or otherwise of these significant diseases. | Dr | Adrian | Achuthan | aaa@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Motor function assessment using video-based motion capture and machine-learning for children with movement disorders | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | We are seeking an enthusiastic PhD candidate to join our multidisciplinary team of researchers and health professionals working collaboratively across MCRI and the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) to develop remote motor function assessment options for children with movement disorders using video and machine-learning approaches. | Dr | Elyse | Passmore | elyse.passmore@rch.org.au | Dr | Gareth | Ball | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Multimodal imaging measures to improve dementia diagnosis | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The aim of this study is to study the influence morphological and longitudinal measures to improve dementia diagnosis. | Dr | Vijay | Venkatraman | vvenkatraman@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Patricia | Desmond | Prof. | Roland | Bammer | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||
Multinuclear MRI biomarkers in schizophrenia | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Schizophrenia is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by positive symptoms (delusions, hallucinations), negative symptoms (lack of motivation, poverty of speech), cognitive deficits and impaired social and occupational functioning. The aetiology of schizophrenia remains unknown and the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of schizophrenia are poorly understood. Previous studies have identified altered brain metabolism as one of the putative mechanisms contributing to schizophrenia, partly due to neuroinflammation and pathological oxidative processes. However, there is a paucity of research investigating oxidative and neuroinflammatory processes in the brain in vivo. Sodium (23Na) MRI is an emerging metabolic imaging technique that employs ultra-high field MRI (7T and above) to characterise tissue sodium content, and together with iron (1H) MRI provides an invaluable tool to investigate brain structure and chemical composition in the living brain. By employing advanced multivariate statistical techniques, this program of work aims to combine complementary information from clinical, cognitive and biological data in order to identify unique patterns of cognition and structural changes associated with schizophrenia. | 2 | 2 | Professor | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Warda | Syeda | Associate Professor | Mahesh | Jayaram | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||
Network communication in the brain | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Use network science to understand how information is communicated in nervous systems | Associate Professor | Andrew | Zalesky | azalesky@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Caio | Seguin | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Neural modelling of epileptic dynamics | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | This project aims to understand the links between the average single neuron behaviour with the behaviour of a network of neurons. In particular, we would like to understand how the electrical behaviour becomes unstable, for example, when there is a transition to a seizure-like state from a normal or resting state. | Dr | Andre | Peterson | peterson@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Neurodevelopmental trajectories and biopsychosocial risk factors in autism and schizophrenia | Psychiatry | Children with neurodevelopmental disorders often have worse outcomes than typically developing children on a range of measures, including education, mental health, social dysfunction, vocational achievement, and conduct problems. Furthermore, overlap between the symptoms of many neurodevelopmental disorders, along with intra-illness heterogeneity, results in frequent misdiagnosis, ineffective treatment, and increased disability in affected children. There is therefore an urgent need to identify biopsychosocial markers that characterise specific neurodevelopmental disorders and impact on illness severity and outcomes. The key aims of our research are therefore to (1) map the developmental trajectories of cognition, behaviour, and brain structure and function in autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizotypal disorder of childhood (SDC) over critical periods of brain development, and (2) identify the candidate biopsychosocial risk/resilience markers that might impact these trajectories and illness outcomes. Our work will consider a range of biopsychosocial markers, including genetics, inflammation, clinical profiles, early life stress and physiological stress reactivity, and psychosocial indices such as socioeconomic status and parenting styles. | 2 | 2 | Professor | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Cassandra | Wannan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||||||
Neuropsychological profile of children with childhood apraxia of speech | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Our team has an exciting PhD opportunity for a project examining cognitive contributions in childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) associated with our speech genetics clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital. | Prof | Angela | Morgan | angela.morgan@mcri.edu.au | Prof | David | Amor | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
New methods for investigating bone muscle and fat mass using 2D DXA images to predict performance, risk of falls and fractures | Western Health | Medicine | We have a new region of interest for analysing whole body DXA scans that can determine muscle, bone and fat mass in one go and in a matter of seconds. If validated, we can develop a quick, affordable and efficient way of screening people for bone, muscle and fat mass in one go. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – characterising disease features in order to develop new therapies | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is the most common chronic liver disorder in developed countries, affecting up to 30% of the population. 10-20% of NAFLD patients will progress to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, in which inflammatory processes are activated in the liver. NASH can then progress to more advanced liver diseases, including cirrhosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, no effective treatments have been shown to alter the natural history of NAFLD progression. Research efforts to understand the pathogenesis of NAFLD progression are hampered by the lack of a robust animal model. | Dr | Amanda Edgley | aedgley@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Fay | Khong | Dr | Roy | Kong | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||
Novel Approaches in Therapeutic Endoscopy | Western Health | Medicine | The Western Health Department of Endoscopic Services provides a wide range of advanced gastrointestinal endoscopy services. The scope of minimally invasive therapeutic endoscopy is increasingly expanding in the modern era. | A/prof | Alan | Moss | alan.moss@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Novel genetic interactions with the double-stranded RNA-induced autoimmunity pathways | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | RNA editing, principally A-to-I editing, is the most prevalent form of RNA base modification and can lead to structural and functional changes in RNA and any subsequently encoded protein. Genomically encoded adenosine (A) is converted to inosine (I) in double stranded RNA (dsRNA) substrates. Inosine is interpreted as a guanine (G) during translation, thus harboring the potential to alter the protein coding sequence of mRNA substrates. However, A-to-I editing predominantly occurs in non-coding, repetitive elements such as inverted Alu elements and short interspersed elements (SINE). Estimates of the number of editing sites range from hundreds of thousands to millions in human cells, with tens of thousands in the mouse. This project will apply unique mouse models and genome wide screening to definitively understand the consequences of ADAR1 editing on non-coding and small RNA species. | A/Prof | Carl | Walkley | cwalkley@svi.edu.au | Dr | Alistair | Chalk | Dr | Jacki | Herard-Farlow | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||||
Novel regenerative therapies in cardiovascular diseases | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Cardiovascular regenerative medicine is an exciting new approach that promises to change the current care of million people world-wide. The main objective of this project is to study the molecular mechanisms that result in promoting regeneration in damaged tissues. We will employ various experimental approaches to focus on different regenerative strategies including a broad spectrum of techniques such as stem cell derived exosomes. | 1 | Prof | Karlheinz | Peter | Karlheinz.Peter@baker.edu.au | Dr | SMRITI | MURALI KRISHNA | Dr | Xiaowei | Wang | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||
Novel therapies for atherosclerotic plaque stabilization | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Our research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that drive atherosclerotic plaque formation and plaque rupture in cardiovascular diseases. We aim to deeply characterise the fundamental molecular pathways underlying plaque formation and rupture using translational disease models and novel therapeutic agents. | 1 | Prof | Karlheinz | Peter | Karlheinz.Peter@baker.edu.au | Dr | Smriti | MURALI KRISHNA | Dr | Yung-Chih (Ben) | Chen | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||
Novel therapies for the treatment of cardiorenal syndrome | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | The aim of this project is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the direct effects of uraemic toxins in vitro in cardiac, renal, vascular cells and monocytes, with a focus on actions mediated via the AhR. | Dr | Andrew Kompa | akompa@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Amanda Edgley | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||||
Nuclear receptor co-regulators in heart disease and inflammation; new targets for fine-tuning receptor actions in health and disease | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Nuclear receptors associate with co-regulatory proteins to modulate gene transcription: These co-regulators can have profound effects on receptor activity and may be targeted therapeutically for the treatment of a range of diseases. Our lab has identified several novel mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) co-regulators from the heart and kidney that control the overall activity of the MR and, importantly, its response to antagonists. | 1 | 1 | Associate Professor | Morag | Young | morag.young@baker.edu.au | Dr | Kate | Weeks | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||
Ocular gene therapy: the new era of blindness prevention | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | In December 2017, the world’s first direct-to-human gene therapy was approved for an inherited retinal disease called Leber Congenital Amaurosis. This disease normally onsets in early childhood and causes severe vision loss and blindness. Excitingly, the new gene therapy treatment was able to halt the progression of this disease, saving vision for the study participants. This has opened the doors for a new era of medicine – one where blindness may be able to be stopped in its tracks with the use of gene therapy. | Dr | Tom | Edwards | thomas.edwards@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Lauren | Ayton | Ms | Jasleen | Jolly | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Olfactory-focused cognitive training | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | The successful candidate in this project will help develop and evaluate an olfactory training paradigm suitable for use with cognitively impaired older adults. | Dr | Alex | Bahar-Fuchs | alex.bahar@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||||||||
Optimising use of everyday technology for children and adolescents with acquired brain injury | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Optimising use of everyday technology for children and adolescents with acquired brain injury | Dr | Sarah | Knight | sarah.knight@mcri.edu.au | A/Prof | Adam | Scheinberg | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Optogenetics for precise neural stimulation | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | The aim of this project is to develop the next generation of neural stimulation devices that use optical stimulation or combined optical/electrical stimulation in order to improve the precision of neural activation. | A/Prof | Rachael | Richardson | RRICHARDSON@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Oral Health and Attitudes in Young Adults Aged 15-25 Years with Diabetes Mellitus: A Case - Control Study | Western Health | Medicine | Adults with poorly controlled Diabetes Mellitus (DM) have more advanced gum disease and people with poorer gum health will have greater difficulty in controlling their DM. Most observational and intervention research has concentrated on the bidirectional association between DM and Periodontal disease in older adults and the oral health of children with Type 1 (T1) DM. | A/Prof | Christine | Rodda | christine.rodda@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Davis | Darby | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Osteosarcopenia as a Geriatric Syndrome | Western Health | Medicine | Osteoporosis, the most common bone disease in humans, shares distinct pathophysiological mechanisms with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia, characterized by low muscle strength, mass and physical performance, is an important disease in older adults. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ben | Kirk | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Osteosarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults attending the Falls and Fracture Clinic | Western Health | Medicine | The Falls and Fracture Clinic was developed to provide a comprehensive assessment for older adults with a risk or history of falls and fractures. | Prof | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Osteosarcopenia in Older Adults Attending a Fracture Liaison Service | Western Health | Medicine | Osteosarcopenia describes the significant loss of bone and skeletal muscle mass that occurs during ageing. Although the condition is not well characterised, osteosarcopenia appears to be associated with increased risk for disability, institutionalisation, falls, fractures and mortality in older adults. | Dr. | David | Scott | d.scott@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Gustavo | Duque | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Pacemaker channels and brain excitability | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Pacemaker channels in the brain are important for normal function. In this project we use optogenic tools to better understand what they do in the brain | A/Prof | Christopher | Reid | christopher.reid@florey.edu.au | Dr | Paulo | Pinares-Garcia | Dr | Ming | So | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Partnering to reduce neonatal pain | Royal Women’s Hospital | Paediatrics | Breastfeeding, skin-to-skin (SSC) and very small amounts of sugar water reduce pain in healthy, sick and premature infants during painful procedures, yet research conducted around the world shows these strategies are infrequently used in clinical practice. There are no current data regarding Australian newborn pain management practices. Through an online survey, this project will ascertain current newborn pain management practices at the Royal Women's Hospital (Parkville and Sandringham campuses), ascertain perceptions of a brief healthcare provider-targeted video in promoting use of breastfeeding and SSC (https:www.youtube.comwatch?v=lpZNwP7bnkg&feature=youtu.be) and explore barriers and enablers to facilitating parents' involvement during painful neonatal procedures. | 1 | Professor | Denise | Harrison | deniseh@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | Honours students | |||||||||||
Pathology begins in the cells: Studying lipotoxic stress generated from adipocytes in bone and muscle cell cultures | Western Health | Medicine | Osteopenia, osteoporosis and sarcopenia affect the lives of more than 2 million people in Australia and numbers are increasing exponentially due to increased life expectancy. Ageing is the strongest predictor of sarcopenia which is directly correlated with increased falls and bone fractures. The link between muscle health and the quality and strength of bone is underpinned by cell-cell interactions that regulate both cortical and trabecular bone turnover. | A/prof | Damian | Myers | damianem@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | John | Hamilton | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Cognition in Ageing Women | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | This project aims to evaluate the association of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Cognition in Ageing Women over 20 years of follow-up. | Dr | Jesse | Zanker | healthy-ageing@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Cassandra | Szoeke | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Placental Cord Blood Cell Therapy in Children at High Risk of Heart Failure | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Placental Cord Blood Cell Therapy in Children at High Risk of Heart Failure | A/Prof | Salvatore | Pepe | salvatore.pepe@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Christian | Brizard | A/Prof | Michael | Cheung | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Plasmalogen modulation as a therapeutic approach for fatty liver disease | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | In this project we will combine our lipidomics expertise with our unique mouse models of plasmalogen modification as well as established mouse models of fatty liver diseases to define the therapeutic potential of plasmalogen modulation against fatty liver diseases. Identification of the mechanisms operating to attenuate disease pathogenesis will provide a clear rationale for the subsequent translation and commercialisation of this new prophylactic therapy. | Professor | Peter | Meikle | peter.meikle@baker.edu.au | Dr | Sudip | Paul | n/a | PhD students; Honours students | |||||||||
Pre-clinical Analysis of Effects of Lamin A Overexpression on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation into Myocytes | Western Health | Medicine | Falls and fractures are highly prevalent in the elderly. Around 20,000 hip fracture cases are reported in Australia every year, and nearly 25% of patients who sustain a hip fracture die within a year. Since a large number of fractures occur due to a fall, decrease in muscle size and strength with age (sarcopenia) seems to relate directly with the incidence of fall-related fractures. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Pre-Clinical Studies Identifying Novel Molecular Regulators of Skeletal Muscle Growth and Atrophy | Western Health | Medicine | The aim of this project is to use rodent- and cell-based models to examine the potential for specific growth factors, signalling molecules, metabolic enzymes and/or transcription factors to stimulate muscle growth or promote muscle atrophy. | Associate Professor | Alan | Hayes | hayes.a@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Precision diagnosis for the remaining 50% of unsolved developmental and epileptic encephalopathies | Austin Health | Medicine | Our Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Research (DEER) program aims to improve the genetic yield to above 70% for patients with DEEs. Our large cohort of 400 unsolved patients will DEEs, and 200 more to be recruited, combined with extensive preliminary data in genetic diagnosis, gene discovery and genotype-phenotype correlations for DEEs assure success in increasing diagnostic yield, and novel discoveries, during this project. The latest molecular approaches to find novel genetic cause underpinning the “hidden genetics” of DEEs at the germline and somatic level to provide deep insights into the genetic architecture of these diseases. | Associate Professor | Michael | Hildebrand | michael.hildebrand@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Ingrid | Scheffer | Professor | Samuel | Berkovic | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Precision prediction of maternal and child outcomes from routine fetal ultrasounds | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Precision prediction of maternal and child outcomes from routine fetal ultrasounds | Prof | Melissa | Wake | melissa.wake@mcri.edu.au | A/Prof | Joanne | Said | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Predicting Disability and Frailty in Older Persons: The Western Osteosarcopenia and Frailty (WOSF) Study | Western Health | Medicine | Several potential operational definitions of frailty have been proposed, but none has become the gold standard for identifying frailty in the clinical or research setting. Therefore, the research agenda on frailty is focusing on the development of robust biomarkers and diagnostic tests for frailty. | Prof | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Prefrontal cortex, sympathetic activity and blood pressure regulation | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | There is a need to improve our understanding of how the brain interacts with other systems in the body to control blood pressure, so as to tailor more effective treatments. The sympathetic nervous system is known to play a critical role in blood pressure regulation. We have shown that activity in the prefrontal cortex is functionally coupled to bursts of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), indicating that it could contribute to sympathetic outflow and, hence, the control of blood pressure. In this study, we will test the direct effect of prefrontal cortex stimulation on modulation of MSNA and blood pressure modification. | 1 | Dr | Tye | Dawood | tye.dawood@baker.edu.au | Professor | Vaughan | Macefield | n/a | Honours students | ||||||||
Prevention of nut allergies in high risk infants | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Peanut allergy affects around 3% of children and around a third of those will go on to develop further nut (tree nut) allergies. Early introduction of peanut and egg into the diet has been found to be protective for the development of peanut and egg allergies and as such introduction before 12 months of age is now part of many international infant feeding guidelines. We have observational data that suggests timely introduction of tree nuts may also be protective and avoidance detrimental for the development of tree nut allergy. TreEAT (n=212) is a randomised controlled trial testing a new model of care for the prevention of tree nut allergies in infants at high risk. Infants with newly diagnosed peanut allergy are randomised to receive an in hospital supervised multi-nut (4 tree nut butter) food challenge or standard care (individual cautious tree nut introduction at home). This is a world-first trial of an intervention for the secondary prevention of tree nut allergies. The findings will have immediate translational importance and inform allergy prevention guidelines globally. | A/Prof | Kirsten | Perrett | kirsten.perrett@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Vicki | McWilliam | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Quantitative imaging in dementia | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Radiology | The aim of this study is to explore the utility of advanced MR imaging approaches in detecting early dementia. | Prof | Patricia | Desmond | Patricia.Desmond@mh.org.au | Dr | Vijay | Venkatraman | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Quantitative Measure of Effusions | Western Health | Medicine | Knee effusions are common in mechanical and inflammatory arthropathies. Increasingly it has been recognized that removal/reduction of joint effusions play a key role in improving pain and dysfunction at the knee joint, enabling rehabilitation and recovery | A/Prof | Keith | Lim | kklim@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
RCT of Vitamin D supplementation for prevention of allergy | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | The candidate will analyse the wealth of VITALITY data to determine whether vitamin D supplementation has a role in optimising infant immune health in the first year of life and reducing the risk of allergic disease. | A/Prof | Kirsten | Perrett | kirsten.perrett@mcri.edu.au | A/Prof | Jennifer | Koplin | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Recipient immunity as a determinant of long term outcome in bone marrow transplantation | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (alloSCT) is a curative therapy for blood cancers. However, up to 50% of patients undergoing alloSCT continue to face the prospect of disease relapse, regimen-related toxicity, opportunistic infections and graft versus host disease. We have shown in mouse models that residual recipient immunity present at the time of alloSCT has a significant impact on outcome. We have launched multiple clinical trials to translate this finding to the clinic which incorporate significant correlative immunology analysis and will form the basis of this project. | 1 | Professor | David | Ritchie | david.ritchie@mh.org.au | Dr | Rachel | Koldej | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||||||
Regulation of blood cell production by endothelial cell-derived retinoic acid receptor gamma | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | We make billions of blood cells every day due to finely regulated processes involving intrinsic and extrinsic factors. We have shown that the vitamin A receptor, RARg, is a key regulator of blood cell production and this project will explore one of its key roles. | Professor | Louise | Purton | lpurton@svi.edu.au | Dr | Gavin | Tjin | Ms | Diannita | Kwang | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Resolving inflammation in childhood respiratory disease | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | This project, funded by the NHMRC and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, will apply a multi-omic approach to define the immune response in the upper and lower airway, as well as the peripheral blood, in children with chronic pulmonary diseases. Using cutting edge technology and clinically relevant patient sample from globally important paediatric cohorts, this project has a strong pathway to translation with the ultimate goal of informing strategies to improve clinical care and respiratory health throughout life. The project would suit a clinician or a scientist with an interest in immunology, bioinformatics, or pulmonary development. | Dr | Melanie | Neeland | melanie.neeland@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Sarath | Ranganathan | Dr | Shivanthan | Shanthikumar | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Respiratory strategies to protect the preterm lung at birth | Paediatrics | An exciting opportunity for a PhD Student who is enthusiastic and self- motivated to apply for a PhD Scholarship for research into preterm lung injury. The successful scholar will work with our molecular and translational program, which focuses on better understanding the physiological and biological response to mechanical ventilation, using proteomics and imaging tools such as Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), to develop ventilation strategies that improve lung function and prevent long-term injury. | Dr | Prue | Pereira-Fantini | prue.pereira@mcri.edu.au | A/Prof | David | Tingay | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||
Reversible silencing of the cochlea | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | The auditory system has long been studied as an example of neural plasticity, with functional changes to neural processing resulting from deafness or severe hearing loss. Cochlear implants can provide peripheral input and partially reverse these changes from deafness. However, it is unknown if this incomplete reversal is due to the crude input from a cochlear implant or if it is a fundamental limit to plasticity of the mammalian auditory system. | A/Prof | Rachael | Richardson | RRICHARDSON@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Role of the family environment in shaping children's brains and mental health | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | The family environment, and in particular, the relationship between a child and their parent/s, has a significant role in shaping children's development and susceptibility to mental health problems. Emerging research suggests that parents impact their children's development via shaping their brain maturation. This project will utilise gold-standard observational data to investigate associations between real-world parenting behaviours, brain development and mental health in children. As data from this project has already been collected (N=160 participants), the student will work on analysis of the observational, neuroimaging and mental health data. | 1 | A/Prof | Sarah | Whittle | swhittle@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | Honours students | |||||||||||
Role of the Nervous System in Cancer Development and Progression | Western Health | Medicine | The nervous system governs functional activities of many organs. Solid tumour like organs are also innervated by nerve fibers. The nervous system can modulate angiogenesis, the tumor microenvironment, immune functions and inflammatory pathways to influence metastases. Peripheral nerve invasion provides an alternative pathway for the spread of cancer cells when blood and lymphatic metastases are absent. | A/prof | Kulmira | Nurgali | kulmira.nurgali@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Satellite imaging technology to detect the early signs of glaucoma and Alzheimer’s disease in the retina | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | We aim to be the first group in the world to bring hyperspectral imaging, based on NASA satellite technology, to the clinic to improve the care of Australians with glaucoma and Alzheimer’s disease. There are no screening tests for the earliest stages of the diseases. 400,000 Australians live with dementia and most have Alzheimer’s disease. | A/Prof | Peter | van Wijngaarden | peterv@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Sex and the broken heart: sex-specific mechanisms driving heart failure | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Until recently the cellular composition of the heart was poorly defined. Using advanced genetic, cytometric and single cell transcriptomic approaches, our research has shed new light on the cellular constituents of the heart, demonstrating that the heart is comprised of a complex ecosystem of cell types. Furthermore, we have recently found that the cellular landscape of the heart is sexually dimorphic in terms of cell abundance, gene expression and stress responses. By combining computational biology, single-cell omics, mouse genetics and refined 2D and 3D imaging methodologies, this project aims to determine sex-specific mechanisms driving heart heart failure. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Alexander | Pinto | alex.pinto@baker.edu.au | Dr | Malathi | Dona | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | |||||||
Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll: Young people and risk behaviours | Burnet Institute | Medicine | Every year, we conduct an online survey with young people, asking about about social media use, sexual health and behaviour, alcohol and other drug use, mental health and other risks and behaviours. In this project the student will use the data collected to investigate patterns of risk behaviours and health outcomes in young people. | Dr | Megan | Lim | megan.lim@burnet.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Sexting, porn, and Tinder: An investigation of education and health promotion | Burnet Institute | Medicine | Access to new technologies could present novel risks to young people’s sexual health. | Dr | Megan | Lim | megan.lim@burnet.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
SNOTWATCH: Mapping real-time respiratory and gastrointestinal viral information to inform and improve health outcomes | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | SNOTWATCH: Mapping real-time respiratory and gastrointestinal viral information to inform and improve health outcomes | Prof | Jim | Buttery | jim.buttery@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Hazel | Clothier | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Social and physical activities in ageing women | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | This project provide opportunity to work with a rich database with data that spans over 20 years already collected to evaluate the social and physical activities in ageing women. | Dr | Jesse | Zanker | jesse.zanker@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Cassandra | Szoeke | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Socioeconomic status and sleep in late childhood | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Healthy sleep is critical for good health, including mental health and cognitive function. Low socioeconomic status is associated with altered sleep, however the factors driving this association remain unclear. Using a multidimensional assessment of SES and sleep, this study aims to identify the unique factors of SES that are associated with sleep problems in late childhood. It may also examine the factors of SES that influence the association between poor sleep and later socioemotional adjustment and cognitive functioning. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Vanessa | Cropley | vcropley@unimelb.edu.au | Ms | Rebecca | Cooper | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | |||||||
Sodium Channels in Epilepsy | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | This project is to study voltage-gated sodium channels, membrane proteins that are the basis of almost all electrical signaling in the nervous system, and so of the greatest significance in normal function, as well as disease states including epilepsy. | Dr | Chris French | frenchc@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||||||
Stentrode: Tissue Response to Endovascular Stimulation | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Tissue response influences the effectiveness of the bioelectric implants. The aim of this project is to evaluate the Acute and chronic histological, macroscopic changes due to endovascular electrical stimulation to the surrounding blood vessels. | Dr | Sam | John | sam.john@unimelb.edu.au | A/Prof | Nicholas | Opie | Dr. | Brooke | Farrugia | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Stroke assessment with multi-modal imaging | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The aim of this project will be to explore the utility of multimodal imaging in stroke assessment. | Dr | Vijay | Venkatraman | vijay.venkatraman@unimelb.edu.au | Prof. | Roland | Bammer | Prof | Patricia | Desmond | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
Structural biology of proteins involved in bone diseases | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | Remodelling of bone is critical for normal physiological function and becomes dysfunctional in diseases such as Osteoporosis (bone thinning and fragility) and Osteosarcoma (bone cancer), where a paucity of bone material causes debilitating illness that is currently irreversible. Alternatively, mutation of a specific membrane protein, ClC-7, causes a rare inherited disease (Osteopetrosis) in which too much bone material is deposited leading to abnormally increased bone mass. Our preliminary studies have suggested a molecular basis for aberrant function of ClC-7 mutants in Osteopetrosis. The aim of this project is to fully characterise the mechanism of ClC-7 mutations that cause Osteopetrosis in order to develop drugs that mimic the phenotype of these mutations. | Dr | Brett | Bennetts | brettb@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Michael | Parker | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Structural biology of proteins involved in cancer | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | We are investigating, though structural and biochemical means, how a range of ruthenium, arsenic and osmium-based drugs and drug-like compounds interact with Glutathione S-Transferase (GST) family of proteins. | Dr | Craig | Morton | craig.morton@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Michael | Parker | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Structural biology of proteins involved in infection | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | The b-barrel pore-forming toxins constitute the largest group of functionally related toxins/proteins and are expressed in many species in the prokaryotic and eukaryotic kingdoms and also include the membrane attack complex/perforin (MACPF) family of mammalian immune defence proteins. Despite their widespread occurrence and role in bacterial pathogenesis and immune defence, the detailed mechanism by which they form pores remains an enigma. The overall aim here is to visualise the 3D structures of family members as a basis for functional studies to reveal the molecular details of how these toxins insert into membranes to form b-barrel pores and how the process is regulated. | Dr | Craig | Morton | craig.morton@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Michael | Parker | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Structural biology of proteins involved in mental illnesses | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the fourth biggest killer in developed countries. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays a central role in the development of AD, through generation of the toxic Abeta peptide by proteolytic breakdown of APP. Here we will use X-ray crystallography at the Australian Synchrotron to determine the 3D atomic structures of Abeta bound to therapeutic antibodies currently in clinical trials in order to understand how these molecules recognise Abeta. We use this information to engineer more potent antibodies as treatments for AD. | Prof | Michael | Parker | mparker@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Studying novel proteins in preeclampsia | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | This project will involve laboratory studies of novel placental proteins that we have identified may play a role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. | Associate Professor | Tu'uhevaha | Kaitu'u-Lino | t.klino@unimelb.edu.au | Associate Professor | Natalie | Hannan | Professor | Stephen | Tong | n/a | PhD students; Honours students | ||||||
Supporting young people with complex disability to participate in important life situations | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Supporting young people with complex disability to participate in important life situations | Prof | Christine | Imms | christine.imms@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Sympathetic activation in adults with inadequate sleep | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | This proposed study will assess the effect of inadequate sleep on the neural control of blood pressure to determine the role of sleep in hypertension. | Dr | Stephanie | Yiallourou | stephanie.yiallourou@baker.edu.au | Professor | Vaughan | Macefield | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Symptom comorbidity networks in psychiatry | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Investigate causal links between psychiatric symptoms and cognition across mental illnesses | Dr | Vanessa | Cropley | vcropley@unimelb.edu.au | Associate Professor | Andrew | Zalesky | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Synthesising, dismantling and optimising cognitive interventions | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | We offer a unique opportunity to learn advanced meta-analysis techniques and lead high impact work that changes clinical practice. Location is flexible. | Dr | Amit | Lampit | amit.lampit@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||||||||
Fully Funded. Systematic EndoscopIc Staging of Mediastinum to determine Impact on radiotherapy for locally advanced lung Cancer (SEISMIC): an international multi-centre cohort study | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | Lung Cancer remains the most common cause of cancer death in Australia & the western world. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises 87% of all lung cancers, and of these over 25% are diagnosed with locally advanced disease – defined by involvement of mediastinal lymph nodes (LN). The SEISMIC study aims to identify the optimal method for mediastinal LN and planning of radiation therapy fields. | Associate Professor | Daniel | Steinfort | Daniel.Steinfort@mh.org.au | Associate Professor | Shankar | Siva | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Targeting inflammation and fibrosis for the treatment of retinal disease | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | Currently, there are no effective treatment options for retinal scarring and limited therapies for neovascularisation, hence there is a high unmet clinical need for novel and cost effective products to prevent vision loss associated with neovascularisation, inflammation and fibrosis. With this focus our group, along with the biotech company OccuRx, has patented a library of new chemical entities with potent anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties to treat inflammatory and fibrotic diseases of the retina. | Dr | Roy Kong | Dr | Amanda Edgley | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Targeting microglia in neurodegenerative diseases | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | Microgial cells, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, act as the first and main form of immune defense against toxic molecules involved in neurodegenerative diseases. We are using structural biology to learn how to modulate microglia receptors to eliminate these toxins from the brain. | Professor | Michael | Parker | mparker@svi.edu.au | Dr | Jon | Gooi | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Targeting novel mediators of chronic pain to improve analgesia for Epidermolysis Bullosa | Royal Melbourne Hospital,Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) | Paediatrics | This PhD project research seeks to improve understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of chronic pain in EB by defining its critical mediators, and its outcome will be to advance the development of new analgesic options in EB. To achieve this goal, the student will join a team of accomplished basic scientists and clinical researchers, who have a proven record of bench-to-bedside innovation in EB. The project will involve use of a unique murine model of EB that we recently generated as well as EB patient samples to maximise clinical translation of our studies, and will see the student apply existing drug discovery approaches to rationally target EB pain for the first time. | A/Prof | Ken | Pang | ken.pang@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Nicholas | Veldhuis | A/Prof | Johannes | Kern | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Targeting Pyroptosis to improve diabetic cardiovascular disease. | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Cardiovascular complications associated with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) lead to significant morbidity and mortality, for which standard treatment options are insufficient to halt or reduce this clinical burden. Recent clinical evidence from the successful CANTOS trial suggests that targeting the cytokine IL-1b lessens inflammation and reduces the burden of cardiovascular disease. IL-1b is matured on the NLRP3-inflammasome along with IL-18 and GasderminD, the pyroptosis (a specific form of cell death) regulating protein. Pyroptosis and release of detrimental cytokines is hypothesized to propagate cardiovascular disease. This proposal will investigate the role of pyroptosis in mediating diabetes-driven cardiomyopathy. | 1 | 1 | Prof | Judy | de Haan | judy.dehaan@baker.edu.au | Dr | Arpeeta | Sharma | n/a | Honours students | |||||||
Testing nanoengineered drug delivery systems to treat hearing loss | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | It has long been established that hair cells in the inner ear are susceptible to damage. Recent evidence has revealed that the synapses between hair cells and neurons are the first to degenerate in the ageing or noise-exposed inner ear. This project will focus on developing a treatment strategy to repair the synaptic connections in the damaged inner ear. | Dr | Niki | Gunewardene | NGunewardene@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Testing therapeutics for infertility in organoid models | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | This project aims to recreate human organoid cultures of the endometrium to determine the cause and treatment of embryo implantation failure infertility. | Professor | Eva | Dimitriadis | eva.dimitriadis@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Wei | Zhou | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
The application of a patient centred service design approach to improve patients experience of breast cancer care | Royal Melbourne Hospital | This project aims to develop understanding of how people receiving care and their care providers can collaborate in a shared goal-setting and decision-making process to align care to outcome goals and care preferences, with a focus on improving patients experience of breast cancer care. | Professor | Christobel | Saunders | christobel.saunders@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||||||
The cellular fuel gauge: Novel mechanisms of metabolic control | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | All living organisms have a critical need to couple energy and nutrient supply with growth. A major sensor of the nutrient status of a cell’s environment is the evolutionarily conserved AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). AMPK acts as the cell’s fuel gauge by directly sensing energy state (AMP, ADP and ATP), and orchestrating multiple branches of metabolism by phosphorylating and regulating key rate-limiting enzymes in these pathways. Our research goal is to bridge this knowledge gap by hunting for regulatory AMPK kinases and metabolite ligands. | A/Prof | Jon | Oakhill | joakhill@svi.edu.au | Dr | John | Scott | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
The Correlation between Knee Effusions and Clinical Presentation in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis | Western Health | Medicine | Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide and its prevalence is increasing. Locally, over 2.1 million Australians are affected and this figure is increasing secondary to our obesity epidemic. | A/Prof | Keith | Lim | kklim@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
The development of anti-NPY1 receptor antibodies for research into and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and cancer | Austin Health | Medicine | Research into the developement of an immunotoxin or imaging reagent for potential treatment or imaging of CVD and breast cancer respectively. | Dr | Peter | J Wookey | pwookey@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
The effect of ageing and sex differences on heart recovery following a heart attack | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | There are currently no treatments for survivors of a heart attack to support their heart healing and to reduce their high risk of developing severe complications such as heart failure. Most preclinical studies investigating cardiac protection post-heart attack were conducted on young male animals, equivalent to a teenager; however, 90% of Australian victims of heart attack were above 55 years and, importantly, 40% of them were women. Our study will establish for the first time, the age- and sex-specific differences in heart recovery after a heart attack, with a particular focus on cardiac function and remodelling. This study will provide support for further studies on treatments adapted for aged males and females following a heart attack. | 1 | Associate Professor | Anna | Calkin | anna.calkin@baker.edu.au | Dr | Adele | Richart | n/a | Honours students | |||||||||
The Genomic Drivers of High Risk Prostate cancer | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Surgery | The issue of prostate cancer (CaP) in the Western world represents a major clinical problem with the prostate being the most cancer prone internal organ, but only an unpredictable 10% of these cases progress to lethality. | Professor | Christopher | Hovens | cbhovens@gmail.com | Associate Professor | Niall | Corcoran | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
The impact of air pollution and other environmental factors on food allergy and other allergic diseases across the first 10 years of life: a population-based, longitudinal study. | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | A PhD project is available for a student to examine the association between air pollution and the risk of food allergy, eczema, asthma, and hay fever across childhood. This project would suit a student with an interest in epidemiology, the environment, climate change, pediatrics, and population health. | A/Prof | Rachel | Peters | rachel.peters@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Suzanne | Mavoa | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
The impact of cancer therapies on the bone marrow microenvironment | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | Cancer therapies cause profound reductions in blood cell counts in a range of patients and can affect treatment outcomes. We have shown that some of these effects are caused by damage to the non-blood cells that regulate blood cell production, which will be further investigated here. | Professor | Louise | Purton | lpurton@svi.edu.au | Dr | Gavin | Tjin | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
The influence of sleep on brain development and psychopathology over adolescence | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Healthy sleep is critical for good health, including brain health. This study will examine the impact of sleep on the development of brain structure over adolescence and examine whether changes in these relationships increase the risk for the later development of psychopathology. | Dr | Vanessa | Cropley | vcropley@unimelb.edu.au | AProf | Sarah | Whittle | Ms | Rebecca | Cooper | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
The LongSTEPPP Project | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | We are recruiting for a PhD student with a background in psychology or a related discipline to undertake research into mental health trajectories in young people with period, pelvic pain and endometriosis. | Prof | Sonia | Grover | sonia.grover@rch.org.au | Prof | Andrew | Chanen | Dr | Courtney | Munro | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
The neurobiology of anxiety across development and sex | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Psychiatry | This study aims to characterise the neurobiology of fear learning (a key mechanism in anxiety) in children, adolescents and adults, and investigate the role of pubertal hormones. Knowledge gained will have implications for understanding the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders. | Associate Professor | Sarah | Whittle | swhittle@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
The prognosisdiagnosis of common pregnancy complications utilising genetic material found in extracellular vesicles derived from maternal blood and urine. | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | The ultimate objective of this research is to develop a test for the early detection of common pregnancy disorders. | Dr | Bill | Kalionis | kalionis@unimelb.edu.au | Assoc Prof | Harry | Georgiou | Dr | Maria | Kokkinos | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||
The Renovators Dream: Malaria host cell remodelling | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Infectious Diseases | Our laboratory investigates the cellular mechanisms underpinning malaria parasite transmission and disease. We investigate the novel banana shaped sexual stages of Plasmodium falciparum, focused on understanding their unique biology and how this contributes to transmission. We are interested in developing and testing drugs and vaccines that may block transmission of the parasite from infected humans to Anopheles mosquitos. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Matthew | Dixon | matthew.dixon@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | James | McCarthy | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | |||||||
The role of AMP-activated kinase in suppressing atherosclerosis | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | The main objective of this project is to study how AMPK controls cholesterol production in the liver and macrophages. AMPK’s activation in response to exercise is thought to be part of the protective mechanism against the development of heart disease. We aim to investigate whether by changing the activity of AMPK, using drugs that currently in clinical trial, we can augment the body’s natural control mechanisms and significantly reduce the development of atherosclerosis. | Dr | Kim | Loh | kloh@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
The role of EGFR Signaling in Glioblastoma Progression and Resistance to Current Therapies | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Surgery | This project will investigate the critical role the epidermal growth factor receptor plays in glioblastoma progression. | Dr | Rodney | Luwor | rluwor@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
The role of FANCM gene in inherited breast cancer | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | 1 in 10 breast cancers are due to inheritance of a predisposing gene. In half of these cases, the inherited gene mutation is in the well characterised BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. The normal function of BRCA1 and BRCA2 is in DNA repair, to suppress cancer by removing the damage to DNA that is caused by carcinogens. Over the last few years, many other DNA repair genes have been linked with familial breast cancer, including the FANCM gene. Our lab studies the mechanism of DNA repair by the FANCM protein using cell-based and protein chemistry-based approaches. This project will test the breast-cancer associated FANCM mutations identified in a screen of 11,000 women with a history of breast cancer, in a set of assays so that we may determine why they might predispose to breast cancer. | A/Prof | Andrew | Deans | adeans@svi.edu.au | Dr | Elyse | Dunn | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
The role of invadopodia in glioma invasion and response to therapeutics | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Surgery | This project will involve studies that explore the role of a number of invadopodia proteins in glioma cells, how they contribute to their invasive phenotype and ultimately influence their response to treatment. | Dr | Stanley | Stylli | sstylli@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
The role of RECQL4 gene in cancer predispositon | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | This project will test RecQL4 mutations associated with Rothmund-Thomson syndrome in a set of assays so that we may determine how the mutations directly impair DNA replication and/or repair. | Dr | Andrew | Deans | adeans@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
The role of RNA editing enzyme ADAR1 in liver homeostasis and metabolism | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | We are interested in understanding how the RNA modifying enzyme ADAR1 functions. We will use genetic models to dissect its in vivo function. | A/Prof | Carl | Walkley | cwalkley@svi.edu.au | Dr | Jacki | Heraud-Farlow | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
The role of STAT3-mediated Cancer Progression and Resistance to Current Therapies | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Surgery | This project will investigate the critical role of STAT3 in mediating cancer progression. | Dr | Rodney | Luwor | rluwor@unimelb.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||||||
Towards a patient-specific examination of epileptogenesis | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | How can we quantify and model these differences in brain network structures in order to personalise diagnosis and treatment in complex patient-specific diseases such as epilepsy? One direction towards this ultimate goal is to use graph theory and dynamical systems in combination with connectome data to convert brain network structures into matrices. | Prof | Mark | Cook | markcook@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Andre | Peterson | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Transgenerational influence of diet on autoimmune susceptibility | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | While it is not difficult to envisage how an environmental factor can have a direct effect on at-risk individuals, evidence suggest that such cues may also influence autoimmune susceptibility at transgenerational level. That is, the exposure of parent to an environmental factor then affects the susceptibility of their offspring. | A/Prof | Mark | Chong | mchong@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Treating fibrosis and inflammation to prevent end-organ damage in diabetes | St Vincent's Hospital | Medicine | The Renal and Cardiovascular Translational Research group is focused on developing novel compounds for the treatment of pathological inflammation and fibrosis in diabetic and non-diabetic kidney, heart and eye disease. Our projects adopt a “bench to bedside” approach where we evaluate the efficacy of novel therapies on structural and functional aspects of heart, kidney, liver and eye disease using well characterised animal models that mimic the complications seen in humans. | Dr | Roy Kong | roy.kong@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Amanda Edgley | Dr | Fay | Khong | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | ||||||||
Trends in maternal and newborn health outcomes in Demographic Household Surveys in Papua New Guinea (2006 and 2018) | Burnet Institute | In this project, a student will conduct a comparative analysis of the two Demographic Health Surveys (2006 and 2018) available for Papua New Guinea, to assess trends in socio-demographic characteristics, reproductive health service utilization and maternal and newborn health outcomes. | Dr | Joshua | Vogel | joshua.vogel@burnet.edu.au | Prof | Caroline | Homer | Dr | Alyce | Wilson | Dr | Meghan | Bohren | n/a | Masters by Research | ||||
Type I interferon as a novel endogenous trigger of trained immunity | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Trained immunity is a form of innate immune memory resulting in a “high-alert” immune state. We will explore whether type I interferon can build immunological memory in vivo and whether this exerts harmful effects in the setting of chronic inflammation, such as atherosclerosis. | Dr | Andrew | Fleetwood | andrew.fleetwood@unimelb.edu.au | A/Professor | Andrew | Murphy | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Ubiquitin Proteasome System in Schizophrenia | Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health | Psychiatry | The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is a master regulator of neural development and the maintenance of brain structure and function. It influences neurogenesis, synaptogenesis and neurotransmission by determining the localization, interaction and turnover of scaffolding, presynaptic and postsynaptic proteins. Moreover, UPS signalling transduces epigenetic changes in neurons independent of protein degradation and as such dysfunction of components and/or substrates of this system have been linked to a broad range of brain conditions. Although links between UPS dysfunction and neurodegenerative disorders have been known for some time, only recently have similar links emerged for neurodevelopmental disorders, such as schizophrenia. We and others have found that diffeerent components of the UPS are dysregulated in schizophrenia. The project aims to investigate whether specific poly-ubiquitin changes are altered in brain samples from individuals with schizhophrenia. | 1 | 2 | Professor | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Ashley | Bush | Dr | Carlos | Opazo | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||
Understanding and defining supportive health/NDIS service environments | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Understanding and defining supportive health/NDIS service environments | Prof | Christine | Imms | christine.imms@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Dinah | Reddihough | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Understanding beta-propeller protein-associated neurodegeneration using stem cell models | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Understanding beta-propeller protein-associated neurodegeneration using stem cell models | Prof | Paul | Lockhart | paul.lockhart@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Martin | Delatycki | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Understanding changes in auditory processing from noise induced hearing loss | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | This project will investigate the effects of hearing impairment brought about by the exposure to noise. | A/Prof | Andrew | Wise | awise@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Understanding differences in outcomes of cochlear implants | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | Deafness has a detrimental effect on the structure and function of the auditory system, from loss and demyelination of neurons in the auditory nerve, to plastic changes in the brainstem and cortical areas. These changes can have detrimental effects on a person’s ability to understand speech using a cochlear implant. Understanding the mechanisms of these changes, and how they impact on hearing, will lead to ways to optimise the cochlear implant function for each individual. | Prof | Colette | McKay | CMcKAY@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Understanding how immune cell function is impacted by novel therapies in patients with B cell malignancies | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | In recent years, new non-chemotherapy based small molecule inhibitors such as Venetoclax and Ibrutinib have been shown to offer improved outcomes in patients with B cell malignancies. Our existing data has demonstrated that these therapies have a significant impact on patient immune function when used long term which will be explored further in this project. | 1 | Prof | David | Ritchie | david.ritchie@mh.org.au | Dr | Rachel | Koldej | Dr | Joanne | Davis | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||
Understanding how the brain processes combined electrical and acoustic stimulation | Bionics Institute | Medical Bionics Department | The expansion of criteria for cochlear implantation to include patients with substantial residual hearing has focused interest on the benefits of combined electro-acoustic stimulation (EAS). Although such stimulation via a hybrid cochlear implant (CI) and hearing aid in the same ear has been shown to improve speech understanding, particularly in noise, and to increase the aesthetic quality of sound, almost nothing is known about the physiological mechanisms underlying these benefits. A number of animal studies have been performed, but they have used normal hearing animals and used simple acoustic and electrical stimulation that are not representative of complex electrical and acoustic information that represent speech and have limited clinical relevance. | A/Prof | James | Fallon | JFALLON@bionicsinstitute.org | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Understanding how Type 17 immunity and IL-17 cytokines regulate Type 1 diabetes | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a human autoimmune disease involving the progressive destruction of the insulin producing B-cells in the pancreatic islets. A clearer understanding of the autoimmune processes will provide new opportunities for therapeutic intervention in human T1D patients. Our primary goal is to cure T1D by developing novel immune therapies. | Dr | Andrew | Sutherland | asutherland@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
Understanding pneumococcal pathogenesis | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia and a leading killer of children world-wide. However, it is also commonly found as an asymptomatic coloniser of the upper respiratory tract (carriage). Pneumococcal carriage is an important reservoir for transmission and a precursor to disease.Your research will provide new insights into how pneumococci colonise and cause disease. | A/Prof | Catherine | Satzke | catherine.satzke@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Sam | Manna | n/a | PhD students | |||||||||
Understanding the genetic basis of lipedema | St Vincent's Hospital | Surgery | Lipidema is a debilitating disease caused by excessive accumulation of fat in arms and lower extremities, affecting women at the onset of puberty. There is no known cure. Often, there is a lymphodema component associated with this disease but the precise role of lymphatics in disease pathology is unclear. This project will initiate a genetic screen of affected individuals and their families in order to identify genes that may be affected in these patients. | Dr | Ramin | Shayan | rshayan@svi.edu.au | Dr | Tara | Karnezis | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Understanding the microenvironment of lymphodema | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Surgery | Approximately 20% of cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy and/or surgical resection of lymph nodes will develop Lymphodema. Communication between cells is a fundamental process during disease progression. One of the key features of lymphodema is the accumulation of fat within the surrounding tissue, fibrosis, poor immunity and extreme pain. We would like to understand how adipocytes, nerve cells, fibroblasts and immune cells communicate with lymphatic endothelial cells during the course of lymphodema. | Dr | Ramin | Shayan | rshayan@svi.edu.au | Dr | Tara | Karnezis | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Understanding the neurobiology of autism in NF1 using patient derived stem cell models | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | vAutism (or autism spectrum disorder; ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by debilitating impairments in social communication and restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. In most cases, the cause of autism is unknown and because of this, there are no effective treatments for autism in the general population. However, a subset of individuals (15-20%), autism occurs in children with a clinically defined syndrome which arise from a single gene disorder. This is the case in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), an autosomal dominant disorder caused by a loss-of-function mutation in the NF1 gene. Studying a monogenic disorder with a high prevalence of autism will allow a more targeted and deeper understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms of ASD in NF1. | Dr | Kiymet | Bozaoglu | kiymet.bozaoglu@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Paul | Lockhart | A/Prof | Jonathan | Payne | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Understanding the role of CXCR7 in lymphodema following radiation injury | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Surgery | We have performed a raft of functional bioassays to specifically interrogate the key functions of lymphatic endothelial cells during the course of radiation induced lymphodema and have developed genomic, proteomic and metabolic platforms to understand the key signalling and communication pathways between lymphatic endothelial cells and their microenvironment critical for disease evolution. CXCR7, a chemokine receptor was one such gene shown to be differentially expressed during radiation injury. We would like to understand the role of this orphan receptor in radiation injury in animal models of radiation-induced lymphodema. | Dr | Ramin | Shayan | rshayan@svi.edu.au | Dr | Tara | Karnezis | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Understanding the role of the circadian molecular clock in the development of dilated cardiac myopathy and atrial fibrillation. | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Virtually all cardiac functions, including the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) follow a circadian rhythm. Loss of appropriate timing keeping can lead to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiac events often follow a circadian pattern, i.e. a heart attack or arrhythmia is more likely to occur in the morning. Atrial fibrillation (AF) or ‘arrhythmia’ in which your heart beats irregularly, reducing the heart’s ability to pump blood properly and increases the chance of a blood clots forming. This project will investigate whether the circadian molecular clock that underlies the circadian function of the heart, is dysregulated in a variety of cardiac disease models with and without AF. Models to be assessed include a transgenic mouse model with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) due to overexpression of mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1 (Mst1), a model with DCM and AF due to overexpression of Mst1 together with reduced protective signalling due to reduced PI3K (Mst1-dnPI3K), and another transgenic model with DCM and AF due to overexpression of MURC (muscle-restricted coiled-coil; activates the RhoA/ROCK pathway). Techniques: RNA isolation, RT and PCR, Immunostaining, Histology, western block, immunostaining/histology, cell culture. | 1 | 1 | Associate Professor | Morag | Young | morag.young@baker.edu.au | Professor | Julie | McMullen | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||
Understanding the role of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) for regulating the PI3K pathway in female and male hearts. | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Class IA PI3Ks are activated by receptor tyrosine kinase receptors and are critical regulators of adaptive heart growth and cardiac protection under stress conditions. Exercise-induced cardiac enlargement provides protection against cardiovascular disease, whereas disease-induced or inappropriate cardiac enlargement leads to heart failure. These distinct forms of growth are associated with different molecular profiles (e.g. mRNAs, non-coding RNAs, and proteins), and targeting differentially regulated genes has therapeutic potential for heart failure. The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) is a steroid hormone receptor that also has a key role in regulating cardiac function and dysfunction. The MR acts as a transcription factor to regulate gene expression and can also interact with GPCRs (EGFR, VEGFR etc) and their downstream pathways to regulate cell function. This project will investigate if MR-dependent mechanisms of cardiomyocyte function are regulated in mice in which expression of PI3K is reduced, and conversely, whether PI3K pathways are altered in mice lacking the MR In cardiomyocytes. The goal of this project is to determine how the two signalling mechanisms interact in the normal and stressed heart with the view to improve therapeutic outcomes for patients with heart failure. Techniques: RNA isolation, RT and PCR, Immunostaining, Histology, western block, immunostaining/histology, cell culture. | 1 | 1 | Associate Professor | Morag | Young | morag.young@baker.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science; Post Doctor Researchers | ||||||||||
Understanding the role of the mineralocorticoid receptor in diabetic cardiac myopathy? | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Patients with diabetes are disproportionally affected by the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD); diabetic cardiac myopathy (DCM) affects ~20-25% of patients with diabetes. New therapies are needed to address this significant unmet need in the diabetic population. Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonists (MRA) are protective in DCM but side effects caused by poor kidney function limit its use in the clinic. This project will test a new MRA in development with an improved safety profile in a model of DCM. Diabetic mice (STZ model) will be given vehicle, a standard MRA or a novel MRA and the impact on cardiac remodelling, cardiac and renal function and diabetic metabolic endpoints will be investigated to determine any benefit of the new MRA for DCM. Techniques will include animal models, immunohistochemistry, cell culture RNA and protein isolation, RT PCR and western blot techniques. If time permits, bioinformatic analysis of data bases of patients with cardiac disease. | 1 | Associate Professor | Morag | Young | morag.young@baker.edu.au | n/a | PhD students; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science | ||||||||||||
Unravelling the causes of persistent exercise intolerance in cancer survivors | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Persistent exercise intolerance is a common side effect experienced by cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy, and may predispose cancer survivors to cardiovascular disease and poor quality of life. This project aims to utilise novel imaging techniques (MRI, ultrasound, DEXA) to understand the causes of exercise intolerance in cancer survivors previously treated with chemotherapy. | 1 | Dr | Steve | Foulkes | steve.foulkes@baker.edu.au | Dr | Nicholas | Saner | Dr | Erin | Howden | n/a | Honours students | |||||
Use and impact of psychotropic medication in pregnancy | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | This PhD student will work within the landmark 'Generation Victoria' (GenV) cohort, targeting all 150,000 babies born over two years (Oct 2021-Oct 2023) and their mothers at all 58 birthing hospitals in the state of Victoria, comprising consent, biosamples, and wide-ranging exposures and outcomes including administrative and clinical data. The student will contribute to creating a unique whole-state prescribing dataset within GenV by linkage/access to both primary care/outpatient medicines (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)) and birthing hospitals prescribing data during pregnancy and the perinatal period. They will map ante/perinatal psychotropic medication use in the GenV cohort and then use causal techniques (including consideration of regional variations in medication use) to assess impacts on perinatal and infant/toddler outcomes such as language development, fine motor skills, and body composition. | Prof | Melissa | Wake | melissa.wake@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Yanhong Jessika | Hu | Prof | David | Coghill | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Use of a respiratory function monitor to improve training efficiency in neonatal face mask ventilation | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Face-mask ventilation is the most frequent and important intervention clinicians provide in newborn resuscitation. This skill is difficult to master, mainly due to inadvertent mask leak. This randomised control trial will analyse the benefit of using a Respiratory Function Monitor (RFM), which provides feedback on mask leak and tidal volume, to improve clinicians’ self-learning efficiency in face-mask ventilation. | 2 | Dr MD PhD | Marta | Thio | marta.thiolluch@thewomens.org.au | Dr | Kate | Hodgson | n/a | Honours students | ||||||||
Using Artificial Intelligence to improve the diagnostic predictions of corneal topography machines for Keratoconus subjects | Surgery, Ophthalmology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital | Surgery | Keratoconus is a common condition that affects the cornea and despite its increasing prevalence, the cause of keratoconus is largely unknown. There are many clinical gaps regarding keratoconus in terms of subclinical detection, clarifying its disease stage and identifying which features should be used to predict its progression. These gaps impact on a clinician’s decision-making process for keratoconus disease management. | Dr | Srujana | Sahebjada | srujana.sahebjada@unimelb.edu.au | A/Prof | Mark | Daniel | Prof | Paul | Baird | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Using Graph Theory and Neural Stem Cell Models to Understand Brain Network Resilience | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | The human brain is a profoundly complex system composed of robust and efficient connections, eloquently arranged to buffer against targeted attack. This project brings together network science (graph theory) and cutting-edge stem cell technologies to uncover the mechanisms that actively counteract risk (i.e., maximise resilience) and preserve brain function following targeted attack. This project is suited to an individual with a strong computationalengineering background. Experience in either developmental neurobiology or application of high-end microscopy is desired but not essential. | 1 | 1 | Dr | Maria | Di Biase | dibiasem@unimelb.edu.au | AProf. | Andrew | Zalesky | Prof. | Alice | Pébay | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | ||||
Using Marrow Adipose Tissue to Diagnose Osteoporosis and Predict Fragility Fractures | Western Health | Medicine | Yearly 144,000 osteoporotic Australians fracture, that costs circa $4 billion. If fracture (Fx) risk is identified early, most Fx are preventable. | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | gustavo.duque@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ebrahim | Bani Hassan | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Using novel animal and stem cell models to investigate the role of genetic cardiac arrhythmia in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). | Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health | Medicine | We recently provided evidence that epilepsy patients carrying loss-of-function variants in a cardiac arrhythmia gene are at greater risk of sudden death, known as SUDEP. This project aims to understand how genetic cardiac arrhythmia contribute to SUDEP risk by using EEG-ECG to monitor the changes in brain and heart function during seizures and sudden deaths in novel SUDEP mouse models. Furthermore, the project aims to develop and measure electrophysiology of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, including 3D “mini heart” cardiac organoids, that express the cardiac arrhythmia variant identified in SUDEP patients. These models provide an opportunity to test cardio-protective strategies on SUDEP risk. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to learn to operate multi-electrode array system, optogenetics, patch-clamp electrophysiology, perform EEG-ECG surgery/monitoring/analysis, mouse handling/injections, stem cell culture, molecular biology, and be involved in manuscript preparation. | 1 | 2 | Professor | Christopher | Reid | christopher.reid@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Ming | Soh | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students | |||||||
Using parasite and vector serosurveillance to inform malaria elimination | Burnet Institute | Medicine | Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Asia-Pacific region, however efforts to eliminate the disease are limited by a lack of tools to sensitively detect and monitor malaria transmission over time. This project will focus on understanding how human antibody responses to the malaria parasite and mosquito vector can be used as biomarkers of malaria transmission in populations. It will involve quantifying host antibody dynamics in populations naturally exposed to malaria and will incorporate laboratory-based research and statistical analyses. | 2 | Professor | Freya | Fowkes | freya.fowkes@burnet.edu.au | Dr | Julia | Cutts | Dr | Katherine | O'Flaherty | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Honours students; Master of Biomedical Science; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||
Using single-cell omics to determine disease mechanism and improve clinical management of children with epilepsy | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Using single-cell omics to determine disease mechanism and improve clinical management of children with epilepsy | Dr | Sarah | Stephenson | sarah.stephenson@mcri.edu.au | Prof | Paul | Lockhart | Prof | Richard | Leventer | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
Using the JAK1/JAK2 Inhibitor Baricitinib to treat new-onset Type 1 diabetes | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | The goal of this project is to investigate whether the JAK inhibitor baricitinib dampens autoimmunity and preserves beta cell function in human type 1 diabetes. | Prof | Helen | Thomas | hthomas@svi.edu.au | Prof | Tom | Kay | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Using Wearable Activity Trackers to Monitor Physical Activity in Older Adults Undergoing Exercise Interventions for Falls | Western Health | Medicine | Exercise targeting improvements in muscle strength and balance is beneficial for the prevention of falls in older adults. However, it is difficult to monitor physical activity levels in older adults who have been prescribed exercise training. Wearable activity trackers, such as Fitbit, may provide a useful tool for monitoring physical activity in this population. | Dr | David | Scott | d.scott@unimelb.edu.au | Professor | Gustavo | Duque | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Validation of 4D Flow with Exercise using CMR | Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health | Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is a powerful tool for assessing heart function. Advanced CMR techniques include functional assessment during exercise, and three dimensional flow assessment over the cardiac cycle. We aim to assess the validity of 4D flow during exercise, at low, medium and high intensity in a group of trained athletes. | 2 | Doctor | Ben | Costello | ben.costello@baker.edu.au | A/Prof | Andre | La Gerche | n/a | Honours students | |||||||||
Vitamin D supplementation and food allergy risk in early life: immunological and molecular mechanisms | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | The candidate will use a combination of laboratory-based, and other data analyses to more fully understand the potential pathways linking vitamin D, immune system development and function in the first year of life, with food allergy. Findings from VITALITY will directly inform global guidelines on the role of vitamin D supplementation to improve early infant health and, if successful, provide one of the first tangible ways to prevent food allergy around the world. | Prof | Richard | Saffery | richard.saffery@mcri.edu.au | A/Prof | Kirsten | Perrett | Dr | Melanie | Neeland | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
What are antigens/epitopes are recognized in by islet-infiltrating CD8+ T cells in people with type 1 diabetes? | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | This project will reveal the epitopes seen by human CD8+ T cells strongly implicated in the immune pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. The student will learn state-of-the-art human T-cell immunology, retroviral transduction and molecular biology techniques in a stimulating and supportive environment. | A/Prof | Stuart | Mannering | smannering@svi.edu.au | Dr | Colleen | Elso | Prof | Helen | Thomas | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
What are the functional properties of human CD4+ T cells, from people with type 1 diabetes, that respond to proinsulin C-peptide? | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | The aim of this project is to use 10X Genomics single-cell sequencing to analyse the TCR usage and epitope specificity of human CD4+ T cells that respond to C-peptide. In addition, the genes expressed by CD4+ T cells specific for C-peptide, an autoantigen, will be compared to genes expressed by CD4+ T cells, from the same donor, who respond to the microbial antigens, influenza matrix protein and/or tetanus toxoid. This work will give unprecedented new insights into the function, and TCR diversity, human CD4+ T cells specific for microbial an autoantigens. | A/Prof | Stuart | Mannering | smannering@svi.edu.au | Dr | Colleen | Elso | Prof | Helen | Thomas | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
What controls the development of strong cortical bone? | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research | Medicine | Studying cortical bone development has always been difficult because cortical bone develops at the same time as the rapid increase in bone size. We have developed a mouse model that has defective cortical bone formation, including defective skull formation, which provides an opportunity to understand those signalling pathways that contribute to the formation of the layers of the skull. Using in vivo micro-computed tomography and histology on archived samples, this project will map the process of cortical bone formation in the skull, and how it is modified in two different mutant mouse models. | Prof | Natalie | Sims | nsims@svi.edu.au | n/a | PhD students | ||||||||||||
When might the brain go wrong: the role of immune cells at critical time-points during development | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Psychiatry | Multiple neuropsychiatric disorders from autism to depression and schizophrenia are characterised by altered brain connectivity and synaptic functioning. Key players in the development of synaptic connections are the brain’s immune cells, the microglia. The aim of this project is to utilise a mouse model to identify specific neurodevelopmental stages when the brain is most vulnerable to microglial activity. | Professor | Christos | Pantelis | cpant@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Liliana | Laskaris | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
White matter imaging in the aging brain | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Medicine | The aim of this study is to study the influence of microstructure in the aging brain and its effects on dementia diagnosis. | Dr | Chris | Steward | csteward@unimelb.edu.au | Dr | Vijay | Venkatraman | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research; Post Doctor Researchers | |||||||||
Why are babies in SCNs/NICUs at higher risk of permanent hearing loss? | Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute | Paediatrics | Why are babies in SCNs/NICUs at higher risk of permanent hearing loss? | A/Prof | Valerie | Sung | valerie.sung@mcri.edu.au | Dr | Jing | Wang | Dr | Peter | Carew | n/a | PhD students | ||||||
WomenCAN: Promoting and advancing women’s health and wellbeing after cancer | Royal Women’s Hospital | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | The impact of cancer goes beyond just the treatment phase. | Dr | Michelle | Peate | mpeate@unimelb.edu.au | Prof | Martha | Hickey | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research | |||||||||
Your Muscles Matter – The Sarcopenia Study | Western Health | Medicine | Sarcopenia is associated with age-related loss of muscle mass and strength that can lead to reduced mobility, falls, fractures, loss of independence, and can become life threatening if undiagnosed and untreated. Sarcopenia is now formally recognised as a disease, which will increase awareness, diagnosis, and interest in treatments. | A/Prof | Alan | Hayes | hayes.a@unimelb.edu.au | Dr. | David | Scott | n/a | PhD students; Masters by Research |
All Department 2019 projects
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