Research creating surgical mesh resistant to dangerous infections, treating tinnitus, and understanding the impacts of sleep apnoea have been awarded National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas Grants.
Eight Flinders University researchers and their teams have been awarded a combined $10.96m this Ideas Grants round to drive impactful health outcomes improving treatment and prevention.
The funding will also support research on the effects of folic acid in pregnancy, help understand how paracetamol reduces body temperature and look at interventions combatting increasing numbers of hospital pathogens.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Raymond Chan says Flinders researchers are dedicated to pioneering prevention and treatment methods, ensuring patients benefit from their discoveries from the lab to the clinic.
"Flinders ranked 8th in Australia for NHMRC grant awards amongst Australian universities last year. This achievement highlights our researchers' unwavering commitment to delivering world-leading medical advancements, as demonstrated by their funding success in this round."
"The opening of our Health and Medical Research Building this year is supporting 600 researchers, clinicians, and staff dedicated to new knowledge preventing poor health outcomes through clinical trials and research.
"We're making huge strides in funding projects addressing health challenges impacting millions of people and I congratulate all our grant recipients on their funding success."
About the Flinders University projects:
Novel Tinnitus Management Combining Brain Stimulation and Hearing Aids with Genetic and Epigenetic Biomarkers ($2,237,869.40)
Professor Raj Shekhawat, Dean of Research in the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, is leading this novel research in collaboration with The Bionic institute, Melbourne and the University of Sydney.
Tinnitus, the perception of sound without an external source, affects many Australians and can greatly impact their quality of life. However, there is currently no cure.
This research aims to investigate the use of an innovative hearing aid programme to manage tinnitus and develop personalised treatments. This research aims to revolutionise tinnitus treatment globally, offering lasting relief and improving clinical care practices.
Impact and mechanisms of night-to-night variability in sleep apnoea severity on health and treatment outcomes ($1,998,351.20)
Lead researcher, Associate Professor Andrew Vakulin, College of Medicine and Public Health.
Obstructive sleep apnea affects 1 billion people globally and is associated with major adverse physical and mental health outcomes and elevated road and workplace accident risks. However, new evidence has shown that sleep apnea varies greatly from night to night and that this variation is an important risk factor for poor health and treatment outcomes.
This project will, for the first time, use nonintrusive sleep sensor technology in patient's homes to monitor sleep and health outcomes for an extended period to establish the impacts of sleep apnea variability on health and treatment outcomes, and identify the mechanisms that cause it.
This project redefines and improves how sleep apnea is screened, diagnosed and managed.
PhageMesh: using phages to make surgical mesh resist infection ($1,425,106.90)
Lead researcher, Associate Professor Peter Speck, College of Science & Engineering.
A significant percentage of surgical infections occur during hernia operations. Bacteria causes biofilm build-up on the mesh, preventing integration and leading to the failure of the repair itself with serious consequences for the patient.
The research team will bind phages (viruses that infect and kill bacteria, and which are safe to use in humans) to surgical mesh to develop the unique product we term "Phagemesh" which will be intrinsically resistant to infection. This will significantly reduce the rate of post-operative complications in people undergoing hernia repair.
Defining interactions of complement to uncover pan-therapeutic targets for diverse neuroinflammatory disorders ($1,323,095.00)
Lead researcher, Professor Jill Carr, College of Medicine and Public Health.
Neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation is a common mechanism underlying many brain disorders. This study includes 3 contrasting diseases: ZIKV-infection in the newborn, a mild brain injury similar to a concussion, and a genetic model of childhood dementia.
In these diseases, evidence supports a role of the bodies 'complement' system in effecting the brain. The researchers will assess the role, and new ways to regulate complement to prevent damage or dysfunction of the brain. This may lead to new therapies.
Examining the Impacts of Folic Acid Supplementation After the First Trimester on Placental Endocrine Function and Insulin Resistance During Pregnancy ($1,173,926.75)
Lead researcher, Dr Tanja Jankovic-Karasoulos, College of Medicine and Public Health.
Most women continue to take folic acid (FA) throughout pregnancy, but there are emerging concerns that excess FA may increase risk of poor pregnancy outcomes including gestational diabetes.
This research will provide world first evidence on the effects of FA supplementation throughout pregnancy on placental function and pregnancy health.
Data generated from this study will improve our understanding of potential harms of excess FA intake to better inform local and global policy on FA supplementation recommendations in pregnancy.
Thermoregulation from the bottom up ($1,164,172.00)
Lead researcher, Professor Damien Keating, College of Medicine and Public Health.
Medically lowering body temperature for a prolonged period, called therapeutic hypothermia, results in better long-term outcomes for conditions such as fever, cardiac arrest, stroke and heatstroke. However, the approaches to inducing and sustaining therapeutic hypothermia are inadequate.
This lab has discovered a completely novel pathway, involving the gut-brain axis, through which body temperature is controlled. This project aims to further understand this mechanism to create safer and more effective therapeutic approaches for lowering body temperature for improved health outcomes.
The central role of lipids in bacterial pathogenesis ($828,295.60)
Lead researcher, Dr Bart Eijkelkamp, College of Science & Engineering.
Future medicine will rely on personalised interventions to combat drug resistant hospital pathogens. This project will study how A. baumannii, a highly drug-resistant pathogen, changes its membrane lipids in different infection sites and how this affects barrier integrity.
The impact of dietary lipid modulation on these infections will be studied. These outcomes will yield new knowledge on lipids in infection biology and explore more effective treatments of infections in obese patients.
These insights will provide healthcare practitioners with additional intervention strategies when fighting live-threatening hospital infections.
VITT and the adenovirus connection: unravelling the root cause of a dangerous autoantibody by proteogenomics ($809,369.00)
Lead researcher, Dr Jing Jing Wang, College of Medicine and Public Health.
Thrombotic thrombocytopaenia is a rare complication of both adenovirus utilising vaccines and natural adenoviral infections, which share identical disease-causing autoantibodies. In this study, researchers will identify the adenovirus component triggering formation of these antibodies, and probe antibody genetic effects, to determine the root cause of these diseases.
The findings will enable the editing of adenovirus vaccines to prevent disease onset and uncovering new genetic contributors to autoimmune diseases.
