University of New South Wales

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-07

Optically Tunable Functional Nano-Coatings on Fly Ash-Based Ceramics Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-07

Scaling and piloting a genomic platformfor population newborn screening Category: Health and Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

National Injury Surveillance for Actionable Research - Emergency... Category: Health and Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Secondary prevention of dementia through lifestyle risk reduction in... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Digital Home-Based Rehabilitation Program for Enhancing Health and... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

New solutions for the older person Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Improving outcomes and survivorship following sudden cardiac arrest in... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

PrEventing Progression of AF in Indigenous People (The Pepp Study) Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

The LOTUS Trial (LOw dose combinations To improve stroke oUtcomeS) Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

PrEventing Progression of AF in Indigenous People (The Pepp Study) Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

POPSTEM: Patient-specific cardiac stem cell villages for personalised... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Understanding the impacts of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 on the... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Unraveling PASC: Comparative Immune Profiling and Mechanistic Insights... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Unraveling PASC: Comparative Immune Profiling and Mechanistic Insights... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-03

A randomised controlled trial of plasmalyte versus normal saline as... Category: Health and Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-03

Fludrocortisone in ICU patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage Category: Health and Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-03

The NeuRoStiM Trial - A randomised placebo-controlled trial to... Category: Health and Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2024 · 2024-03

The NeuRoStiM Trial - A randomised placebo-controlled trial to... Category: Health and Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Regulating the composition of biomolecular condensates in living cells. Biomolecular condensation is a novel organising principle of living cells, driven by ‘unmixing’ of the cellular contents into compartments. It is observed from plants to animals and is involved in diverse processes from how cells repair DNA to how they perceive signals. This project aims to reveal how human cells control the composition of condensates, which is critical for their function. It expects to uncover new regulatory principles of cellular organisation by combining methods from quantitative cell biology and statistical physics. Expected benefits include building Australia’s capability in the potentially transformational field of biomolecular condensates, which has diverse future biotechnology applications in health and agriculture. Field of research: 3105 - Genetics A newly discovered kind of liquid droplet that exists in living cells has been shown to control a variety of processes in biology from how plants adjust flowering-time according to environmental conditions, to how animal cells respond to signals from their surroundings. Changes in these droplets in human cells can also help to explain several neurodegenerative diseases, which affect 2% of Australians. This project will uncover the rules that cells use to control which of the cellular contents form droplets. This is a crucial step towards the long-term goal of manipulating them in biotechnology applications and will feed into Australia’s Advanced Manufacturing endeavours. Future applications may include novel approaches to control plant environmental responses, which will support the adaptation of Australia’s $28B crop industry to a changing climate; or novel therapeutics for neurodegeneration, which will improve the health and quality of life of Australians and reduce the economic burden of the health system.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Moral Injury and the Ethics of Military Conditioning . Military personnel undergo extensive conditioning in the name of combat effectiveness and resilience. The aim of this project is to determine whether any of the intended effects of this conditioning constitute "moral injuries", and to describe the ethical and policy implications if so. This will deepen our understanding of the ethics of military recruitment, training, and socialisation. The expected outcomes include a statement of the obligations owed to professional soldiers on account of the potential for moral injury in preparing them for deployment. This will enhance Australia’s reputation for being ethically proactive and for taking a holistic approach to the welfare of its military servicemen and women. Field of research: 5003 - Philosophy The project is about "moral injury" in the military, defined as the corrosion of moral fiber, the deterioration of moral virtue, or the disruption of one's moral decision-making framework. The existing literature focuses primarily on combat-related moral injury, caused by wartime experiences such as repeated exposure to lethal violence. This project, by contrast, focuses on the potential for moral injury in the course of military training and conditioning prior to deployment. The project will strengthen Australia's reputation for the ethical treatment of its armed forces personnel, which is crucial if the Australian Defence Force is to continue recruiting and retaining suitably qualified members. The research outcomes will be promoted through a workshop for Defence stakeholders, and a report providing advice to the Australian government on how to navigate the ethical dilemmas created by the potential for moral injury in the profession of arms.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Impact of redox condition on emerging contaminants fate. This project aims to improve our ability to predict the environmental drivers that control the fate of contaminants of emerging concern in the subsurface. Emerging contaminants are a concern due to their potential negative ecosystem and health outcomes. Prediction of their environmental fate will be of benefit as it will help ensure the safety of our drinking water sources and ensure that water sources are fit for purpose. With increasing pressure on our precious water resources prediction of the risks to this resource is essential. Expected outcomes are of significance as they will include a much improved ability to predict and control the ultimate fate of emerging contaminants in our water sources. Field of research: 4105 - Pollution and Contamination Contaminants of emerging concern (e.g., PFAS, bisphenol-A) have negative impacts to human and ecosystem health (e.g., carcinogens) as well as potential to develop antimicrobial resistance. There is a limited understanding of how they travel and react in our surface and groundwaters. This project will improve our understanding of the mechanisms that control contaminants of emerging concern in our waters, including the development of a predictive model. The inadequate understanding of where contaminants of emerging concern go and react in the environmental has stymied planning and implementation of a number of high-profile public infrastructure projects, including the Toowoomba QLD water reuse scheme as well as the Westgate Tunnel. These delays and public uncertainty can result in a loss of $100s of millions in taxpayer money. This project will help to limit the negative impacts of contaminants of emerging concern by improving our understanding of contaminants of emerging concern fate. The project team has the expertise to conduct their crucial work and an extensive network to work to disseminate outcomes to the public, academic community and regulators.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Understanding the implications of pandemic delays for the end of life. The untold toll of Covid-19 is emerging in ‘avoidable deaths’ linked to late(r) diagnosis or treatment due to pandemic-related delay. How delays are experienced and felt across families and communities requires urgent attention. This project aims to understand the implications of pandemic delay for dying and bereavement, including the sociocultural factors that shape experiences of illness and care amid delay. The significance of this project lies in its innovative sociological approach; expected outcomes include the generation of new knowledge on needs at the end of life that move across contexts and settings. Benefits include provision of findings that will inform social and health policy and practice improvements to enable good deaths. Field of research: 4410 - Sociology This project aims to understand the implications of pandemic delays at/for the end of life. Epidemiological modelling internationally has predicted waves of such delay-related deaths, and consequent priorities for health systems and public health, but the human side of pandemic delays – how such delays are experienced and felt across families and communities – requires urgent consideration. As people affected by pandemic delays begin to near the end of life, there will be new and profound challenges for families, communities, health and social services. This project will provide significant social and policy benefits, delivering practice-relevant data to enable improved recognition and support for experiences of dying-in-delay by addressing critical research, policy, and practice gaps. The knowledge produced is expected to be of considerable benefit to Australia in documenting this unique socio-political landscape of illness and care, in managing current, and preparing for future crises. This research will also be of benefit across government and support sectors, advancing knowledge on how best to support new approaches to supporting dying and bereavement. Expected outcomes include the development of an evidence base with tangible policy and practice benefits that will enable more fulfilling and equitable end-of-life experiences. Outcomes will be translated via a suite of public-facing communication strategies including development of recommendations for policy and practice.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Novel mechano-signalling pathways at sites of cellular adhesion. Piezo channels are membrane proteins that detect mechanical cues and underlie our sense of touch. We aim to characterize the first protein regulator of Piezo channels by developing and utilizing novel technologies including acoustic forces to monitor Piezo channel function. The significance of this study is underscored by the wide spread expression of Piezo channels and their involvement in many cellular processes. Expected outcomes are novel technologies to study mechanobiology, patentable peptide-based Piezo modulators and a new conceptual paradigm for understanding cellular mechanosensing. This knowledge will benefit a broad scientific community through technological advancements and pharmacological agents to manipulate Piezo channels. Field of research: 3101 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology Touch is possibly the most overlooked sense. We all receive tactile information about the world around us, every second of every day. But how do our cells know they are being pushed, pulled or squeezed? The major focus of this application are the molecules that enable our cells to decode these mechanical cues that act as ‘nature’s nanoscale strain gauges’. The project will establish new quantitative systems including novel acoustics to measure the function of these molecules providing new tools for unraveling the mechanisms of how tensile/compressive forces affect all cells. While the focus is the mechanical environment of the human heart the benefits and new knowledge generated will influence and inform fields well beyond cardiac biology into neuroscience (i.e. touch) and even plant biology (these molecules underlie the response of root tips to soil stiffness) with an understanding of these nanoscale strain gauges also being useful for the development of piezoelectric biomaterials in sustainable engineering. The project will also leverage the exciting discovery of novel protein-based regulators of these molecules. As a result, there are commercial and patent outcomes that will economically benefit Australia based on these novel regulators and their future therapeutic potential.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Inference for Hawkes processes with challenging data. The Hawkes processes are statistical models for the analysis of high-impact event sequences, such as bushfires, earthquakes, infectious diseases, and cyber attacks. When the times and/or marks are missing for some events or when the data is otherwise incomplete, it is challenging to fit these models and perform diagnostic checks on the fitted models. This project aims to develop novel statistical methods to fit these models in the presence of incomplete data and to check the goodness-of-fit of the fitted models. The expected outcomes include publications documenting these methods and software packages implementing them. The primary benefits include the advancement of statistical methodology and the training of junior research personnel. Field of research: 4905 - Statistics Bushfires have a constant presence in the Australian landscape, and they can have devastating impacts on the environment, wildlife, and human communities. A report by the World Wide Fund for Nature - Australia estimates that the 2019-2020 bushfires alone have cost Australian agriculture between $4 billion and $5 billion. Bushfires in Australia are expected to increase in frequency and intensity in response to climate change, and recent history seems to suggest that this is already happening. This project will develop and apply modern data science techniques to answer questions concerning the recent history and future trends of bushfires - how have bushfires been changing, in frequency and intensity? Will the recent trend in frequency and intensity persist into the future? These important questions involve analysing challenging data types such as incompletely recorded event sequences with imprecise event times. An important component of this project will be developing and evaluating new methodologies required to answer these core research questions. This research can potentially benefit the many Australian communities in bushfire-prone areas by providing the data intelligence needed for sound emergency response planning. To help realise such benefit, we plan to develop software that implements the proposed analysis methodologies and release it as open-source packages and free online applications to facilitate use by peer researchers and the general public.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Computational MultiPhysics Analysis of 3D Structural Damage and Failure. This project aims to develop advanced modelling techniques to assess quantitatively, the impacts of environmental changes caused by climate on structures. New and existing structures need to be climate-resilient to sustain more frequent and hazardous climatic actions. Attention will focus on modelling structural damage caused by extreme loads and MultiPhysics mechanisms caused by climate change. The expected outcome is a new computational tool that will benefit Australian society by facilitating more reliable assessments of risks associated with structural damage and failure. This is significant in the design of structures where effective measures to improve functionality can be implemented to add value to an asset's life-cycle management. Field of research: 4005 - Civil Engineering Australia's safety, well-being, and economic growth hinge on functional infrastructure. Climate change has resulted in an increasingly harsh environment, bringing about uncertainties that demand infrastructure to operate in more hazardous conditions. Australian citizens and the Government invest heavily in structures and infrastructure. In a resource-limited world, it is vital to prioritize climate resilience in their design, planning and maintenance to ensure worthwhile investments. Current engineering techniques have limitations in assessing the effects of environmental variations on structures exposed to a changing climate. This research aims to develop advanced engineering tools that will deliver the much-needed capability to analyse structural damage and failure due to environmental changes and identify possible mitigation strategies. The research outcomes will be shared with Australian industry end-users e.g. structural engineers via seminars, publications and user-friendly tools for adoption in diagnosing and preventing structural damage and failure. These will empower Australian engineers to provide cost-effective designs and solutions that improve the climate-resiliency and sustainable management of new and existing infrastructure, resonating with the Government’s National Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy in the Built Domain. This has direct economic benefits to Australian asset owners and safety implications to the public accessing these infrastructures.