UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Clonal determinants of engraftment and lineage commitment following... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

A holistic approach to care of patients with Developmental and Epileptic... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Systematic, risk-stratified, precision breast cancer prevention: an... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

A holistic approach to care of patients with Developmental and Epileptic... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Elastin microfibril interfacer 1: a new target for MASH-associated... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Exposure to Cystic Fibrosis Modulators During Pregnancy to Mitigate... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Harnessing structural insights into bacterial zinc efflux for new... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Systematic, risk-stratified, precision breast cancer prevention: an... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

The Baby Inflammatory Bowel Disease Microbiome (Babycino) Study Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Identifying novel metabolic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Rational design of live bacterial therapeutics to combat multidrug... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Use of high-efficacy therapies to prevent disability in MS Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Organ competition: how do tumours grow at the expense of other tissues... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Identification of novel regulators in cancer-associated cachexia Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

enteral rather than intravenous electrolyte replacement in critical care... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Evaluating the gut-liver axis using a novel gas sensing capsule in... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Defining neural regulation of the tumour immune ecosystem Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Genomics-informed exploration of drug susceptibility testing for... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Admixture, Adaptation and Immunity in East Asian Genomes. This project aims to explore how the genomes of human populations in East Asia and Oceania have adapted to fight the pathogens they encountered. We know that pathogens have been one of the strongest threats to survival throughout human history, but we don't fully understand what parts of our genetic sequence are important for fighting them. Using newly published data and techniques, we will screen the genome for important immunity genes, and gain insight into the demographic history of the populations ancestral to Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia. This project may eventually contribute to vaccines and therapies for important infectious diseases. Field of research: 3105 - Genetics This project will investigate how the bacteria and viruses of Southeast Asia and the tropical regions adjacent to Australia have shaped the genetic makeup of human populations throughout history. Recent studies have addressed this question in populations from Europe and Africa, but a gap exists in our understanding of East Asian populations, as this genetic information was previously unavailable. Using newly published genetic data and computer algorithms, we will screen for parts of the human DNA sequence displaying traces of the conflict between us and our pathogen foes. Doing so will allow us to pinpoint the pieces which are important for fighting infection. This research will contribute to our understanding of the demographic history of the groups Indigenous to New Guinea and Island Southeast Asia, which share an ancestral connection with Indigenous Australians. It will also bring us new knowledge of the evolution of the human immune system and how it fights important pathogens. Studies adopting knowledge generated from this project may contribute to vaccines and therapies for infectious diseases. The project outcomes will be disseminated via popular news outlets, engagement with community groups and media releases from the Doherty Institute and the University of Melbourne.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Building better bacteriophage to target intractable mycobacterial... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Connecting Pasifika Communities to the Collections made by James Lyle Young. An innovative combination of new scientific techniques and creative methods for engaging with Pacific (Pasifika) communities aims to transform our understandings of the colonial legacy of 19th century museum collections. Research is of historical and social significance because Australian entrepreneur James Lyle Young, who had intensive interactions over six decades (1870-1929) with cultural groups across the Pacific, but whose consequences in framing Pacific culture for the outside world will be newly explored. A new database and innovative methodologies will yield significant benefits for Pasifika communities, regional museums, and cultural centres by connecting descendants with their material cultural heritage housed in overseas museums. Field of research: 4513 - Pacific Peoples Culture, Language and History Barriers created by a lack of relevant knowledge prevent Pacific communities (Pasifika) from accessing cultural materials held in overseas museum collections. These can be removed through the application of innovative archaeological research that combines participatory research with new scientific techniques. By focusing on the roles taken by Pasifika people in cross-cultural engagements with Australian businessman James Lyle Young between 1870-1929, the dynamics of colonial culture across the Pacific will be re-interpreted. The understanding of Australia’s past colonial role in the Pacific may inform and significantly enhance its contemporary role, especially by reconnecting distant Pasifika communities with their ancestor's material culture, including diasporas and those displaced due to climate change. A co-designed exhibition and a digital open access cultural database will reconnect, engage and provide avenues for Pasifika communities to reclaim ownership of their cultural material. Clear social and educational benefits will be also delivered to Pasifika communities through educational resources and contribution to policy designed to bolster cultural identities and wellbeing. By creating new avenues for cross-disciplinary and international collaborations with creative engagement methods in museums and cultural centres, the results of this project are intended to reach a wide public audience and be made accessible for future generations.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Matching by Characteristics: Simplification for Efficiency and Fairness. This project aims to explore matching by characteristics as an innovative approach to simplifying preference formation and expression in real-life matching markets. It expects to generate new knowledge on practical market design through lab and field testing of novel matching algorithms and procedures. The expected outcomes include an easy-to-implement matching framework and prototypes of tools applicable to a broad range of environments including refugee resettlement, school choice, employment, and public housing allocation. This should yield significant benefits by improving fairness and efficiency, reducing barriers to information for disadvantaged communities, and offering practical solutions for policymakers in Australia and beyond. Field of research: 3801 - Applied Economics Fair, efficient allocation is key to achieve equitable outcomes in refugee resettlement, school choice, employment and public housing allocation. Matching theory looks at how goods and services are allocated in markets where preferences matter over price and provides sound algorithms for making rational matches. Yet the theory falls short as it relies on participants (eg school leavers choosing a university) to submit a perfectly ranked list of preferences. This is a costly, cognitively demanding process that can be left incomplete, deeming the algorithm ineffective and risking further inequality. Disadvantaged groups are most affected, as they often face additional challenges acquiring information. This project aims to solve this implementation issue by testing a novel framework based on desirable characteristics over ranking. Through field and lab experiments, we will investigate its efficacy in improving efficiency and equity. Insights will advance the literature and provide significant economic and social benefits by informing policy in Australia and abroad. The tools developed in the project can be adapted to enhance individuals’ wellbeing and welfare; save organisations time and money; and help governments address key challenges from the housing crisis to employment disparity. Capacity-building workshops with policymakers, publishing articles in media like The Conversation, and using Twitter for community discussion will ensure framework uptake.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Targeting Chromosome 1 open reading frame 35 (C1orf35) for the treatment... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Variation in music perception and its psychological and cultural correlates. This project aims to investigate how cultural and psychological factors shape global variation in the perception of music by engaging with ~1 million participants via an innovative web-based citizen science approach, and conducting field-experiments with more remote populations. Through analysing these large and culturally diverse datasets with advanced statistical techniques it expects to uncover new insights about global psychological and musical diversity. Expected outcomes include greater understanding of how and why people’s musical experiences vary, and improved research methods for studying larger and more diverse populations. This should improve our ability to inclusively support the benefits of music and to enhance global empathy. Field of research: 5204 - Cognitive and Computational Psychology Music plays an important role in Australians’ lives. But the diversity of Australia’s multicultural population is poorly reflected in understandings of how people perceive and engage with music. Much of what we know is based on studies of university students in western societies listening to western classical music in a lab. This poorly reflects the musical experiences of most Australians and risks biased conclusions that reinforce stereotypes and assumptions that exclude those already marginalised by their cultural, linguistic, or socioeconomic background. This project uses an innovative web-based citizen science approach to undertake a global census of individual and cultural differences in how people perceive music. Surveying approximately one million participants around the world, the project will deliver new understandings of how cultural and psychological factors shape music perception and explain differences in day-to-day musical behaviour. While contributing to the project, participants will learn about how their perception of music compares to others via interactive and accessible visualisations of their own data. These visualisations, shareable on social media, along with media interviews, will increase awareness about global psychological and musical diversity. This outcome will help music educators be more inclusive, the music industry engage broader audiences, and applications of music in health to be better targeted.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

High-throughput bacterial genome assemblies with perfect accuracy. This project aims to discover and develop new algorithms for reconstructing bacterial genomes using DNA sequencing data. Existing techniques are either error-prone or labour-intensive, so it is not currently possible to produce large numbers of error-free bacterial genome sequences, and this impairs progress in all scientific domains which involve bacteria. This project will address this need by creating new computational methods for reliable and efficient bacterial genomics. The anticipated benefits include advancements in basic biology, agriculture, food production, microbiome research, antibiotic resistance, drug discovery and more. Field of research: 3102 - Bioinformatics and Computational Biology A genome is the complete set of genetic material within an organism, and the genome's information is stored on molecules of DNA. DNA sequencers are not able to produce entire genome sequences. Rather, they only produce small fragments of genomes, and errors are common. It is therefore necessary to reconstruct genomes from these fragments, a process known as assembly. Since countless scientific investigations rely on genome sequences, assembly is a critical step. Unfortunately, current assembly methods are imperfect, leading to errors in sequences which can in turn impair the science. This project will develop new computational algorithms and genomics techniques allowing the creation of error-free bacterial genome sequences. This will lead to advancements in all areas that involve bacteria. This includes biotechnology, where bacteria can be used for the production of chemicals, fuels or plastics. It will support environmental remediation, where bacteria can degrade pollution. A clearer understanding of bacterial genomes will enhance public health, especially tracking infectious diseases and uncovering mechanisms behind antibiotic resistance. It will also aid the agriculture and food industries through better understanding of soil and fermentation processes. To ensure research outcomes reach beyond academia, all developments will be made publicly available as open-source code, and blog posts and video tutorials will be made for the benefit of Australian government and industry.