La Trobe University

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

ARC Research Hub for Molecular Biosensors at Point-of-Use (MOBIUS) Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

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

ARC Research Hub for Molecular Biosensors at Point-of-Use (MOBIUS) Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

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

ARC Research Hub for Molecular Biosensors at Point-of-Use (MOBIUS) Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Evidence-based interventions to improve working conditions for nurses. This project aims to investigate the processes by which hospitals implement an innovative new ‘toolkit’ of evidence-based procedures to reduce workplace exposures to hazards that affect risk of musculoskeletal disorders and chronic stress in nurses. Implementation science will inform the formulation of indicators of intervention quality. Impacts on hazard exposures will be quantified and likely cost-benefits for workplaces calculated. The anticipated outcomes will inform the development and dissemination of new resources and guidance that promote more widespread workplace use of cost-effective management methods, with expected future improvements in working conditions that promote increased workforce participation of nurses. Field of research: 3505 - Human Resources and Industrial Relations Improving nurse retention rates is an urgent issue for Australia. Current acute shortages of nurses are caused by population health trends combined with an ageing nursing workforce and low and worsening rates of retention within the profession. Key to increasing nurse retention is improving the psychological and physical safety of their working conditions. This project addresses the need for such improvements through more effective implementation of an evidence-based risk management toolkit. A cost-benefit analysis of the projected use of the toolkit in participating hospitals will also be undertaken to support its future more widespread adoption. The research outcomes will support practical workplace changes that improve working conditions for nurses. To ensure these benefits are realised, our multiple partner organisations will use the evidence generated to adapt policy, improve guidance material and promote upskilling of managers and industry stakeholders, and disseminate the findings to hospitals across Australia. The resources generated will deliver significant long-term economic benefits to Australia by increasing nursing workforce participation and rates of retention.

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

Defining the molecular basis of apoptotic cell disassembly for... Category: Medical Research

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

ARC Research Hub for Protected Cropping Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

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

Development of novel antibody-drug conjugates targeting ADAMs Category: Medical Research

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

ARC Research Hub for Protected Cropping Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

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

ARC Research Hub for Protected Cropping Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

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

Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

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

Improving the response to anti-cancer therapy Category: Medical Research

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

Post-menopausal hypertension: targeting the G protein-coupled estrogen... Category: Medical Research

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

Designing precision dietary therapies for inherited metabolic disorders... Category: Medical Research

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

Artificial lipid droplets: towards development of pan-antiviral... Category: Medical Research

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

Improving the response to anti-cancer therapy Category: Medical Research

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

Optimising targeted investigations of Group A Streptococcus transmission... Category: Medical Research

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

The role and therapeutic potential of targeting the NLRP1 inflammasome... Category: Medical Research

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

Profiling breast cancer clones to predict brain metastases and enhance... Category: Medical Research

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

The role and therapeutic potential of targeting the NLRP1 inflammasome... Category: Medical Research

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

New tools to accelerate elimination of the preventable parasite disease... Category: Medical Research

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

Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia Category: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Fostering a sense of belonging for neurodivergent university students. This project is the first major study into understanding why neurodivergent students often feel like they do not belong in universities. Using innovative ways to learn how daily encounters at universities can impact neurodivergent students’ sense of belonging, this project will generate new knowledge of what it means to belong and how to foster belonging among neurodivergent students. Outcomes include a better understanding of how marginalised people conceptualise belonging and a practice guideline for the creation of a more inclusive university environment for neurodivergent students. Expected benefits include improved university experiences for these students and contributing to a more inclusive society overall. Field of research: 3904 - Specialist Studies In Education A sense of belonging is a fundamental human need, especially in higher education, where students’ sense of belonging strongly influences their university retention and academic success. Yet, many neurodivergent students often feel unwelcome within the university environment, impacting their sense of belonging and impeding their academic success. This project aims to develop a novel theoretical framework based on the everyday experiences of neurodivergent students in Australia, elucidating factors underpinning university belonging. The theoretical framework will be further translated into a practice guideline, offering cost-effective and feasible solutions to enhance universities' strategic deployment of resources to support neurodivergent students. Anticipated benefits extend not only to neurodivergent students, but also the broader student population, contributing to an overall improvement in university experiences. The recent Australian Universities Accord Interim Report emphasises the pressing demand for university graduates in the Australian job market, with an estimated 60% increase expected from equity groups, including neurodivergent people. This project will be pivotal in equipping universities to effectively support a growing number of neurodivergent students, thus ensuring the viability of the higher education sector and meeting the nation’s urgent need for skilled graduates in the years to come.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Solving a mercurial mystery: the evolutionary origin of mercury methylation. This project aims to investigate the evolutionary origin of microbial mercury methylation, testing a possible link with arsenic resistance. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of biogeochemistry and microbial genetics using a multi-omics approach to explore why microbes produce this more toxic form of mercury. Expected outcomes include expanding our understanding of the biochemical mechanism of mercury methylation and improving predictions of the production and accumulation of this toxin in aquatic ecosystems. This should provide significant environmental benefits, such as informing Australian regulation of mercury emissions, limiting the toxic effects of mercury on humans and wildlife, and its burden on food safety. Field of research: 4105 - Pollution and Contamination This project aims to determine how and why microbes produce a more toxic form of mercury, called methylmercury, in freshwater ecosystems. Methylmercury is of public and environmental health concern as a neurotoxin, and the impacts of contamination on human health and the environment cost the Australian economy ~$52.7 million a year. A major challenge in efforts to reduce the environmental impact of methylmercury is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the processes that control its production by microbes. By determining the biochemical mechanisms of mercury methylation, this project will inform management strategies to minimise mercury’s adverse impacts on food webs and public health. A key outcome will be the development of reliable tools for predicting the long-term risks of legacy mercury contamination on Australian freshwater ecosystems. Research findings will be communicated to environmental managers, government and industry through publications, presentations, and open-source repositories. This will enable broad adoption of outcomes by mercury-emitting industries and federal regulators. This project will help safeguard aquatic environments against mercury contamination and assist Australia’s commitment to the Minamata Convention on Mercury that aims to protect human health and the environment from mercury. The project findings will also be communicated to the broader public via media releases, social media and through our industry partnerships.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Critical moments in responses for children affected by family substance use. This project aims to study the experiences, trajectories and risks for the one in five Australian children who are affected by substance misuse in their families. Using a multi-method approach including linked data, qualitative and economic analyses, it is expected to identify critical opportunities for supporting children and their families in systems such as child protection and justice. Expected outcomes include knowledge of factors and responses associated with children’s trajectories and estimation of benefits of reducing family substance use. This should provide evidence to support significant improvements and cost reduction in services and systems engaging with children in Australia and elsewhere. Field of research: 4403 - Demography In Australia, multiple systems are involved when children are harmed by their families’ alcohol and other drug misuse. The critical moments where opportunities exist for supporting children and their families in these systems are unclear. This project will study the experiences, trajectories and risks for children from families with substance use problems. Using a range of approaches, we will study service systems, and children's experiences of them, alongside children’s conditions and contexts of life to provide a holistic understanding of interventions, costs and impacts. Our evidence will inform crucial improvements to services and systems and inform policies to prevent further harm, in turn benefitting Australian children and their futures. This will bring long-term national economic, social and health benefits for children by improving family, substance use, health, justice and child protection services and reducing service need for the one in five children affected by familial substance misuse in Australia. Our established strong links with key service organisations and young people will ensure dissemination of recommendations through reports, workshops and media. This project will inform national strategies seeking to improve the care economy and the wellbeing of children and young people. Australian insights will inform development of best-practice services and policies to reduce harm from family substance misuse cross-nationally.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Unlocking the potential of optimised crop height . This project aims to understand how crop hormone pathways intersect to regulate plant height. The project expects to use newly developed technologies and genetic resources to discover genes and regulatory elements that control crop height, tiller number and yield in sorghum and maize, to improve protection from storm damage and lodging, and reduce dwarfing side effects. Expected outputs include enhanced understanding of growth responses that determine crop height, and analysis of crop varieties to help breeders develop cultivars that are more resilient to climate extremes. This should provide significant benefits to agricultural productivity and help train and educate future researchers of agri-tech industries in regional Australia. Field of research: 3004 - Crop and Pasture Production Wind damage to crops such sorghum and corn is increasing due to climate change, resulting in major grain losses. The ability of plants to resist damage (such as toppling over) during these adverse events is known as ‘lodging resistance’. Lodging resistance is significantly greater in crop plants that have semi-dwarfing genetics. However, semi-dwarf varieties often have other detrimental side effects, due to plant hormone deficiencies. This project seeks to uncover new ways to improve lodging resistance in corn and sorghum by optimising plant height while avoiding plant hormone side effects. Our partner organisation, Bayer, has developed new short-stature varieties in North America, but they are transgenic (i.e. genetically modified) and not commercially viable for world-wide sales. Bayer has partnered with us to gain the new knowledge and genetics that is needed to develop non-genetically modified, short-stature corn and sorghum. This initiative will boost agricultural output (aligning with the National Science & Research Priority of Food and the National Farmers Federation’s ambition to increase annual agricultural productivity to $100B by 2030). Information and beneficial genetics will be released through the breeding pipelines of our industry partners. Resultant crop varieties will save growers millions of dollars in storm damage, and improve farming income reliability and social stability.