Four new Curtin University-led medical research projects have been announced today as being supported by the Federal Government.
These projects will:
- Develop new treatments for lung infections that are resistant to traditional medicines
- Devise and implement community-led physical activity programs for Indigenous communities in WA
- Develop diagnostic tests that can predict whether liver cancer will return
- Trial oral melatonin tablets to reduce the growing rates of induced labours that are putting mothers and babies at risk
New tests seek to predict liver cancer relapse and improve survival rates
Curtin University researchers will develop a suite of tissue and blood-based diagnostic tests that can predict whether liver cancer will return, giving hope to thousands of patients who currently have a less than 20 per cent chance of survival at five years.
The project, led by Dr Ankur Sharma from the Curtin Medical School in partnership with leading genomics organisation BGI-Australia, was made possible by Federal Government funding of almost $1 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Medical Research Future Fund Early to Mid-Career Researchers grant, announced today.
Dr Sharma said the team would develop a suite of diagnostic tests, called TRACKERx, that identify biomarkers associated with relapse in early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) – a type of primary liver cancer.
“We will develop these TRACKERx tests by using state-of-the-art technologies to identify cells associated with the return of liver cancer, which is the fastest-growing cause of cancer-associated deaths in Australia,” Dr Sharma said.
“These tests can then be used to predict relapse and guide therapy (including immunotherapy) for HCC patients after they have undergone surgery, effectively enabling clinicians to deliver the right interventions at the right time for the right patients.
“This project builds on our team’s recent landmark findings identifying foetal-like cells in liver cancers and linking these to the cancer returning. It is the next step in translating our research into positive real-world outcomes for cancer patients.”
The Federal Government support was matched by $1.5 million from five partner organisations including Curtin University, the Liver Cancer Collaborative, BGI-International, MGI-Australia and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.”
Curtin University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Chris Moran commended the team on being awarded funding support.
“This project has the potential to save lives by reducing the high-recurrence rate for liver cancer patients after their treatment and provides the ideal pathway for this talented team of early and mid-career researchers to become future world leaders in liver cancer research,” Professor Moran said.
The project will bring together research collaborators across Australia, including from Curtin University, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, BGI Australia, Imperial College of London, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
The team hopes to launch the early version of the TRACKERx test in the next three to four years.
For more information about the NHMRC MRFF Early to Mid-Career Researchers grants, visit .
New mums enlisted to trial melatonin to stem induced labours
First-time mothers will be offered oral melatonin tablets as part of a new Curtin-led clinical trial that is seeking to reduce the growing rates of induced labours that are putting mothers and babies at risk.
The new research has been awarded funding in the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Medical Research Future Fund 2022 Clinician Researchers: Nurses Midwives and Allied Health round, announced today.
The trial is a collaboration between Curtin University, the Women and Newborn Health Services, The University of Western Australia, the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Monash University and King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women.
Lead researcher Dr Zoe Bradfield, from the Curtin School of Nursing, said the new trial sought to address “an imminent crisis in Australian maternity care”.
“The rate of first-time mothers having their labour induced is increasing, with induced labour associated with harm for the mother and the baby, as well as contributing to rising health costs,” Dr Bradfield said.
“Melatonin is a hormone produced naturally in the body that can help the start of childbirth. Our study will determine whether giving pregnant women oral melatonin from 39 weeks’ gestation may help with starting labour normally in a simple and cost-effective way to decrease induced labours.”
Dr Bradfield said the rates of induced labours among first-time mothers had increased by 43 per cent over the past decade, from 32 to 47 per cent of all births in Australia.
“The evidence indicates that the induction of labour in the absence of a medical need or complication may actually increase the risk of harm to the mother and baby,” Dr Bradfield said.
“As a result, there is growing concern about the rapid rise in the induction of labour before 41 weeks’ gestation for women without medical complications. Obstetric intervention in late pregnancy continues to rise without a demonstrated reduction in stillbirth and with a clear increase in early-term birth at 37 to 38 weeks, which is known to be harmful to the child’s neurodevelopment.”
The four-year, double-blind clinical trial run through the Women and Newborn Health Services at King Edward Memorial Hospital and Osborne Park Hospital will determine if oral tablets of melatonin 3mg once daily from 39 weeks’ gestation reduces the rate of induced labours.
Curtin University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Chris Moran congratulated the team on being awarded NHMRC funding to undertake the clinical trial.
“This trial is led by a team of expert clinician-scientist midwives and nurses in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team, and its findings will have important implications for first-time mothers,” Professor Moran said.
For more information about the NHMRC’s MRFF 2022 Clinician Researchers: Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health grants, visit .
New projects to fight lung infections and boost Indigenous physical activity
Curtin University researchers will develop and for the first time test in humans new treatments for lung infections that are resistant to traditional medicines such as antibiotics, as one of two new Curtin-led projects that have been supported by the Federal Government.
The research, led by Associate Professor Anthony Kicic from the Curtin School of Population Health and the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre at Telethon Kids Institute, will develop effective and safe treatments using viruses that infect and kill bacteria responsible for respiratory infections without any negative effect on human or animal cells.
Associate Professor Kicic said antibiotic-resistant bacteria were an increasing threat worldwide and there were very few options for treating infections caused by them.
“We believe we can use the natural predators of bacteria, called bacteriophages, to treat bacterial infections, either alone or in combination with antibiotics,” Associate Professor Kicic said.
“They lock onto and invade the bacterium, taking over the cellular machinery, replicating and then bursting from the cell, killing the bacterium. Since phages do not invade host cells, they do not cause cell damage nor are they likely to cause a significant immunological response from the patient.
“We will develop and test the effects of an inhaled treatment on patients experiencing chronic, recurrent antibiotic-resistant lung infections in order to assess safety, tolerance and efficacy.”
A separate project led by Professor Andrew Maiorana, from the Curtin School of Allied Health, will support Indigenous communities in Western Australia in the implementation of community-led physical activity programs.
Professor Maiorana said regular physical activity was important for good physical, mental and social health and reduced the risk of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
“The aim of the ‘Talking Together, Walking Together’ project is to increase access to, and the uptake of physical activity in three diverse Aboriginal cultural groups; the Noongar nation of the Perth region, the Yamatji nation of the Mid-West and the Martu nation of the Pilbara,” Professor Maiorana said.
“Conducted over four years, the project will involve the research team working closely with Aboriginal communities to co-design and develop physical activity initiatives that meet the communities’ particular needs and priorities, after which the initiatives will be implemented.
“Community participation is key to the project and will include the co-design of culturally safe physical activity programs and assessment methods.
“Following this trial program, we will aim to expand the program to other Indigenous communities.”
Curtin University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Chris Moran congratulated both teams on being awarded MRFF funding support.
“These projects have been made possible by Federal Government support as part of the Medical Research Future Fund, and I look forward to seeing how they will help improve the health and wellbeing of Australians,” Professor Moran said.
For more information about the Medical Research Future Fund, visit .
