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- A multi-pronged approach to targeting myeloproliferative neoplasms
- A new paradigm of machine learning-based structural variant detection
- A whole lot of junk or a treasure trove of discovery?
- Advanced imaging interrogation of pathogen induced NETosis
- Analysing the metabolic interactions in brain cancer
- Atopic dermatitis causes and treatments
- Boosting the efficacy of immunotherapy in lung cancer
- Building a cell history recorder using synthetic biology for longitudinal patient monitoring
- Characterisation of malaria parasite proteins exported into infected liver cells
- Deciphering the heterogeneity of the tissue microenvironment by multiplexed 3D imaging
- Defining the mechanisms of thymic involution and regeneration
- Delineating the molecular and cellular origins of liver cancer to identify therapeutic targets
- Developing computational methods for spatial transcriptomics data
- Developing drugs to block malaria transmission
- Developing models for prevention of hereditary ovarian cancer
- Developing statistical frameworks for analysing next generation sequencing data
- Development and mechanism of action of novel antimalarials
- Development of novel RNA sequencing protocols for gene expression analysis
- Discoveries in red blood cell production and function
- Discovering epigenetic silencing mechanisms in female stem cells
- Discovery and targeting of novel regulators of transcription
- Dissecting host cell invasion by the diarrhoeal pathogen Cryptosporidium
- Dissecting mechanisms of cytokine signalling
- Doublecortin-like kinases, drug targets in cancer and neurological disorders
- Epigenetic biomarkers of tuberculosis infection
- Epigenetics – genome wide multiplexed single-cell CUT&Tag assay development
- Exploiting cell death pathways in regulatory T cells for cancer immunotherapy
- Exploiting the cell death pathway to fight Schistosomiasis
- Finding treatments for chromatin disorders of intellectual disability
- Functional epigenomics in human B cells
- How do nutrition interventions and interruption of malaria infection influence development of immunity in sub-Saharan African children?
- Human lung protective immunity to tuberculosis
- Improving therapy in glioblastoma multiforme by activating complimentary programmed cell death pathways
- Innovating novel diagnostic tools for infectious disease control
- Integrative analysis of single cell RNAseq and ATAC-seq data
- Interaction with Toxoplasma parasites and the brain
- Interactions between tumour cells and their microenvironment in non-small cell lung cancer
- Investigation of a novel cell death protein
- Malaria: going bananas for sex
- Mapping spatial variation in gene and transcript expression across tissues
- Mechanisms of Wnt secretion and transport
- Multi-modal computational investigation of single-cell communication in metastatic cancer
- Nanoparticle delivery of antibody mRNA into cells to treat liver diseases
- Naturally acquired immune response to malaria parasites
- Organoid-based discovery of new drug combinations for bowel cancer
- Organoid-based precision medicine approaches for oral cancer
- Removal of tissue contaminations from RNA-seq data
- Reversing antimalarial resistance in human malaria parasites
- Role of glycosylation in malaria parasite infection of liver cells, red blood cells and mosquitoes
- Screening for novel genetic causes of primary immunodeficiency
- Single-cell ATAC CRISPR screening – Illuminate chromatin accessibility changes in genome wide CRISPR screens
- Spatial single-cell CRISPR screening – All in one screen: Where? Who? What?
- Statistical analysis of single-cell multi-omics data
- Structural and functional analysis of epigenetic multi-protein complexes in genome regulation
- Structural basing for Wnt acylation
- Structure, dynamics and impact of extra-chromosomal DNA in cancer
- Targeted deletion of disease-causing T cells
- Targeting cell death pathways in tissue Tregs to treat inflammatory diseases
- The cellular and molecular calculation of life and death in lymphocyte regulation
- The role of hypoxia in cell death and inflammation
- The role of ribosylation in co-ordinating cell death and inflammation
- Understanding Plasmodium falciparum invasion of red blood cells
- Understanding cellular-cross talk within a tumour microenvironment
- Understanding the genetics of neutrophil maturation
- Understanding the roles of E3 ubiquitin ligases in health and disease
- Unveiling the heterogeneity of small cell lung cancer
- Using combination immunotherapy to tackle heterogeneous brain tumours
- Using intravital microscopy for immunotherapy against brain tumours
- Using nanobodies to understand malaria invasion and transmission
- Using structural biology to understand programmed cell death
- Validation and application of serological markers of previous exposure to malaria
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Advancing discoveries

There are four key areas that represent our best hope for future advances in health and medicine. Government funding for medical research has plateaued over the last five years and as competition for resources becomes fiercer, there has been a marked tendency to fund safer, more conservative research.
You can help make these advances a reality:
1. Advancing personalised medicine
In 2003, after 15 years work and an investment of $3 billion, the first human genome sequence was unveiled. Ten years later, we can sequence a human genome overnight and for less than $1,000. This remarkable advance means our biologists, mathematicians and computational scientists can collaborate with their clinical colleagues in adjacent hospitals to routinely use genomic information in diagnosing and treating patients.
Our vision is to be able to tailor the most effective therapies for a patient, and identify potential targets for new improved therapies.
2. Eureka funding
Some of the biggest advances in medical research come from out of left field. With Eureka funding, scientists will have the time and space to flex their creativity and explore ideas to their full potential.
In 2013 researchers in the Infection and Immunity division, along with collaborators, made the surprising discovery that malaria parasites can ‘talk’ to each other. This ability to communicate improves the parasite’s chance of survival and transmission to other humans. The unexpected discovery fundamentally changed our view of the malaria parasite, and it is hoped this will lead to new antimalarial drugs or vaccines for preventing malaria.
We want our researchers to think outside of the box. With Eureka funding we can support them in doing so.
3. Bridging the ‘Valley of Death’
One of the major bottlenecks in medical research is moving from the identification of a disease mechanism or therapeutic target to the discovery of a potential new medicine. The funding between target discovery and clinical trial is a no-man’s land, which has been termed the valley of death.
We are unique in Australia in having biologists, chemists and structural biologists who are committed to collaboration and have a wonderful track record of drug discoveries that have improved the lives of millions of patients; however the resources we have available to promote these collaborations are severely limiting.
4. Technological innovation
Increasingly our scientists work collaboratively with technical specialists in microscopy, imaging, genomics and other advanced technologies. Being able to work at the frontiers of the latest technology significantly advances our understanding of the biological world.
We need to support scientists and technologists to work together if we are to tackle some of the most challenging health issues facing humankind. Investing in the latest equipment is only half the story.
Help advance medical discoveries
If you would like to support one of our exciting key areas of discovery research, please contact Sally Elford on 03 9345 2345 or elford.s@wehi.edu.au.