Grant success through community engagement: CaRE webinar

The video is available for CCS staff and students
via the CCS intranet: Link

 by A/Prof Bridgette Semple on behalf of the Community and Researcher Engagement program, CCS

Are you a researcher interested in working with consumers to write compelling grant applications? Do you want to know more about how to make these grant applications more competitive? If so, you’ve come to the right place! 

On Wednesday 30 November 30 2022, the CCS’s Consumer and Researcher Engagement (CaRE) program committee hosted an informative webinar entitled ”Engaging consumers in grant success.”

Congratulations on Vanguard grant for precision heart imaging

Ex vivo scans of hearts from fibrotic (left) and control mice which
were administered a unique fluorescent peptide that targets collagen
type I. A striking enhancement of the damaged heart ventricles
is observed. Image: Figure 5 in study

Dr Be'eri Niego (CIA), Dr Karen Alt (CIB) and Professor Christoph Hagemeyer (CIC) are recipients of a Heart Foundation Vanguard grant announced 6 October. The grant is for $150,000 across two years.

Dr Alt said, "In this project, we aim to develop new peptides, which tightly bind various types of collagen and enable the delivery of imaging contrast agents to the affected heart. This clever approach, also termed 'Molecular Imaging', allows more sensitive imaging and earlier diagnosis of heart conditions."

See all 2022 Vanguard grant recipients at the A+ precinct here.

Monash team receives BioCurate support to develop anti-thrombotic treatment

Professor Christoph Hagemeyer in the lab. His team has received
BioCurate Proof of Concept funding for developing a therapy that
targets acute thrombosis.

Professor Christoph Hagemeyer, Head of the NanoBiotechnology Laboratory at Monash University, and his team have received Proof of Concept funding from BioCurate to develop a first-in-class antibody-based therapy that specifically targets acute thrombosis, the cause of many heart attacks, strokes and vascular blockages.

Myocardial infarction and stroke are the two single most common causes of death worldwide due, in part, to limitations with current medicines. Professor Hagemeyer’s team has developed a novel approach to inhibiting thrombosis by “uncoupling” this inhibition from adverse effects such as severe bleeding.

See story on the faculty news feed.

New clot-busting drug may improve treatment for stroke patients

L-R: Professor Christoph Hagemeyer and Dr Be'eri Niego have

published a study investigating a new drug for blood clots.

by Anne Crawford

A team of Monash University researchers has demonstrated that an innovative drug that removes blood clots improves the outcomes of acute ischaemic stroke and has a promising safety profile. 

The study, led by Professor Christoph Hagemeyer and Dr Be’eri Niego from the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD), showed the potential of their new clot-busting agent ‘SCE5-scuPA’ in mouse stroke models.

The findings were published in ‘Blood Advances’ late last month.

Researchers develop a world-first antibody-drug delivery system

Schematic illustration of the new MOF Antibody crystals and their ability to specifically seek out cancer cells to detect them and deliver highly potent drugs with unprecedented precision. Credit: Dr Francesco Carraro and Prof Paolo Falcaro (Co-First and Co-Senior author on the Advanced Materials Paper)

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction: a man-made crystal that can be attached to antibodies and then supercharge them with potent drugs or imaging agents that can seek out diseased cells with the highest precision, resulting in fewer adverse effects for the patient.

However, that is precisely what researchers from the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases at Monash University in collaboration with the TU Graz (Austria) have developed: the world’s first metal-organic framework (MOFs) antibody-drug delivery system that has the potential to fast-track potent new therapies for cancer, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases.

Developing improved non-invasive imaging for assessing heart damage

Ex vivo scans of hearts from fibrotic (left) and control mice which
were administered a unique fluorescent peptide that targets collagen
type I. A striking enhancement of the damaged heart ventricles
is observed. Image: Figure 5 in study

A Monash University team has led the development of novel imaging tracers that could advance non-invasive assessment of heart damage. 

Cardiac fibrosis is a scarring process causing excess deposition of collagen in the heart, leading to distortion of its architecture and function. It is a significant disease feature in many cardiac conditions, including heart failure, atrial fibrillation (AF) and myocardial infarction (MI).

Monash researchers develop new gene therapy tool

Dr Hannah Pearce, first author, and
A/Prof Christoph Hagemeyer, last author

by Anne Crawford

Gene therapy – the insertion of genes into cells to treat disease – holds great potential for conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancers. Yet efficient and safe delivery of the genes to the right cells remains a significant, longstanding challenge.

Associate Professor Christoph Hagemeyer from the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD) has led a team that has developed a way of improving targeted gene transfer.

Precision medicine to be advanced by international collaboration

A/Prof. Christoph Hagemeyer

Central Clinical School researchers are part of a newly formed Monash University Network of Excellence for Molecular Imaging and Precision Radiopharmaceuticals. Associate Professor Christoph Hagemeyer and Dr Karen Alt from the ACBD, along with Professor Meng Law from the Department of Neuroscience and Alfred Health Radiology, have joined the multidisciplinary team, which includes researchers from Germany and Canada.

With a focus on individualised precision medicine to treat a range of human diseases, the researchers have backgrounds in physics, chemistry, biomedical imaging, advanced nano-bio-technologies, and immunotherapy.

Medical research at CCS boosted by major national grants

A/Prof Christoph Hagemeyer

Professor Ben Marsland

A/Prof Sandy Shultz

Professor Sam El-Osta

Dr Joseph Doyle

Dr Piero Perucca

Dr Pablo Casillas-Espinosa

Monash University Central Clinical School researchers have been awarded National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants worth more than $3.5 million in the latest funding round.

The research grants were among nationwide funds totalling $192 million announced yesterday by the Federal Health Minister, the Hon. Greg Hunt.

Head of the Central Clinical School, Professor Stephen Jane, congratulated the researchers for their success in securing the grants. "These are outstanding results for the School, recognition of very talented investigators in a intensely competitive environment. We appreciate that others with similar talents were unsuccessful and assure them of our support and encouragement for future rounds, where hopefully their turn will come."

Monash scientists in nanomedicine advance

Ms Shweta Jagdale and Associate Professor Christoph Hagemeyer
in the lab.

by Anne Crawford

The emerging field of nanomedicine holds great potential for biomedical discovery and for new forms of treatment for diseases such as heart conditions and cancer. Nanoparticles can fly under the radar of the immune system, which would otherwise identify them as foreign and destroy them, to reach their intended target. They can be used, for example, to efficiently transport a drug to the specific site of disease.

But because the field is so young the possible side-effects of sending these tiny structures into the human body are still unknown.

Congratulations to A/Prof Christoph Hagemeyer & Prof Paul Myles for AMREP Research Prize!

Congratulations to A/Prof Christoph Hagemeyer & Prof Paul Myles for the award of the AMREP Research Prize! There are two categories, clinical and basic, and the prize is awarded annually for the best journal article describing original research.

New blood test a boon to clot research

PhD student Hannah Pearce with Dr Thomas
Bonnard, first author on the paper describing
a new test for measuring thrombolytic activity

by Anne Crawford

Monash University researchers have developed a novel blood assay that is proving highly effective in researching thrombosis (blood clotting) and which could potentially become a valuable tool in clinical translation.

Heart attack and stroke – leading causes of death and disability in Australia – are mostly caused by thrombosis. Researchers around the world are striving to improve anti-thrombotic treatments that counter the life-threatening blood clots without the associated side-effect of excessive bleeding.

EMCR news: Thomas Bonnard profiled in The Limbic

Dr Thomas Bonnard is a research fellow in Dr Christoph Hagemeyer's Nanobiotechnology laboratory of the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases. He is funded by a William Harvey Translational Research Fellowship from the European Union. He was recently profiled by thelimbic.com for his work, in his own words, on "improv[ing]heart disease treatment with nanomedical devices."

See more: Designer molecule offers targeted thrombolysis at the site of blood clots

Designer molecule could treat blood clotting without excessive bleeding

Christoph Hagemeyer's Nanobiotechnology group has a number of authors (bolded) on the JAHA paper: L-R Ms Shweta Jagdale, Dr Sumukh Kumble, Mr Sam Cohen, Ms Jasmine Putri, Dr Christoph Hagemeyer, Ms Hannah Pearce, Ms Edwina Jap, Dr Karen Alt,  Dr Thomas Bonnard

by Anne Crawford

A designer molecule developed by Monash University’s Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD) could prove a potent new treatment for the life-threatening blood clots that cause heart attack and stroke – without the associated side-effect of excessive bleeding.

Heart attack and stroke are leading causes of death and long-term disability in Australia, and are mostly caused by clotting (thrombosis) blocking blood to the heart or brain.

Dr Christoph Hagemeyer, group leader of the ACBD’s NanoBiotechnology Laboratory, said the new molecule had been shown in preclinical tests to be effective and safe, and may overcome limitations of current treatments.

Congratulations to Thomas Bonnard for the ISFP D. Collen Young Investigator Award!

Thomas Bonnard (pictured) from Dr Christoph Hagemeyer's lab recently won a prestigious D. Collen Young Investigator Award. It is awarded every two years by the International Society for Fibrinolysis and Proteolysis (ISFP) to honour the contributions of Désiré Collen to research on fibrinolysis, proteolysis and thrombolysis, at the occasion of the congress of the ISFP.

See more about the research at:
www.acbd.monash.org/research/hagemeyer.html

Monash awarded $1.1M grant to support development of revolutionary type of insulin

L-R: Ms Shweta Jagdale (Lab manager) &
Dr Christoph Hagemeyer in the lab

Monash researcher, Dr Christoph Hagemeyer, has received AUD$1.1 million dollars in funding as part of a multi-million dollar collaborative grant to support the development of a revolutionary type of insulin.

The grant is part of a joint research initiative between the JDRF, leading global organisation funding and advocating for type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, and Sanofi US Services Inc., a subsidiary of Sanofi, one of the leading insulin manufacturers and a global pharmaceutical company. The grant will provide up to USD4.6 million to four research projects taking different approaches to developing glucose responsive insulin (GRIs) therapies for treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes.

Dr Hagemeyer, who is a research group leader in the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, will work in collaboration with Dr Frank Caruso (University of Melbourne), Dr Jonathan Shaw, Dr Mark Copper and Dr Terri Allen (from Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute) to develop glucose-sensing nanoparticles.

Congratulations to Karen Alt on AMREP Seed Grant!

Congratulations to Drs Karen Alt (pictured) and Thomas Hoefer on the award of a 2015 AMREP Collaborative Seed Grant. Karen is a Senior Research Officer in Dr Christoph Hagemeyer's NanoBiotechnology Laboratory in the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases. Thomas is a postdoctoral research officer at the Baker IDI Institute, researching effects of flow dynamics on VWF-activation in thrombus formation.