Interdisciplinary Seed Funding Scheme
Project Summaries 2013
MEI Melbourne Energy Institute; IBES Institute for a Broadband Enabled Society; MMI Melbourne
Materials Institute; MNI Melbourne Neuroscience Institute; MSEI Melbourne Social Equity Institute;
MSSI Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute; Bio21 Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology
Institute (* Coordinating Investigator)
1. Development, synthesis, in vitro and in vivo evaluation of novel radiotracers for PET imaging of eschemic
stroke [primary theme area Bio21, other theme area MNI]
Jonathan White*, Christian Wichmann—Chemistry, Bio21; Uwe Ackerman—Medicine, Austin Health; David
Howells—Florey Institute of Neuroscience, Austin Health.
Hypoxia is a negative prognostic indicator in a number of diseases including cancer and stroke. PET imaging
agents relying on a tertiary para-sulfoxide aniline are currently being modified to suit PET/MRI hybrid imaging of
hypoxia. For that purpose, fluorine-19 has been introduced into the structure as a MR-active nuclide in addition
to fluorine-18. Further structural changes have been made to improve the solubility. These innovative compounds
will facilitate precise, non-invasive imaging of oxygen levels in tissue. To evaluate their potential, novel agents will
be used to image tumor hypoxia and induced stroke in mice using a PET/MRI small animal imaging device.
2. Leveraging comparative functional genomics to dissect cell wall metabolism for biotechnology applications
[primary theme area Bio21]
Alex Andrianopoulos*, Hayley Bugeja—Genetics; Monika Doblin, Andrew Cassin—Botany
A unifying feature of fungi and plants is their cell wall, a structure predominantly composed of interconnected
polysaccharides that surround these eukaryotic cells. In both organisms, the wall is a complex compartment,
providing mechanical strength and a barrier against the environment, yet is continually remodeled both
temporally and spatially to allow for cell growth and morphogenesis. This project uses the genetic tractability of
fungi to identify additional genes involved in cell wall metabolism that are also conserved in plants to enhance our
understanding of polysaccharide metabolism, its regulation and the biological roles played the cell wall.
3. Small needles, big haystacks, and a smart comb: Integrating network theory and mass spectrometry to
improve pharmaceutical development [primary theme area Bio21]
Richard O’Hair*—Chemistry; James Ziogas, Christine Wright, Noel Cranswick—Pharmacology; David Walker—
Mathematics & Statistics; William Donald—UNSW; Michael Small—UWA.
Bringing new pharmaceutical drugs to market remains a long and costly process. A key challenge is that about
40% of promising new drugs first fail in human studies due to unfavourable absorption, distribution, metabolism
and excretion (ADME) profiles. “Microdosing”, which involves administration of subtherapeutic doses to collect
valuable ADME data while avoiding toxic effects, holds great promise for accelerating development of new
medicines. Current “targeted” microdosing experiments are limited by searching for known metabolites of the
drug candidate. We circumvent this limitation with the first non-targeted microdosing approach. Proof of concept
has been demonstrated for the metabolism of paracetamol in rats.
4. Games and mechanisms for shaping the evolution of power grid and demand [primary theme area MEI]
Tansu Alpcan*, Subhrakanti Dey, Rob Evans, Mohammad Aldeen—Electrical & Electronic Engineering; Michael
Brear—Mechanical Engineering; Simon Loertscher, Peter Bardsley—Business & Economics; Dylan McConnell—
Earth Sciences
Recent developments in renewable energy generation; information technologies; the emergence of new load
types such as electric vehicles; and increased awareness of environmental impact motivate a transformational
change of the existing power grid. How to provide the right incentives to power generators, distributors, and
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users to facilitate a more efficient, resilient, and cost effective power grid is a key question. This project studies
the future evolution of electrical power grid to achieve efficiency, resilience, and cost-effectiveness, using a gametheoretic approach, and focuses on incentive mechanisms for demand management to decrease the peak-toaverage demand ratio (productivity of the grid) as well as its impact on electricity markets.
5. Towards sustainable microalgal biofuels production: Understanding how to influence microalgal lipidomes
[primary theme area MEI]
Gregory Martin*, David Hill—Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; Damien Callahan, Daniel Dias—Botany
Microalgae have promise as a feedstock for sustainable production of biofuel and other products. They grow on
carbon dioxide and sunlight without competing for fresh water or arable land. However, to be economic, highly
efficient production and processing of microalgae will be required. The ability to control the composition of
microalgae, in particular the oils that can be accumulated by the microalgae and converted to biodiesel, is central
to efficient production. This project will develop new knowledge of how growth conditions influence the oil
content of different algae and how this affects processing, product quality and the selection of appropriate
species.
6. An open research initiative to improve the evaluation of Australian telehealth implementations [primary
theme area IBES]
Kathleen Gray*, Ambica Dattakumar—Health & Biomedical Informatics Research Unit; Ann Borda—VeRSI;
Anthony Maeder—UWS; Beverley-Ann Biggs, Henry Gasko, Thomas Schultz—Royal Melbourne Hospital; David
Noble—Private Anesthetic Consultant; Susan Jury—Royal Children’s Hospital
Telehealth is on the rise in Australia, driven by pressures on traditional modes of health service provision.
Although these implementations are required to have evaluation components, there is no expectation that they
will use standardised ehealth evaluation guidelines or frameworks. This open research initiative will develop a
framework that incorporates the key factors that need to be considered in the evaluation of an Australian
telehealth service. It will make it more efficient to undertake evaluation of any Australian telehealth
implementation, to produce more widely applicable findings, to share these and to improve practice based on the
collective results.
7. Working in the cloud – developing identity resources for care leavers [primary theme area IBES, other theme
area MSEI]
Cathy Humphries*—Social Work; Gavan McCarthy—eScholarship Research Centre; Merle Spriggs—Population
Health; Udaya Parampalli—Computing & Information Systems
The “Working in the Cloud” project is developing a template for a digital storage space for the personal
documents of children in out-of-home care, considerably lessening the difficulties faced by care leavers in
searching for and accessing records relating to their time in care. The project is adapting new digital technologies
for safely storing information in a repository consistent with archival standards and is engaging with a range of
data security consideration. Significantly, it involves the end-users (young people) in the creation and holding of
their own records, a problem which has been poorly addressed to date.
8. From Pariah to Messiah: Using the mast cell to deliver nanoparticle-derived bioactive molecules [primary
theme area MMI, other theme areas MNI, Bio21]
Graham Mackay*—Pharmacology; Anton Blencowe—Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; Paul Gleeson—
Biochemistry, Bio21
The mast cell is an immune cell type present in most organs and tissues of the body and is best known for its
deleterious role in allergic disease. When activated, cytoplasmic vesicles (granules) within the mast cell fuse with
the cell membrane to release potent allergic mediators such as histamine. This project aims to harness this
process of ‘degranulation’ to enable the controlled release of bioactive molecules loaded into mast cell granules
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via targeted nanoparticles. This approach has the potential to permit focused delivery of therapeutic agents to
normally difficult to access tissue sites as well as being utilised as a novel means of treating allergies.
9. Multiscale porous titanium diboride materials for battery cathodes [primary theme area MMI, other theme
area MEI]
Carolina Tallon*, George Franks—Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; Bob Miller, Ho-Cheol Kim—IBM Almaden
Research Center
Want longer lasting and lighter batteries for your favourite gadget? Metal-air batteries, in particular Lithium-Air
batteries, have the potential to generate high energy density with low cost through environmentally friendly
technology: using air to produce electricity!! These batteries are electrochemical cells (cathode/anode/
electrolyte) where electricity is generated through a chemical reaction. We are developing a cathode with
different types of porous structures. Using different processing techniques we can control the structure, size,
shape and amount of pores to guarantee the (continuous and infinite!) air supply for the reaction at the cathode,
whilst storing the reaction products without blocking the pores, which affects the desired battery performance.
10. Nanoscale Pixel CMOS Sensor [primary theme area MMI, other theme area MNI]
Ranjith Unnithan*, Kumaravelu Ganesan, Timothy Karle—Physics; Stan Skafidis—Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Integrating nanotechnology to photonics opens up a new area of hybrid research, which enables the realization of
novel nanophotonic devices. The project is about a ground breaking design and development of a power efficient
nanophotonic pixel technology by exploiting the tremendous synergy achieved by integrating plasmonics with
nanoelectronics on the same chip using non-disruptive nanofabrication techniques. This novel nanophotonic pixel
will be realized in both CMOS imaging sensor (detector) and liquid crystal display. This technology will
revolutionize the performances in near field imaging of nanoparticles, lab-on-chip, mobile phone displays, spatial
light modulators, endoscopes, pico-projectors and microscopes.
11. Investigating the genetic basis for neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis using integrative and automated
informatics [primary theme area MNI, other theme area IBES]
Scott Kolbe*, Trevor Kilpatrick, Julian Vilsten—Anatomy & Neuroscience; Wei (Wilson) Liu, Neil Killeen—Anatomy
& Neuroscience and ITS; Jac Charlesworth, Bruce Taylor—University of Tasmania.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a leading cause of neurological impairment in young Australians. The severity of MS is
related to the degree of neurodegeneration (measured as brain atrophy), which is highly variable and probably
determined in part by genetic factors. We therefore aimed to measure brain atrophy of MS patients and to
compare these measurements with genetic data to uncover genetic determinates of disease severity. This project
primarily involves developing automated methods (workflows) linking 1) the repository holding the data with 2)
many complex analysis tasks. In addition, web-enabled software interfaces for easy management of the large
number of processed data products were developed.
12. A pilot study of positron emission tomography with [F18]-PBR111 to image microglial activation in-vivo in
patients having acute relapse of multiple sclerosis [primary theme area MNI]
Terence O’Brien*—Medicine; Trevor Kilpatrick, Roger Ordidge—Anatomy & Neuroscience; Christos Pantelis—
Psychiatry; Rodney Hicks—Peter McCallum Cancer Institute; Andrew Katsifis—Royal Alfred Hospital; Rob Ware,
David Krenus—Cyclotec
Molecular imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) can provide novel insights into the mechanisms of
common and disabling neurodegenerative brain diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia and traumatic
brain injury, by allowing the activation of specific cellular processes to be studied in living people. This novel
project is utlizing a PET brain tracer to investigate the activation of the inflammatory brain cells, microglia, during
and between acute attacks of multiple sclerosis. The implications of this study will extend well beyond
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multiplesclerosis, as microglial activation is believed to represent a prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for
wide range of neurodegenerative diseases.
13. How are low protection workers regulated? [primary theme area MSEI]
Sean Cooney*, Joo-Cheong Tham, John Howe—Law; Martina Boese—Social & Political Sciences; Peter Gahan—
Management & Marketing; Petra Mahy, Richard Mitchell—Monash University
This project is a preliminary investigation of the norms that govern workers who lie outside the scope of labour
standards laws (in either a legal or practical sense). Such workers generally receive lower levels of protection in
respect of their remuneration, working time and leave entitlements than those covered by labour laws. They also
have limited or no access to dispute resolution and enforcement processes that assist those covered by formal
work law. The project will conduct pilot studies in the food services industries in Australia and Indonesia (where
low protection workers vastly outnumber those covered by labour laws).
14. The Citizens’ Agenda: Exploring ways of improving political news coverage and increasing political
engagement [primary theme area MSEI, other theme area IBES]
Margaret Simons*, Denis Muller—Centre for Advanced Journalism; Helen Sullivan—Centre for Public Policy; David
Nolan—Culture & Communication; Aaron Martin—Social & Political Sciences
The project aims to empirically assess how the adoption of a social media-enabled ‘Citizens’ Agenda’ may
contribute to increasing (and potentially generating new forms of) political engagement among citizenparticipants. It analyses the impacts of a social media ‘intervention’ designed to explore the potential of new
media technologies for promoting civic participation and changing journalism practice. The project measures to
what extent democratic engagement amongst diverse population groups is enhanced by taking part in
the intervention during the Australian federal election. The researcher will also explore how the issues raised in
the Citizens’ Agenda are reported on in the media.
15. Sustainability performance evaluation for industrial supply network [primary theme area MSSI]
Colin Burvill*, Samaneh Shokravi, Alan Smith—Mechanical Engineering; Enrique Roca—Chemical Engineering;
Sherah Kurnia—Computing & Information Systems; Danny Samson—Management & Marketing
This program is designed to take the first step of providing an objective quantitative measure for sustainability
performance of an industrial supply network. This tool is modelled as a combination of indicators and methods –
basket of indicators – to measure the environmental health, economic profitability and social wellbeing of a
supply. It couples novel and conventional environmental and economic indicators/methods in a basket of
indicators, for instance Environmental Risk Management (ERM), Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Environmental
Performance Parameter (EPP) [Shokravi et al. 2012]. This measure can be employed by organizations for the
evaluation of their sustainability performance.
16. Weather forecasts for plants and animals [primary theme area MSSI]
Michael Kearney*, Warren Porter—Zoology; David Karoly—Earth Sciences; Kamal Puri—Bureau of Meteorology
This project connects state-of-the-art models of the physiological and behavioural responses of animals to their
environments with the Bureau of Meteorology’s weather forecasting system. This will provide an extremely
general framework for making spatially explicit forecasts of how species of concern (e.g. wildlife, pets, livestock,
disease vectors, pests, or dangerous species such as snakes) will respond to predicted weather conditions. The
‘bottom-up’ nature of our approach, grounded in thermodynamic principles, ensures a robust means of
forecasting to potentially novel environmental conditions, which are likely to arise under climate change.
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