NIF is helping Inflazome in the development of drugs for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease

Inflazome Ltd., a biotech start-up company founded in 2016, has been focusing on development of oral NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors to address unmet clinical needs in a wide variety of inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Inflazome was acquired in 2020 by Roche for EUR 380 million, highlighting the value of translational research activities.

Studies undertaken at the QLD Node of NIF have assisted the understanding of Inflazome’s portfolio of inflammasome inhibitors and helped drug candidates created by Inflazome proceed to clinical trials. Preclinical PET/MR, PET/CT, and radiotracer production were used to test specific critical components of the innate immune system in animal models of Parkinson’s disease and neuroinflammation.
These works were undertaken as a research collaboration led by Prof Matt Cooper from Inflazome with animal models provided by Prof Trent Woodruff and Dr Eduardo Albornoz from The School of Biomedical Science at The University of Queensland. Preclinical Imaging was performed by Dr Karine Mardon and Dr Gary Cowin from the QLD NIF Node at The Centre for Advanced Imaging.

This story was contributed by the QLD NIF Node. For more information, please contact Dr Karine Mardon or Dr Gary Cowin

Drawing of an Inflammasome. Image used with permission from Prof. Kate Schroder, IMB, University of Queensland

COVID-19 Research at LARIF: Using fluoroscopy for lung ventilation analysis

LARIF has teamed up with Australian biomedical company, 4DMedical, and University of Adelaide scientists Associate Professor David Parsons and Dr Martin Donnelly to address the COVID-19 crisis, through testing a novel ventilator, the now patented 4DMedical ‘XV technology’, and a large animal model of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

Associate Professor David Parsons and Dr Martin Donnelly in the LARIF Cath Lab

The NCRIS-enabled facilities and expertise at the Large Animal Research and Imaging Facility (LARIF) NIF Node, located in the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), were utilised by a consortium of doctors, engineers, and medical researchers as part of the Australian Lung Health Initiative (ALHI).

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Changes in the brain related to parenthood

Parents can tell you that having kids changes your life. Recent studies by the Cognitive Neuroimaging Team at Monash Biomedical Imaging have shown just how deep those changes go by analysing brain structure in older adults that have had children. Parenthood was shown to cause life-long changes in both mothers and fathers, with a follow-up study suggesting that motherhood can protect the ageing maternal brain.

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CT and 3D printing improving clinical PPE

Frontline medical workers put themselves at risk during a pandemic to deliver critical health care and save lives. Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, gowns, and face shields can reduce the risk of infection. To prevent contamination through airborne droplets, healthcare workers can employ an air-purifying respirator to push filtered air into their face shield or hood.

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Cancer cells killed by honeybee venom

Breast cancer, the most common cancer in women worldwide, may one day be treated using the venom of the European honeybee.

Dr Ciara Duffy from Western Australia’s Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research has found that venom from honeybees can rapidly kill aggressive and hard-to-treat breast cancer cells. NCRIS-enabled facilities at the Centre for Microscopy, Characterization and Analysis (CMCA), UWA, were integral to the research, published recently in the journal Nature Precision Oncology.

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CT as part of the Forensic Science SA toolkit

A post-mortem examination, or autopsy, is a forensic technique for learning about the conditions of a person’s health at the end of life. These are typically carried out as part of a coronial inquiry to establish the cause of death. A post-mortem may also provide information about undiagnosed medical problems of relevance to family members and the research community.

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National Preclinical PET QA

The NIF Molecular Imaging & Radiochemistry (MIR) Theme is a group of NIF Fellows, Directors, and users of NIF facilities that focus on state-of-the-art radiochemistry and molecular imaging applications using PET, SPECT, and MRI.

Integrating preclinical PET systems into a national resource requires the development of defined QA programs to monitor and integrate the data from individual systems. Hence, the MIR Theme initiated a national quality assurance (QA) program for the NIF preclinical PET instruments.

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The Australian Epilepsy Project

The Australian Epilepsy Project (AEP) will change the lives of people living with epilepsy by reducing uncertainty surrounding diagnosis and fast-tracking the path to optimal treatment using the combination of advanced imaging, genetics, cognition, and artificial intelligence. Such improvements will result in better outcome prediction at disease onset, a higher rate of seizure freedom, reduced economic burden of disease and will increase life-participation of people with epilepsy. 

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Nighttime vision of the Australian Night Parrot

NIF Facility Fellow Dr Karine Mardon used CT to scan the intact skull of an exceedingly rare species, the Australian Night Parrot. These scans were compared to related parrots, finding that the night parrot may not be any better at seeing in the dark than other related species. Possibly a contributing factor to its rarity, these findings have implications for Night Parrot conservation efforts in the Australian outback.

Mysterious Australian Night Parrots in natural environment. Credit: Steve Murphy, Charles Darwin University.

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