NRP/Department of Health WA Sponsored Grants
The Department of Health partners with Neurotrauma Research Program (NRP) aiming at reducing impact of brain trauma and spinal cord injuries.
Chief Investigator
Dr Travis Cruickshank
Associate Investigators
- Dr Danielle Bartlett
- Prof David Blacker
- Dr Johnny Lo
- A/Prof Mandy Stanley
- Prof Amanda Devine
- Dr Onno van der Groen
- A/Prof Natalie Ciccone
- Mr Mitchell Turner
- Dr Yvonne Learmonth
Institutions
The feasibility and therapeutic utility of a 12-week telehealth delivered environmental enrichment program for young stroke survivors experiencing cognitive impairment.
Year: 2020
Up to 60% of young stroke survivors present with cognitive impairments that persist long into survivorship. These impairments adversely impact activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QoL). Treatments aimed at alleviating cognitive impairments are therefore a priority. This project aims to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of a 12-week environmental enrichment (EE) program on cognition, ADL and QoL in young stroke survivors. We anticipate that EE will enhance cognition and associated ADL and QoL outcomes in young stroke survivors.
Chief Investigator
Prof Lynn Meuleners
Associate Investigators
- Dr Michelle Fraser
- Dr Gina Arena
Institutions
Personalised driving safety: Using telematics to reduce risky behaviour among young drivers
Year: 2020
There is an urgency to identify new approaches to reduce the growing trend in road deaths and injury, particularly for young drivers in regional areas. Speeding is a leading risk factor contributing to road deaths and injuries in Western Australia (WA); a state where long stretches of high-speed roads are the norm. This unique research project will examine the effect of providing personalised driving feedback about speeding, braking and acceleration via a smartphone app to young provisional drivers. This will be compared to a control group who do not receive any feedback over a two-month period.
Young driver
Chief Investigator
A/Prof Stuart Hodgetts
Associate Investigators
- Prof Alan Harvey
- Prof Vincent Wallace
Institutions
Photobiomodulation for spinal cord repair using wireless LED based devices implanted at the injury site.
Year: 2020
Photobiomodulation (PBM) using the red/near infra-red (R/NIR) light spectrum is neuroprotective in several injury models and is attracting increasing global attention as a ‘low risk, high gain’ therapy option. We will use PBM to provide neuroprotection after spinal cord injury (SCI), using small, wireless, and biocompatible LED devices surgically implanted directly above the injury to deliver the full and most clinically relevant therapeutic doses of 670nm or 830nm light after; A) thoracic and B) cervical contusion SCI in adult rats. Rats will be assessed for functional recovery of fore- and hindlimbs, as well as morphological improvements (tissue sparing, axon sprouting/regeneration).
Chief Investigator
Prof Ryan Lister
Associate Investigators
- A/Prof Jennifer Rodger
Institutions
Characterizing transcriptional changes at single-cell resolution following brain injury and treatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Year: 2020
There is increasing evidence that injury alters gene activity in the brain, and that any effort to repair damage will also require changes in gene activity. However, whether these changes are distinct between the many different specialized types of cells in the brain is unknown. We will investigate whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a non-invasive brain stimulation method that improves brain connectivity and function, can induce transcriptional changes associated with neural repair in a cell-specific manner. We will identify transcriptional changes that occur following neurotrauma and rTMS-induced repair in order to elucidate the cellular mechanisms of functional recovery from neurotrauma.
Chief Investigator
A/Prof Ryu Takechi
Associate Investigators
- Prof Melinda Fitzgerald
- Dr Andrew Lavender
- Dr Stuart McDonald
- Dr Chidozie Anyaegbu
Institutions
Prevention of cerebrovascular dysfunction and neuromotor deficits induced by repeated sub-concussion.
Year: 2020
Sub-concussion describes a very light form of head impacts such as soccer ball headings that do not cause obvious clinical symptoms. Latest research reveals that such sub-concussive head impacts can cumulatively lead to marked neurological disorders including loss of brain cells and cognitive impairment if the impacts are repeated many times over an extended period. However, the mechanisms that lead to such brain disorders are unknown. This project will use a rat model of repeated sub-concussion to understand the mechanisms involved in sub-concussion-associated brain disorders and identify effective treatments through maintaining healthy blood vessels of the brain.
Leaky cerebral capillary (plasma IgG extravasation into the brain parenchyma (red)) after repeated sub-concussion in rats.
Chief Investigator
Dr Alexander Tang
Associate Investigators
- A/Prof Jennifer Rodger
- Prof John Reynolds
- Dr Hakuei Fujiyama
- Dr Jamie Beros
- Ms Emily King
Institutions
Targeting the axon initial segment for the treatment of stroke
Year: 2020
Stroke is a common form of neurotrauma and a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. For the patients that survive, the ability of the brain to adapt and reorganise itself to regain lost function is limited. This is in part, due to structural changes in the surviving brain cells which alters their electrical activity. This project aims to characterise the long-term changes to brain cell structure and function after a stroke and to restore any abnormal changes with non-invasive brain stimulation.
Chief Investigator
Prof Janet Taylor
Associate Investigators
- Mr Ricardo Mesquita
- Prof Anthony Blazevich
- A/Prof Olivier Girard
- Prof Jane Butler
- A/Prof Simon Laws
Institutions
Jump-starting the spinal cord with acute intermittent hypoxia: mediators of inter-individual variability in neuroplasticity.
Year: 2020
Breathing low-oxygen air for brief periods is a promising method for improving muscle strength and function in people with incomplete spinal cord injury. However, improvements are not seen in everyone, so we need to know why some people respond differently. We will investigate whether (a) differences in one particular gene, and (b) breathing problems during sleep, influence muscle strength increases after low-oxygen breathing in people with spinal cord injury. We will also examine how this method alters the behaviour of the nerve cells that control the muscles, so as to better understand how it works.