The number of overweight or obese people in Australia has increased dramatically in recent years, increasing disease risk. The brain responds to palatable food in ways similar to the response to drugs of addiction, and this may explain why people find it hard to resist palatable food.

This project seeks to provide insights into new mechanisms that could be used to enhance or inhibit neuronal signalling. The family of pentameric neurotransmitter receptors that are key components in the process of neuronal signalling and are the target of this study.

A number of recent surveys have highlighted the prevalence of mental health and wellbeing issues among Australian lawyers. This project will be the first systematic empirical research on the culture and practice of Australian lawyers.

Chronic pain is a common debilitating symptom affecting between 50% and 80% of MS patients. However, despite its widespread occurrence, chronic pain is a rarely studied symptom of this disease.

Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WBS) is a neurdevelopmental genetic disorder characterized by specific cognitive and behavioural defects resulting in a unique debilitating personality profile.

The human face is a highly complex structure and the finished physiognomy and skin surface is of deep social and psychological significance because so much of human social behaviour is focused on facial recognition, the language of facial expression and the subjective perception of facial beauty.

Improvements in childhood cancer treatments have lead to a survival rate of more than 80%, but 2/3 of the survivors further develop at least one severe complication, notably metabolic disorders. Radiation therapy seems to be the most prominent risk factor.

Mitochondria are the major site for fuel oxidation in cells and strategies that stimulate mitochondria to burn more calories may prove beneficial for preventing obesity and insulin resistance.

There is a clear relationship between excess intake of dietary fat (particularly animal-based fats such as lard) and the development of obesity and insulin resistance.

Cancer cells reprogram their metabolism to use fuel (fat, protein and glucose) in a different way to normal cells. This adaptation is thought to allow cancer cells to make the building blocks (proteins, DNA, lipids) they need to grow and divide rapidly.

Excess fat in the diet typically leads to weight gain and inappropriate deposition of lipid in organs such as liver and skeletal muscle.

UNSW has been involved in researching the economics of CCS since the year 2000 and its CCS economics group is a leader in this field.

Self-assembled gels are a new class of materials that have been shown to have applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery.

Peripheral nerve injury often results in persistent and debilitating neuropathic pain. My overall objective is to understand the immunological mechanisms responsible for such pain.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly effective treatment for depression, used in Australia and throughout the world to treat severe depression that has not responded to other treatments.

Unlimited access to palatable high fat foods, in conjunction with a sedentary life style, has led to increased obesity. Exactly what mechanisms drive over consumption of energy rich foods and override mechanisms that normally regulate body weight?

This project will provide important information regarding the pharmacological mechanisms by which NPY acts to suppress seizures in animal models of epilepsy. It will provide strategies regarding potential new treatments of absence epilepsy.

This project will produce an easy-to-use prototype system for guiding blind and visually impaired (BVI) people both indoors and outdoors and delivering location based information.

To achieve high economical efficiency, modern chemical plants are becoming increasingly complex, to an extent that cannot be effectively managed by existing process modelling and control techniques.

The aims of this research are to assess the effects of immune modulation by inducing immune tolerance and manipulating regulatory T cells on pain behaviours following nervous system injury.