Mechanisms & Interventions in Health & Disease

The Mechanisms and Interventions in Health and Disease research program seeks to enhance the understanding of health and disease in the following ways:

researching the fundamental mechanisms of cells, biological systems and disease processes
translating this knowledge into the development and implementation of interventions that maintain health, treat disease and inform policy and practice for enhanced health outcomes.

Program members use fundamental basic, applied, clinical and translational research approaches. The program has three main research focus areas with ten research groups, outlined here.

In total, the Mechanisms and Interventions in Health and Disease Program has more than 100 staff and higher-degree research students.

Cancer, Autoimmunity, Immunology

Cardio-metabolic & Muscle Disorders

Muscle, Exercise & Movement

Our research interests

Key areas of research expertise within the program include:

biomechanics
cancer biology and metastasis
cardiovascular health and disease
drug design and development, immunotherapeutics and vaccine design
exercise science
genetics and epigenetics of exercise
immunology and regenerative medicine
molecular biology
muscle health and disease
nutrition in health and disease
structural biology (NMR, crystallography, molecular modelling)
therapeutic mechanisms and manual therapy
women’s health.

Focus areas

Our research addresses these areas in particular:

ageing
autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, Type-1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases)
cancer (breast, colon, ovarian, prostate, lung, leukemia)
cardiovascular disease
enteric neuropathy
hunger management
lower back pain
mental health
metabolic disorders (obesity, Type-2 diabetes, insulin resistance, stroke)
motor neuron disease
musculoskeletal disorders (muscular dystrophy, cachexia, sarcopenia, osteosarcopenia)
polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Our collaborations

: Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
Deakin University, Melbourne
Flinders University, Adelaide
Griffith University, Brisbane
LaTrobe University, Melbourne
Macquarie University, Sydney
Monash University, Melbourne
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
RMIT University, Melbourne
Swinburne University, Melbourne
University of Adelaide, Adelaide
University of Melbourne, Melbourne
University of New South Wales, Sydney
University of Sydney, Sydney
University of Southern Queensland, Brisbane
University of Tasmania, Hobart
University of Western Sydney, Sydney
: Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Aristotle University, Greece
Guangzhou Sport University, China
Harvard University, USA
Indiana University, USA
Plymouth University, UK
Sathyabama University, India
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Tumor Immunity Medical Research Center, Seoul
National University, South Korea
University of Aalborg, Denmark
University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Germany
University Children’s Hospital Basel, Switzerland
University College Erasmus, Netherlands
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
University Insubria, Italy
University of Ioannina, Greece
University of Texas at El Paso, USA
University of North Carolina, USA
University of Patras, Greece
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
University of Tubingen, Germany
University of Windsor, Canada
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
: Athletics Australia, Australia
Austin Hospital, Australia
Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS), Australia
Baker IDI, Australia
Bosch Institute, Australia
Cardiology Clinic Skopje, Macedonia
Centre for Food Allergen Research, Australia
Cobalt Niche Ltd, Australia
Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark
Defence, Science and Technology (DST) Group, Australia
Dorsa Vi Ltd, Australia
ELDrug S.A, Greece Florey Neurosciences Institute, Australia
Garvin Institute for Medical Research, Australia
Gencor Pacific Ltd, Hong Kong Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Australia
IPC Health, Germany Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research, Australia
Moffitt Cancer Centre, USA
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia
NewDrug S.A, Greece
NovoNordisk Foundation for Basic Metabolic Research, Denmark
NTNU: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Pasteur Institute, Greece
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia
Prolipsis Medical Centre, Greece
Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia
Sanitarium Foods, Australia
SimPharma Pty. Ltd, Australia
SimPharma Pte. Ltd, Singapore
Stop the Mets Charity, Australia
St Vincent’s Hospital, Australia
St Vincent’s Institute for Medical Research, Australia
The Product Makers (TPM), Australia Vianex S.A, Greece
Victorian Institute of Sport, Australia
Western Health, Australia Xblades Ltd, Australia