Centre for Chemical Biology
Centre for Complex Dynamic Systems and Control (CDSC)
The Centre for Chemical Biology (CCB) is committed to providing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of human disease. By bringing together research teams of international excellence from chemistry, biology and medicine we will unravel the causes of disease, identify crucial biological targets and pioneer the rapid development of novel drugs for the fight against disease. The CCB will be the central facilitator of drug development at the University of Newcastle and with our collaborators, displaying leadership and research excellence.
Modern society, whether in industry, biomedicine, ecology, economics, or energy systems involves complexity, with dynamics and interactions playing an increasing role. Critical questions of measurement, understanding and the regulation of such processes are crucial to our society’s future. At CDSC we take an approach largely based around mathematical modelling and applied control and estimation to tackle these problems. We have a team of experts working on a range of application areas for these fundamental technologies. Example projects include: • dynamics and control in electric energy systems • applications to telecommunication systems • high fidelity nano-positioning systems for MEMS systems • environmental monitoring and sensing • control and transportation systems (marine, aerospace, intelligent vehicle systems) • genetics and biomedical analysis
The CCB will provide a supportive forum for career development and enhancement of junior staff across chemistry, biology and biomedical sciences. The Centre will also provide biomedical researchers with a molecular ‘toolkit’ to unravel the intricacies of biological processes and a ‘lab to clinic’ drug development pipeline to a clinical setting. By bringing together research teams of international excellence from chemistry, biology and medicine the Centre will focus on unravelling the causes of disease, identifying crucial biological targets and will pioneer the rapid development of novel drugs for the fight against disease. www.newcastle.edu.au/researchcentre/ccb
Our research spans fundamental engineering work through to a range of practical applications. www.newcastle.edu.au/researchcentre/cdsc
Centre for Cancer The Priority Research Centre for Cancer delivers advanced approaches to assess patient risk and disease progression using cutting edge techniques in the fields of molecular genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, proteomics and magnetic resonance spectroscopy that can be incorporated into clinical trials and public health research. This research capacity is supported by close collaboration with the clinical facilities of the Hunter New England Local Health District and the complementary research expertise in the Priority Research Centres for Bioinformatics, Biomarker Discovery and Information Based Medicine, Chemical Biology and Health Behaviour. Using the biobanking experience developed for breast cancer, the Centre extends the collection to other tumours, such as colon, melanoma and lung cancer. The aim is to collect well-annotated tissue from every patient entered in a clinical trial or undergoing cancer treatment. Biological endpoints will be incorporated into the clinical trials by integrating new approaches and capabilities such as proteomics and magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy to diagnose and monitor treatment and NextGen sequencing to define genetic risk factors. These data will also be used by scientists to define new drug targets, develop lead compounds for cancer treatment and validate prognostic and predictive biomarkers to personalise therapy. 12 | RHD PROSPECTUS
Centre for Computer-Assisted Research Mathematics and its Applications The Centre for Computer-Assisted Research Mathematics and its Applications (CARMA) forms the base for a vibrant cross-university and intra-university Priority Research Centre. There is no corresponding group in Australia and there are very few internationally. Mathematics as “the language of high technology” underpins all facets of modern life and current Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Yet no other research centre exists focussing on the implications of developments in ICT, present and future, for the practice of research mathematics. CARMA partly fills this gap through the exploitation and development of techniques and tools for computer-assisted discovery and disciplined data-mining including mathematical visualisation. Advanced mathematical computation is essential to the solution of many real-world problems: sophisticated mathematics is core to software used by scientists, engineers, policy makers and corporate managers, who design, plan and control the systems and products that are key to our day-to- day life. CARMA actively engages in developing state-of –the-art mathematical algorithms. CARMA research spans Computational Analysis, Modelling and Differential Equations, Discrete Mathematics, Linear and Nonlinear Analysis, Optimization and Operations Research, Topological Groups, Harmonic Analysis, Number Theory and Functional Analysis. www.carma.newcastle.edu.au