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Gene editing and cardiac disease modelling for the interpretation of genetic variants of uncertain significance in congenital heart disease

Genomic sequencing in congenital heart disease (CHD) patients often discovers novel genetic variants, which are classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Functional analysis of each VUS is required in specialised laboratories, to determine whether the VUS is disease causative or not, leading to lengthy diagnostic delays.

Mining single-cell data for cell type-disease associations

A robust understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying diseases sets the foundation for the effective design of drugs and other interventions. The wealth of existing single-cell atlases offers the opportunity to uncover high-resolution information on expression patterns across various cell types and

Use of privacy-preserving record linkage to examine the dispensing of pharmaceutical benefits scheme medicines to pregnant women in Western Australia

Medications are commonly used during pregnancy to manage pre-existing conditions and conditions that arise during pregnancy. However, not all medications are safe to use in pregnancy. This study utilized privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) to examine medications dispensed under the national Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to pregnant women in Western Australia (WA) overall and by medication safety category.

An evaluation of GPT models for phenotype concept recognition

Clinical deep phenotyping and phenotype annotation play a critical role in both the diagnosis of patients with rare disorders as well as in building computationally-tractable knowledge in the rare disorders field.

Single-cell data combined with phenotypes improves variant interpretation

Whole genome sequencing offers significant potential to improve the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases by enabling the identification of thousands of rare, potentially pathogenic variants. Existing variant prioritisation tools can be complemented by approaches that incorporate phenotype specificity and provide contextual biological information, such as tissue or cell-type specificity.

Genomic analyses in Cornelia de Lange Syndrome and related diagnoses: Novel candidate genes, genotype–phenotype correlations and common mechanisms

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is a rare, dominantly inherited multisystem developmental disorder characterized by highly variable manifestations of growth and developmental delays, upper limb involvement, hypertrichosis, cardiac, gastrointestinal, craniofacial, and other systemic features.

Functional validation of variants of unknown significance using CRISPR gene editing and transcriptomics: A Kleefstra syndrome case study

There are an estimated > 400 million people living with a rare disease globally, with genetic variants the cause of approximately 80% of cases. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) rapidly identifies genetic variants however they are often of unknown significance.

CRISPR single base editing, neuronal disease modelling and functional genomics for genetic variant analysis: pipeline validation using Kleefstra syndrome EHMT1 haploinsufficiency

Over 400 million people worldwide are living with a rare disease. Next Generation Sequencing identifies potential disease causative genetic variants. However, many are identified as variants of uncertain significance and require functional laboratory validation to determine pathogenicity, and this creates major diagnostic delays.

Common and Rare Genetic Variants That Could Contribute to Severe Otitis Media in an Australian Aboriginal Population

Our goal was to identify genetic risk factors for severe otitis media (OM) in Aboriginal Australians.

Tumour draining lymph node-generated CD8 T cells play a role in controlling lung metastases after a primary tumour is removed but not when adjuvant immunotherapy is used

Surgical resection of cancer remains the frontline therapy for millions of patients annually, but post-operative recurrence is common, with a relapse rate of around 45% for non-small cell lung cancer. The tumour draining lymph nodes (dLN) are resected at the time of surgery for staging purposes, and this cannot be a null event for patient survival and future response to immune checkpoint blockade treatment. This project investigates cancer surgery, lymphadenectomy, onset of metastatic disease, and response to immunotherapy in a novel model that closely reflects the clinical setting. In a murine metastatic lung cancer model, primary subcutaneous tumours were resected with associated dLNs remaining intact, completely resected or partially resected.