Bone loss and reduced bone mass, which is commonly associated with diseases such as osteoporosis, arthritis, most cancers of the bone and transfusion-dependent thalassemia, leave patients at a high risk of fractures, pain, and other serious problems.
Research Group
Overview
The Metabolic Bone Research group is working to identify the pathways required to build bone and limit bone destruction, as well as understand how the cells in the bone microenvironment communicate with each other. The group hopes these findings will assist in the identification of new ways to promote bone formation.
Diseases we research
Research Group Head | Associate Professor Frances Milat
Bone loss and reduced bone mass are commonly associated with osteoporosis, arthritis and most cancers of the bone. They can leave patients with increased risk of fractures, pain and other serious problems. My research aims to identify the pathways required to build bone and limit bone destruction.
News from the lab
Is genetics the cause of mystery osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis research awarded $25,000
Cerebral Palsy Alliance grant success
Act early to improve bone density for adults with cerebral palsy
Inaugural fellowship recipient announced
Study targets bone health, wellbeing
Hormone replacement therapy could help kidney dialysis patients
Stunning NHMRC Grant success
See more news articles about Metabolic Bone Research
Student opportunities
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Targeting Wnt/β-cateinin epigenomics for colorectal cancer treatment View details
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Targeting ubiquitination signalling as a novel strategy against colorectal cancer View details
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Functional Annotation of the tumour variants of unknown significance View details
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Identifying Novel Targets in Paediatric High Grade Glioma View details
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Pulmonary hypertension in our smallest babies – determining the optimal treatment View details
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Making better mRNA therapeutics View details
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Creating a new generation of adjuvants for vaccine and cancer immunotherapy View details
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Understanding how ADAR1 mutations cause Aicardi-Goutière’s Syndrome View details
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Mapping endogenous ADAR1 expression in vivo. View details
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Understanding and improving outcomes for a rare childhood cancer syndrome. View details
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Improving functional deficits associated with fetal growth restriction View details
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How are male and female brains different? View details
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Investigating the robustness of claims of sex differences in disease View details
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Sex differences in common diseases and drug responses View details
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Role of estrogen receptor beta in gonadal development and Parkinson’s disease View details
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SRY: A risk factor for Parkinson’s disease in males View details
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The biological basis of gender identity View details
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FGF9 signalling and sex reversal View details
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Identifying the genes responsible for intersex conditions View details
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ATR-X syndrome and gonadal development View details
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Characterisation of novel gonadal targets of Sox9 View details
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Role of XIAP in endocrine cancer (ovarian and thyroid) View details
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Molecular pathogenesis of granulosa cell tumours of the ovary View details
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Resistant hypertension in primary care – how many have primary aldosteronism? View details
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Primary aldosteronism in pregnancy and beyond View details
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Impact of ethnicity on the prevalence and aetiology of hypertension View details
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Identification of novel transcriptomic markers of PA View details
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Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of different strategies for the diagnosis and management of primary aldosteronism View details
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Evaluating barriers to the detection of primary aldosteronism View details
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Establish a national PA registry to enable comprehensive data collection View details
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Impacts of epigenomic drugs on female reproductive health View details
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Characterisation of a novel interferon in the pathogenesis and treatment of endometriosis View details
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Developing 3D brain organoids to model perinatal brain injury View details
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Is neural stem cell therapy safe and feasible in a neonate? View details
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Neural stem cell therapy for preterm brain injury View details
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Optimising a model of preterm brain injury in the neonatal rat View details
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Transition to life after birth View details
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Reducing the risk of pulmonary hypertension in infants with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. View details
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Extracellular vesicles in endometriosis View details
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Testing Novel Therapies for Neonatal Seizures View details
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Mitochondrial protein interactions that cause dysregulation and disease View details
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Is interferon β a friend or foe? View details
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How do proteins enter the mitochondria and cause dysregulation? View details
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Precision Medicine for Childhood Brain Cancer View details
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Improving the transition at birth in asphyxiated infants View details
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Targeting IL-1β for prevention of inflammation-induced brain injury in premature infants View details
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The First In Vivo Exploration of Interleukin 38 View details
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Exploring a new frontier: The immune system of the premature infant, its interplay with the microbiome, and their relevance in the pathophysiology of major diseases of prematurity View details
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Novel Anti-inflammatory Approaches for Currently Untreatable Diseases of the Preterm Baby: Human specimen analysis and animal Models of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Necrotising Enterocolitis View details
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Molecular Characterisation of Regulation and Mechanism of Action of the Anti-inflammatory Cytokine Interleukin 37 View details
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The Role of IL37 in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease View details
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Analysing the effects of a novel anti-inflammatory approach for currently untreatable diseases of the preterm baby using data from Anakinra Pilot, the first clinical trial of its kind View details
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Closing the gaps – establishing pediatric reference intervals of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines View details
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Baby microbiome: Investigating the human neonatal lung and gut microbiome and its impact on health and disease View details
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Deciphering Immune Response to Bioengineered Meshes View details
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Vaginal Stem Cells: the missing link to vaginal reconstruction View details
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Trialling novel glucocorticoids to reduce lung diseases of preterm birth View details
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Exploring the morphometric properties and immunobiology of Human Fascia Lata as a biological graft in pelvic reconstructive surgery View details
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Characterising novel targets for the treatment of endometriosis View details
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Are endometrial mesenchymal stem cells a better efficacious and safer blood-compatible MSC source? View details
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Harnessing the uterine fluid-derived antimicrobial peptides in the fight against endometriosis View details
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Improving the Engagement and Participation of Multicultural Women in Perinatal Clinical Trials View details
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Modulating gastrointestinal microbiota stimulation of the innate immune system View details
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High Resolution Computational Analysis of the Gastrointestinal Microbiota View details
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Discovery of antibiotic resistance gene dispersal networks in the human gastrointestinal microbiota View details
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Characterization of human microbiota diversity across the Australian community View details
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Blocking harmful lung damage during acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by infections View details
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Novel host-directed therapies for severe influenza virus infections View details
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Characterization of microbiota composition in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease View details
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Mechanisms of mucosal damage and repair during bacterial gut infection View details
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Intracellular bacterial pathogens and cell intrinsic immunity View details
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Role of membrane damaging effector proteins in innate immune cell-mediated tissue injury View details
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Defining regulators of cell death and inflammasome activation View details
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Understanding the role of cell death during severe influenza virus infections View details
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The role of the innate immune system in preventing stomach cancer during chronic Helicobacter pylori infection View details
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Development of a vaccine to prevent stomach cancer using genetically modified bacterial membrane vesicles View details
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Defining the role of a novel NLR protein in stomach B cell lymphoma associated with chronic Helicobacter infection View details
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Characterisation of the immunomodulatory and oncogenic properties of bacterial extracellular vesicles View details
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The role of Mediator kinases during lung homeostasis and disease View details
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Targeting Mediator kinases to improve the efficacy of immunotherapies in colorectal cancer View details
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Linking gene expression and genome organisation View details
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Targeting purine and pyrimidine synthesis to treat Small Cell Lung Cancer View details
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Spatial transcriptomic analysis of the lung cancer microenvironment View details
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Leveraging the innate immune system to improve lung cancer treatments View details
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Leveraging lung organoid models to improve lung cancer treatments View details
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Functional genomic screening to identify novel approaches to overcome drug resistance in Small Cell Lung Cancer View details
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Defining drivers of metastatic lung cancer View details
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Understanding cancer resistance to chemotherapy View details
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Transcriptional regulators as cancer targets: new models and therapeutic approaches View details
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Functional genomic screens to identify new therapeutic targets for bowel cancer View details
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Development of new 3-dimensional models of cancer to model drug resistance and develop new cancer treatment View details
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Novel innate immune variants causing autoinflammatory disease View details
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Is creatine the nutritional key to boosting uterine receptivity and successful pregnancy? View details
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Investigating cerebral creatine metabolism during neurodevelopment and its capacity to prevent neuropathology View details
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Modelling childhood leukaemia for the development of new and improved therapeutic approaches View details
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Genetic modelling of Acute Erythroleukaemia View details
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Elucidating the role of EMT modulators in Acute Leukaemia View details
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Revolutionizing Breast Cancer Immunotherapy: Unveiling Novel Vaccine Targets View details
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Illuminating Disease Frontiers – Advancing Biomarker Discovery with Soluble HLA Immunopeptidomics and Olink Proteomics View details
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Development of combination therapies for childhood cancers View details
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Immune Enigma Unveiled – Pioneering Bioinformatic Pipelines for Non-Canonical HLA-Bound Peptide Exploration View details
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Impact of impaired immune function in haemoglobin disorders View details
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Harnessing RNA interference in gene therapy vectors for β-thalassaemia View details
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Epigenetic modifications of the human β-globin locus: new therapeutic targets for haemoglobin disorders View details
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Identification of molecular prognostic and therapy resistance signatures in paediatric sarcomas View details
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Exploiting Epigenetic Dysregulation in SWI/SNF-Deficient Solid Tumours View details
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Defining the mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in childhood and adolescent osteosarcoma View details
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Preventing disease recurrence and increasing disease free survival rates for ovarian cancer patients View details
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Mechanisms of ovarian cancer metastasis- characterizing molecules expressed during early cancer invasion View details
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Development of face perception in preterm infants (The BabyFace Study) View details
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Regulation of the germline and fetal organ growth by environmental cues View details
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An Importin protein that mediates growth factor signalling and pathway crosstalk: Its roles in spermatogenesis View details
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Defining the epigenetic origins of maternally inherited disease View details
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Spermatogonial stem cells and male fertility View details
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Preservation and regeneration of male fertility by germline stem cells View details
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Discovering therapies to prevent inflammatory diseases of the male reproductive tract and infertility View details
Publication highlights
Quinn JMW, Sims NA, Saleh H, Mirosa D, Thompson K, Bouralexis S, Walker EC, Saleh H, Martin TJ, Gillespie MT (2008) Interleukin-23 inhibits osteoclastogenesis indirectly through lymphocytes and is required for the maintenance of bone mass in mice. Journal of Immunology 181:5720-5729.
Quinn JM, Tam S, Sims NA, Saleh H, McGregor NE, Poulton IJ, Scott JW, Gillespie MT, Kemp BE, van Denderen BJ (2010) Germline deletion of AMP-activated protein kinase beta subunits reduces bone mass without altering osteoclast differentiation or function. FASEB Journal 24:275-285.
Saleh H, Eeles D, Hodge JM, Nicholson GC, Gu R, Pompolo S, Gillespie MT, Quinn JM (2011) Interleukin-33, a target of parathyroid hormone and oncostatin M, increases osteoblastic matrix mineral deposition and inhibits osteoclast formation in vitro. Endocrinology 152:1911-1922.
van der Kraan AGJ, Chai RCC, Singh PP, Lang BJ, Xu J, Gillespie MT, Price JT, Quinn JMW (2013) HSP90 inhibitors enhance differentiation and Microphthalmia transcription factor (MITF) activity in osteoclast progenitors. Biochemical Journal 451:235-244.
Wong P, Fuller PJ, Gillespie MT, Kartsogiannis V, Strauss BJ, Bowden D, Milat F (2013) Thalassemia bone disease: the association between nephrolithiasis, bone mineral density and fractures. Osteoporosis International 24:1965-1971.