Commercialisation of DNA Diagnostics - Cryptogen
The development of novel and sensitive diagnostics
Molecular epidemiology/taxonomy
Chemotherapy

• The molecular epidemiology of tick-transmitted Piroplasmida and Rickettsia infections of companion animals in Australasia is an area that is poorly understood and has important implications for AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service). Dr Ryan Jefferies has completed his PhD in this area under the supervision of Assoc. Professor Peter Irwin and Assoc. Professor Una Ryan. Dr Jefferies developed DNA-based multiplex diagnostics for tick-transmitted Piroplasmida and Richettsia infections to assist AQIS in maintaining Australia's largely exotic pathogen-free environment.
  
  
  
• Another project under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Una Ryan, Dr Simon Reid and Dr Will Ditcham is being conducted by a PhD student Linda Davies. Her project involves development of a cost effective, rapid and simple method to isolate pathogens from environmental water samples.
  

• Assoc. Professor Una Ryan is a leading internationally-recognised scientist in the transmission dynamics and taxonomy of Cryptosporidium. Her main collaborators in this area have been Dr Xiao from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, USA and Dr Fayer from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). A/Professor Ryan's research in this area has been crucial to the understanding of the transmission dynamics of this important pathogen, and with her collaborators, she has been responsible for a complete revision and extension of the taxonomy of Cryptosporidium.
  
  
• Water is increasingly recognised as an important vehicle for transmission of Cryptosporidium and Giardia. the (oo)cyst is environmentally stable and resistant to inactivation by chlorine at doses commonly used in drinking water treatment. Bivalves filter large volumes of water and can concentrate Giardia and Cryptosporidium and both parasites have been recovered from numerous species of shellfish. Little is known about the prevalence, geographical distribution of species of Cryptosporidium and Giardia infecting fish mussels in Western Australia and what the potential health implications are. In collaboration with A.Prof. Alan Lymbery, we are investigating the prevalence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in fish and bivalves from a range of environments (pristine to highly disturbed) in the south west of Western Australia. The project involves PCR, sequencing and phylogenetics to identify what the public health implications are.
  
  
  
• Using molecular tools to understand and control the transmission of Cryptosporidium
  This ARC-Linkage funded project in collaboration with the Sydney Catchment Authority, commenced in March 2006 and the aims of the project are to conduct a comprehensive study of genotypes of Cryptosporidium in animals and sewage in the Sydney drinking water catchment area to understand the zoonotic risk these parasites pose to humans. This involves”Genotyping and fingerprinting isolates of Cryptosporidium recovered from human patients and raw water supplies to further understand the transmission dynamics (i.e. are the majority of human infections a result of human to human transmission or zoonotic transmission, are there differences in transmission between urban and rural settings etc). Correlating clinical data with genotypic data (i.e. are there significant differences in clinical progression and outcome between C. hominis, C. parvum and C. meleagridis. Development of targeted control strategies on the basis of the information gained from this project.
  
  
• An exciting new research development has been the characterisation of gregarine-like stages in the life-cycle of Cryptosporidium, which were identified by Dr. Nawal Hijjawi during the course of her PhD. This could have enormous implications for the water industry as it raises the possibility that Cryptosporidium could potentially multiply in fresh-water invertebrates, as gregarine parasites commonly parasitise fresh-water invertebrates. Dr. Nawal Hijjawi was employed as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Murdoch on an ARC-Linkage grant and now holds an academic position in Jordan. Dr Hijjawi continues to collaborate with me and is directly involved in Cryptogen and visits Murdoch annually to conduct collaborative research. This research has resulted in several publications and many more are planned. We are very interested in applying proteomics and bioinformatics to understand the complex life-cycle of Cryptosporidium in more detail
  .
• Another infectious disease, which I am currently researching, is neosporosis, which is an important cause of abortion in cattle. I have successfully obtained WA Cattle compensation funding for the last 8 years to study the transmission of Neospora caninum infection from mother to offspring in Western Australia, in collaboration with Dr. Ryan O’Handley from Murdoch University and Dr. Dieter Palmer from AgWA. We are one of the first groups worldwide to successfully amplify Neospora from blood and are currently working on new and innovative molecular characterisation tools.

• Trypanosomiasis is a complex debilitating and often fatal disease caused by infection with one or more of the pathogenic arthropod transmitted protozoan parasites of the genus Trypanosoma. Trypanosomes have a global impact on the health, survival and economic development of millions of people and animals in temperate, tropical and sub-tropical regions. Little is known of the prevalence and life-cycle of trypanosomes in mammals native to Australia. A current PhD project being undertaken by Jill Austen under the supervision of A/Prof. Una Ryan, Dr Simon Reid, Dr Will Ditcham and Dr Tony Friend (Department of Environment and Conservation) examines novel Trypanosoma sp. identified in blood from the critically endangered Gilbert's potoroo (Potorous gilbertii) and the quokka (Setonix brachyurus) in Western Australia. Another PhD student, Linda McInnes is currently researching the molecular epidemiology of Trypanosoma evansi in South East Asia under the supervision of A/Prof. Una Ryan and Dr Simon Reid.

• Research on tick-transmitted Piroplasmida in ongoing and has included the identification of a novel Theileria sp. in the critically endangered Gilbert's Potoroo (Potorous gilbertii) and with current Honours student, Jia Rong examining Theileria species in a declining species of threatened Australian marsupial, the brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia penicillata).
  

  
  

• A highly innovative research area involves novel chemotherapeutics for Cryptosporidium, which have a global impact on the health, survival and economic development of millions of people and animals worldwide. New therapies for the diseases they cause are urgently required. The ARC-Linkage project that A/Prof. Una Ryan successfully obtained funding for, in collaboration with Dr. Reed and Dr. Anthony Armson from Murdoch and Dr. Watt and Dr Hopkins, from the TVW Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, involves proprietary technologies for identifying protozoa-specific peptides that will inhibit the formation of essential protein complexes, whilst having no effect on the mammalian host. Candidate peptides have been screened in vitro to validate these protein complexes as new targets for the development of peptide-based therapeutic compounds. This project has resulted in two publications and an additional manuscript is in preparation.