Efforts to rid the world of polio have taken another significant step, thanks to research led by University of Queensland bioscience experts and funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

A fresh study of the Nanopatch – a microscopic vaccine delivery platform first developed by UQ researchers – has shown the device more effectively combats poliovirus than needles and syringes.

Head of UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences Professor Paul Young said the breakthrough provided the next step in consigning polio to history.

“Polio was one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the 20th century, resulting in limb disfigurement and irreversible paralysis in tens of millions of cases,” Professor Young said.

“This most recent study showed the Nanopatch enhanced responses to all three types of inactivated poliovirus vaccines (IPV) – a necessary advancement from using the current live oral vaccine.

“We are extremely grateful to the WHO for providing funding to Vaxxas Pty Ltd, the biotechnology company commercialising the Nanopatch.

“The support specifically assists pre-clinical studies and good manufacturing practices.”

Patch inventor Professor Mark Kendall said the study exhibited a key advantage of the Nanopatch.

“It targets the abundant immune cell populations in the skin’s outer layers, rather than muscle, resulting in a more efficient vaccine delivery system,” Professor Kendall said.

“The ease of administration, coupled with dose reduction observed in this study suggests that the Nanopatch could facilitate inexpensive vaccination of inactivated poliovirus vaccines.”

UQ Australian Institute for Biotechnology and Nanotechnology researcher Dr David Muller said effectively translating the dose could dramatically reduce the cost.

“A simple, easy-to-administer polio Nanopatch vaccine could increase the availability of the IPV vaccine and facilitate its administration in door-to-door and mass vaccination campaigns,” said Dr Muller.

“As recently as 1988, more than 350,000 cases occurred every year in more than 125 endemic countries.

“Concerted efforts to eradicate the disease have reduced incidence by more than 99 per cent.”

“Efforts are being intensified to eradicate the remaining strains of transmission once and for all.”

Data from the study encourages efforts by Vaxxas – established by UQ’s commercialisation company UniQuest – to bring the technology to use for human vaccinations.

“The research we are undertaking in conjunction with UQ and WHO can improve the reach of life-saving vaccines to children everywhere,” Vaxxas chief executive officer David Hoey said.

Findings of recent research have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Media: Dr David Muller, d.muller4@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 4881, Professor Mark Kendall, m.kendall@uq.edu.au,; UQ Communications – Jan King, j.king@uq.edu.au, +61 (7) 3365 4043 or +61 427 559 427.

The Faculty of Business, Economics and Law in partnership with The University of Queensland in America, Inc. (TUQIA) proudly present the fourth annual UQ Rugby Benefit Dinner in support of the UQ rugby scholar athlete and UQ Rugby Club.

Join your fellow UQ alumni, friends and business colleagues for another fantastic evening of rugby festivities in central New York City as one of the University’s most prestigious sports medals, the Mark Loane Medal, is presented to one of America’s most outstanding high school rugby players.

This year’s panel of rugby legends includes Nick Farr-Jones, Tim Horan AM, Mark McBain, Dr Brendan Nasser, Joe Roff, Brooke Saunders and Nick Stiles.

Find out more here.

The University of Queensland has maintained a position within the top echelons of research institutions in the world, according to the latest Times Higher Education University Ranking.

Despite a slight dip, UQ was ranked 65 of 1102 institutions assessed globally, and remains the fourth-ranked university in Australia.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj said UQ had consistently been inside the top 70 in the Times Higher Education Rankings in recent years, but there was cause to warn against complacency.

“We’re delighted to again be recognised at the global forefront of providing quality research, education and industry collaboration,” Professor Høj said.

“From last year we have ranked five places lower, and I note a similar trend for several other leading Australian research universities.

“This is a timely reminder that ill-conceived cuts to higher education and the possibility of growing complacent and negligent towards scientific research will have very real effects.

“Higher education is vital to a progressive Australian society and economy and, to maintain our standing, it takes focus and funding from a federal perspective.”

UQ ranked 60^th worldwide the past two years in the Times Higher Education University Ranking, having ranked 65^th in 2014-15, 63^rd in 2013-14 and 65^th in 2012-13.

Research institutions were measured on five ‘pillars’ – teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook.

UQ’s best-performing pillar was international outlook, adjudged on percentage of international staff, international co-authorship and percentage of international students.

Last week UQ was ranked first in Australia by the Nature Index for life sciences, and 78^th overall in the world.

The tables are based on data from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016.

Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, + 61 7 3365 3439.

After major gains over the past three years, The University of Queensland has held its position in the prestigious Academic Ranking of World Universities announced recently, ranking 55th globally and second in Australia.

Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj said that, in a world with more than 10,000 universities, this achievement in the most recognised international ranking of universities reflected UQ’s outstanding research excellence.

“It’s a powerful testament to the very high quality of our people,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that the entire nation benefits from having highly ranked, innovative, research-intensive universities such as UQ.

“The quality of our research serves as a beacon for global innovators, researchers, philanthropists and partners looking to collaborate with the best minds to generate new knowledge and products that enhance lives in Australia and abroad.

“The benefits of our rankings and research-intensive environment enhance the learning experience of our students who will become the leaders of the future, creating positive change in our society.

“The ARWU rankings, which feature six Australian universities in the top 100, are a timely reminder of why the nation must keep its universities strong and not jeopardise the competitive advantage that benefits all Australians.”

The ARWU results build on the back of UQ’s strong performances in other international ranking in 2017.

UQ placed 47^th globally in the influential QS World University Rankings announced in June, putting it well inside the top one per cent of the world’s universities.

This was followed closely by the release of the ARWU subject rankings, with UQ named in the world’s top ten universities for six subjects (with 18 subjects in the top 50 and 36 in the top 100) and best in Australia in another six.

The ARWU rankings have been published by The Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University annually since 2003 when UQ was well outside the top 100.

Professor Høj said UQ’s research culture benefited undergraduate and higher degree students, and the ARWU results reinforced the outstanding global credentials of UQ graduates.

“A research-inspired culture nurtures and fosters the pursuit of new knowledge and ideas, setting the scene for members of the UQ family to create positive change throughout the world.

“We are looking to partner with many more enterprises, such as has happened with Boeing, to augment the flow and application of our knowledge into the global sphere.”

Further information and full rankings are available at the ShanghaiRanking website.

An international team of researchers has found a drug previously approved to treat breast cancer could also be used to shrink medulloblastoma, a common form of childhood brain tumour.

The discovery, made by The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, has led to a clinical trial using the drug palbociclib to treat children with medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumour found in children.

UQ’s Professor Brandon Wainwright said brain tumours were the most common cause of cancer death in infants, children and adolescents – and even survivors can end up with significant long-term side effects from existing treatments.

“Clearly, we need new therapies that increase survival of young patients and reduce the side effects they suffer, such as delays in brain development, growth problems and increased risk of other cancers,” Professor Wainwright said.

Fellow UQ researcher Dr Laura Genovesi examined the genetic code of medulloblastoma to predict whether these tumours may respond to already-approved drugs.

“This analysis led us to believe that palbociclib, an oral drug approved in 2015 for the treatment of breast cancer, would be effective against medulloblastoma,” Dr Genovesi said.

“We expected that palbociclib would arrest the growth of medulloblastoma, but we were stunned to find that it went a step further and actually shrank the tumours to a size where survival is possible.”

“The finding is remarkable since the tumours were very advanced and were treated for only a short period of time and we did not use any other therapy such as chemotherapy in combination.

“Some tumours recurred once treatment with palbociclib stopped, probably due to resistant cells within the tumour.

“It means that palbociclib, or drugs like it, could be used against medulloblastoma in combination with other drugs to treat resistant cells.

“If the clinical trial is successful, it would represent a major step forward to taking this research from the genome to the clinic.”

The study is published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

They partnered with Professor James Olson from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the research was supported by American and Australian organisations, including The Kids Cancer Project, The Brainchild Foundation, and the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.