Morag Young Receives ARC Discovery Project Grant

Much of our biology is controlled by biological rhythms also know as circadian rhythms that are approx. 24hrs long. These circadian rhythms are generated by molecular clocks that oscillate over the course of the day within our cells. In this way our biological systems can anticipate and respond to changes in the environment.

Now researchers at the Baker Institute led by A/Prof. Morag Young, together with collaborators at The University of Melbourne, want to shed light on how the Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) modulates timekeeping of biological clock time in cells.

Thanks to an ARC Discovery Project Grant, they also aim to gain a clearer understanding how our heart cells adapt to environmental circadian disruptors such as shift work. The $433,078 grant will enable A/Prof Young and collaborators to bring together cutting-edge genetic modals and bioinformatic approaches with a unique set of research models to define the interaction between the MR and the circadian clock, and its role in the normal biology of the heart. New data will significantly enhance our understanding of the biology of MR and cortisol for the circadian time keeping function in peripheral tissues, and gain a clearer understand how our heart cells adapt to environmental circadian disruptors such as shift work.

Congratulations to Morag and colleagues on this pioneering project.