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Monday 25 May 2015

Visit to Pilbara by Monash Health’s Associate Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton as a member of the Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and other Drugs (ANACAD)

Kay Hulls, Diana Egerton-Warburton, Ted Wilkes and
members of the Irrungadji community
Gaining a better understanding of the impact of alcohol and drugs on indigenous people was the focus of the Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and other Drugs (ANDCAD) recent visit to the Pilbara.

As a member of ANDCAD, Monash Health emergency physician and Monash University’s Associate Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton was invited to the Pilbara by Associate Professor Ted Wilkes the Principle Advisor on Indigenous drug and alcohol matters.

“After arriving in Karratha amongst the surreal flood of fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workers in high vis, we travelled to Roebourne to participate in a community meeting where we had the opportunity to talk with people from all aspects of the community to find out the issues most important to them and their biggest challenges,” said Professor Egerton-Warburton.

Roebourne has a long history of harm due to predominantly alcohol harm, but more recently Gunga (cannabis) and Narbee (crystal methamphetamines) have become problematic.  

Sleep apps: a toy or a useful tool for assessing sleep problems in children?

Dr Sarah Biggs
Smartphone applications are not the best tool to assess sleep problems, according to latest research led by Monash University.

With up to 40 per cent of children experiencing a range of sleep problems, parents are turning to specialised devices and smartphone apps, although it is unknown if the information from such devices accurately reflects their children’s sleep. 

“Sleep problems can lead to poor daytime behaviour and learning difficulties,” said lead researcher and NHMRC Peter Doherty Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Sarah Biggs from the Ritchie Centre.

“Gaining access to a clinical paediatric sleep assessment can be difficult due to limited availability in the public health system and recently there has been a surge in the public popularity of commercial sleep assessment devices which claim to provide users with a better understanding of their sleep.”

Doctors are also taking an interest in these devices as they may provide a useful tool to screen for sleep disorders.

New Grants For Nutrition and Dietetics

Professor Helen Truby
Helen Truby in collaboration Murat Yucel and Antonio Verdejo-Garcia has been awarded a Faculty Platform Access Grant, $13,200 for a project titled Validation of a measure of visceral fat in health adults. The funding will be used to access the Biomedical Imaging Platform. 

And the Department of Health has awarded a team from the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics $127,000 for analysis of the Victorian Health Monitor and expansion of the Victorian Healthy Food Basket Survey. 

Congratulations to all!

Congratulations Nutrition and Dietetic students

 The recent Faculty awards evening saw 6 of the top graduates from Nutrition courses win prizes for their academic endeavors.

Congratulations go to Anthony Khoo (the Karen Walker Prize for Nutrition Science); Christina Zorbasa (The Margaret Miall Prize), Beth Van Lier and Stephanie Morris were awarded jointly the 4th year prize for achievements in the Bachelor in Nutrition and Dietetics and Vanessa Hilgrove won the Dietitians of Association of Australia Prize.

Pictured is Margaret Murray being presented with the Andrea Logan Trust Prize for her top Honours thesis by Trustee Yvonne Wilson. 

Further to our great news last week, celebrating the success of our MBBS students at the recent Faculty Awards Ceremony, we'd like to also congratulate former SCS students Olivia Nicholson and Felix Anderson.  Apologies for the oversight last week.


Scholarship opportunity - sleep research

The Australasian Sleep Association is offering one day scholarships for students to attend its annual scientific meeting held 22-24 October at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

To apply, simply complete the application form posted on the Australasian Sleep Association website and send it to: conference@sleep.org.au.

More information here.

Year 3 MBBS lecture program

Nominations for ECR Publication Prize OPEN now

Nominations for the Faculty ECR Publication Prizes open on Monday 18th May so NOW is a great time to take a look at your 2014 publications and decide which one to nominate.  

New this year is that epubs published online in 2014 will be eligible for the 2015 Publication Prize and there will also be additional non-monetary prizes available for ECR's holding an externally funded Fellowship.

Please see the attached poster and promotion material for information and Frequently Asked Questions, check the Guidelines and Eligibility and complete the attached nomination form (word doc version here) to nominate your publication.

Note that if you choose to nominate an epub from 2015 which is "published" with a volume and page numbers in 2015 you will NOT be able to nominate the same publication in 2016 for the prize.

Information will also be available on the Faculty ECR Gateway webpage here


Nominations close at 5pm on Monday 15th June, 2015.

PhD Scholarship Opportunity

Identifying pathways for new treatment strategies for children with primary snoring
The Opportunity:
The Infant and Child Health Theme within the Ritchie Centre is offering a full-time PhD scholarship, tenable from July 2015.
This scholarship is being offered as part of a Sleep Research Society Foundation (USA) Early Career Development Research Award investigating learning potential in children with sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and further exploring the mechanisms involved in nocturnal respiratory disturbance and daytime functioning in children. The research will include:
·         monitoring of regular sleep/wake patterns via actigraphy,
·         conducting ambulatory overnight sleep studies in the child’s home,
·         administration of validated psychometric testing including the Weschler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence and the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning
·         assessment of validated parent-reported behavioural questionnaires such as the Child Behavior
Checklist

Department and Faculty:     Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University
Location:                                The Ritchie Centre, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Victoria
Supervisors:                          Dr Sarah Biggs, Professor Rosemary Horne
Remuneration:                      AUD $26,000 per annum for living expenses, tax exempt for up to three and a half years

ARC Rejoinder Information Session

Monash Research Office (MRO) invites​ r​esearchers to attend an information session on writing ​a rejoinder, to be presented by Professor Marcello Rosa, current member of the Biological Sciences and Biotechnology (BSB) panel of the ARC College of Experts.
Date: Tuesday 9 June, 2015
Time: 3.00-4.00pm
Location: Central One (C1) Lecture Theatre, 25 Exhibition Walk, Clayton campus
Please register here to attend.
If you are unable to attend, the session will be recorded for later viewing.

Grand Round - Endocrinology-27/05/15 "Calcium in Crisis"

Presented by Dr Fran Milat, Endocrinology Unit.


Date: Wednesday 27th May 2015
Time: 12.30pm to 1.30pm

Venue: Main Lecture Theatre, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton

Flyer attached here.


Invitation to the Launch of Women in Medicine - 3 June 2015, 4-5.30pm, Lecture Theatre 1, MMC Clayton

You are invited to the Launch of Women in Medicine - an initiative to inspire, encourage and support Monash women in medicine reach their full potential.

This Initiative is a continuation of Monash Health’s cultural journey to build a supportive and inclusive work environment which provides equal opportunity for all. This includes a training and support program and focuses on career planning, leadership, coaching and mentoring opportunities for women in medicine as well as strategies to change culture and to increase leadership opportunities.

The Initiative will be formally launched by the Hon. Jill Hennessey, Minister for Health on 3 June 2015, from 4-5.30pm in Lecture Theatre 1 at MMC Clayton and will be video-conferenced to Casey, Moorabbin and Dandenong. Details are in the attached flyer.



Hudson seminar "“AML and Tales of the Unexpected: how to make a good anti-cancer drug, birinapant, better”

Presented by A/Prof John Silke, Joint Division Head, Cell Signalling and Cell Death,  Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Wednesday 27 May, 4-5pm, Lecture Theatre 1

More information here.

Hudson Seminars 2015 - winter program

Hudson Institute of Medical Research 2015 Seminars

Wwinter program here.

Hudson Ball - please join us on 31 July

Please join SCS colleagues and friends at the Hudson ball on 31 July.

We are organising a couple of SCS tables at the ball - please contact Jin so we can finalise numbers.

Veski Invitation: Inspiring Women Event - 1 June 2015 (Mentoring – Cultivating a Network of Mentors & Maximising the Relationships)

The third event in the veski Inspiring Women Professional Development and Networking Series is being held in June.  The event is titled Mentoring – Cultivating a Network of Mentors & Maximising the Relationships and the audience will hear from mentoring-program specialists and industry-based peers sharing insights about preparing for, initiating and getting the​ ​
most out of mentoring relationships.

Monday 1 June 2015, 12.00pm - 2.00pm

The Shell Conference Centre, 1 Spring St, Melbourne (enter via Flinders Lane)


For further information and to register please see here.

Notification Animal Ethics Information Sessions – Tues 21 July & Thurs 29 Oct 2015

Monash University Animal Ethics Information Session - “Animal Use in Research & Teaching”

Monash University requires that:
•    All new research staff and students using live animals complete the
information session “Animal Use in Research and Teaching”.
•    Investigators must have successfully completed the relevant
training to be named on an animal ethics application.

Date: Tuesday 21 July 2015
Time: 10am – 12:30pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre S3, 16 Rainforest Walk (Building 25), Clayton Campus

Date: Thursday 29 October 2015
Time: 10am – 12:30pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre S2, 16 Rainforest Walk (Building 25), Clayton Campus

Register online here.  This month's Monash animal research ethics update is available here.

Cell-Based Therapies Used to Treat Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease: A Systematic Review of Animal Studies and Human Clinical Trials

David Oehme
David Oehme, Tony Goldschlager, Jeffrey V. Rosenfeld, Graham Jenkin published in Stem Cells International.

Read article here.

Prevention of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome: A Review

Beverley Vollenhoven published in Obstetrics and Gynecology International.

Read article here.