Sapphire Update

NHMRC apologises for the delays experienced by Sapphire users during the past few days. Investigation identified a number of contributing factors, but particularly memory capacity of a server that supports Sapphire.

SCS Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision Award CLOSES Friday 5 June 2020

Following Eric's communication, we are for the first time running an internal School Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision Award. Nominations close on Friday 5 June 2020.

Are you wearing gloves or a mask to the shops? You might be doing it wrong

We've all probably hit the shops at some stage over the past few months wearing a mask or putting on some gloves to safeguard ourselves from the coronavirus. But are these measures actually doing any good? Professor Barbora de Courten writes for The Conversation on the do's and don'ts of these DIY PPE. Read the full story here.

FMNHS Early Career Researcher (ECR) Publication Prize 2020 - APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (MNHS) is committed to developing Faculty-based Early Career Researcher (ECR) initiatives to assist our ECRs in the development of their research careers.  In addition to the emphasis placed on a strong track record in research publications and competitive funding, there is also the requirement for ECRs to secure competitive Prizes & Awards.  In support of this, the Faculty Research Office offers the FMNHS ECR Publication Prize.

Eligibility for Ideas Grants 2020 due to COVID-19

NHMRC recognises that COVID-19 is an exceptional circumstance that requires a flexible approach to eligibility in the 2020 round. We have updated the Ideas Grants 2020 Guidelines to include guidance for NHMRC grant holders whose existing grant portfolio would make them ineligible to apply for an Ideas Grant in the 2020 application round, if they extended a current grant.

Australian Financial Review (AFR) Higher Education Awards - ideas due 21 May

MRO are calling for ideas to be put forward by Thursday 21 May 2020, for consideration as Monash University's nomination to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) Higher Education Awards.

NHMRC Ideas Grants Minimum Data Due 5pm THIS FRIDAY 15 May

MRO are in the process of checking Ideas Grant applications already in Sapphire to ensure they meet minimum compliance data requirements.  If you haven't already, you will receive confirmation of your application's status shortly with guidance on whether any required sections are missing.

Victorian Government Announcement of COVID-19 Research Investment

On 11 May 2020 the Victorian Government announced further investment of $8 million into research that aims to understand the immediate and potentially longer-term impacts of COVID-19. This is in addition to $4 million in COVID-19 research funding announced on 3 March 2020. The total package of $8.56m comprises programs of funding for biomedical research, cohort studies into the long term impacts of COVID-19 and health services research projects to enhance models of care.

Changes to Peer Review Processes for the Ideas Grant scheme in 2020

On 19 March and 27 March 2020, the CEO provided updates on NHMRC’s plans for the 2020 grant round in light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Australian health and medical research community.

SCS OHS Committee meeting: Call for agenda items

The next SCS OHS committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, 3 June 2020.  Please send any items for discussion to scs.ohs@monash.edu. Meeting minutes are available on the intranet here.

Skin-to-skin “kangaroo care” shows important benefits for premature babies

Professor Arvind Sehgal

A world-first study led by Monash University has demonstrated significant benefits to a premature baby’s heart and brain function when held by the parent in skin-to-skin contact.

Parent-infant skin-to-skin care (SSC) or kangaroo care, started in the late 1970s in Columbia when incubators to keep babies warm were not available. It is now widely recognised as a beneficial component of holistic care provided for pre-term infants.

FMNHS Platforms Price List for Grant Applications

Many of you will be busy writing your NHMRC Ideas Grant application(s). To assist with the preparation of your project budgets, the Faculty Research Office has compiled a document listing the prices for products and services provided by FMNHS Technology Research Platforms.

Publications for 13th May 2020

Asian ethnicity is associated with atypical femur fractures in an Australian population study.
Nguyen HH et al published in Bone

Prolonged coma resulting from massive levothyroxine overdose and the utility of N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP).
Wong O et al published in Clinical toxicology (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Survival in Living Kidney Donors: An Australian and New Zealand Cohort Study Using Data Linkage.
De La Mata NL et al published in Transplantation direct.