CID Weekly Seminar Series: Ms Louisa Yeung, 16 May

Tuesday 16 May, 2:00 - 1:00pm, Seminar Room 1, TRF Building

Ms Louisa Yeung, CID postgraduate student

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information, including the link to add the seminar series to your google calendar, is available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID Weekly Seminar: "Toll-like receptors and their function in mycobacterial infections -a longitudinal translational study examining infected patients" Tuesday 28 February

Tuesday 28 February, 12:00 - 1:00pm, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Dr Sabine de Silva

Infectious Diseases Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, Monash Health

Postgraduate Student, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases

Thesis Pre-submission seminar 

Tuberculosis infections affect a third of the world's population.  Many challenges are faced in the diagnosis, treatment and vaccination against TB.  Results from a  pilot study at Monash Health conducted to examine affects of treatment on innate immune markers will be presented, including toll-like receptor (TLRs) expression and their functional effects through anti-tuberculous therapy.  TLR 2, 4 & 7 expression varies significantly on different cell types through treatment, as do their effects on cytokine production.  I will discuss the changes which occur in TNF, IL6 and MCP1 levels following specific TLR-ligand stimulation in these patients.  Comparison will be made between those with active TB infection and those with latent TB infection (LTBI).   The correlation with low vitamin D levels and TLR expression will also be discussed.  Further research into the changes found between the two cohorts may potentially enable these changes to be incorporated into a platform to differentiate between the two groups- a crucial and currently unavailable entity.

Dr Sabine de Silva graduated from Monash University in 2000, having completed MBBS (H) and BMedSci (H). Completed Infectious Diseases training at Monash, Austin and Barwon Health and currently an Infectious Diseases Physician at Monash Health.  Interests include clinical research, particularly in TB. 

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information, including the link to add the seminar series to your google calendar, is available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID Weekly Seminar Series Tuesday 21 Feb

CID Weekly Seminar Series Tuesday 21 February 2017: Mrs Champa Nataraja (Postgraduate student milestone review seminar)

12:00 - 12:30pm, Tuesday 21 February 

Seminar Room 1, TRF Building

Mrs Champa Nataraja

Postgraduate student, Milestone Review - confirmation

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a clinically diverse autoimmune disease characterized by the loss of tolerance to nuclear self-antigens and autoantibody production, and type 1 Interferon play a critical role in SLE pathogenesis. The majority of patients with SLE are typically treated with Glucocorticoids (GCs) due to their broad anti-inflammatory effect but result in significant metabolic adverse effects that contribute to increased morbidity and mortality in SLE.There is a critical need for alternative therapies to glucocorticoids that can exert similar anti-inflammatory effects, such as inhibition of type I interferon production, but without causing the metabolic adverse effects of GC. GILZ (Glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper), a GC-inducible protein, may represent such an alternative. Thus, I aim to determine that GILZ regulates type 1 IFN production and is metabolically inert distinct from GCs. This work will validate GILZ as a therapeutic target in SLE and potentially lead to a therapy reducing dependence on GC in SLE treatment.

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information, including the link to add the seminar series to your google calendar, is available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID Weekly Seminar: "Targeting HLA to Treat Anti-GBM Disease" Tuesday 15 November

Tuesday 15 November, 12:00 - 1:00pm, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Ms Megan Huynh, Postgraduate Student

Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash University

Associations between HLA and autoimmune disease are often linked with an increased susceptibility to disease. Such is the case in anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) disease, a form of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis strongly associated with the HLA-DR15 allele. Though these associations are not well understood, they provide ideal targets for specific therapy that may improve current, broadly immunosuppressive treatments for autoimmune disease. Blocking the DR15 MHC with a small molecule inhibitor in anti-GBM disease demonstrates the potential for this type of therapy.

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.


Further information, including the link to add the seminar series to your google calendar, is available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID weekly seminar, Tues 18 Oct

Dr Alhomrani

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Defining the interactions between amnion epithelial cells, stellate cells, macrophages and liver progenitor cells during liver injury

Dr Majid Alhomrani

Postgraduate student, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases

Scientist, Monash University

Mr Majid Alhomrani is a scientist at Monash University where he is currently in his second year of PhD. He is a lecturer in the department of internal medicine at the faculty of medicine, Taif University, Saudi Arabia. Mr. Alhomrani received his Master degree in Laboratory Medicine from RMIT University, Australia. Mr. Alhomrani completed his Bachelor degree in Laboratory Medicine at the faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. Mr. Alhomrani research focuses on investigating the potential of human amnion epithelial cell based therapies in liver fibrosis.

Can immunological biomarkers predict infection in kidney transplant recipients?

Dr Claire Dendle

Postgraduate student, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases

Physician, Infectious Diseases, Monash Health

Director, Immunocompromised Patient Service

Dr Claire Dendle is an Infectious Diseases physician and the Director of the Immunocompromised Patient Service at Monash Health. Claires’ research interests include vaccination, as well as the use of immunological biomarkers to determine the net state of immunocompromise in transplantation. Claire is interested and involved in undergraduate education at Monash University, with a particular focus on the design and implementation of the Infectious Diseases Curriculum.

Further information available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

The CiiiD Tuesday Meeting is held directly after at 1:00pm.  Madelynne White, Karyssa Arendt and Darren Tran (students) will be presenting on Tuesday 11 October.

CID Weekly Seminar: Tuesday 4 October - Dr Hua Peng Fan and Dr Mailha Alikhan

12:00 - 1:00pm, 4 October, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Targeted Mutations Identify the Active Site of Glucocorticoid-Induced Leucine Zipper (GILZ)

Dr Hua Peng Fan, Research Fellow

Monash University Centre for Inflammatory Diseases

Currently I am a Post-doc research fellow in Lupus and Arthritis Research Group, Monash Medical Centre, doing research in human inflammatory and autoimmune diseases including RA and SLE. My project focuses on the mechanism study of pro-inflammatory cytokine MIF and GILZ, a glucocorticoid-induced molecule. In my previous study, I proved the role of MIF in leukocyte recruitment in inflammatory disease. For the first time, I also identified that GILZ is indeed a novel target of MIF. The finding that GILZ mediates the antagonistic effect of MIF on glucocorticoid actions suggests its potential as a therapeutic target of inflammatory diseases. My current project focuses on the study of GILZ acetylation and its role in regulation of GILZ anti-inflammatory functions.

The IL-7Ra on CD8⁺ cell: a potential therapeutic target in ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis

Dr Maliha Alikhan

Research Fellow

Monash University Centre for Inflammatory Diseases

Maliha Alikhan is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases. Maliha completed her PhD at Monash University in 2012, investigating the role of macrophages in acute kidney injury under the supervision of Professor Sharon Ricardo. She joined the group of Professor Richard Kitching in 2013 and has since been researching the innate and adaptive immune responses in experimental models of acute kidney injury and autoimmune anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated glomerulonephritis. Maliha is currently focusing on the role of memory CD8 T cells in ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis and working to characterise a new potential and targeted treatment option. 

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

The CiiiD Tuesday Meeting is held directly after at 1:00pm.  Nicole de Weerd will be presenting on Tuesday 4 October.

CID seminar, Targeting CD40-CD154 interactions in transplantation and autoimmune diseases, 30 August

CID Weekly Seminar: Tuesday 30 August 2016, 12:00 - 1:00pm

Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Presented by Dr James Rush

Senior Investigator

Autoimmunity, Transplantation and Inflammation Diseases, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) 

Basel, Switzerland

Dr. James Rush is a Senior Investigator in the Autoimmunity, Transplantation and Inflammation disease area at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) in Basel. His lab focuses on translational immunology research and the development of therapeutics targeting co-stimulation pathways dysregulated in autoimmunity. Areas of interest include utilizing ‘omics technologies to classify autoimmune diseases at the molecular level, translational research and human immunology. After completing a PhD in cellular immunology at the Centenary Institute with Dr. Phil Hodgkin, he was a HHMI postdoctoral researcher at Yale University in the laboratories of David Schatz and Charlie Janeway. Subsequently he joined the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego in May 2005 where his lab utilized high throughput genomics and small molecule screening technologies to identify novel regulators of innate immune receptor and B cell function. He then moved to NIBR Basel in 2008 to lead the development of a novel immunomodulatory drug for transplantation and antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases that is now undergoing clinical evaluation.

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID and CiiiD seminars, 2 August

Dr Greg Tesch

"Therapeutic Targeting of Inflammation in Diabetic Nephropathy"
12-1pm in the TRF Seminar Room 1, presented by Dr Gregory Tesch

"NOD1 sensing of Helicobacter pylori promotes production of mature IL-18 in gastric epithelial cells"

1-2pm in Seminar Room 1 of the TRF.  Presented by Dr Le Son Tran and chaired by  Dr Liang Yu

The CID seminar, held Tuesday .  Information regarding the CID seminar series is available at http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html

Lunch will be served at 11:45am in the foyer of the TRF building.

CID Weekly Seminar: Tuesday 26 July 2016

CID Weekly Seminar: Tuesday 26 July 2016

12:00 - 1:00pm

Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Tuesday 26 July - Dr Tin Kyaw

Senior Research Fellow, Vascular Biology and Atherosclerosis Laboratory

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html

Future CID Weekly Seminars:

Tuesday 2 August

Dr Greg Tesch, Research Group Head - Chronic Kidney Disease and Transplantation Research Group, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases

Tuesday 9 August 

Prof Branch Moody

Professor of Medicine

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Harvard Medical School

Seminar title: “CD1-Reactive T cells Mediate Human Response to Tuberculosis Infection"

After more than two decades of focus on T cell recognition of MHC-peptide, immunologists were surprised to learn that T cell receptors recognize lipid antigens bound to CD1 proteins.  Emphasizing recently published and unpublished data, the talk explains that many lipids are displayed by cellular CD1 proteins and describes ex vivo T cell responses detected by CD1 tetramers in tuberculosis patients.  These studies provide several further surprises and a broader view of T cell function that includes response to cellular lipids.  

Originally from Irving, Texas, Dr. Moody is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and serves as physician and immunologist at Harvard Medical School.  His laboratory focuses on basic and applied research on how human T cells and macrophages respond to infection in human tuberculosis disease. This work is supported by the NIH Tuberculosis Research Unit Network, the Pew Foundation, the Burroughs Welcome Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Further information is available from the CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID Weekly Seminar- "SLE & glucocorticoids – clinical and lab perspectives", Tuesday 28 June

Tuesday 28 June, 12:00 - 1:00pm, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

 A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID/CiiiD Tuesday seminar 14 June TODAY from 12pm (lunch from 11.45am)

The CID seminar, 12-1pm, will be on an Overview of CRISPR and access to CRISPR at Monash University.  All CiiiD staff and students are welcome to attend. Flyer here with details. Speakers include:

Dr Jun Liu, Research Fellow at MIME:  http://www.monash.edu/mime/research/profiles/liu.html

Ms Jeanette Rientjes from Transgenic Services at the Monash Animal Research Platform

http://www.platformtechnologies.org/transgenic-services-15765/

Dr Heather St John will give an overview of The Monash Institute of Medical Engineering and funding available through their seed funding program

http://www.monash.edu/mime/

Jun, Heather and Jeanette will be available after the seminar to discuss your research in detail. 

Dr Saleela Ruwanpura will be speaking at today's seminar on the Novel role of inflammasomes in the molecular pathogenesis of emphysema.

 The session will be chaired by Dr Maria Liaskos and held at 1pm in Seminar Room 1 of the TRF.

For some preliminary background - there is a good overview of CRISPR at 

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2014/crispr-a-game-changing-genetic-engineering-technique/

If you like podcasts - there is an easy to understand podcast of CRISPR from Radiolab http://www.radiolab.org/story/antibodies-part-1-crispr/

Lunch will be served at 11:45am in foyer of the TRF building.

CID Seminar: Development of Novel Therapies for Autoimmune Myeloperoxidase-ANCA Associated Glomerulonephritis, TODAY at 12pm

Presented by Ms Andrea Godfrey, Postgraduate student, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases

Seminar Room 1, Translation Research Facility

Myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated glomerulonephritis (MPO-ANCA GN) is the most common cause of crescentic GN resulting from the development of autoimmunity to MPO. Despite current therapies, the disease has a 30%, three year morbidity or dialysis outcome with considerable toxicities. Hence development of therapeutic strategies with a high efficacy are important. Here, the novel therapeutic strategies described are aimed to; 1) re-establish antigen specific tolerance by re-presenting the nephritogenic MPO peptide conjugated chemically to apoptotic splenocytes and 2) enhance immunoregulation by administering human amniotic epithelial stem cells. Both these strategies have the capacity to improve kidney injury in experimental autoimmune MPO-ANCA GN.

Lunch will be served at 11.45am in the Seminar Room Foyer, level 2, TRF Building

(no food and drink in the seminar room)

CID Weekly Seminar: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Unit Overview, TODAY

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Unit Overview, presented by 

Dr Gregory Moore MBBS (Hons) PhD FRACP

Head of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Gastroenterology & Hepatology Unit, Monash Health

Senior Lecturer, Department of Medicine, Monash University

Tuesday 24 May, 12:00 - 1:00pm, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

CID Weekly Seminar TODAY 12pm: Human lymph node stromal cells are able to fundamentally regulate adaptive and innate immunity

12:00 - 1:00pm, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

Please note that the CID Weekly Seminar will not be held on Tuesday 19 April and Tuesday 26 April in lieu of the CID Research Retreat being held on 21 and 22 April.

Human lymph node stromal cells are able to fundamentally regulate adaptive and innate immunity, presented by Dr Anne Fletcher, Birmingham Fellow, Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Fibroblastic reticular cells found in secondary lymphoid organs are known to fundamentally regulate T and B cell immunity. Here we report that human and mouse FRCs support the survival and development of lymph node macrophages.  We also show for the first time that human FRCs regulate human T cell proliferation and activation, through 4 newly defined molecular mechanisms. When expanded ex vivo and administered to mice, human FRCs improve outcomes for autoimmune liver disease.

Anne Fletcher is a Birmingham Fellow in the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the University of Birmingham, UK, where she has been a faculty member since 2014. Anne completed her PhD at Monash University in 2008, working on thymic stroma in the laboratory of Profs. Richard Boyd and Ann Chidgey. She underwent postdoctoral training in FRC biology at Harvard Medical School, courtesy of a CJ Martin fellowship, working with A/Prof Shannon Turley. Her research interests lie in studying the stromal cells that support adaptive immune responses, and this has been a fruitful niche, yielding 2 patents and 42 publications to date, published in Nature Immunology, Science Translational Medicine, Immunity and J Exp Med. She runs a research group together with her husband Kostas, examining novel interactions between fibroblastic reticular cells and other leukocytes found in secondary lymphoid organs.  Their most recent finding is that sleep is almost entirely optional, after the birth of their 2nd child 10 weeks ago.

CID Weekly Seminar TODAY 12pm

12:00 - 1:00pm, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Role of CD53 in leukocyte trafficking

presented by Ms Louisa Yeung, Postgraduate Student, CID

Under an inflammatory setting, immune cells require the ability to migrate from the blood to sites of infection in order to mount an immune response. Aberrant leukocyte migration is a major contributor to the development of inflammatory and autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis. Here, cellular infiltrates, result in a microenvironment rich in inflammatory cytokines.  Leukocyte recruitment requires the actions of adhesion molecules and their associated ligands. Tetraspanins are a superfamily of transmembrane proteins that promote the formation of association networks known as tetraspanin-enriched microdomains (TEMs), in which molecules such as leukocyte integrins form associations with a range of other proteins.  The leukocyte-expressed tetraspanin CD53 has recently been identified as a potential regulator of leukocyte recruitment. Though the mechanism by which CD53 accomplishes this remains unknown, unpublished data suggest that it may occur through the regulation of L-selectin expression. In the scope of inflammation and disease, L-selectin contributes to leukocyte tethering and rolling during the initial steps of recruitment, and is a fundamental molecule involved during lymphocyte homing. Thus, failure of adhesion molecule function and/or associated downstream signalling at this phase in the recruitment cascade may restrict the leukocyte recruitment response.

and

Regulatory T cell interactions with the vascular endothelium

presented by Prof Michael Hickey, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, CID

Michael Hickey is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, and head of the leukocyte trafficking group in the CID.  Regulatory T cell (Treg) trafficking to inflamed sites in the periphery is a critical element in the capacity of regulatory T cells to control inflammation. For Tregs to enter sites of inflammation from the circulation, they must undergo a sequence of interactions in the microvasculature of the target tissue. This presentation will describe research performed over the last few years using Treg reporter mice and intravital microscopy, examining the interactions between Tregs and the inflamed microvascular endothelium in the skin, in a model of T cell-dependent skin inflammation.

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID Weekly Seminar TODAY 12pm

Dr Michaela Finsterbusch

12:00 - 1:00pm, Tuesday 16 February

Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Role of monocytes in acute glomerulonephritis presented by Dr Michaela Finsterbusch, Erwin Schrōdinger Fellow, CID

Since 2014, Michaela is part Prof. Michael Hickey’s group at CID, Monash University, where she studies immune-modulatory mechanisms of leukocytes in experimental glomerulonephritis. In 2015, Michaela has been awarded an Erwin Schroedinger Fellowship. Michaela graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna in 2009 with a Master’s degree in Biomedicine/Analytics. From 2009-2013 she joined Prof. Nourshargh’s group at the William Harvey Research Institute in London to do her PhD, focussing on immune and vascular functions in experimental models of inflammation. After completing, Michaela stayed in London to work in Prof. Amrita Ahluwalia’s lab at the William Harvey Research Institute on the transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1), before moving to Melbourne. 

and 

Interesting issues in hepatology: coffee & concurrent diseases presented by Dr Alex Hodge, SCS Early Career Practitioner Fellow, CID

Dr Hodge graduated from Simon Fraser University in Biology (Vancouver, Canada) and worked as a molecular biologist at Stem Cell Technologies.  After moving to Australia he graduated with honours in medicine from the University of Sydney and then trained in internal medicine at Westmead and Concord hospitals in Sydney.  Alex completed his Gastroenterology specialist training between Canberra and Melbourne at The Alfred hospital.  In early 2015 he completed a PhD at Monash University under the supervision of Professor William Sievert, focusing on stem cell therapy for liver cirrhosis and lifestyle modification for fatty liver (NAFLD).  Alex is a consultant at Monash Health where he attends gastroenterology and hepatology clinics, performs endoscopy and Fibroscan (liver fibrosis imaging.  He was awarded the inaugural Monash University’s School of Clinical Sciences’ Early Career Practitioner Fellowship in 2015 to continue his research in the field of fibrosis and fatty liver disease.  

Further details available from http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

CID update – Week beginning 8 February 2016

Hudson Institute Special Seminar

Friday 12 February, 11am-12pm, Level 3 Boardrooms, Hudson Institute

Dr Sun Hur from Boston Children's Hospital presents "Innate immune mechanism for viral dsRNA detection - stories on RIG–I–like receptors".  http://www.idi.harvard.edu/investigators_research/investigator/hur_lab/

A print out of Dr Hur’s profile and selected publications is available on the CID Noticeboard

CID Weekly Seminar Series

There will be no seminar on Tuesday 9 February (this seminar has been cancelled and was replaced with the Special Seminar held on Thursday 4 February)

The next CID seminar will be held on Tuesday 16 February

Role of monocytes in acute glomerulonephritis presented by Dr Michaela Finsterbusch, Erwin Schrōdinger Fellow, CID

Since 2014, Michaela is part Prof. Michael Hickey’s group at CID, Monash University, where she studies immune-modulatory mechanisms of leukocytes in experimental glomerulonephritis. In 2015, Michaela has been awarded an Erwin Schroedinger Fellowship. Michaela graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna in 2009 with a Master’s degree in Biomedicine/Analytics. From 2009-2013 she joined Prof. Nourshargh’s group at the William Harvey Research Institute in London to do her PhD, focussing on immune and vascular functions in experimental models of inflammation. After completing, Michaela stayed in London to work in Prof. Amrita Ahluwalia’s lab at the William Harvey Research Institute on the transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1), before moving to Melbourne. 

and 

Interesting issues in hepatology: coffee & concurrent diseases  presented by Dr Alex Hodge, SCS Early Career Practitioner Fellow, CID

Dr Hodge graduated from Simon Fraser University in Biology (Vancouver, Canada) and worked as a molecular biologist at Stem Cell Technologies.  After moving to Australia he graduated with honours in medicine from the University of Sydney and then trained in internal medicine at Westmead and Concord hospitals in Sydney.  Alex completed his Gastroenterology specialist training between Canberra and Melbourne at The Alfred hospital.  In early 2015 he completed a PhD at Monash University under the supervision of Professor William Sievert, focusing on stem cell therapy for liver cirrhosis and lifestyle modification for fatty liver (NAFLD).  Alex is a consultant at Monash Health where he attends gastroenterology and hepatology clinics, performs endoscopy and Fibroscan (liver fibrosis imaging.  He was awarded the inaugural Monash University’s School of Clinical Sciences’ Early Career Practitioner Fellowship in 2015 to continue his research in the field of fibrosis and fatty liver disease.  

Further details available from http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html

CID Website

The CID website has been updated to a new format.  Andrea will be updating the content over the next few months.  Research Groups will be requested to review and update their pages over the next few months.  All feedback on the CID website is welcome.  Please contact Dr Andrea Johannessen, CID Strategic Development Officer – 857 22861 or andrea.johannessen@monash.edu or Room 20, Level 5 Block E.  

CID Noticeboard

A CID noticeboard has been set up in the corridor opposite Richard Kitching’s office.  Please refer to the notice board for information such as upcoming seminars.

You are welcome to add notices and posters relevant to staff and students in the Centre.

Centre for Inflammatory Diseases updates

Reminder re School ECR Practitioner Fellowships - due 29 January.

Abstracts for 2016 International Congress of Immunology (Melbourne 21 -26 August 2016) due by 25 January 2016

http://ici2016.org/

CID Weekly Seminar Series commences on Tuesday 2 February 2016 at 12:00-1:00pm in Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Lunch will be served in the Seminar Room foyer, Level 2, TRF Building from 11:45am.

The schedule will be available shortly

Platform Access Grants

Applications due 17 March 2016

Instructions and Guidelines including Eligibility Criteria and Permitted Research Platforms are attached

https://monash.fluidreview.com/

Free webinar: ChIP protocol optimization and troubleshooting tips

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

10:00-10:30 AEDT

Registration:  www.abcam.com/webinars/chip-protocol-optimization-and-troubleshooting-tips-free-webinar

This webinar will review:

- Chromatin Basics

- Why ChIP is such a useful laboratory technique

- Important aspects for protocol optimization

- Key troubleshooting tips 

Free conference: Mechanisms and Mysteries in Epigenetics Conference

Thursday, April 21, 2016

9:00 AEST

Meeting Chairs: John Mattick, Catherine Suter

Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia Registration: www.abcam.com/epigeneticsAU

This one day, free symposium is devoted to the marriage of epigenetics and RNA. The title ‘Mechanisms and Mysteries in Epigenetics’, encapsulates the interesting and provocative content we have in mind: from the basic mechanisms of how epigenetic modifications regulate gene expression in health and disease, to how they affect formation and inheritance of complex traits, touching on cellular and transgenerational information transfer mediated by RNAs and other molecules.