Top researchers recognised in The Australian’s Research 2020 Magazine

Congratulations to SCS researchers Professor Peter Ebeling and Associate Professor Rebecca Lim who have been recognised in The Australian’s Research 2020 magazine. Read more here.

Dr Vera Golder receives Henry Krum Early Career Researcher Publication Prize

Congratulations to Dr Vera Golder on receiving the Henry Krum Early Career Researcher Publication Prize for Clinical Sciences.

Dr Andy Lim receives Monash Health Emerging Researcher Fellowship

Congratulations to Dr Andy Lim on receiving the Monash Health Emerging Researcher Fellowship.

SCS Excellence in Research Award winners announced

Congratulations to the following researchers for winning the SCS Excellence in Research Awards.

Congratulations to 2020 SCS 3MT Winners

Congratulations to our PhD students who presented their exceptional research at this year’s SCS Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition held virtually over 3 days from Wednesday 10 June to Friday 12 June 2020.

Suzanne Miller promoted to Professor

Prof Suzanne Miller

Congratulations to Suzanne Miller on her recent academic promotion to full Professor.  Professor Miller is a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, Deputy Director of The Ritchie Centre where she leads the Neurodevelopment Theme.

SCS staff acknowledged in recent Monash University promotions

Congratulations to all School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health  staff who were successful in this year's Monash University academic promotions round!  This round, we add four Associate Professors and two Senior Lecturers to our group.

Congratulations Dr Rachel Hill - recipient of One in Five research grant!

Dr Rachel Hill

Congratulations to Dr Rachel Hill, Head of Behavioural Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychiatry, who was recently awarded a research grant from One in Five, following her lab's recent breakthrough findings on the identification of a new genetic mutation in schizophrenia.

Dr Monique Kilkenny's paper recognised as one of the most read in Medical Journal of Australia

Dr Monique Kilkenny

Congratulations to Dr Monique Kilkenny, whose ground breaking, multi-jurisdictional data linkage research which was published in the Medical Journal of Australia, has been recognised as one of the top downloaded publications in 2018-2019.

Prof Eva Segelov publishes the inaugural title in "IntechOpen Women in Science 2018 Book Collection"

Prof Eva Segelov

Congratulations to Prof Eva Segelov, Director of Oncology at Monash University and Monash Health, for publishing the inaugural title in IntechOpen's Women in Science 2018 Book Collection, Advances in the Molecular Understanding of Colorectal Cancer.

Congratulations to Dr Atul Malhotra on receiving the ANZNN Neonatal Research Award

Dr Atul Malhotra

Congratulations to Dr Atul Malhotra on receiving the Neonatal Research Award from the Australia New Zealand Neonatal Network (ANZNN), the peak body which collects neonatal outcomes data across ANZ.

Congratulations to Dr Jim Harris on receiving the MS Research Australia Incubator Grant!

Dr Jim Harris

Dr Jim Harris from the Rheumatology Group has been awarded a $25,000 MS Research Australia Incubator Grant for his research on the role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF).

Congratulations to Prof Thanh Phan on receiving Agency for Clinical Innovation Research Grant

Prof Thanh Phan

Congratulations to Prof Thanh Phan on receiving a $30,000 Agency for Clinical Innovation Research Grant.  He has been granted the award for "Googling centers for endovascular clot retrieval in New South Wales geospatial modeling and optimization analysis".

Tom Jobling promoted to Professor

Congratulations Tom Jobling on his recent academic promotion to full Professor.  Professor Jobling's research interests include establishing a proteomic platform for biomarker and screening test development for ovarian cancer.

"Our clinical and tissue banking program has enabled the establishment of a well-integrated research unit with the Hudson Institute of Medical Research," Professor Jobling said.

Professor Jobling acknowledges Andrew Stephens and his team at Hudson for their terrific scientific endeavours.

"We hope to get a screening test for early detection of ovarian cancer which would of course translate into improved survival."

Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Professor Euan Wallace said the Department is indebted to Professor Jobling for his clinical research leadership and expertise.

"Professor Jobling has led gynaecology oncology services at Monash Health and the gynaecology cancer research group at the University for many years," Professor Wallace said.

"His contributions to the University and research more broadly are central to the academic success and growth of the gynaecology oncology group."

Oustanding SCS student achievement recognised at Faculty Awards Ceremony

Hannah Clark

Congratulations to the following SCS Obstetrics & Gynaecology students who were recognised for their outstanding academic achievement at the student award ceremony at the Australian Synchrotron last month.

Carl Wood Prize - Rohan Khanal

Queen Victoria Medical Centre Prize - Hannah Clark

RANZCOG Women's Health Award - Nicole Carter

Rohan Khanal

Nicole Carter

Congratulations Steven Cho on the award of his PhD

Congratulations Steven Cho on the award of his PhD this month.   

            

Steven’s thesis expanded on unravelling the complex immune pathways that are involved in the pathogenesis of necrotising enterocolitis, and addressed an urgent unmet need by identifying interleukin-37 as a potential therapeutic agent.

Steven thanks The Ritchie Centre for providing support and opportunities such as PSANZ to showcase his research, as well as staff at the animal house for accommodating the odd requests needed for his project.

The Ritchie Centre's research recognised at PSANZ

(L-R) Jonathon Morris, PSANZ President,
Dr Erin McGillick, Azu Aminath,
Aidan Kashyap, Fiona Stemming

Monash University and Hudson Institute researchers were recognised at the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) Annual Congress in Canberra last week.

The Ritchie Centre's Deputy Director Professor Rosemary said a number of staff and students were invited to give presentations, run workshops and practical skills sessions, and presented their research in both oral and poster presentations covering a variety of topics related to "a healthy start to life". 

"Our students and ECRs all gave great presentations, including Aidan Kashyap, who had to step in and give his supervisor's invited presentation after Qantas cancelled the Monday early morning flight," said Professor Horne.

The following students from The Ritchie Centre received awards at the meeting:

PSANZ New Investigator Award for Best Oral Basic Science 

Fiona Stenning

PSANZ President's New Investigator Award for Best Overall Oral Presentation

Aidan Kashyap

PSANZ Ritchie Centre Award for Translational Research

Azu Azhan

PSANZ David Henderson-Smart Scholarship

Dr Erin McGillick

$10,000 over 2 years

To undertake clinical research project focussed on improving the cardiorespiratory transition and respiratory outcomes in preterm babies in collaboration with A/Prof Arjan te Pas at the Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands

Travel awards

Azu Azhan

Aidan Kashyap

SCS student awarded MCRI Honours Scholarship

Joanna Huang

Congratulations Monash medical student Joanna Huang who has been awarded the prestigious Murdoch Children's Research Institute Honours Award Scholarship for her research into ventricular assist devices.

A BMedSc(Hons) student at the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS), Joanna is investigating the bleeding and clotting rates in children on ventricular assist devices—a form of mechanical circulatory support—for children with end-stage heart failure.

Joanna said these devices are used to help bridge children to heart transplantation, given the long waiting times and low rates of organ donation in Australia.

“Bleeding and clotting are common adverse events but have not been studied extensively in the paediatric population,” Joanna said.

“Hopefully this research will provide information to reduce the rates of bleeding and clotting and improve outcomes of the children on these devices.”

Joanna is based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute for her project while being co-supervised by Head of Haematology at Monash Health and Monash University, Professor Stephen Opat.

Coles voucher and Movie ticket winners: Quinton Luong and a BMedSc(Hons) student

Congratulations to Honours student Quinton Luong who received a $20 Coles voucher, having been selected from all the honours students who completed our survey about why they chose to do their research project at MHTP.   Quinton is evaluating SGI-110 in T-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma under the supervision of Associate Professor Jake Shortt. 

In more free voucher news, a BMedSc(Hons) student won two free movie tickets, having completed our eNews survey.

Michaela Finsterbusch wins VIIN Career Development Award

Dr Michaela Finsterbusch

Congratulations Dr Michaela Finsterbusch, a recipient of the 2017 VIIN Career Development Award.

Michaela, a research fellow in the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, will speak at the Lorne Infection and Immunity Conference this week about monocytes contributing to neutrophil-dependent kidney injury in acute glomerulonephritis. 

The VIIN Career Development Award covers Michaela's registration at the conference.