Graeme Polglase et al. published in PLoS One.Read article here.
Tuesday, 19 December 2017
Monday, 11 December 2017
Monash researcher receives VicHealth Award for alcohol harm in emergency departments research
 |
| Associate Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton |
Associate Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton was recognised for her
significant work in the prevention of alcohol related harm, winning a
prestigious VicHealth
Award last week.
Associate Professor Egerton-Warburton’s research project, Preventing
harm from alcohol, measured the number of emergency department visits
caused by alcohol harm.
Emergency departments (EDs) in
Australia and New Zealand are at the forefront of dealing with the harmful
effects of alcohol consumption. However, ED alcohol-related presentation data
is not routinely collected in patient data sets in Australasia.
Associate Professor Egerton-Warburton
said the primary objective of the project was to provide an evidence base to
advocate for alcohol harm reduction measures in our communities, by quantifying
the level of alcohol harm presenting to Australasian emergency departments.
 |
| The Hon. Jill Hennessy MP and Associate Professor Egerton-Warburton |
“This survey quantifies that on weekends, one
in eight patients in emergency departments in Australia is there because of
alcohol,” Associate Professor Egerton-Warburton said.
“This is the third such snapshot survey which
has demonstrated the impact of alcohol on ED presentations.”
Australasian College for Emergency Medicine President Dr Simon
Judkins said the Award is recognition of the hard work Associate Professor
Egerton-Warburton and her team have done with The
Alcohol Harm Snapshot Survey, exposing the true extent of alcohol abuse and its effect on our communities and
healthworkers – particularly in Australian EDs.
Associate Professor Egerton-Warburton said the award was a credit
to the many clinicians who had compiled the data in EDs across the country.
The fourth Alcohol Harm Snapshot Survey in Australian and New
Zealand EDs will take place at 2am (local time), on 16 December 2017.
“This goes to all the ED clinicians who completed those 2am
surveys and we are looking forward to a record response in this December’s
Snapshot Survey,” Associate Professor Egerton-Warburton said.
“I’d like to acknowledge the incredible efforts of the emergency
departments over the past four years to do these surveys at a busy time.”
“These surveys do lead directly to advocacy around the issue and
an attempt to influence culture, so I think it’s a very powerful thing for
emergency clinicians to do.”
The awards were announced last week at VicHealth’s 30th
anniversary event at Melbourne Museum by Health Minister Jill Hennessy, Shadow Health Minister Mary Wooldridge, Leader of the
Victorian Greens Samantha Ratnam and VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter.
Information about the research project is HERE.
Prestigious Heart Foundation Fellowship awarded to Dr Sarah Zaman
 |
| Dr Sarah Zaman |
Dr Sarah Zaman has been awarded a highly competitive Heart
Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her research into the prevention
of sudden cardiac death.
An interventional consultant cardiologist at MonashHeart and
Post-doctoral Early Career Research Fellow in the School of Clinical Sciences
at Monash Health, Dr Zaman was awarded the fellowship (worth $75,000 per annum
for two years) from 376 applicants, all of extremely high standard.
Sudden cardiac death is the cause
of approximately 20,000 deaths in Australia every year and the majority of
deaths occur in heart attack survivors with impaired heart function.
Dr Zaman’s research is trying to
identify patients at risk of sudden death.
“I’m one of the lead researchers on
the PROTECT-ICD Trial, an Australian-led, international, multi-centre study
targeting prevention of sudden death in patients who have suffered a heart
attack,” Dr Zaman said.
The PROTECT-ICD Trial targets the
important issue of prevention of sudden death after a heart attack through the
use of an electrophysiology study, a type of electrical test of the heart.
“In particular, the trial is
focused on identifying patients early (within a month) after a heart attack, as
the risk of sudden death is much higher during this time period,” Dr Zaman
said.
Over 1,000 patients with impaired
heart function following a heart attack will be recruited and randomly assigned
to either early electrophysiology study with a defibrillator implanted if fast
abnormal heart rhythms are seen, or standard care.
“Standard care involves waiting
1-3 months for the heart to recover, with a defibrillator implanted only if
there is persistent severe heart function impairment,” Dr Zaman said.
Dr Zaman said this study has the
potential to change national and international guidelines for selection of
patients for a defibrillator for sudden death prevention.
“Importantly,
it has the potential to save lives both in Australia and globally through
prevention of sudden death in heart attack survivors.”
Dr Zaman is grateful for the support and mentorship of Associate
Professor Pramesh Kovoor, (University of Sydney) and Professor James Cameron
(Monash University). She also acknowledges
the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) for the Early Career
Practitioner Fellowship that has supported her research until this time.
Outstanding grant success at Monash University and the MHTP
 |
| Professor Marcel Nold and Dr Claudia Nold |
Monash Health Translation Precinct (MHTP) researchers from the
School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) and the Hudson Institute of
Medical Research together were awarded 23 NHMRC Project grants,
totalling almost $18M. Our success rate
of 25% was well above the national average of 16.4%.
For the first time, MHTP researchers were awarded total
funding greater than any other school of Monash University. SCS and Hudson Institute grants together amount to 30% of the Faculty’s total grants in this latest
round.
Professor Marcel Nold, recently appointed as Monash
University’s inaugural Professor of paediatric immunology, and Dr Claudia Nold
received three grants for their team.
Professor Nold has previously found that the immune system
molecule interleukin 38 disables several signalling pathways essential for
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) progress.
“This project grant will enable us to explore regulation and
function of this molecule in cells from healthy people and SLE patients and in
models of the disease,” Professor Nold said.
Head of Rheumatology Research Group in the Centre for
Inflammatory Diseases, Professor Eric Morand is a co-investigator on this
grant.
Professor Nold’s other project will explore interleukin 37,
a powerful anti-inflammatory cytokine.
Cytokines are messenger proteins that function as master
regulators of biological processes, playing central roles in many diseases.
“We will evaluate interleukin 37’s mechanisms of action and
its efficacy against several severe diseases, including cancer,” Professor Nold
said.
Colleague and partner Dr Claudia Nold is also investigating
Interleukin 37 as a novel therapy for necrotising enterocolitis, a disease that
develops when the tissue in the inner lining of the intestine becomes damaged
and begins to die.
Associate Professor Suzie Miller’s project will investigate
new and improved treatment strategies for neonatal seizures.
 |
| Associate Professor Miller and Professor Hickey |
“Seizures are the most distinctive
and frequent indication of neurological abnormalities in newborn infants and
are more common in the neonatal period than at any other stage in life,” Associate
Professor Miller said.
“Despite evidence of the limited
effectiveness and potential neurotoxicity of current anti-seizure medication,
treatment has not changed for decades.”
“We will examine novel treatments
that are less toxic and more effective, specifically designed and assessed for
neonates.”
Meanwhile, Dr Joshua Ooi, Professor Stephen Holdsworth and
Professor Michael Hickey received project grants to further their research into
kidney disease—affirming MHTP as a world leading precinct in kidney research.
Dr. Ooi's research will investigate targeted
therapies for autoimmune kidney disease.
"I aim to develop treatments that
will switch off the part of the immune system that is causing disease while
leaving protective immunity intact," Dr Ooi said.
SCS Project grant recipients are:
Name
|
Grant Title
|
TOTAL
|
|
 |
Professor
Marcel Nold
Department of Paediatrics |
Interleukin
38: Uncoupling Innate Inflammation from Interferons in lupus
|
$1,048,668
|
Exploring
and Targeting the Anti-Inflammatory Signalling Mechanisms of Interleukin 37
|
$1,018,306
|
||
Dr Claudia
Nold
Department of Paediatrics |
Interleukin
37 – a novel cytokine therapy for Necrotizing Enterocolitis in the preterm.
|
$748,848
|
|
Professor
Michael Hickey
Department of Medicine |
Conventional and unconventional T cells in interstitial kidney disease
|
$480,531
|
|
 |
Dr Rebecca
Lim
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology |
Amniotic
Exosomes - Nanomedicine for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
|
$647,057
|
 |
Professor Peter
Ebeling
Department of Medicine |
Fractures
and bisphosphonates: reviving osteoporosis treatment uptake by identifying
the genetic, material, and microstructural risk factors of atypical femur
fractures
|
$1,053,094
|
 |
Professor
Euan Wallace
|
A Cell
Therapy for Necrotising Enterocolitis
|
$659,428
|
 |
Associate Professor
Suzie Miller
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology |
New and
improved treatment strategies for neonatal seizures
|
$883,209
|
 |
Professor
Stephen Holdsworth
|
DNase I as
Treatment for MPO-ANCA Vasculitis
|
$868,340
|
Generating
endogenous antigen specific T regulatory cells to treat autoimmune MPO-ANCA
GN
|
$873,340
|
||
 |
Dr Joshua
Ooi
Department of Medicine |
Treatments
for glomerulonephritis that harness antigen specific regulatory cells
|
$610,005
|
 |
Dr Nadine
Andrew
|
Evaluation
of enhanced models of primary care in the management of stroke and other
chronic diseases
|
$556,183
|
The mental health of refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island
 |
| Professor Suresh Sundram |
Professor Suresh Sundram published in The Lancet.
On October 31, 2017, the Governments of Australia and Papua
New Guinea ended support for the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre, an
Australian immigration detention facility on Manus Island, Papua New
Guinea. Instead, currently incomplete
and substandard facilities without adequate service provision have been hastily
constructed to accommodate people. 379 refugees and asylum seekers refused to
leave the centre stating fears for their security. The physical and mental health of these
people is precarious.
Read full article HERE.
Professor Sundram is from the Department of Psychiatry,
School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University and Unit Head,
Adult Psychiatry at Monash Medical Centre.
SCS lecturer recognised for teaching excellence
 |
| Dr Simone Gibson and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner |
A senior lecturer in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and
Food, Dr Gibson teaches clinical dietetics, and engages work-based educators and promotes teaching excellence
for work-integrated learning.
Dr Gibson said she helps prepare students to reach clinical competency
and to gain employment in the fast-paced and often stressful hospital
environment.
“My teaching and learning strategies are multi-faceted and include
simulation and real-life patient interactions,” Dr Gibson said.
“I use a range of evaluation techniques including student learning
and cost-effectiveness measures.”
Dr Gibson has published and presented internationally in clinical
educational research and is an Associate Fellow for the Australia and New
Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators. She has received over
$70,000 in grants for educational research and initiatives which she uses to
improve students and graduate outcomes.
“It is a great honour to receive this award and I am so pleased
that teaching is so valued at Monash,” Dr Gibson said.
Medical student Francis Ha recognised for high impact research
 |
| Francis Ha |
Congratulations to final year medical student Francis Ha, winner
of the Stephen Holdsworth Prize
for Medical Student Research 2017.
The Stephen Holdsworth Prize is
awarded to the most important publication(s) arising from a BMedSc(Hons) undertaken at
the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS).
During his BMedSc(Hons) year, Francis undertook multiple projects
in a collaboration between MonashHeart and the Austin Hospital.
“My thesis focused on psychosocial factors that affect exercise
adherence in chronic heart failure, particularly in relation to patient
self-efficacy,” Francis said.
“However, I also worked on projects relating to novel coronary
stent platforms and various aspects of cardiovascular imaging (intravascular as
well as non-invasive).”
Francis said the BMedSc(Hons) degree enabled him to learn about
broad aspects of cardiology, to think critically about clinically-relevant
questions, and to develop his character in learning from and collaborating with
others. He also presented at national and international cardiology conferences,
and published in sub-specialty journals of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation.
“I would
like to sincerely thank my supervisors Professor James Cameron and Professor
David Hare and the privilege to work under some of Australia’s most esteemed
cardiovascular researchers. I would also like to thank Dr Adam Brown for his
exceptional supervision and support, as well as Dr Nitesh Nerlekar for his
immense support and statistical teaching. I’d finally like to thank Dr Tony
White and the School of Clinical Sciences in having our work recognised in the
form of an award.”
Francis
will receive his prize at the MUMUS Graduation Brunch and Prize Ceremony this
week.
Top marks for Dr Hugh Gao
 |
| Dr Hugh Gao |
Dr Hugh Gao has been awarded the 2017 Shaun Summers Award for
Medical Student Research in recognition of his top academic mark in his cohort
at the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS).
Dr Gao, who undertook his BMedSc(Hons) at in 2016, investigated
IFN-epsilon—a type of interferon protein that helps regulate activity of the
immune system.
“My research focussed on the potential role of IFN-epsilon in
serous ovarian cancer progression using gene expression data from existing
serous ovarian cancer cohorts,” Dr Gao said.
“The loss of IFN-epsilon expression is associated with reduced
overall survival in serious ovarian tumours, with reduced tumour-infiltrating
lymphocytes.”
"Hugh deserves accolades for being brave enough to undertake a project requiring computational and statistical approaches to a research problem—a task at which he shone," said supervisor Professor Paul Hertzog.
"Hugh deserves accolades for being brave enough to undertake a project requiring computational and statistical approaches to a research problem—a task at which he shone," said supervisor Professor Paul Hertzog.
Dr
Gao said his award is a testament to the excellent training at the Hudson
Institute of Medical Research under the guidance of Professor Paul Hertzog, Dr
Helen Cumming, Dr Jamie Gearing and the rest of the Hertzog group.
Dr
Gao will receive his award at the MUMUS Graduation Brunch and Prize Ceremony
this week.
CID weekly seminar series, Dr Claire Dendle and Dr Holly Hutton, 12 December
12-1pm, Tuesday 12 December, Seminar Room 1, TRF
Dr. Claire Dendle, Monash Infectious Diseases
Claire is an Infectious Diseases physician at Monash Health.
She has a special interest in infections in immunocompromised patients.
and,
Dr. Holly Hutton, Centre
for Inflammatory Diseases
“New
insights into the pathogenesis of ANCA vasculitis: Monoclonal anti-MPO
antibodies and the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome”
MPO-ANCA vasculitis is
characterised by both T cell and B cell immunity to a neutrophil protein,
myeloperoxidase; the presence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, or
ANCA; and small vessel vasculitis which commonly affects the kidneys. This
pre-submission seminar focusses on two aspects of ANCA vasculitis.
Dr Holly Hutton is
a PhD candidate at the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash University. Her
research and clinical interest is renal immunology. After obtaining her FRACP
in clinical nephrology, Holly undertook a clinical fellowship at the University
of British Columbia, Canada, where she focused on clinical aspects of
autoimmune kidney disease and kidney transplantation. She is currently
completing a laboratory based PhD which focuses on aspects of ANCA associated
vasculitis, and also has a clinical appointment as a Nephrologist at Alfred
Health.
PhD pre-submission seminar, Majid Alhomrani, "Human amnion epithelial cells, a potential therapy for liver injury", 13 December
All staff and students are invited to Majid Alhomrani's pre-submission seminar.Wednesday 13 December, 1pm, Medicine seminar room, level 5, Block E, MMC
Presentation title " Human amnion epithelial cells, a
potential therapy for liver injury"
Supervisors: Prof William Sievert and Dr. Rebecca Lim
Grand Rounds End of Year Quiz, 13 December
Come and test your
"wits" on Wednesday 13 December from 12.30pm - 1.30pm, Lecture
Theatre 1 MMC.
Grand Rounds End of Year Quiz
MRO Presentation on NHMRC Re-structure updates
2018 Victorian Cancer Agency Early Career Health Services Research Fellowships
The Victorian Cancer Agency is a unit of the Department of
Health and Human Services that funds translational cancer research to improve
clinical practice and outcomes for Victorian cancer patients. The maximum
amount that can be requested is $150,000 per annum up to a total of $300,000
over 2 years.
The following dates apply:
MRO compliance close (via Pure) 17
January 2018
Applications close 31
January 2018
For more information, including application forms please click
on the following link.
JDRF Future Research Leaders Program
This is a globally unique 12 month Program that is specially
tailored to develop leadership potential and improve “first own” funding
success for emerging research leaders in the field of type 1 diabetes. JDRF has
engaged experts in the design and delivery of this Program, and expect that by
the end of this Program participants will have the tools needed to broaden the reach,
relevance and impact of their research.
JDRF Australia are seeking applications from emerging research
leaders in type 1 diabetes, who are Early-Mid Career Researchers (EMCR; within
10 years of PhD or equivalent), up to and including Associate Professor level.
Applications are welcome from candidates in diverse research disciplines, such
as basic laboratory and clinical research, clinician researchers, epidemiology
and public health, and allied health.
The following dates apply:
Applications close 8
January 2018, 5pm AEDT
For more information, including application forms, please click
on the following link.
Victorian Cancer Agency 2018 Early Career Health Services Research Fellowships - EOI now open
The Victorian Cancer Agency is a unit of the Department of
Health and Human Services that funds translational cancer research to improve
clinical practice and outcomes for Victorian cancer patients.The following funding scheme is now open and will close at 11.59pm on 31 January 2018:
- Victorian Cancer
Agency Early Career Health Services Research Fellowships
Information on additional funding schemes will be made available in 2018.
More information, including guidelines, funding rules and a link to the application forms can be found on our website: http://www.victoriancanceragency.org.au/index.php/2018funding-round
Answers to frequently asked questions can also be found on the website, however should you have further questions, please call on 1300 664 737 or send an email via
victorian.canceragency@dhhs.vic.gov.au
PhD scholarship opportunity - investigating emotional well-being in women with PCOS
The
NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
is now advertising PhD scholarships addressing CRE research priority areas,
which includes the emotional well-being of women with PCOS. Professor
Jane Speight, an Associate Investigator with the CRE in PCOS, is
interested in supervising a PhD student to investigate PCOS-related
distress and the impact of PCOS on quality of life.
For more
information visit https://acbrd.org.au/contact/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)