Professor Jake Shortt appointed Acting Head, Department of Medicine

Professor Peter Ebeling AO is delighted to announce that Professor Jake Shortt will be taking on the role of Acting Head of the Department of Medicine effective immediately until 2 November 2022.  This follows the announcement last Friday from Professor Eric Morand that Professor Ebeling will be Acting Head of School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health whilst he goes on six months' sabbatical leave. Professor Shortt will now be the primary point of contact for all Department of Medicine enquiries and approval processes.

Please join us in welcoming and supporting Professor Shortt as he takes on this important role whilst also continuing as Head of Haematology Research and clinical lead at Monash Haematology for myeloid leukaemia, myelodysplasia and T-cell lymphoma.  He is also Principal Investigator on a range of clinical trials for T-cell lymphoma and myeloid malignancies, conducted through the Monash Haematology clinical trials unit.

Ms Ruth Fantozzi will be supporting Professor Shortt as Executive Assistant to the Head of Department of Medicine and can be contacted via email (ruth.fantozzi@monash.edu) for any Department-related matters.

Monash Medical Centre - changes to access roads

From Monday 9 May, there will be a major change to traffic management for the internal ring road at Monash Medical Centre. 

• A new side-street (McCulloch St) will be opened, which will link Clayton Road to the internal ring road (see flier here). Initially, McCulloch St will only allow left turns onto and out of Clayton Road, until the traffic lights are operational, anticipated in June.
• A week later, the right turn from the roundabout at the front entrance will be blocked off to all traffic.

This change will divert trucks and couriers straight to the loading docks for MMC, E Block and TRF Building, and reduce congestion at the main entrance. 

Please take care when driving under these new conditions, and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

2023 Forrest Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowships (based in WA) - Applications close 8 May 2022

Forrest Fellowships are offered to early-stage post-doctoral researchers who have outstanding academic profiles and who have already made significant personal research contributions within and beyond their discipline. Forrest Fellows will have been among the top performing students in their undergraduate and graduate cohorts. They will normally already have gained high-level research experience through studying and researching in a number of different institutions, and their innovative doctoral research will be recognised well beyond their current institutional home. Forrest Fellows will wish to extend their post-doctoral research well beyond the focus of their doctoral dissertation, and will aim to do so in a way that builds intellectual bridges within and between disciplines. Forrest Fellows will also be committed to communicating their research to others, and to use it to have a positive impact on the world around us.

The Forrest Research Fellowship program is designed to accelerate opportunity for outstanding researchers by providing:

• Personalised development plans, mentoring and support
• Unrivalled access to academic and entrepreneurial leaders, generous funding and career opportunity partnerships
• A stimulating intellectual environment in Forrest Hall, a place to live, learn and share with a global community of multi-disciplinary researchers

Forrest Research Fellowships are open to outstanding early-career researchers of any nationality and working in any discipline; they can be held at any of Western Australia’s five universities.

Note: the Fellowship is based in Western Australia

For more information and to apply, please click here.

Please direct any questions to mro-applications@monash.edu

What service can Monash University library offer?

We help researchers to navigate our large multidisciplinary collection, including developing advanced search strategies for their reviews. We also facilitate collection development by encouraging purchase suggestions for new research materials. 

With a highly developed understanding of traditional and alternative metrics we assist researchers with the use of research intelligence tools including Incites, Dimensions and SciVal; as well as provide advice on current researcher profiling tools and best practice guidelines for maintaining an online presence. 

As liaison librarians we also link researchers to other library services including advice on open access and open data, data management plans, copyright, and Monash Publishing. 

For any enquiries, please email lib-mnhs-librarians@monash.edu. 

FMNHS ECR Travel Grants 2022 (ETG 2022) - APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

The Faculty’s Early Career Researcher (ECR) Travel Grants are designed to provide support for our junior researchers to present papers at international research conferences and to carry out associated travel, including visits to foster connections with Monash University’s international partner institutions, specialist training, or attendance at a lecture, symposium, or workshop.

The objective of this scheme is to enhance the research profile of the applicant, the Faculty, and Monash University and to increase the potential for carrying out high-quality cutting-edge research and developing international collaborations, by facilitating exposure to researchers from the world’s best research organisations.

The Faculty is seeking applications from ECRs for $2,000 travel grants to facilitate overseas travel in 2022 and the first half of 2023. The Faculty will also offer a limited number of Career Disruption Support Packages (an additional $1,000) for travel grant awardees who have experienced a significant reduction in their research productivity as a direct result of an eligible career disruption.

The Faculty encourages the following travel-related activities:

• Presentations at  international research conferences
• Collaborative visits that foster connections with Monash University's international partners
• Trips that combine multiple activities (e.g. conference presentation, collaborative visit, specialist training, arranging PhD student exchange, etc.)

For further information and to apply, please click here.  

(You must be signed in to Google with your Monash account to access further information)    

Submissions close on Thursday 19 May 2022 at 5:00 PM (AEST).

Queries about this scheme should be directed to medicine.research@monash.edu.

SCS Excellence in Research and Excellence in Teaching award winners 2021

Congratulations to all SCS Excellence in Research and Excellence in Teaching award winners!

Pictured: 2021 SCS Award Winners L-R top row: Dr Marijke Mitchell, Dr Sarah Jones, Dr Joshua Ooi, Dr Filippe Oliveira, bottom row: Dr Tammie Choi, Dr Phyllis Chua, Katrina Long  

SCS Excellence in Research award winners

Early Career Researcher Award: Dr Marijke Mitchell 

This annual award recognises research excellence relative to career opportunity by young researchers with up to five years of experience post-PhD or up to 10 years of experience post PhD with Career Interruptions.

Future Leaders Award: Dr Sarah Jones 

This annual award recognises research excellence relative to career opportunities by Mid-Career researchers who demonstrate research leadership potential with up to 10 years of experience post-PhD or up to 15 years of experience post-PhD with career interruptions.

Research Enterprise Award: Dr Joshua Ooi 

This annual award recognises excellence by researchers who have achieved, or are currently achieving excellence in innovation and enterprise.  The award celebrates successful, enduring partnerships with industry, government and other organisations.

SCS Excellence in Teaching award winners

Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning: Dr Filippe Oliveira

“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”: Dr Oliveira created sustained high-quality educational experiences through kindness and an enthusiastic learning environment in undergraduate teaching and professional development courses.

Innovation in Learning: Dr Tammie Choi

Dr Choi worked with members of the dietetic teaching team, the international students and international alumni and to create innovative approaches to better support learning for international students, both onshore and offshore, allowing them to  progress on time during the challenges presented during the Covid pandemic. These alternative strategies will be implemented with new partners and extended post-pandemic

Programs that enhance Learning Award

Led by Dr Phyllis Chua,  including Mrs Seema Dua, Dr Laura Pejnovic, Michelle Kehoe, Katrina Long, Kaylene Hanlon, Jackie Conheady, Renate Hoffman, Kirsty Pope, Dave Peters, Ingrid Ozols AM, Stephanie Swain, Chris Brooks, Chloe Lacey

 

The team created a novel Undergraduate Certificate in Mental Health, a collaborative and innovative program developed across several departments and schools. This new course addressed a need to educate a diverse non-specialist workforce. Its impact on the community will hopefully also translate to lives saved and improved through informed and better care, and less stigma for those experiencing mental illnesses and distress.

Industry Mentoring Opportunity for SCS 2nd year PhD students: Call for Expressions of Interest

For 2nd Year SCS PhD students

If you are a post-Confirmation PhD student who is interested in finding out more about careers in industry, please consider participating in the IMNIS Program.  This program has been running for many years, with students and ECRs from various sectors of Monash University and other institutions involved.

The Hudson Institute has offered places to 10 students and ECRs over the past two years, and will do so again in 2022.

Based on the excellent reviews from participants, the School of Clinical Sciences will sponsor places for 10 PhD students in 2022.  Places may be made available for ECRs, but priority will be given to PhD students in this round.

"The Industry Mentoring Network in STEM program in 2022-2023 offers opportunities for graduate research students to take part in the IMNIS (Industry Mentoring Network In STEM) MedTech-Pharma Program. This is supported by the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering (ATSE), and it is a program specifically aimed to tackle the disconnect between academia and industry by providing PhD students and postdocs the opportunity to engage with industry, extend their professional network, strengthen their implicit skills and get advice from a high-profile industry mentor.   Mentees have the opportunity to learn what it takes to succeed in any part of the STEM ecosystem, gain a better understanding of how industry works and learn about career opportunities beyond academia.

To read more about the IMNIS program please go to: https://imnis.org.au/, or review the IMNIS Prospectus.

To take part in the program PhD students must be confirmed and be willing to commit to the 12 month program, which includes the time to meet your mentor (1 hour per month for 12 months).  Meetings may be held by phone, online or face-to-face. You must be enrolled for the entirety of the program.

If you are interested in participating as a mentee in the program please fill out the Expression of Interest form and return it to me (kate.loveland@monash.edu): by 5pm Thursday 14/4/2022. 

From the EOIs received, up to 10 PhD students and ECRs from the School of Clinical Sciences will be chosen to take part in the IMNIS program in MedTech-Pharma 2022/2023 program.

If you have any specific questions about the program please do not hesitate to contact Priscilla Johanesen, the Associate Dean for Research Training in our Faculty (priscilla.johanesen@monash.edu).

FMNHS Bridging Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (Round 2) – Applications Now Open

Submissions close on Tuesday 26 April 2022 at 5:00pm (AEST)

The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (FMNHS) will provide competitive funding in 2022 to support the career development of promising newly qualified postdoctoral researchers and final year PhD students.

These FMNHS Bridging Postdoctoral Fellowships (BPF) are intended to provide initial support for recent PhD graduates and final year PhD students while they apply for externally funded fellowships (or an equivalent external funding scheme that provides salary support to the Fellow as a Chief Investigator). This includes recent PhD graduates and final year PhD students from Monash University Malaysia (Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences).

Applications should be made by the Fellowship candidate in consultation with their proposed Mentor, who must be employed in the FMNHS at Monash University. Mentors would normally be the Fellowship candidate’s line manager (for PhD graduates) or PhD supervisor (for PhD students), and therefore the mentor must be a member of staff.

Successful candidates will be invited to present on their work at an MNHS Town Hall session in the second half of 2022.

For further information and to apply, please click here. (You must be signed into Google with your Monash account to access further information).

Queries about this scheme should be directed to medicine.research@monash.edu.

INFORMATION SESSION - MRFF 2021 Early to Mid-Career Researchers Grant Opportunity

The MRFF 2021 Early to Mid-Career Researchers Grant Opportunity is currently open (submission due 13th July). This new MRFF scheme is a fantastic opportunity for the EMCRs, as it includes 2 streams which require an exclusive CI team of Early and Mid-career researchers.

Due to the widespread interest for this opportunity, the Monash Research Office (MRO) and the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences is hosting an information session (flyer attached) to provide support to the prospective applicants. Details below:

 -----------

Date: 5th April

Time: 1-2 pm 

Mode: Zoom  

Please click this URL to start or join. https://monash.zoom.us/j/81962668193?pwd=NUVZRkg0OXFsd2kvM1YxdHJTbFd6UT09

    Or, go to https://monash.zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 819 6266 8193  and passcode: 999397

Agenda:

Introduction: Prof. Ian Smyth (Chair) 

Scheme Overview and Application development process: Dr Swapna Varghese

Tips and Tricks:

• Prof. Ian Smyth 
• A/Prof. Zoe McQuilten 
• A/Prof. Trisha Peel
• TBA

Q&A 

Conclusion: Dr Karen McConalogue 

--------

Please reach out to mrff@monash.edu if you have any questions.

SCS virtual staff meeting - Friday, 1 April 2022 Time: 1pm - 2pm

All SCS Staff and HDR students are welcome to join the SCS staff meeting, to hear the latest updates from Head of School, Professor Eric Morand, and raise discussion on any school-related matters.

• Date: Friday, 1 April 2022
• Time: 1pm - 2pm
• via Zoom - HERE

Quiet Achiever Award nominations - please submit by Wed 30 March 2022 - HERE.

Opportunity: Early therapies sessional work

We have some availability for any Monash physicians (ideal for any Fellows/PhD candidates) who can help out with weekday/weekend work on the Early COVID therapies. Most helpful if a full day available.

It involves triaging for sotrovimab use, talking to patients on the phone and deciding whether appropriate for remdesivir or oral therapies and prescribing/consenting as appropriate.  Need to keep a bit up to date with changes to therapies. All can be done from home with EMR/telephone. 

For further information please contact Dr Lydia Upjohn: lydia.upjohn@monashhealth.org

PURE Profile

Did you know that your Pure profile is often the top Google search result for your name? Have you updated your Pure profile recently? It is important to utilise every opportunity to advance your own research. Now may be an ideal time to update your profile in the Pure system, as this is also used to inform your external public page. There are five fields in Pure that the University has deemed essential:

1.    Photo 

2.    Biography 

3.    ORCID 

4.    FoR codes 

5.    Research area keywords* 

*Please provide at least 3 keywords describing your research area as they are used to identify suitable candidates for various Faculty research support initiatives. 

Guidance documentation on how and what to complete can be found here (select ‘Researcher profiles’ from the drop-down menu). If you need assistance with any aspect of your Pure profile, please reach out to vanalysa.ly@monash.edu.

Monash Biomedical Imaging Zoom Webinar

Date: Wednesday, 13 April 2022 

Time: 12:30pm - 1:15pm

Register for this Zoom Webinar

1. Breaking the barrier: Using focused ultrasound for the development of targeted therapies for brain tumours.

Dr Ekaterina (Caty) Salimova, Monash Biomedical Imaging

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) - brain cancer - is aggressive and difficult to treat as systemic therapies are hindered by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Focused ultrasound (FUS) - a non-invasive technique that can induce targeted temporary disruption of the BBB – is a promising tool to improve GBM treatments.   

In this webinar, Dr Ekaterina Salimova will discuss the MRI-guided FUS modality at MBI and her research to develop novel targeted therapies for brain tumours.

2. Disposition of the Kv1.3 inhibitory peptide HsTX1[R14A], a novel attenuator of neuroinflammation

Ms Sanjeevini Babu Reddiar, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences

The voltage-gated potassium channel (Kv1.3) in microglia regulates membrane potential and pro-inflammatory functions, and non-selective blockade of Kv1.3 has shown anti-inflammatory and disease improvement in animal models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Therefore, specific inhibitors of pro-inflammatory microglial processes with CNS bioavailability are urgently needed, as disease-modifying treatments for neurodegenerative disorders are lacking.

In this webinar, PhD candidate Ms Sanju Reddiar will discuss the synthesis and biodistribution of a Kv1.3-inhibitory peptide using a [64Cu]Cu-DOTA labelled conjugate.

Flyer

Enquiries: T: +61 (3) 9905 0100 | E: enquiries.mbi@monash.edu

Call to update Honours and Graduate Research projects for 2023 - due date extended to Tuesday 05 April

It is that time of year when we ask you to update your projects in Supervisor Connect, ahead of our BMedSc(Hons) and Hons/PhD recruitment season which begins in May. Supervisor Connect is our primary Higher Degree by Research (HDR) recruitment tool.

We will be producing a project booklet this year and publishing in our Available research projects web page, and it is imperative that you update your projects in Supervisor Connect by Tuesday 05 April 2022.

The projects will be advertised for recruitment of students for the following streams:

• Bachelor of Medical Science Honours - BMedSc(Hons)
• HDR (Honours and PhD)

All projects from last year are currently ‘unpublished’ to ensure we are not advertising out-of-date projects. Those projects are currently not visible for potential students and general public.

It is very simple to update and publish existing projects, and/or create new projects for 2022!

How to update, publish and/or create projects

Please go to Supervisor Connect to update, publish and/or create projects.

Login using your Monash Authcate

The system requires all supervisors to have a PURE profile. If you don’t have one, please create a PURE profile and link it to your Supervisor Connect profile.

To update and publish existing projects, please go to “My Projects”. Please make sure you update any missing fields or incorrect information.  It is VERY important to include as many relevant key words as possible.  This is how prospective students will find you!

To republish an existing project, tick the ‘published’ box at the bottom of your project entry.  It will turn blue, indicating its active status.

To create a new project, please go to "Create a new project" tab

In the "School" field, you must select a department under “School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health / Hudson Institute” for your projects to be listed in the  School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health / Hudson Institute project booklet and web pages. 

Physical location: most of our projects will take place at “Monash Health Translation Precinct (Monash Medical Centre)" which is an automatic option once you start typing into that field.  Our other options include “Dandenong Hospital”, ‘BASE facility, Notting Hill”, "Department of Health and Human Services”, “Kingston Centre”.

Contact: For further enquiries, contact Vithya Premkumar on vithya.premkumar@monash.edu. (Vithya works for SCS on Wednesdays and Thursdays)

Photo session for SCS Staff and HDR students

We have organised two photo sessions for SCS staff and HDR who require new or updated portrait or group photos.   If you would like to have a portrait or group photo taken, please book a spot via the links below:

• Wednesday 16 March 2022, 1PM - 5PM Photo session, please book HERE
• Monday 28 March 2022, 1PM - 5PM Photo session, please book HERE

Head of School approval required for all domestic and international travel requests

SCS staff and HDR students are reminded to obtain pre-approval for all work-related domestic and international travel via this travel request form,  As part of the submission, a copy of an email approval (trail) from the Head of School (Prof Eric Morand) has to be uploaded with the form.   Please email your request for Head of School's approval via jinleng.graham@monash.edu and include the following information:

A summary of your proposed itinerary and estimated cost - including key locations and transfer dates

Purpose and desired outcomes of the travel

Head of Department approval (email will suffice)

The requirement to attach SCS HOS approval is not mentioned on the form because it is a requirement of the Dean's office that is being managed at Faculty level, in addition to the Monash Travel Office's approval process.  

Please upload the HOS approval in this section (screenshot below): 

Please also note that only externally funded travel will be considered for approval.

Please ensure compliance with this requirement to avoid further delays in approving your travel request.  

Car parking at Monash Medical Centre

Last week, a staff member's car was damaged when parked on Jaguar Drive, near MMC. Unfortunately we have had similar issues with both on-street parking and in the Monash Health car parks in the past.

Here are the options for car parking at MMC:

• 1 to 2-hour on-street parking in the streets nearest to MMC
• 3-hour parking in Fregon Reserve - note that the gates may be locked after hours
• All-day on-street parking in the streets further away from MMC
• Browns Road car parks (paid parking)
• requires Monash Health ID card and payment at the cashier
• shuttle bus available to travel between MMC and the carpark until 8:00 pm
• Note: if your parking expires, you automatically lose all building access via your Monash Health card until it's topped up again

Security escort to your car after hours is available for your safety: 

• From MIMR/Hudson Building: call: (0) 9902 7777 - booking in advance preferred, as Security is based at Monash University
• From MMC/MCH: To request an escort to the Browns Road South car park, go to the Security Office on Level 1. Note, there may be a wait due to operational requirements.

For more information, please see the SCS intranet FAQ page or email scs.ohs@monash.edu 

Practical class assistance

As part of FSC5080 Food Science in Practice, in the Master of Food Science and Agribusiness, there will be practical classes running for two weeks in May.  

They are glycaemic response practicals, involving finger prick blood glucose measurements, and we require help to facilitate these practicals.  

If you are interested, please contact Margaret Murray (margaret.murray@monash.edu)

When: Wednesday 4th and 11th May, 9am to 12 noon.  Plus some preparation time.

What: Help to supervise and guide students through the practical activity.  There are 22 students in the unit, 15 on campus and 7 online.

Where: The practical will be held in the labs at the BASE Facility,  Notting Hill.

MNHS MDP proposal submission due dates for 2022

The meeting dates and MNHS MDP proposal submission due dates for 2022 are now available via the MNHS Doctoral Program Review and Evaluation Sub-Committee's Terms of Reference (Page 3) - Also see below. 

The URLs to applicable proposal forms and templates are listed on Page 7 of the Terms of Reference PDF. 

If you have any questions about the due dates or the submission process, please contact the Faculty Graduate Research Office E: med-research.degrees@monash.edu

Gender-based discrimination in the NHMRC Investigator Grants Scheme

The NHMRC Investigator Grants scheme continues to discriminate against women, and NHMRC has proposed further changes to the scheme.

Potential changes to funding structure:

• Introduce quotas for women
• Create separate Investigator Grant budgets for men and women and manage them as separate competitions
• Equalise funded rates for men and women
• Encourage advancement of women’s careers by increasing funding for L1 and L2 within the Leadership category
• Require institutions to submit equal numbers of applications from women and men

Potential changes to peer review:

• Review assessment criteria and weightings for gender bias
• Fund the research, not the person
• Blind peer reviewers to applicant’s name
• Ensure there are equal numbers of male and female peer reviewers
• Bring back Grant Review Panels

NHRMC CEO, Anne Kelso AO, is holding a webinar to discuss these issues on :

• Thursday 24 February 2022 2:00 - 4:00 PM (AEDT). REGISTER HERE
• Thursday 3 March 2022 12:00 - 2:00 PM (AEDT) REGISTER HERE

SCS Women in Science, Discovery and Medicine (WiSDoM) Committee will be seeking your feedback after this event, so stay tuned!