In his capacity as Minister for Medical Research, Deputy Premier, the Honourable Ben Carroll visited our labs and met with several leading scientists and clinician-scientists. Hosted by Professor Eric Morand, Dean Sub-Faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Minister Carroll learned of our translational research and its subsequent clinical impact. He referred to us as a ‘mini-Stanford’ – which we are. We look forward to future visits where we can showcase more of our work.
Did you know that Monash has hosted over 2 Million meetings via Zoom last year? that's a lot of minutes, it also means there are many recordings.
To meet the university’s increased Zoom storage needs as usage of the platform grows, Monash will implement a 12-month retention limit for Staff Zoom recordings starting on Feb 5th, 2024. Consequently, Zoom recordings older than 12 months will be permanently removed.
What do you need to do?
Please transfer recordings older than 12 months to a suitable storage location before 5th February 2024.
Additionally, please be aware that in the future, all Zoom recordings older than 12 months will be subject to automatic deletion. We also urge you to delete any recordings from your profile that are no longer required. If you need to keep recordings, please refer to this guide for alternative digital storage options.
To review and take action on your Zoom recording, please log in to your Zoom account, and go to the Recordings page.
If you need extra help, please refer to the instructions on how to manage your Zoom recordings
If you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us via the IT Service Request Portal
Sadly, this week saw the departure of SCS School Manager, Dr Christine De Nardo, who next month moves to the Olivia Newton John Wellness & Research Centre as Chief Operating Officer.
In a very eventful 15 months in the role here Christine has worked with endless energy and positivity to improve all things SCS. Christine has excellent leadership skills, brilliant strategic skills and can run in heels. We will miss Christine enormously and know she will blitz at Olivia Newton John.
A new report across six states and territories shows data from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) is improving clinical outcomes for patients with stroke. The registry encompasses a range of targets in line with international best practice. Professor Dominique Cadilhac, custodian of the Registry said, “These targets are designed to improve access to life-saving stroke care in Australia, by 2030, including in remote and rural areas.”
One such target is to treat people eligible for clot-busting treatments within 60 minutes of arrival to hospital. The data shows that in 2022 only five of the 61 Australian participating hospitals were able to meet the target with at least half of their patients. However, two leading hospitals achieved marked improvements over a short period of time.
The registry plays a vital role in monitoring progress, and the researchers involved use the data to lobby governments and support hospitals to improve their stroke care.
Keep up the good work, Dominique and team.
Several SCS staff were awarded National Health and Medical Research Council grants. Congratulations to everyone involved.
Final year PhD student, Brendan Gillespie, is the first author of a paper accepted in Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews.
This is a systematic review of the impact of maternal infection during pregnancy on the developing inhibitory (GABAergic) neurons of the infant.
Brendan is a translational and clinical researcher working under the supervision of Rachel Hill and Suresh Sundram in the Department of Psychiatry, Brendan’s research is focused on understanding how infections in pregnancy impact early brain development and contributes to the development of autism and schizophrenia later in life. Brendan has performed a variety of behavioural assessments in rodents considered relevant to both conditions, and has attempted to link these behavioural changes to differences within the brain using a range of biochemical techniques.
Great job, Brendan!
Join a SCS walk around the Tan on Saturday 30 December at 11am. Meet at Oak Lawn Gate (AKA Entrance F) on Birdwood Avenue for a walk around the Tan and perhaps a coffee and a bite afterwards. Any queries, contact Karen Sims, Communications Manager, on 0438 310 866. [Caveat: it’s a no go if heavy rain is forecasted.]
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| Prof Melissa Southey |
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| Dr Sarah Marshall |
Congratulations Melissa and Sarah.
Three SCS staff have been recognised for their excellence in the 2023 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards.
Dr Nicola Rivers was awarded Vice-Chancellor's Education Excellence Award for her Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (Early Career Researcher).
Read more about Dr Rivers’s work
Dr Liza Barbour and her team were awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Award for Community Education Programs for their Little Food Festival work.
Read more about the team’s work
Professor Katrina Williams, along with Professor Mark Bellgrove, won the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research Engagement and Impact for their Development of Australia’s first NHMRC-approved evidence-based clinical practice guideline for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
See list of all recipients in the Faculty.
Congratulations to the 2023 Graduating Year 5D MD students as they finish their student life and head off to their intern programs. This graduating cohort had many challenges along the way, including the restrictions to their placements during the Covid years, but have proven themselves to be resilient and focussed on their journey to being a doctor, and we wish them all well as they continue on the next steps in their careers. The students were asked to wear fascinators for this photo and unfortunately only one complied.
The mice at Monash desperately need toilet rolls – not toilet paper – toilet rolls. They need cardboard to rest on and play with, and used toilet rolls are perfect. Please bring all your finished toilet rolls to the level 5 kitchen in Block E and put them in the box near the door. The rolls must not have any glue or paper on them. It makes the mice sick. Thanks in advance.
Inaugural Dean of the Sub-Faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine (SF-CaMM), Professor Eric Morand, spoke at the first hybrid meeting of the Sub-Faculty after a catered lunch on 1 December.
Eric spoke of the opportunities available by being a sub-faculty and showed graphical representation of SF-CaMM’s vast breadth and depth. Eric also presented the results of the recent online survey and highlighted avenues for improvement in how we interact and operate as a united front. The critical point was made that if you have something to say about the sub-faculty, you are welcome to say it to Eric. Get on it!
More photos from the meeting:
Developmental regression experts, Professor Katrina Williams and Dr Kirsten Furley assisted in the preparation of this article for The Australian Parenting Website. raisingchildren.net.au.
The article explains in simple terms how developmental regression is defined and identified.
The Sub-Fac of Clinical and Molecular Medicine held its second Emerging Leaders Meeting on 9 November.
Set up to provide professional support for members, the group comprises mid-career staff from several disciplines.
This month, Dr Kim Huynh, SCS Research Manager, gave a comprehensive update on funding, staffing, training, resources, and onsite IT access. Kim also provided Monash University statistics for recent grants and tenders.
Karen Sims, SCS Communications Manager, spoke about the importance of having a social media presence, how to react to incoming media, and provided some handy tips on planning outgoing media.
Associate Professor Rachel Hill from the Department of Psychiatry spoke about her project stemming from a recent breakthrough in her laboratory that identified a new mutation in a gene called ARX in a patient with schizophrenia. Rachel is now working on the functional consequence of this mutation.
Facilitated by Associate Professor Jun Yang, the meeting is a pleasant way to catch up with colleagues and hear what they’re working on.
Photo: This woman is now 23. When she was six and in grade two, she persuaded her whole class to go to the school principal's office with her to report a librarian who was bullying a student. Now that's leadership!
We are pleased to share with you our end-of-year recruitment deadlines. You may notice that they are earlier than usual. We are delighted to share that we have support from HR leadership to set these dates so that we are not as rushed to get everything done as we usually are at this time of the year. This also recognises the tremendous work that has occurred throughout the year. There will be some flexibility for urgent requests which we will consider before progressing.
Important Recruitment dates for year-end:
Well done, Dr Connie Wong! Connie won a Future Leader Fellowship for her project, Identifying novel pharmacological approaches for limiting stroke-associated neuroinflammation and pneumonia. Connie said, “I express my most sincere thanks to the donors for the support of the Future Leaders Fellowship.” We have it on good authority that Connie is an excellent mentor to others in the cardiovascular community.”
Congrats and thank you, Connie.
