Department of Medicine researchers receive awards at ANZBMS

Dr Nguyen, Mr Rodriguez and
Prof Ebeling in Hobart

Congratulations to our Department of Medicine researchers whose research was widely acknowledged at the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society (ANZBMS) Annual Scientific Meeting last week in Hobart.

Monash Health Endocrinologist and Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research Dr Phillip Wong received the prestigious Osteoporosis Australia / Amgen Research Grant.

Dr Wong, who recently completed his PhD at Hudson, has uncovered a potentially important relationship between deferasirox (iron chelator) with kidney stones and osteoporosis through increased hypercalciuria in patients with thalassaemia. 

“The aim of my current research is to determine whether reversing hypercalciuria in people taking deferasirox can lead to a reversal in loss of bone mineral density,” said Dr Wong.

“This grant is a great honour for me and will allow me to devote important time and resources to my research and enable me to be competitive in obtaining peer-reviewed funding over the next 12 to 24 months.”

Dr Hanh Nguyen, Endocrinology Research Fellow and PhD student in the Bone and Muscle Research Group received the Clinical Research Excellence Award for her study, ‘Delay in oestrogen commencement is associated with low spine and hip bone mineral density in Turner Syndrome’.

Turner Syndrome is the most common chromosomal abnormality in females, and is associated with gonadal failure, osteoporosis and fragility fractures. Gonadal failure, resulting in chronic oestrogen deficiency, is a major risk factor for osteoporosis and can be treated with oestrogen therapy.

“Monash Health has the only multidisciplinary Adult Turner Syndrome Clinic in Australia, and our study investigated the prevalence and risk factors for low bone mass in Turner Syndrome patients,” said Dr Nguyen.

“We found that gonadal failure affected close to 90% of patients but that there was a delay in starting oestrogen therapy, associated with lower bone density in the spine and hip.” 

Dr Nguyen’s study has been valuable in identifying the risk factors for osteoporosis in Turner Syndrome.

“We have shown that it is important to ensure timely oestrogen commencement and encourage continuous oestrogen therapy compliance to avoid oestrogen deficiency and thus optimise bone health in this population.” 

Also from the Bone and Muscle Health Research Group, PhD student Alexander Rodriguez received a plenary poster presentation at the Annual Scientific meeting.

“My study showed that in otherwise healthy older Australians, low muscle mass was associated with more calcification in the aorta,” said Mr Rodriguez.

“Aortic calcification is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, possibly even more important than blood pressure because calcified arteries may cause a rise in blood pressure and thus precede hypertension.”

Mr Rodriguez said as a junior researcher he was very grateful to have received his award and was pleased to establish two potential collaborations with colleagues interested in his poster at the meeting.