Monash Postgraduate Expo and Information Night - 22 April at MMC

Dr Srivastava

Are you interested in developing your career in translational medicine, nursing and health sciences research?

Monash University's Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences invites you to attend a postgraduate course expo featuring talks from outstanding medical researchers Dr Ranjana Srivastava and Dr Steven Petratos. You will have the opportunity to browse all the Faculty's offerings and learn more about what translational research really means and how it can benefit you.

Date: Wednesday 22 April 2015
Venue: Lecture Theatre one and Foyer space in Monash Medical Centre, Clayton
Time: 4.00 - 7.00 pm
Enquiries: Email mnhs-studentrecruitment@monash.edu

See more information here about translational research.

     

Scientists discover new pathways controlling deadly inflammation

Protective macrophage cell

Inflammation is an important response to infection or injury, but needs to be carefully controlled as too much inflammation can cause conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Research conducted by MIMR-PHI Institute of Medical Research and Monash University scientists has provided new insights into how inflammation is controlled. In papers published in the prestigious journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA and Nature Communications, the team led by Drs Tony Sadler and Dakang Xu, and Professor Bryan Williams (Sadler et al. PNAS, 2015; Sadler et al. Nature Commun, 2015) have discovered that a factor termed PLZF, originally identified to be involved in the development of a rare form of childhood leukaemia, plays a critical role in the important process of dampening inflammation to reduce it by restricting the expression of inflammatory gene products.

Previous research by the same team had identified PLZF protein as a host restriction factor limiting virus infection.

Sleep Researcher Elected to the Board of TSANZ

Congratulations to Dr Denise O’Driscoll from the Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences who was elected by Society ballot to the Board of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand at the TSANZSRS Annual Scientific Meeting in the Gold Coast last month.

Prior to stepping into this leadership role, Dr O’Driscoll had served as a member of the TSANZ Research Sub-Committee for 5 years, and was a past recipient of the TSANZ Allen & Hanburys Research Fellowship and the Australian Lung Foundation Ludwig Engel Grant in Aid. Dr O’Driscoll's research focuses on the cardio-metabolic consequences of sleep apnoea, and its subsequent treatment, in the settings of obesity and aging.

First joint CiiiD / CID seminar, Tuesday 21 April, "Imaging of leukocyte biology in the inflammatory response"

Prof Michael Hickey

The first joint seminar of the the Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases and the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases will be held tomorrow at 12.30pm in the Level 3 Boardrooms at MIMR-PHI.

Professor Michael Hickey of CID will speak on "Imaging of leukocyte biology in the inflammatory response".  

A light lunch will be provided at 1.30pm.  Please note the earlier start time.

Forum on the NHMRC Fellowship Schemes: Tuesday 28 April

Prof Matt Gillespie

The NHMRC released a consultation paper on current and emerging issues – NHMRC Fellowship Schemes on Thursday 2 April 2015. 

Associate Dean (Research Strategy), Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Professor Matt Gillespie will host a session on Tuesday 28 April 12:00 – 1:00 in Lecture Theatre S9 (16 Rainforest Walk), Clayton campus and this will be available by video links to other sites.

This session will discuss:

1.    The current activities that the Medical Research Endowment Account (MREA) supports – such that there is an appreciation of the current constraints on the MREA.  Also, if there are suggestions of reallocation of support within the MREA, the potential impacts may be more obvious.
2.    To promote discussion about the consultation paper, particularly each of the questions that are contained within the discussion paper, to inform individual submissions and a submission that I will prepare on behalf of the Faculty.

Grand Rounds " Infection Post Renal Transplantation” 22 April

Presented by the Renal Unit, Wednesday 22 April
12.30-1.30pm
Main Lecture Theatre, MMC

See flyer here.

Powerful proteins: TGF-β ligands and the regulation of skeletal muscle - 23 April

A/Prof Harrison

ThisThursday's (23 April) MIMR-PHI Seminar will be held from 4pm-5pm, Lecture Theatre 1, Monash Medical Centre.

The speaker will be A/Prof Craig Harrison - Head, Growth Factor Signalling Lab, MIMR-PHI Institute.

More details here.

Light refreshments to follow presentation outside the Lecture Theatre.

Australian Genomic Health Alliance: Preparing Australia for Genomic Medicine

Prof Kathryn North

Professor Kathryn North, Director of MCRI, is leading a national proposal for the NHMRC Targeted Call for Research (TCR) into Preparing Australia for the Genomics Revolution in Health Care. They would like to invite interested parties from partner organisations in Victoria to an information session at The Royal Children's Hospital.   

NHMRC Genomics TCR Information Session

Date: Friday 24 April

Time:  10:30 – 11:30amVenue:  Ella Latham Theatre, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road Parkville

“Recent advances in preclinical multimodality imaging to help better facilitate translational disease research”

Dr Kevin Francis will present at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Parkville campus on Thursday 30 April at 2.30pm.

Please see details here.

Ian Potter Foundation Grants (Round 2)

Applications for grants by the Ian Potter Foundation are open for Round 2, covering the following areas:

• Arts

• Community Wellbeing

• Education

• Environment & Conservation

EOIs close:
 Monday 11 May 2015 
5.00pm (Invited full applications 
must be ​submitted​  by 23.​0​6.​20​15)

• Science

• Travel

• Conference

For more information please visit Ian Potter Foundation grants ​ website.​

Applications close:
 Tuesday 23 June 2015 
5.00pm 

Please note, this does not include applications for the specific area of Medical Research, which is undertaken in Round 1.  Applications for Round 1 usually open towards the end of the year and are announced in the first few months of the following year.

Victorian Infection & Immunity Network Careers Evening - 28 May

Wondering what to do next? This is an opportunity for Postgraduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers to hear about alternative career paths.

Thursday 28 May, 2015 – 6:30pm Woodward Conference Centre, Carlton

More details here.

Up to $250,000 available - Call for Expressions of Interest for 3D Data Program

Building evidence through analysing data is crucial to improving the services provided by our partners, the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and WorkSafe Victoria. We are seeking EOIs that use our existing datasets to address the following topics

1.         TAC topic - The Impact of Service Use Patterns on Mental Health Outcomes 

2.         WorkSafe topic – the Future of Workplace Injury Compensation

This EOI process is open to all Monash University researchers wishing to apply and will be of particular interest to those researchers with strong expertise in data mining and analytics.

There is a funding pool of up to $250,000 available for this call. The size and number of projects funded will be determined by the quality of the submissions received. Projects can be up to 12 months’ duration and must commence by 1st September 2015. All EOIs should be emailed to iscrr-grants@monash.edu by 11.59pm on Sunday 3rd May 2015.

For further information, please visit: http://www.iscrr.com.au/about/opportunities/eoi-3d-data-program/calls-for-eoi-to-monash-researchers-3d.html

France-Australia Science Innovation Collaboration (FASIC) program Early Career Fellowships 2015 - APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

The Australian Academy of Science (AAS) invites applications from Australian researchers for the France-Australia Science Innovation Collaboration (FASIC) program Early Career Fellowships in 2015. The FASIC Program is a joint fund to support high calibre Australian and French early career researchers (ECRs) nominated by their institutions, to expand research and innovation activities and to initiate sustainable research networks and linkages to support both countries’ research and innovation priorities. The grant (up to $7,000) can be used towards the cost of travel to and within France, living allowance and participation in conferences/symposia. 

A limit of five applications per eligible institution applies, one per field of research - (1) Food and Agribusiness; (2) Mining Equipment, Technology and Services; (3) Oil, Gas and Energy Resources; (4) Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals; and (5) Advanced Manufacturing. The Monash Research Office (MRO) will select the strongest proposals to be submitted by the University.

Important dates
MRO deadline for internal review and selection: 9am, Friday 24 April 2015
AAS closing date: 9am, Monday 27 April 2015
Results will be announced mid-June 2015.

For further information including eligibility requirements and how to apply please visit https://www.science.org.au/international/fasic-program-early-career-fellowships

Visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA by a Junior Scientist in 2016 - CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

The Australian Academy of Science (AAS) invites expressions of interest (EOIs) from junior scientists who are no more than 30 years of age at time of application, to visit one of the Institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA. Proposals in any health-related field of natural science will be considered. Only Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents living in Australia at the time of application are eligible to apply. The successful applicant will receive a contribution towards the direct return air travel between Australia and the host institution up to a maximum of AU$2,600 and a once-off living allowance up to a maximum of AU$400.

The closing date is  9am, Monday 1 June 2015 for travel in 2016. 

For further information including eligibility requirements and how to apply please visit https://www.science.org.au/visit-national-institutes-health-usa-junior-scientist-2016-open. 

The AAS expect to notify applicants of its nominations by July 2015. Please note the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health will then need to select a suitable candidate. This may not occur until December 2015.

Medical Students– enhance your CV and get ahead

UroGP Symposium encourages student participation in both the cutting edge program as well as a unique opportunity to undertake the 2015 Urologic Education Symposium Medical Student Examination.

In attending UroGP medical students will be able to gain a deeper understanding of complex urological issues and engage with leaders in this field. Additionally, by sitting the exam you will have the opportunity to elevate yourself from your peers by obtaining a certificate or prize in several
categories. Visit www.urogp.com.au for more details.   Flyer attached here.

2015-16 MIMR-PHI student society

Elections for the new 2015-16 MIMR-PHI Student Society committee members were held recently at the MIMR-PHI Student Society Annual General Meeting. 2015-16 committee members and centre representatives are:

President: Harriet Fitzgerald

Vice President: Kimberley D’Costa

Treasurer: Dean Popovski

Secretary: Paulo Pinares-Garcia

Committee reps:

Centre of Reproduction (CRH): Justine Olcorn, Kathryn Walker, Hannah Loke

Centre of Endocrinology (CEM): Katharine Johnson

Centre of Cancer Research (CCR): Heba Zahid, Catherine Cochrane, Dean Popovski

Centre of Genetic Diseases (CGD): Vijesh Vaghjiani

Centre of innate Immunity and infectious diseases (CIIID): Gavin Brooks and  Aleks Guanizo

The Ritchie Centre (TRC): Madison Paton and Paris Papagianis

School of Clinical Sciences (SCS): Lara Bush and Riana Sammu

This year, Monash Clubs and Societies have asked for 10 of our students to be MSA card members. If any students currently hold an MSA card,  please let any of the committee members listed above know. Alternatively, if anyone is interested in obtaining one, visit http://msa.monash.edu/msa-card . 

Reminder to register for Workshops - Writing and Communications

Please find below details of upcoming training workshops on Writing and Communications. The workshop will be delivered by Dr Zhila Bahman, a lecturer of communication and writing programs in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Please contact Zhila (zhila.bahman@monash.edu)  if you have any queries regarding the workshops.

Note:  Students who register for "Academic Writing" must attend and register for all three sessions (1, 2, 3). 

Graduate Research Good Practice Workshop: Milestone Review Panels

This Workshop is aimed at academic and professional staff working with graduate research students. Outlining the University's changes to progress management, it looks at what constitutes a good milestone review process. By identifying key concepts and workshopping case studies and scenarios, the workshop will support better understanding of roles and responsibilities within the University's new progress management framework. It will also focus on practical strategies for organising milestones - in particular, tips in dealing with workloads and large student cohorts.

The Workshop being will be held on 4 May in Clayton and repeated on 5 May in Caulfield.

Please note that these workshops are designated master classes; participation in the workshop can be credited towards Level 2 MIGR membership.

To register, please click on the relevant workshop below:

Click here to register for the Monday 4 May Workshop (to be held Clayton - 1pm - 5pm)

OR (REPEATED)

Click here to register for the Tuesday 5 May Workshop (to be held Caulfield - 11am - 3pm)

Any questions regarding the content of these workshops can be directed to Monica Wehner on email Monica.Wehner@monash.edu or phone 9905 1473.

FMNHS Graduate Research Student Forum - Thurs 30 April 2015

The FMNS Graduate Research Team along with MIGR invites graduate research students to an information forum to be held on Clayton Campus on Thursday 30th of April 2015.

This forum will allow students to meet the new Associate Dean (Graduate Research) Professor Nellie Georgiou-Karistianis, as well as hear about the changes to the doctoral program effective from January 2015. These include: progression management; the doctoral programs; and the new Graduate Research Activity Management System (GRAMS).

Please register your attendance as places are limited.
Date: 30th April 2015 Time: 10am - 12 pm. Venue: Clayton Campus Cinema - 21 Chancellors Walk (Building 10) RSVP: 24th April 2015https://my.monash.edu.au/news-and-events/bookings/fmnhsrdo/view/133645/

ASMR Student Symposium - FINAL ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED to 22 April at 5pm

A showcase symposium where all Victorian health and medical research students can present their work to an audience of their peers, and network with and listen to some of Victoria’s top medical researchers in a friendly, approachable and cooperative scientific environment.

There's still time to submit an abstract! Be quick!

This event is part of the Medical Research Week® undertaken by the Australian Society for Medical Research. For more information please visit our website. Flyer attached here.

The Annual Medical Research Tertiary Careers Evening “Careers in Science and Medical Research”

Calling all health and medical research students,

The Australian Society for Medical Research, as a part of ASMR Medical Research Week 2015 presents:

The Annual Medical Research Tertiary Careers Evening

“Careers in Science and Medical Research”

Hear from speakers with science/biomedical science degrees about:

·      What you can do with a science/biomedical degree of a PhD in medical research

·      How research can take you overseas

·      Careers in research, government, clinical trials, biotechnology and public health

Tuesday 5th May 2015 (Undergraduate & Honours Night)

Thursday 7th May 2015 (Postgraduate Night)

6:00pm – 8:00pm 

Free pizza following the event

The Melbourne Brain Centre, Kenneth Myer Building (KMB) Auditorium University of Melbourne, Parkville
Register here for this event.  For any queries about the event please contact Kiera Flynn .  Flyer is attached here.

PhD Funding Opportunity with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and the Capital Markets CRC

The Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) has announced a funding opportunity to work with their partner, the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).

The TAC has entered a partnership with the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC) to fund a PhD scholar. The partnership provides funding of up to $60,000 per annum, including $50,000 per annum directly supports a tax-free scholarship for a PhD candidate, with the remainder being available to the researcher or supervisor for research-related expenses. 

The funding will support a PhD student to extract, mine and analyse data within the TAC’s claims and payment systems. A primary focus of the program is to help the TAC to enhance its understanding of a client’s ‘claim journey’ with a view to better managing the costs and risks associated with these claims, reducing the impact of the injury, and improving client health, work and independence outcomes in the future. 

The TAC has defined three broad areas of interest: 

GRADUATE RESEARCH SEMINARS: Final Pre-submission Seminar

Seshini Gurusinghe will be presenting her final Phd seminar titled "Identifying potential therapeutics for pre-eclampsia"

Date: Monday 4th May 2015

Time: 12.30pm

Location: Ritchie Centre Seminar Room (Level 5 B block)

Supervisor(s): Dr. Rebecca Lim and Professor Euan Wallace

Panel Chair: Associate Professor Caroline Gargett

Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Comparing Migrant Women Born in Humanitarian and Nonhumanitarian Source Countries: A Retrospective, Observational Study

Euan Wallace published in Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care.

Read article here.

Efficacy and Safety of a Novel Bioabsorbable Polymer-Coated, Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent

Ian Meredith published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.  

Read article here.

FMS-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3 Ligand Treatment Does Not Ameliorate Experimental Rapidly Progressive Glomerulonephritis

Joanna Ghali published in Plos One.

Read article here.

Effects of anti-sclerostin antibody and running on bone remodelling and strength

Peter Ebeling published in Bone Reports.

Read article here.

An overview of PCI in the very elderly

Ian Meredith published in the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology.

Read article here.

New research into Lupus expected to improved outcomes for patients

Professor Eric Morand, Department of Medicine, will lead new research into Lupus which are expected to improved outcomes for patients as a result of nearly $750,000 in funding.

Read article published in Femail here.

SCS Social Club Event - Friday 24th April for Anzac Day

SCS Social Club would like to invite you all to come have a few drinks and nibbles to celebrate our diggers and what they have done for us all.  As you now we don't get the holiday this year, so let's celebrate together!

Date/Time:  24th April at 4pm

Venue:        Medicine Seminar Room

Cost:           $5 entry

Please find attached our flyer.

SCS International lunch: Friday May 8th

Please join our International Lunch on Friday 8th May in the Surgery seminar room. 

Come and share some culinary delights from around the world! Lunch will be strictly 12:30-1:30pm (setting up from 12pm). 

Please bring a dish to share, or $5 for non-chefs. Drinks provided.

See you there!

SCS Social Committee

Pilates

PILATES!!  Commencing last week of April for 9 weeks.
Classes held on Wednesdays 1.15-2.15pm in the MIMR-PHI boardroom

Secure your place with a $50 deposit to Amy Gifford by Friday 24 April.
PLACES ARE LIMITED!!

Cultural Awareness and Chinese language skills

This one day introductory program on May 28 will provide participants with a practical understanding of the middle-east culture.  To further extend knowledge and understanding a one day advanced session is offered on May 29.  Please see below links for further information.

·         Cultural Awareness – Middle East: Introduction
·         Cultural Awareness – Middle East: Advanced

Communicating with and teaching Chinese students

On 25 June two one hour interactive seminars are available to academic and professional staff who interact with Chinese students and wish to enhance their communication skills:

·  Chinese language for beginners 

·  Teaching Chinese Students 

For session information and to register please visit Communicating with and teaching Chinese students.

For further information call Staff Development on 990 29888 or email staff.development@monash.edu

eSolutions communications

Accessing email

eSolutions is making improvements to the way we securely access online services at Monash.  While these improvements are underway, how you access your email and other Google functionality will be temporarily affected beginning Wednesday 15 April.

Accessing your email and other Google Apps from the my.monash portal:

Once you sign into the my.monash portal, you will be prompted to login a second time when you click on your email link or one of the other Google Apps. You will then be able to use either your username or your email address and your Monash password to login.

Accessing your email from the Monash University App:

You will not be able to access your email through the Monash Uni App from Wednesday 15 to Wednesday 22 April.  The outage will only affect the email service within the App; all other App functionality will be unaffected.

An update to the App should be available from your App Store from Thursday 23 April. Once you have downloaded and installed the new release, you will be able to start using the email functionality again.

Publication: Paracetamol poisoning in adolescents in an Australian setting: Not quite adults

Graudins, A. (2015), Paracetamol poisoning in adolescents in an Australian setting: Not quite adults. Emergency Medicine Australasia, 27: 139–144. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.12373

Objective

To describe and compare the characteristics of paracetamol poisoning in adolescent and adult patients.

Method

 

Descriptive retrospective case series of adolescent (12–17 years) and adult (>18 years) patients presenting to a metropolitan hospital network ED, diagnosed with paracetamol poi- soning from October 2009 to September 2013.

Results

There were 220 adolescent (median age 16 years, 47% treated with acetylcysteine [NAC]) and 647 adult presentations (median age 27 years, 42% treated with NAC) for pa- racetamol poisoning in the study period. Adolescent patients were more frequently women (89% vs 76%; odds ratio [OR] 2.4; 95% confidence in- terval [CI] 1.5–3.8) and ingested similar amounts of paracetamol (18 g) when requiring NAC treatment. Ado- lescents were more likely to ingest pa- racetamol as a single agent (53% vs 34%; OR 2.2; 95% CI 1.6–3.0) and less likely to ingest compound para- cetamol products than adults (18% vs 29%; OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.36–0.79). Adolescents were less likely to report accidental supratherapeutic ingestion of paracetamol (0.02% vs 10%; OR 0.23; 95% CI 0.09–0.58), or co-ingestion of prescription medica- tions (25% vs 43%; OR 0.4; 95% CI 0.31–0.62). Adolescents had more frequent histamine release reactions to NAC than adults (17% vs 8%; OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.2–4.5). No cases required liver transplantation or resulted in death.

Conclusion

Adolescents ingested com- parable amounts of paracetamol to adults, when presenting with deliber- ate self-poisoning. However, there were significant differences in co-ingested medications and the reason for inges- tion of paracetamol. Histamine reac- tions to NAC were more common in adolescents; however, most were mild. Overall, outcome was favourable in both cohorts.