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| Associate Professor Vincent and Professor Ebeling |
Monash University’s Associate
Professor Amanda Vincent received the highly competitive Osteoporosis Australia
/ Amgen Research Award at the joint Annual Scientific Meetings of the Endocrine
Society of Australia, the Society for Reproductive Biology and the Australian
and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society on the Gold Coast last month.
Presented by Medical Director of
Osteoporosis Australia Professor Peter Ebeling from the School of Clinical Sciences
at Monash Health (SCS), Associate Professor Vincent, who is also an
endocrinologist at Monash Health, received the award worth $40,000 for her research into
premature menopause and bone health.
Associate Professor Vincent’s project aims to improve bone health and fracture prevention in women
with premature
menopause via novel imaging techniques and educational resources
for consumers and health professionals.
Premature menopause (PM) is defined as menopause occurring in women
under 40 years of age.
“PM may occur spontaneously, encompassing premature ovarian
insufficiency (POI) or occur secondary to medical treatment including bilateral
oophorectomy or chemotherapy,” said Associate Professor Vincent, a research
fellow at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI).
“Spontaneous POI affects 1% of women, with medically induced PM
affecting up to 10% of women.”
The causes of spontaneous POI include genetic abnormalities such as
Turner Syndrome, however, in most women the cause of POI is unknown.
“Monash Health is unique in that it conducts the only dedicated PM
and adult Turner Syndrome clinics in Australia within the multidisciplinary
Menopause Unit,” said Associate Professor Vincent.
PM places women at increased risk of osteoporosis, however, Associate
Professor Vincent’s previous research has shown that optimal treatment of bone
health remains elusive with health professional and patient knowledge
gaps.
“I am very
honoured to receive this award and also excited at the opportunity that this provides to combine both my research and
clinical activities to advance understanding and clinical care for women and
health professionals about PM, a condition that is relatively common
and can have potentially devastating effects on both psychological
and physical health.”
Associate Professor Vincent’s project also builds on
the strengths of Monash Partners, combining the expertise of clinicians at
Monash Health and researchers based at the MCHRI, Department of Medicine,
School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) and Hudson Institute of
Medical Research.
