SCS eNews: 2018-04-15

Monday, 16 April 2018

Eva Segelov commended by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt MP

Watch video here.

Read about the cancer fundraising campaign supporting Monash Health Clinical Trials with the hope of employing an extra doctor to expand participant numbers.

Simulation changing surgical training

Mr Ram Nataraja in the MCH surgical simulation centre

Surgical training has changed radically in the last few decades. Competency-based training has replaced the traditional apprenticeship model based on Halsted’s principles, dating back to the 19^th century.

In two review articles published in the Journal of Pediatric Urology, Monash University’s Mr Ram Nataraja reveals the significant benefits of surgical simulation in surgical training and education.

Mr Nataraja is a consultant paediatric and neonatal surgeon and Director of surgical simulation at Monash Children’s Hospital, and a senior lecturer at Monash University’s Department of Paediatrics.

“Healthcare education has evolved rapidly in the last twenty years, with changes especially evident in surgical training,” Mr Nataraja said.

“Simulation methodology is now an integral part of training various surgical subspecialties, especially for technical skills learning.”

“However, it is important to recognise that the role of simulation in surgical education is broader than merely technical skill acquisition.”

Many adverse incidents in surgical practice arise from or involve failures in communication, teamwork, and situational awareness, rather than technical expertise.

Mr Nataraja said that simulation can promote the learning, practice, refinement, and assessment of both technical and non-technical skills in a patient-safe environment.

“In addition to allowing learners to make mistakes without adverse patient impacts, simulation also allows for specific rehearsal of rare or unique situations,” he said.

Simulation modalities that have been shown to enhance surgical training and education include (but are not limited to): open surgical models and trainers, laparoscopic bench trainers, virtual reality trainers, simulated patients and role-play, hybrid simulation and scenario-based simulation.

“Some of these modalities are readily available and others more expensive; located in specialised surgical simulation centres,” Mr Nataraja said.

“Advances in simulator design have resulted in decreased cost and bring aspects of simulation-based medical education within the reach of all departments, even in resource-constrained environments.”

Mr Nataraja review includes an overview of essential educational principles that underpin contemporary medical education and support the practical application of surgical simulation. His key message is that surgical simulation does not have to be expensive or time-consuming to be effective, and can be incorporated into busy surgical timetables.

Gastro-intestinal tumours recur later than other cancers

Professor Eva Segelov

The world’s largest study of post-surgical outcomes of particular neuroendocrine tumours has revealed very different recurrence patterns compared to usual cancers.

Led by Monash University’s Director of Oncology Professor Eva Segelov, the collaborative research team published their results in the high impact journal JAMA Oncology this month.

Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are a diverse, uncommon group of cancers with increasing incidence and prevalence. An extremely heterogeneous type of cancer, prognosis of patients with NETs ranges from months in aggressive disease to decades for indolent disease.

Professor Segelov said the study is the largest ever series—by a factor of 10—in reporting outcomes after curative surgery for a rare cancer, Neuroendocrine Tumours (NET), arising from the gut or pancreas,” Professor Segelov said.

“For the first time, our study shows very different recurrence patterns for this kind of tumour.”

“On average NETs take seven to ten years to recur, whereas most other cancers spread to another organ like the liver or lungs within three to five years.”

The significant clinical implications of this study are that these patients need a different follow-up schedule to other cancer patients.

“Instead of having frequent visits and scans in the first few years, these patients should have more intense follow-up after five years—this is quite a paradigm shift,” Professor Segelov said.

Professor Segelov said future research should focus on the cost-effectiveness of surveillance and its impact on patient outcomes.

This work was undertaken using the very large population database of Ontario, Canada, reporting more than 900 cases, and was performed within CommNETS, an international research collaboration co-founded by Professor Segelov.

New oncology intergroup meetings at MHTP – all welcome

Oncology intergroup lab members

For the first time, weekly oncology intergroup lab meetings are taking place at the Monash Health Translation Precinct (MHTP).

Facilitated by Director of Oncology Professor Eva Segelov, the meetings bring together the four cancer research groups in the precinct: the Southey, Azad, Shortt and Segelov labs.

Professor Segelov said the cancer and blood portfolio at MHTP has increased significantly, with many new staff, students and projects.

“These meetings are a new initiative, prompted by achieving a critical mass of researchers, translational scientists and clinicians,” Professor Segelov said.

“The meetings alternate between journal club presentations and topic presentations, relating to current work, as well as invited speakers.”

“Each meeting starts with an informal discussion about grants, upcoming talks, troubleshooting of projects, asking for assistance or informing peers of new techniques, equipment or skills.”

“The first few meetings were introductory, where we explored the many and varied skills within the groups, ranging from bioinformatics to highly specialised lab techniques.”

“The meeting also opens the opportunity to practice an upcoming talk, so that any lab member with an upcoming conference or other presentation can have a full run-through their talk and benefit from productive feedback and a preview of what questions they may be asked.”

Professor Segelov said she has already seen much more interaction between the research groups both during the sessions and throughout the week—expertise has been shared and combined projects and even grants have been planned.

“A particular emphasis is on giving the clinical perspective as to how this work may help patients in the future and what the opportunities as well as challenges may be,” she said.

All researchers across the Monash campus are welcome to attend the Friday meetings on level 7 of the TRF, either weekly or based on a topic. For the upcoming schedule, please contact Daphne Day or Heide Fettke.

DCEP regimen buys time for multiple myeloma patients

Dr George Grigoriadis

The combination of dexamethasone, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and cisplatin (DCEP) is an effective bridge to autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) or novel agents in patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma.

Original story in The Limbic.

Ricardo Da Costa named an Active April Ambassador

Dr Ricardo Da Costa from the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food was named an ambassador for the Premier's Active April in 2018.

Read more here.

Faculty Research Committee update March 2018

Prepared by Professor Michael Hickey, SCS representative on the Faculty's Research Committee – 29/03/2018

1. Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)

- MRFF Calls for applications in recent times have typically occurred quite close (~6wks) to deadline for application. Therefore, it is important for the Faculty to be prepared and ready to respond quickly

- Applications benefit from demonstration of alignment of diverse Faculty groups.

- Areas of Precision Medicine and Mental Health have been identified as Monash strengths that may be targeted in future MRFF calls, and so preparatory groundwork is in train in these areas, led by Profs. Eric Morand and Steve Jane respectively. Researchers are encouraged to contact leads if they would like to contribute/participate.

- Faculty has set up an MRFF intranet page with information relevant to MRFF opportunities. See: https://monash.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f5fb421215411523bece58a4a&id=265a640715&e=07588acebf

2. Strategic Grants Scheme

- To be placed in hiatus in 2018 (except for Platform Access Grants) in part due to funding restrictions, and to enable assessment of the efficacy of past iterations of the funding schemes.

3. HDR Students / Supervisors

- Supervisors are reminded that the Intellectual Property form (now on-line) needs to be completed for all new students, and that supervisors and their students should review the IP status of their projects annually.

Monash - Newcastle University PhD Student Exchange Program

A formal partnership between Monash and Newcastle Universities is now established. This builds upon the long-standing collaboration and complementary capabilities and strategic objectives of both institutions in translational health and life sciences research, and education.

We are delighted to announce a new call for our PhD Student Exchange Program whereby we will have a 2-way flow of students with shared supervision from across the Universities. The primary supervisor will be at the enrolled students host University and the co-supervisor at the collaborating University. The exchange program will enable PhD students from each institution to take up a 3 months exchange at Monash or Newcastle depending on the project and training requirements. The PhD Student Exchange is expected to create a new pathway for graduates from both Universities for enhanced competitiveness and increased success in international fellowship applications, as well a building further capacity for larger strategic partnerships.

Up to 8 PhD student bursaries (4 from each institution) will be awarded and successful students will receive full travel and living costs for up to 3 months.

Applications will be considered in the following areas of research:

· Neuroscience

· Infection & Immunity

· Metabolism & Nutrition

· Platform Systems

In order to apply for this exciting research opportunity the main supervisor is required to complete the online application form using the following link:

https://forms.ncl.ac.uk/view.php?id=1747999

Deadline for online applications is 7^th May 2018

PhD Student Exchange Partnership Contacts:

Prof Nellie Georgiou-Karistianis

Associate Dean, Graduate Research,

Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University

nellie.georgiou-karistianis@monash.edu

Dr Alison Tyson-Capper

Associate Dean, Postgraduate Research,

Faculty of Medical Sciences,

Newcastle University

alison.tyson-capper@ncl.ac.uk

VIIN Careers Evening 2018 - Register TODAY!

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

VIIN Careers Evening - Registration Open!

When: Monday 07 May - 6:00pm

Where: Woodward Conference Centre, Carlton

Confirmed Speakers:

Glenn Begley
CEO
BioCurate Pty Ltd

Anna Bellamy-McIntyre
Manager, R&D and Technology Incentives
EY

Bruce Wines
Senior Research Officer
Burnet Institute

Jaclyn Pearson
Group Leader, Host-Pathogen Interactions Research Group
Hudson Institute of Medical Research

Maree Overall
CEO
EMILY's List Australia

Registration:

Registration is free and open to all Victorian Infection and Immunity Researchers and Postgraduate Students. Drinks and finger food will be provided.

Visit the event page >

Register now >

Flash Mob invitation!

Watch the rehearsal video

Fundamentals in Obstetric Care, 20-21 April

Simple strategies for better sleep (ZOOM Webinar), 17 April

All animals need to sleep. Research shows many of us aren’t getting enough, and this has big implications for brain performance as well as our physical and mental health.

This one-hour presentation will explore why exactly sleep is important and how much we really need. It will also outline simple strategies for improving sleep, including:

-Diet & exercise

-Sleep hygiene

-Dealing with insomnia

-Meditation

Target audience:	All Monash Staff
Presenter:	Richard Chambers
Date:	Tuesday 17 April, 2018
Time:	12:30pm - 1:30pm
Venue:	https://monash.zoom.us/j/326362109, REGISTER HERE. If you would like to attend the event in person at the Clayton campus, please register here Any questions about the event can be sent to wellbeing@monash.edu

CID seminar: Novel Stroke Treatments: Cells and a Vitamin, 17 April

April 17, 12-1pm, Seminar Room 1, TRF

Presented by Professor Chris Sobey

NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Professor in Physiology

Co-Head, Vascular Biology & Immunopharmacology Group, La Trobe University

Stroke accounts for more than 10% of deaths worldwide, and over a third of survivors are left with major neurological impairment. The need for new and effective therapies for stroke is therefore clear and urgent. While some advances have been made toward understanding its mechanisms, still only one intervention has been found to reduce brain injury following clinical stroke – the ‘clot-buster’ recombinant tissue plasminogen activator. Unfortunately however, with a short time window of only 4.5 h, this therapy is available to less than 10% of stroke patients. For further advances in the clinical treatment of ischemic stroke, the complex mechanisms of cellular injury following cerebral ischemia must be elucidated to provide novel targets for future therapies. This presentation will describe some of our recent work examining novel therapies such as human amnion epithelial cells and vitamin D in experimental stroke models.

Chris Sobey is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Professor in Physiology who moved from the Monash Pharmacology Department to the School of Life Sciences at La Trobe University in 2017. There, together with Prof Grant Drummond, the new HOD of Physiology Anatomy & Microbiology, Chris co-leads the Vascular Biology & Immunopharmacology Group comprising 20 members. Chris has more than 190 publications and an H index of 56 from his studies of vascular diseases involving oxidative stress and inflammation – especially stroke, atherosclerosis and hypertension. His current work is investigating the inflammatory mechanisms occurring in the brain after stroke in order to identify and develop new treatments for stroke patients. Novel approaches include systemic cell therapy, Th2 cytokines, estrogen receptor binding drugs and vitamin D.

From Cells to Systems: RNA Binding Proteins at the Heart of Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, 17 April

The Centre for Reproductive Health will hold a seminar on Tuesday 17th April at 11am - 12pm in Seminar Room 2, Level 2 of the TRF Building.

Dr Minni Änkö of Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute will be presenting 'From Cells to Systems: RNA Binding Proteins at the Heart of Gene Regulation in Health and Disease'.

Dr Minni Änkö’s group in the RNA Processing in Health and Disease Laboratory at Monash University investigates the contribution of RNA processing to gene regulation, combining wet and dry lab approaches. Her research focus is on understanding how RNA binding proteins tune the gene expression output in various types of stem cells and the haematopoietic system and how aberrations in the machinery result in genetic disorders and cancer.

Haematology Journal Club, ‘Innate immune response to metastatic cancer’ Wednesday 18th April

7.30am breakfast, 7.45am presentation, 18 April, Lecture Theatre 2, MMC

Presented by Associate Professor Nick Huntington

Sushena Krishnaswamy's PhD presubmission: Implementation of maternal pertussis vaccination: the barriers from the consumer and healthcare provider perspective and evaluation of different models of immunisation service delivery, 20 April

All staff and students are invited to Sushena Krishnaswamy's PhD pre-submission seminar.

Friday 20 April, 1-2pm, Anatomical Pathology Conference Room, Level 3, Monash Medical Centre (near entrance to Department of Anaesthetics)

Title: Implementation of maternal pertussis vaccination: the barriers from the consumer and healthcare provider perspective and evaluation of different models of immunisation service delivery

Synopsis: My thesis explores the factors influencing implementation of maternal pertussis vaccination programs in Australia. These include the barriers to uptake of maternal pertussis vaccination from the perspectives of women and maternity care providers, the impact of different models of immunisation service delivery, and the experience of pharmacists in provision of maternal vaccination.

Supervisors: Drs Michelle Giles, Jim Buttery, Euan Wallace

Panel Chair: Dr David Nikolic-Paterson

Independent Assessors: Drs Ryan Hodges, Daniel Rolnik

Gene therapy regime that restores mitochondrial function and prevents mdx cardiomyopathy, 19 April

This week's Hudson seminar will be held in Lecture Theatre 1, MMC on Thursday 19th April 12pm-1pm.

Our speaker will be Professor Livia Hool, PhD FAHA FCANZ, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, President International Society for Heart Research (Australasian Section)

She will be presenting 'Gene therapy regime that restores mitochondrial function and prevents mdx cardiomyopathy'

Livia Hool completed her PhD in cellular electrophysiology at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney in 1995. She then undertook 2 years postdoctoral research as a recipient of an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship in the School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. In 1998 she was awarded a Peter Doherty Fellowship from NHMRC and relocated to The University of Western Australia where she established the Cardiovascular Electrophysiology Laboratory in the Physiology Department. She has received continuous national competitive funding since establishing the laboratory and previously held an NHMRC Career Development Award and an ARC Future Fellowship. She is currently the recipient of an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship, Faculty-at-Large of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, President of the International Society for Heart Research Australasian Section and Founding Director and General Secretary of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance. The work of her laboratory is concerned with understanding the role that the L-type Ca²⁺ channel plays in mediating alterations in calcium and metabolic activity in the heart leading to sudden cardiac death and heart failure. This is studied at the level of purified channel protein, the single cell, the whole heart ex vivo and in murine models of cardiomyopathy strategically directed towards building basic knowledge, method development, discovery, and translation.

A light lunch and refreshments will follow this presentation.

Khai Gene Leong's PhD mid-candidature review: Cyclophilins in renal disease. 24 April

All staff and students are invited to Khai Gene Leong's PhD mid-candidature review.

24 April, 9-11am, Conference Room, Department of Nephrology, Monash Medical Centre

Title: Cyclophilins in renal disease

Synopsis: Inflammation and apoptosis are important underlying causes of renal injury/

dysfunction, and progressive renal fibrosis leading to chronic kidney disease.

However, despite the large burden of acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney

disease (CKD), there is no current successful clinical therapeutics that halts the

process of AKI, and progression of AKI to CKD. Cyclophilins are ubiquitously

expressed proteins that are physiologically involved in protein folding. Of these,

Cyclophilin A (CypA) has a key role in regulating the inflammatory process, and

Cyclophlin D (CypD) is an essential component of the mitochondrial permeability

membrane pore opening leading to cell death. I will explore the roles of CypA and

CypD in contributing to renal disease to aid in future development of therapeutics

that may lessen the incidence and prevalence of AKI and CKD.

Supervisors: A/Prof David Nikolic-Paterson; A/Prof John Kanellis; Dr. Frank Ma

Panel Chair: Prof Michael Hickey

Independent asssessors: Prof Peter Kerr; Dr. Daniel Bird

Grand Rounds: “How we won the Nobel Peace Prize", 18 April

ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) PRESENTS

Dr Marcus Yip: “How we won the Nobel Peace Prize"

Come and see the Nobel Peace Prize!

12.30-1.30pm, 18 April, Lecture Theatre 1, MMC

Novel therapies and vaccine strategies to reduce the global burden of ear and lung disease, 20 April

Friday 20 April, 11am-12pm, Level 2 seminar and tearoom, MIMR building

Dr Lea-Ann Kirkham is an NHMRC Career Development Fellow at the University of Western Australia and Microbiology Lead in the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at the Telethon Kids Institute. Her vision is to develop improved therapies, including vaccines and vaccine schedules, to significantly reduce the global burden of childhood ear and lung diseases from nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus).

Her PhD research at Glasgow University led to development of a protein-based pneumococcal vaccine that is currently in clinical trials. In 2011, her team’s research on identifying the predominant cause of ear infections in Australian children contributed to introduction of a new vaccine onto the National Immunisation Program. This vaccine has recently been shown to reduce ear infection rates in Indigenous Australian children.

Dr Kirkham’s current research focuses on nasopharyngeal colonisation as a target for disease prevention. Specifically, she is leading an NHMRC-funded project to evaluate a novel bacterial therapy to prevent pathogenic colonisation of the respiratory tract and ultimately disease. She is also co-investigator on an NHMRC-funded clinical trial in Papua New Guinea comparing different pneumococcal vaccines and vaccine schedules to find the best approach to protect high-risk infants from pneumococcal disease. Data from this study will guide vaccine policy for resource-poor settings.

Enquiries: Dr Jaclyn.Pearson@hudson.org.au

Webinar – Peer review for NHMRC’s new grant program, 26 April

NHMRC CEO, Professor Anne Kelso, will present an update on the implementation of the new grant program, including peer review arrangements, via webinar on

Thursday 26 April 2018 from 1:00-2:00pm (AEST).

We have booked Seminar Room 3 Level2 TRF for SCS and Hudson researchers to attend the webinar.

This event is important for current and future NHMRC applicants so please ensure you book the event in your calendars.

Webinar on peer review for NHMRC’s new grant program

Thursday, April 26, 2018 1300 - 1400 AEST
NHMRC is making improvements to its grant funding program to ensure it continues to support the best Australian health and medical research and researchers.
The improvements aim to:

provide opportunities for talented researchers at all career stages to contribute to the improvement of human health
encourage greater creativity and innovation in research and
minimise the burden on researchers of application and peer review so that researchers can spend more time producing high quality research.

In this webinar Professor Anne Kelso AO, CEO of NHMRC will outline peer review arrangements for NHMRC’s new grant program, following recent consultations.
Please note that there is a limit on the number of live webinar attendees.
NHMRC suggests that institutions arrange to show the webinar in seminar rooms etc. to ensure as many people can view the live webinar as possible.
People will be connected to the webinar on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. Everyone who registers for the webinar will receive a link to the recording.
Q and A
The webinar technology allows attendees to ask questions in real time via a text-based system. Professor Kelso will set aside some time at the end of the webinar to address as many of these questions as possible.
Webinar recording
If you cannot attend the live webinar a recording will be published on the NHMRC website.

Health data platform safe haven demonstrations, 24 April

Staff at MHTP can join via Zoom.

At Monash Medical Centre, the seminar will be broadcast via Zoom in Seminar Room 1, TRF.

To attend, please register at: https://bit.ly/2Jl616t

CAN-SLEEP: Improving night-time sleep for cancer survivors, 23 May

Beisi Jiang's PhD mid-candidature review, "Telehealth in Palliative Care: The Clinical Impact and Efficiency of Service", 2 May

All staff and students are invited to Beisi Jiang's PhD mid-candidature review.

2 May, 10-11am, Professor Julian Smith's office, Level 5, Block E, Department of Surgery

Presentation Title: Telehealth in Palliative Care: The Clinical Impact and Efficiency of Service

Synopsis: In Australia and many other parts of the world, the demand for palliative care services is increasing due to the aging of the population and the increases in the prevalence of cancer and other chronic diseases that accompany aging. In palliative care, telehealth has been used to link people and their primary care providers with specialist palliative care advice regardless of geographical barriers, however, with little conclusive evidence available on outcomes and efficiency. Therefore, in this study, we conduct a Real-World Evidence integrated RCT to investigate the beneficiary of telehealth in home-based palliative care in terms of symptom management, quality of life, psychological support and service efficiency.

Supervisor: A/Prof. Peter Poon

Panel Chair: Prof. Julian Smith

Independent assessors: Prof. Donald Campbell, Dr Alistair Miller

Translating knowledge of phenotype towards improved outcomes in neurodevelopmental disability, 28-29 August

Breakthrough discoveries in metabolism, diabetes and obesity, 16-18 October

New space policy at SCS

The SCS intranet has been updated to include information about the School's space policy, where you'll also find a new online space request form.

Please direct all enquiries about space allocation to Ciara Boyd

eSolutions printer update

What do I do if my job stops printing abruptly because the device has run out of paper ?

Considering one of the key features of our new print environment in "Confidentiality" we do not recommend you walk away from your job when it hasn't completed printing, instead you can cancel the current job and then address the paper issues.

To delete a current job, please follow these three simple steps:

Step 1: Select Use Copier
Step 2: Press Status Monitor/Cancel button
Step 3: Select the job/s you wish to cancel and press Yes to confirm cancellation of the job/s

Note: You will have to release the job from your machine once again after selecting the remainder of the pages that need to be printed.

Can I print using a non-Monash device?

Yes, you will be able to print from a non-Monash device. Please refer to the instructions below:

Instructions for Mac
Instructions for Windows
Instructions for Linux

Can I print using my smartphone or tablet?

Yes, you will also be able to print from your smartphone or tablet via PaperCut Web Print. Please refer to Instructions for Web Printing.

Can a colleague (e.g. admin or executive assistant) collect print on someone's behalf?

Yes, delegate access can be set up by request on the new print service. Any requests for delegate access must be submitted via the Service Desk.

Is there a limit to the size for scanned documents?

No, but there is a limit of 20MB that applies to emails. If you are working with large documents, save them to Google Drive and send a link to the file.