Monday 25 June 2018

Professor Gary Williamson to lead Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food

Professor Gary Williamson

Monash University welcomes Professor Gary Williamson as the new Head, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food.

A highly cited author (ISI h-index of 80), Professor Williamson joins the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) from the University of Leeds, UK, where he was Professor and Chair of Functional Food, School of Food Science and Nutrition.

Dr Jim Harris

A collaborative international research team, including Monash researcher Jim Harris, have discovered a new way that vitamin A helps the lung immune system to deal with tuberculosis (TB).

TB is a major threat to global health. TB killed 1.7 million people in 2016; the top cause of death related to infection worldwide. With the increased incidence of drug-resistant TB, additional strategies are required to treat the disease.

The Department of Psychiatry’s PhD students showcased their research at the recent 3MT department heats.

Adrienne Grech took out first place, Jae Oh was the second prize winner while Ross Borland was awarded the People’s Choice.

Final year PhD candidate in the Behavioural Neuroscience Laboratory, Adrienne Grech presented her research which is investigating approaches to treat cognitive symptoms associated with schizophrenia.

“The learning and memory problems associated with schizophrenia, broadly known as cognitive symptoms, can emerge before other symptoms are noticed,” Adrienne said.

Last Saturday, Professor Euan Wallace, Associate Professor Michael Fahey, Dr Tim Moss and Dr Stacey Ellery attended the Grace Gala ball in Sydney to accept a cheque for $2 million from Australia's Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), to the Cerebral Palsy (CP) Alliance research foundation.

SCS staff meeting 29 June HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Nominate a quiet achiever HERE.

Faculty 3MT final, 12 July

Please support our students in the Faculty's 3MT final.

Date: Thursday 12 July
Time: 1.30 - 3.30 pm
Venue: S9 (Science Lecture Theatre), 16 Rainforest Walk, Clayton Campus

Further information including the University Final is available on the 3MT website

2018 Prizes & Awards Calendar - July to September

Please refer to the attached Prizes & Awards(P&A) Calendar for opportunities closing in July to September 2018. Please note that Green means we have had winners in this category in the past. Yellow means we have had finalists.

In particular, please encourage nominations for the Research Australia Health & Medical Research Awards and the Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

What’s happening?

· Staff working Night Shift at Monash Medical Centre (MMC) and Monash Children’s Hospital (MCH) who pay for parking now have access to the newly designated SMS/Night Shift car park between 6pm and 8:30am. (see car park plan below) This area is in addition to the current Browns Road North Multi-deck and P Block parking areas available to night shift staff.

How do I access the additional night shift car park?

· Night shift staff may enter the SMS/Night car park between 6pm and 4:30am by badging their ID/Access card at the boom gates opposite the Multi-deck car park, accessible from Browns Road through the Browns Road North Car Park.

· Night Shift staff should exit the parking area before 8:30am.

When will I be able to access this night shift car park?

· Access is available immediately.

Do I Have Access?

· Everyone working night shift who pays for parking has access to the new area, in addition to the P Block and Browns Road North Multi-deck night shift access.

What about safety and security?

· The SMS/Night Shift car park has good access to both Monash Medical Centre and Monash Children’s Hospital.

· The pathway to and from the main parking areas in the Browns Road North car park (where the SMS/night shift car park is located) is fitted with CCTV surveillance, duress alarms, intercoms and flood lighting.

Monash Health parking reminder

· Monash Health accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage to vehicles or property whilst they are on Monash Health premises, and users park solely at their own risk. Parking infringement notices may be issued by Monash City Council in public streets and parking areas, and the Monash Health security team within the confines of the MMC site.

How do I obtain more information?

Please contact Martin White, Monash Health Car Parking Manager for more information or clarification

· Email: Martin. White@monashhealth.org

CID seminar, "Mitochondria and the release of damage associated signals during cell death", 26 June

Presented by Prof. Benjamin Kil
Head, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University

Tuesday 26 June, 12-1pm, TRF seminar room 1.

Professor Benjamin Kile is Head of the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University. An NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Ben trained at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), where he obtained his PhD in 2001. After postdoctoral studies with Professor Monica Justice at Baylor College of Medicine in the USA, he returned to WEHI in 2004, establishing an independent research group in 2008. Professor Kile’s research achievements have been recognised with a number of awards and prizes, including the 2010 Australian Federal Governments Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientists of the Year, and the Gottschalk Medal of the Australian Academy of Science.

‘Wnt regulation of the stem cell niche’, 26 June

This week there will be a Special Seminar held by Centre for Cancer Research on Tuesday 26 June at 9:30-10:30 am in Seminar Rooms 1 & 2, Level 2, TRF.

The speaker will be David M. Virshup, MD

Professor and Director, Program in Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Professor of Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

Dr David M. Virshup, MD, is the inaugural Director of the Program in Cancer and Stem Cell Biology at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, and a tenured Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University in North Carolina, USA. His research focuses on signal transduction via protein phosphorylation, with a special interest in Wnt signalling and circadian rhythms.

Dr Virshup received his B.A. magna cum laude in Chemistry from Beloit College in 1977 and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1981. He completed his clinical training in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and research training all at Johns Hopkins.

From 1990 until 2007, Dr Virshup was at the University of Utah. In 2007, he joined the newly-established Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore.

Dr Virshup is a member of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, He has been on the Editorial Board for Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

NIH webinar: Human subjects and clinical trials, Tuesday 26 June

The next webinar from FreeMind is scheduled for 4:00 - 5:00PM (AEST) on Tuesday 26 June. The focus is on NIH projects that involve human subjects, with the following topics being covered:

Basic concepts behind human subjects research
What is human subjects research
Using human samples/specimens even when the work is not human subject research (and what is required in that case)
What exemption 4 is and what is required in that case
What is required for non-exempt human subject research – review of the various documents and information that needs to be provided
Definition of a clinical trial and what is required for a clinical trial application
Time permitting, animal research and what is needed for the Vertebrate Animals document

To register, please click the following link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9071452906637987075

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

The slides and recording will be circulated following the webinar.

Monash Haematology Journal Club, “Direct targets of JAK-STAT signalling in the blood”, 27 June

7.30am Breakfast & 7.45am Presentation

MHTP, Level 2, Seminar Room 2, Clayton

“Direct targets of JAK-STAT signalling in the blood”

Presenter: Prof Andrew Perkins, Prof (Research), Aust Centre for Blood Diseases

Grand Round, “Frontiers in Stroke: Future Direction", 27 June

Wednesday 27 June, 12.30-1.30pm
Lecture Theatre 3, Monash Medical Centre

Presented by Associate Professor Henry Ma

'An investigation of CD4+ TCR recognition of an imunodominant HIV epitope in controller individuals', 28 June

This week's Hudson seminar will be held in Seminar Rooms 1 & 2, Level 2, TRF Building on Thursday 28 June, 12pm-1pm.

Our speaker will be A/Prof Stephanie Gras, PhD

Monash Senior Research Fellow | Infection and Immunity Discovery Program | Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute

She will be presenting 'An investigation of CD4+ TCR recognition of an imunodominant HIV epitope in controller individuals'

Associate Professor Stephanie Gras is a Group Leader and Senior Research Fellow at Monash University within the Biomedicine Discovery Institute. She is leading a group of 10 researchers working on the T cell response towards infections with a primary focus on HIV, influenza and M Tuberculosis. After a PhD in France, she moved to Australia, more than a decade ago, where she has established an independent research group focused on the understanding of the molecular mechanism of T cell receptor recognition of antigens, the key event for an effective immune response.

She has successfully secured funding from both the ARC and NHMRC to support her group, as well as been awarded the Dean’s award for Early Career Researcher, an ARC Future Fellowship, the Georgina Sweet Award for Women in Quantitative Biomedical Science. Stephanie has also been extremely successful at presenting her work at both national and international meeting, as well as publishing her research in high profile journals such as Nature, Nature Immunology, Immunity and Science Immunology.

And she will be presenting her team’s work based on newly identify HIV-specific cytotoxic CD4 T cells in HIV controller individuals, work that has just been published in Science Immunology.

A light lunch and refreshments will follow this presentation.

Aneesa Ansari's PhD confirmation, Characterising Exosomes from Immortalised Human Amnion Epithelial Cells, 29 July

All staff and students are invited to Aneesa Ansari's first year PhD confirmation seminar.

29 July, 2.30pm, Seminar Room 2, TRF

Synopsis: I aim to immortalise human amnion epithelial cells by targeting different genes regulating the cell cycle. These cells can then be used to isolate exosomes for future therapeutic purposes.

Supervisors: Dr Rebecca Lim, A/Prof Ron Firestein

Panel Chair: Daniel Gough

Independent assessors: Jemma Evans and Sefi Rosenbluh

Mixed methods research in health: introduction to group concept mapping methodology, 22 August

Wednesday 22nd August, 12pm-1pm, TRF Building, Level 2, Seminar Room 3

Presenter: Dr. Lucy Busija,

Senior Research Fellow, Biostatistics Unit

Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia

This talk will focus on a mixed methods design known as group concept mapping (GCM). Like all qualitative studies, GCM begins with a collection of qualitative data. In contrast to traditional qualitative methods, the data are then presented back to the participants for the derivation of themes through the process of sorting. The sorted data are analysed with multivariate statistical techniques, including multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. The result is a comprehensive conceptual framework that captures major themes related to the concept of interest and interrelationships among the themes. The talk will outline steps of GCM and present examples of applications of this method in health research.

Enquiries: vivien.vasic@hudson.org.au

STROKE 2018, 7-10 August, Sydney

The Stroke Society of Australasia (SSA) 28th Annual Scientific Meeting and the 14th Smart Strokes

Australasian Nursing and Allied Health Stroke Conference combine to bring you STROKE 2018.

Smart Strokes and SSA are delighted to present the 2018 STROKE Conference to be held from 7-10 August 2018 in the vibrant and iconic city of Sydney on the South-East coast of Australia.

Following on from the huge 2015 success, Smart Strokes and SSA join forces again to enable this important cross-over of knowledge achieved by holding their two annual events together. STROKE 2018 with its theme “Bridging the Continuum” will bring together all professionals involved in stroke care. The conference will cover all aspects of the continuum of stroke care from: stroke prevention, acute stroke interventions, rehabilitation products and services, nursing essentials, scientic research, equipments plus much more.

In addition to invaluable networking opportunities, STROKE 2018 showcases and encourages the work of established clinicians and researchers, and brings people from stroke-related professions together to share and learn.

Program information and registration HERE.

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T) cells: another cancer therapy with potential applications in kidney disease and transplantation?

Richard Kitching, Julie Jaw published in Kidney International.

Effectiveness of self-management support interventions for people with comorbid diabetes and chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Helena Teede et al. published in Systematic Reviews.

Role of serum biomarkers to optimise a validated clinical risk prediction tool for gestational diabetes

Helena Teede et al. published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Spontaneous and iatrogenic preterm birth rates among unselected women in three consecutive pregnancies

Ben Mol et al. published in the European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology.

Obesity and anthropometric determinants of autonomic control in children with sleep-disordered breathing-which measurements matter

Rosemary Horne et al. published in the International Journal of Obesity.

Foreign tick smuggling rickettsia evades Australian border control

Tony Korman et al. published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Undiagnosed maternal diaphragmatic hernia – a management dilemma

Kirsten Palmer et al. published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.

Sharing the pain: lessons from missed opportunities for healthcare improvement from patient complaints and litigation in the Australian health system

Euan Wallace et al. published in Australian Health Review.

Uterine Artery Doppler in Screening for Preeclampsia and Fetal Growth Restriction

Daniel Rolnik et al. published in Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetrícia

Being pragmatic about healthcare complexity: our experiences applying complexity theory and pragmatism to health services research

Katrina Long, Graham Meadows et al. published in BMC Medicine.

Diagnostic accuracy of ASLA score (a novel CT angiographic index) and aggregate plaque volume in the assessment of functional significance of coronary stenosis

Dennis Wong et al. published in the International Journal of Cardiology.

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