SCS social club welcome lunch, 10 March

The School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) social club welcomes new staff and student for 2017!

Please join us for a free pizza lunch on Friday 10 March, 12.30pm - 1.30pm in the Medicine Seminar Room.

CID Weekly Seminar: "Toll-like receptors and their function in mycobacterial infections -a longitudinal translational study examining infected patients" Tuesday 28 February

Tuesday 28 February, 12:00 - 1:00pm, Seminar Room 1, Level 2, TRF Building

Dr Sabine de Silva

Infectious Diseases Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, Monash Health

Postgraduate Student, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases

Thesis Pre-submission seminar 

Tuberculosis infections affect a third of the world's population.  Many challenges are faced in the diagnosis, treatment and vaccination against TB.  Results from a  pilot study at Monash Health conducted to examine affects of treatment on innate immune markers will be presented, including toll-like receptor (TLRs) expression and their functional effects through anti-tuberculous therapy.  TLR 2, 4 & 7 expression varies significantly on different cell types through treatment, as do their effects on cytokine production.  I will discuss the changes which occur in TNF, IL6 and MCP1 levels following specific TLR-ligand stimulation in these patients.  Comparison will be made between those with active TB infection and those with latent TB infection (LTBI).   The correlation with low vitamin D levels and TLR expression will also be discussed.  Further research into the changes found between the two cohorts may potentially enable these changes to be incorporated into a platform to differentiate between the two groups- a crucial and currently unavailable entity.

Dr Sabine de Silva graduated from Monash University in 2000, having completed MBBS (H) and BMedSci (H). Completed Infectious Diseases training at Monash, Austin and Barwon Health and currently an Infectious Diseases Physician at Monash Health.  Interests include clinical research, particularly in TB. 

A light lunch is served prior to the seminar at 11:45am in the seminar room foyer, level 2, TRF Building.

Further information, including the link to add the seminar series to your google calendar, is available from CID Weekly Seminar Series website [http://www.med.monash.edu.au/scs/medicine/cid/seminar-series.html]

Diabetes Unit Educational Meeting: “Optimizing Self-Management In Adults With Comorbid Diabetes And Renal Disease”, 2 March

All interested staff are invited to the weekly Diabetes Unit Educational Meeting.

Thursday 2 March, 8am-9am, at the Diabetes Centre of the Special Medicine Building, MMC

Presenter:  Edward Zimbudzi, Nurse Unit Manager and PhD candidate, Monash University

PhD mid-candidature review, Dilys Leung, 1 March

All staff and students are invited to Dilys Leung's PhD pre-submission/final review.

1 March at 3pm, seminar room, level 4, Block E, Monash Medical Centre

Thesis title: Characterisation of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein in ovarian granulosa cell tumours

Synopsis: Granulosa cell tumours (GCT) represent a large subset of sex-cord stromal tumours which contribute to ~8% of all ovarian malignancies. The aim of my PhD project is to investigate PPAR gamma and XIAP as potential targets for combination treatment of GCT. I will also identify and manipulate the unusual and distinctive patterns of expression of key genes involved in cell survival, which will provide us with both prognostic information and potential new and novel therapeutic targets for treatment of these tumours.

Supervisors: Prof. Peter J Fuller and Dr Simon Chu

Panel chair: Dr Peter Stanton

Independent assessors: A/Prof Tim Cole and Prof Vincent Harley

Bioinformatics: Core Service and Clinical Pipelines at Peter MacCallumCancer Centre, 15 March

Wednesday 15 March, 11am-12pm
Seminar Room 2, TRF building, level 2

Presenter: Jason Li, PhD
Bioinformatics Core Manager, Cancer Research
Peter MacCallumCancer Centre

There has been a growing demand for bioinformatics as a service in genomics research and clinical sequencing. In this seminar, I will talk about some of the current activities at the Peter Mac Bioinformatics Core, including the development of whole-genome sequencing pipelines, clinical pipelines and variant call validation workflow. I will also discuss the challenges and opportunities in running a Core Facility, and talk about how our services and business models have evolved over the last ten years.

Enquiries: Vivien.Vasic@hudson.org.au

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER: CELL BIOLOGY OF MAMMALIAN OOCYTES AND EMBRYOS

A position as postdoctoral researcher is available to study the mechanisms of cell divisions in mouse oocytes and embryos at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM). Our lab uses live imaging approaches, along with genetic interventions and micromanipulation approaches to study the mechanisms of chromosome segregation in the oocyte and early mammalian embryo, in order to understand the cellular basis of fertility. Previous experience in any of the following would be a benefit for the role: cell and molecular biology approaches, cell division, live cell imaging, oocyte and embryo handling, micro-manipulation and microinjection. The position is available for three years in the first instance. CRCHUM is a new state of the art research facility located in the heart of downtown Montreal, close to the Old Port.

For representative examples of the labs recent work please see: Vazquez-Diez et al., 2016. PNAS 13(3):626-31. Tsichlaki and FitzHarris, 2016. Scientific Reports 6:28040. Shomper et al., Cell Cycle, 2014. 13(7):1171-9.

For more on the lab see fitzharrislab.com
Interested candidates are encouraged to send a current CV and cover letter to Dr Greg FitzHarris at greg.fitzharris@umontreal.ca before March 31st 2017.

GRADUATE STUDENTSHIP – CELL BIOLOGY OF MAMMALIAN OOCYTES AND EARLY EMBRYOS

A graduate studentship is available to study the mechanisms of cell divisions in mouse oocytes and embryos at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM). Our lab uses live imaging approaches, along with genetic interventions and micromanipulation approaches to study the mechanisms of chromosome segregation in the oocyte and early mammalian embryo, in order to understand the cellular basis of fertility. The studentship would particularly suit someone with a strong background in cell/molecular/developmental biology, who has an interest in cell division and/or reproductive biology, and is available either for a masters or a PhD student. CRCHUM is a new state of the art research facility located in the heart of downtown Montreal, close to the Old Port.

For representative examples of the labs recent work please see: Vazquez Diez et al., 2016. PNAS 13(3):626-31. Tsichlaki and FitzHarris, 2016. Scientific Reports 6:28040. Shomper et al., Cell Cycle, 2014. 13(7):1171-9.

For more on the lab see fitzharrislab.com
Interested candidates are encouraged to send a current CV and cover letter to Dr Greg FitzHarris at greg.fitzharris@umontreal.ca before March 31st 2017.

myDevelopment: Now available for graduate research students

Monash Graduate Education is excited to enhance the graduate research student experience of the Monash Doctoral Program through the launch of the myDevelopment system. 

Visit the myDevelopment web page for information, user guides, and support for students and staff. A link to GRAMs has been provided on the myDevelopment webpage, to allow students who commenced prior to 2017 to cross check against their GRAMS training record.

Postgraduate Publications Award (PPA)

Nominations for Round 2 due 1st April, 2017.

Student due to submit their thesis for examination between 1 April - 30 June are encouraged to apply for the PPA. Recipients of the PPA receive a living allowance for up to 8 weeks. More information about this award can be found at this website. 

Training the gut to cope with food during exercise boosts performance

Ricardo Da Costa's article about gut-training in The Herald Sun.

Read article here.

A chemical probe toolbox for dissecting the cancer epigenome

Jake Shortt et al. published in Nature Reviews Cancer.

Read article here.

Macrophage-to-Myofibroblast Transition Contributes to Interstitial Fibrosis in Chronic Renal Allograft Injury

David Nikolic-Paterson et al. published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Read article here.

Why do children present to emergency departments? Exploring motivators and measures of presentation appropriateness for children presenting to a paediatric emergency department

John Cheek et al. published in the Journal of Paediatric Child Health.

Read article here.

Treatment of preeclampsia with hydroxychloroquine: a review

Rahana Rahman et al. published in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine.

Read article here.

Under-resourced and under-developed family-centred care within palliative medicine

David Kissane published in Palliative Medicine.

Read article here.

Variable DAXX gene methylation is a common feature of placental trophoblast differentiation, preeclampsia, and response to hypoxia

Padma Murthi et al. published in The FASEB Journal.

Read article here.

RNA-Seq analysis of chikungunya virus infection and identification of granzyme A as a major promoter of arthritic inflammation

Paul Hertzog et al. published in PLoS Pathology.

Read article here.

Seizures in Children With Cerebral Palsy and White Matter Injury

Michael Fahey et al. published in Pediatrics.

Read article here.

Imaging Leukocyte Responses in the Kidney

Michaela Finsterbusch et al. published in Transplantation.

Read article here.

Changing epidemiology of candidaemia in Australia

Tony Korman et al. published in the Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy.

Read article here.

Altered placental tryptophan metabolic pathway in human fetal growth restriction

Padma Murthi et al. published in Placenta.

Read article here.