Monash-led PADDI trial wins award

ACTA clinical trials 2022 awards were made on 20 May 2022,
International Clinical Trials Day. Professors Andrew Forbes (left)
and Tomas Corcoran (right) accepted the award for 'Excellence in
Trial Statistics' on behalf of the PADDI trial investigators.

The Perioperative Administration of Dexamethasone and Infection (PADDI) trial has been honoured by the 2022 Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA) Excellence in Trial Statistics Award.

The award was presented on International Clinical Trials Day, which is held on 20 May each year to recognise the outstanding contribution of the sector in developing and leading investigator-led clinical trials.

Recent CCS publications: 14 - 21 Oct 2018

Prof Paul Myles is a co-author on a paper
looking at standardised endpoints in peri-
operative medicine, in particular renal injury.

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the following departments. Note, browse down this entry for complete publications list. Linked headings for each section are to the departments' home pages.

• Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine
• Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medicine
• Surgery

Recent CCS publications: 23 Sep - 13 Oct 2017

David Tarlinton with his group. He and Simona Infantino are last
& first authors respectively on a Nature Communications article on
how an enzyme called PRMT1 keeps B cells going once activated.
See video of David explaining the research

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the following departments. Note, browse down this entry for complete publications list. Linked headings for each section are to the departments' home pages.

• Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD)
• Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine
• Centre for Obesity Research and Education (CORE)
• Gastroenterology
• Immunology and Pathology
• Infectious Diseases
• Medicine
• Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC)
• Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (MAPrc) 
• Surgery 

CCS publications update: 17-23 June 2017

The Alfred-Monash AIRmed group

have published a paper on controlling

inflammation after lung transplant

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the following departments. Note, browse down this entry for pubs listing. Linked headings are to the departments' home pages.

• Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine (AIRMed) 
• Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine (APOM)
• Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD)
• Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Infectious Diseases
• Medicine
• Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC)
• Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (MAPrc)
• Surgery  

CCS publications update: 10-16 June 2017

A/Prof David Curtis and PhD student Ashlee
Conway are last & first authors on a paper
investigating a type of porphyria caused by a
particular gene mutation. See article

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the departments of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine (AIRMed), Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine (APOM), Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD), Diabetes, Gastroenterology, Immunology and Pathology, Medicine, Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC), Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (MAPrc) and Surgery.   

Translational Research Symposium Speaker Spotlight: Professor Paul Myles

Professor Paul Myles

Monash University's 3rd annual Translational Research Symposium is being hosted by its three metropolitan clinical schools on 31 July 2017. The symposium will host a diverse group of medical researchers presenting their work into translational research. RSVP here.

Professor Paul Myles, Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine in CCS and Alfred Health will be presenting at the event. Professor Myles has just been awarded Clinical Trial of the Year for his work on coronary artery surgery.

Congratulations to Professor Paul Myles on winning Clinical Trial of the Year!

Professor Paul Myles with Minister Greg Hunt MP at the award
ceremony, Friday 19 May 2017. Photo: Sophie Wallace

Professor Paul Myles (pictured) has won Clinical Trial of the Year, awarded by the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance.  The award was presented by the Federal Health Minister, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, on Friday 19 May 2017.

CCS Publications update: 11-17 March 2017

Prof Robyn O'Hehir et al's recent
article on grass allergen peptides

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the departments of Anaesthesia, Australian Centre for Blood Diseases(ACBD), Gastroenterology, Immunology and Pathology, Infectious Diseases, Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (MAPrc), Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) and Surgery.


Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory medicine

Abramovitch JB, Lopata AL, O'Hehir RE, Rolland JM. Effect of thermal processing on T cell reactivity of shellfish allergens - Discordance with IgE reactivity. PLoS One. 2017 Mar 8;12(3):e0173549. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173549. eCollection 2017.

CCS Publications update 3 - 10 Mar 2017

Prof Paul Myles and Ms Sophie Wallace are co-authors with
ANZCA CTN and ANZICS CTG investigating fluid therapy
in major abdominal surgery

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the departments of Anaesthesia, Australian Centre for Blood Diseases(ACBD), Gastroenterology, Haematology, Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (MAPrc), Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC), Peninsula Clinical School and Surgery.

ACBD

Kwaan H, Lisman T, Medcalf RL. Fibrinolysis: Biochemistry, Clinical Aspects, and Therapeutic Potential. Semin Thromb Hemost. 2017 Mar;43(2):113-114. doi: 10.1055/s-0036-1598000. Epub 2017 Mar 2.

Researchers call for new standard to measure obesity risks in surgery

“The most important factor is not how much
body fat you have but where it is”. Central
obesity, or the 'apple belly' creates high risk.

by Anne Crawford

Monash University and Alfred Hospital researchers are conducting research that challenges the popular way of measuring obesity – using Body Mass Index (BMI) – as a perioperative risk.

Professor Paul Myles, Director of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at Alfred Health and Monash University, recently co-wrote an editorial in the leading British Journal of Anaesthesia that questions the use of BMI as a measurement indicating risk and which calls for a better approach. BMI is body weight in kilograms, divided by the square of height in metres.

Publications for week ending 28 Oct 2016

TXA is beneficial for heart surgery patients.
See feature article on the ATACAS study.

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the departments of ACBD, AIRmed, Anaesthesia, Immunology, MAPrc, Medicine, Neuroscience, Surgery.  

Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine

Myles PS, Smith JA, Forbes A, Silbert B, Jayarajah M, Painter T, Cooper DJ, Marasco S, McNeil J, Bussières JS, McGuinness S, Byrne K, Chan MT, Landoni G, Wallace S; ATACAS Investigators of the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network. Tranexamic Acid in Patients Undergoing Coronary-Artery Surgery. N Engl J Med. 2016 Oct 23. [Epub ahead of print] DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1606424

Researchers call for streamlined safety reporting

by Anne Crawford

The Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at the Alfred and Monash University conducts large, independent Phase IV clinical trials to test the efficacy and safety of commonly used drugs. These ‘investigator-instigated’ or ‘public good’ trials are pragmatic, low-cost and carried out independently of drug companies.

As part of the trials, researchers report adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs). But the department’s researchers say ever-increasing and complex requirements from sponsors and ethics committees to report AEs and SAEs are duplicating reporting, thereby burdening researchers and causing a decrease in the uptake of research.

Recent CCS publications: Week ending 19 Aug 2016

Dr Janine Trevillyan (right) is a co-author on a
paper on management of antimicrobial therapy.  Prof Jenny
Hoy (left) was one of Janine's supervisors of her PhD.

Recent publications (13) for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the departments of ACBD, Anaesthesia & Perioperative Medicine, Gastroenterology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, MAPrc, Medicine, MSHC, Surgery:

Anaesthesia & Perioperative Medicine

Wallace S, Myles PS, Zeps N, Zalcberg JR. Serious adverse event reporting in investigator-initiated clinical trials. Med J Aust. 2016 Apr 4;204(6):231-3.

Photo of the week: Welcome to our mid year Honours and graduate research students

Left: Recent graduate research intake: Ms Nazanin Karimnia, Mr Nikolce Kocovski, Mr Sudip Paul. Absent: Dr Joel Symons
Right: 2016-17 Midyear Honours students Mr Felix Lee, Ms Saffanah Zahra, Ms Paulina Pajak. Absent: Lorena Goldring

Welcome to our recently enrolled 2016-17 Midyear Honours students and graduate students! If you see them, say hello. They are:

Lorena Goldring

Joel Symons

• Mr Felix Lee, BMedSc Honours (ACBD), supervised by Prof Rob Medcalf
• Ms Saffanah Zahra, BMedSc Honours (ACBD), supervised by Prof Rob Medcalf
• Ms Paulina Pajak, Honours (Baker IDI), supervised by A/Prof Julie McMullen
• Ms Lorena Goldring, Honours (Immunology & Pathology), supervised by Prof David Tarlinton
• Ms Nazanin Karimnia, PhD student (Baker IDI),  supervised by Prof Sam El-Osta
• Mr Nikolce Kocovski, Masters student (Immunology & Pathology), supervised by Prof David Tarlinton
• Mr Sudip Paul, PhD student (Baker IDI),  supervised by A/Prof Peter Meikle
• Dr Joel Symons, PhD student (Anaesthesia & Perioperative Medicine), supervised by Prof Paul Myles

See more:

• Midyear Honours www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/education/2016-17-mid-year-honours-general.html
• Midyear BMedSc (Honours) www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/education/2016-17-mid-year-honours-bmedsc.html
• Graduate research students www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/education/hdr-resources.html

Recent CCS publications: Week ending 22 July 2016

We have a bumper issue this week listing 43 new publications across all departments of the Central Clinical School, including:

• Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine (3)
• Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (8)
• Gastroenterology (6)
• Immunology & Pathology/AIRmed (7)
• Infectious Diseases (6)
• Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (7)
• Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (4)
• Surgery/NTRI (5)

Recent CCS publications: Week ending 10 June 2016

Prof Anton Peleg heads the Department of Infectious Diseases

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors on research areas including anaesthesia and perioperative medicine, blood diseases, gastroenterology, immunology, infectious diseases, medicine, psychiatry, surgery:

Coad BR, Griesser HJ, Peleg AY, Traven A. Anti-infective surface coatings: Design and therapeutic promise against device-associated infections. PLoS Pathog. 2016 Jun 2;12(6):e1005598. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005598. eCollection 2016.

Iron deficiency in coronary artery surgery patients - the HERROES substudy

Dr Joel Symons with a patient

Dr Joel Symons was awarded the Robin Smallwood bequest from the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists for $98,000 to complete a substudy HEpcidin, Reticulocyte haemoglobin and soluble transferrin Receptors in Reported OutcomEs in cardiac Surgery (HERROES) sub study, nested within ITACS commencing in 2016.

Iron deficiency is very common in patients having coronary artery surgery. It is the commonest cause of anaemia worldwide, and independently worsens outcomes after surgery. The ITACS trial will determine whether a single dose of IV iron, given to anaemic patients before elective cardiac surgery improves outcome after surgery. The primary endpoint is days alive and out of hospital from surgery to 30 days following operation.  Secondary endpoints include blood transfusions, perioperative complications, hospital stay, survival, quality of life and disability-free survival.

Monash research reveals aspirin is safe for heart surgery patients

Professor Paul Myles, lead author on the
ATACAS study.

A worldwide study led by Monash University clinician-researchers shows that patients who take aspirin before heart surgery are at no greater risk of bleeding or complications. 

Published 25 February in The New England Journal of Medicine, the collaborative research study led by Professor Paul Myles, Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine in the Central Clinical School and Alfred Health, investigated whether stopping or continuing aspirin before coronary artery surgery posed more risks or benefits.

Most patients with coronary artery disease receive aspirin for prevention of heart attack, stroke, and death. However aspirin poses a bleeding risk for patients undergoing surgery, and prior to this study it was unclear whether aspirin should be stopped before coronary artery surgery.

Publication: Anaesthetic depth and postoperative mortality

Observational studies conducted by Prof Paul Myles, Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine have demonstrated an association between relatively deep anesthesia and increased postoperative mortality. The primary hypothesis of the study is that "light" anesthesia, defined as a BIS target of 50, will reduce all-cause mortality within 1 year of surgery in comparison with "deep" anesthesia, defined as a BIS target of 35, in patients aged ≥60 years presenting for major surgery under general anesthesia. This randomized controlled trial should answer the question of whether titrating anesthetic depth makes a difference to patient outcome in a vulnerable patient group.

 Reference: Short TG, Leslie K, Chan MT, Campbell D, Frampton C, Myles P. Rationale and design of the balanced anesthesia study: A prospective randomized clinical trial of two levels of anesthetic depth on patient outcome after major surgery. Anesth Analg. 2015 Aug;121(2):357-65. doi: 10.1213 Link

Recent publications: Psychiatry, sexual health, blood diseases, surgery and more

Prof Paul Myles, HOD Anaesthesia & Perioperative Medicine
with a colleague Dr Stefan Dielemann

Central Clinical School is research active with hundreds of publications each year. See below some recent publications in the subject specialisations of the school including anaesthesia, blood diseases, immunology, infectious diseases, medicine, psychiatry, sexual health and surgery.