Neuroscience researchers support Brain Cancer Awareness month

by Dr Loretta Piccenna, Department of Neuroscience

(L-R): Ms Katrina Kan, Dr Mastura Monif (group leader) and
 Mr Matthew Drill. Dr Monif did a podcast for The Aftershock,
and explains more about her research in a video. 

This month is Brain Cancer Awareness Month, a time of the year for raising awareness of brain cancer or tumours and the need for greater research to discover safe and effective new treatments. 

Brain cancers may be rare, but there are more than 100 different types of brain cancer. This requires a collective effort by lots of researchers, clinicians, patients and their families to understand brain cancers at a molecular level to help find a cure. 

Dr Mastura Monif and her research team (pictured) from the Department of Neuroscience within the Central Clinical School study the most common form of primary brain cancer or tumour, called glioblastoma. She said, 

“We must ensure that every person who develops cancer is given the best possible chance of surviving and living well”.

The challenge of understanding Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy: Dr Shobi Sivathamboo steps up

Dr Shobi Sivathamboo

Post-doctoral fellow Dr Shobi Sivathamboo participated in the Epilepsy Foundation of America's Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) Challenge Initiative (SUDEP Challenge Initiative | Epilepsy Foundation) on Wednesday 14 July, 2021. She was one of four finalists selected who are competing for a share of US$1M prize money on offer.

Her presentation entry was titled 'Short-term heart rate variability (HRV) predicts SUDEP' which she presented with her team members and collaborators Professor Terence O'Brien, Head of CCS, Leader of Epilepsy and Neuropharmacology Research Group, Department of Neuroscience (Monash University), and Professors Orrin Devinsky and Daniel Friedman from New York University Langone Health (see screenshot). 

The team found that short-term heart-rate variability, which is a non-invasive and readily obtained marker of autonomic function, predicted SUDEP. Heart rate variability is a validated biomarker for sudden cardiac death in cardiovascular disease populations. Shobi commented that 'our team's entry went really well but we don't know how much we will receive just yet.'

Zoom screenshot of finalists competing in the 2021 SUDEP Challenge.  

All finalists will now await to hear which of them were successful and how much of the US$1M prize money they will be awarded. The Epilepsy Foundation SUDEP Institute challenge aims to predict sudden death in epilepsy or seizures that compromise cardiac or respiratory function in people with epilepsy. These predictors will drive human SUDEP interventions. Since the severity and frequency of seizures is currently the leading risk factor for SUDEP, a biomarker that can predict seizures, especially convulsive seizures that compromise cardiac or respiratory function, will be included in the challenge.

Dr Sivathamboo was also successful in one of the challenge's earlier milestones in which her team received US$10,000.

Professor Terry O'Brien appointed Head of Central Clinical School

Congratulations to Professor Terry O'Brien on his appointment as Head of Central Clinical School! Professor Christina Mitchell AO, Dean of Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences writes:

"It is my great pleasure to formally announce the appointment of Professor Terence (Terry) O’Brien as Head of School, Central Clinical School, following an international search.

New technique for analysing aggressive brain tumour tissue

Immunocytochemical image of
cultured tumour cells: Katrina Kan

by Anne Crawford

A Department of Neuroscience PhD student has helped develop a new, cost-effective and reliable method for studying glioblastoma, a devastating brain cancer.

Ms Katrina Kan from Dr Mastura Monif’s laboratory, was first author on a paper about a new protocol for using primary human glioblastoma tissue, published last month in Methods and Protocols.

Novel drug may transform epilepsy treatment

Dr Pablo Casillas-Espinosa

by Anne Crawford

Monash University scientists have demonstrated that a novel drug can prevent the development of seizures in an animal model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE), the most common type of epilepsy that develops after a brain injury.

The researchers from the Department of Neuroscience found that the compound Z944 prevented the development of TLE in 80% of animals, and also significantly improved depression and memory and learning problems associated with the disease.

Monash professor urges action on epilepsy drugs

by Anne Crawford

Prof. Terence O'Brien

The Australian Government’s PBS urgently needs to update prescribing rules governing the use of anti-epileptic drugs that are putting unborn children and doctors at risk, the head of Monash University’s Department of Neuroscience has warned.

Professor Terence O’Brien said in a recent opinion piece in the Australian Medical Journal, co-authored with Professor Christian Gericke from the University of Queensland, that PBS rules for prescribing anti-epileptic drugs (AED) were 30 years old, and conflicted with those of regulatory agencies in the US and Europe.

Current PBS rules mandate that patients should be prescribed the older anti-epileptic drugs first, and only in patients in whom these fail can the newer generation drugs be prescribed. For patients with generalised epilepsies (when seizures start in both hemispheres of the brain) this means they need to be prescribed valproate first. Valproate is the most effective drug for patients with this group of epilepsies, but is associated with a high risk of birth defects, including spina bifida, and neurological development problems such as autism in babies, Professor O’Brien said.

Epilepsy research success in State Government funding

Alfred epilepsy specialists. L-R: Dr Genevieve Rayner, Prof Patrick Kwan, Dr Piero Perucca, Dr Hugh Simpson, Dr Anne McIntosh, Dr Prash Puspanathan, Ms Shobi Sivanthamboo, Dr Andrew Gleason, Dr Anita Vinton, Dr Mark King, Dr Lyn Millist, Prof Terry O'Brien, Dr Anna Willard, Dr Lucy Vivash.

Professors Terry O'Brien and Patrick Kwan in the Department of Neuroscience were successfully awarded Victorian State Government grants each worth $100,000 this week. Their submissions were selected by the Department of Health and Human Services as part of its ‘Healthier Lives, Stronger Economy: Victoria’s Health and Medical Research Strategy 2016-20'. The projects are:

Monash brain research success in major national grants

Associate Professor Sandy Shultz, the recipient of
 a 2018 NHMRC Career Development Fellowship.

by Anne Crawford

Researchers in Monash University’s new Department of Neuroscience have been recognised in National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants worth more than $1.3million.

The Department, part of Monash University’s Central Clinical School (CCS), will be officially opened by Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health, on 30 August. It attracted almost half of the grants awarded to CCS scientists.

New-onset epilepsy in an ageing population

Prof Patrick Kwan, one of the study co-authors, with an epilepsy
research study patient in the new clinical trial facility at the Alfred

by Anne Crawford

Epilepsy is often regarded as a disease afflicting the young, but the highest incidence of developing new-onset epilepsy is in fact in people aged 60 years old and older – and their number is increasing with an ageing Australian population. Despite this, there has been limited research into this aspect of the disease, with most studies taking a broad approach that looks at older people who are diagnosed with epilepsy in their childhood or middle age.

Meet Terry O'Brien, new Head of Monash's Neuroscience & Alfred's Brain departments

Professor Terence O’Brien with a patient in the new clinical trials centre
at Alfred Health. Prof O'Brien is Head, Departments of Neuroscience and
Medicine, Monash University; Program Director, Alfred Brain,
Director of Neurology, and Deputy Director of Research, Alfred Health.

by Anne Crawford

When Monash University and The Alfred Hospital decided to make brain diseases one of their strengths and create Australia’s first new university department dedicated to translational neuroscience, they approached a candidate tailor-made for the role of heading it.

Professor Terence O’Brien, one of Australia’s leading clinical and translational neuroscientists, is well-known for his ability to carry research from basic science through to treatment outcomes, and for having a focus on a collaborative approach.