School of Translational Medicine News Blog

5 Aug 2016

Blood clot study points to new drug target

Shauna French and Dr Justin Hamilton analysing results

by Anne Crawford

Arterial thrombosis – blood clot in an artery – can lead to several serious conditions including heart attack and stroke, and is the most common cause of death and disability in Australia. A Monash PhD student at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD) has conducted research demonstrating a potential new solution to the clotting that causes the problem.

Existing drugs aiming to prevent arterial thrombosis by acting on the platelets that form blood clots have limitations in efficacy and/or safety, some causing excessive bleeding.

Professor Bruce Thompson, Head of Physiology Services at
The Alfred, is trialling a new approach for asthma.

Exciting research, based around finding a cure for asthma, has led to some new thinking about the disease, which affects one in 10 Australians.

The Alfred’s Head of Physiology Services Professor Bruce Thompson will trial a new approach by treating asthma not as a respiratory disease, but as a rash. Part of the Centre for Research Excellence on Asthma, a national effort involving investigators around the country, Prof Thompson said the approach is to think differently.

“We’ll be using a commonly used antibiotic that has an anti-inflammatory property. We’ve nebulised the drug so it can be inhaled. No one has done this before.

Mr James Lee

Dr Geraldine Ooi

Congratulations to Dr Geraldine Ooi and Mr James Lee of CCS's Department of Surgery! They have won two highly sought after and very prestigious awards from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Foundation for Surgery. It is a great achievement by both of them and very encouraging for the future of surgery research and teaching.

MAPrc wants your involvement! Run, donate, join in with the de Castella Run for Mental Health 2015 (Sunday 30 August), in the following ways:

Register as a runner
Fundraise by creating a fundraising account
Sponsor a runner
Donate to MAPrc

Funds raised will go towards the mental health research at the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc).Your efforts will help the team of clinicians, researchers and post graduate students to help mend minds as they conduct a series of high quality clinical research projects under the direct supervision of MAPrc Director, Professor Jayashri Kulkarni.

Perspective: St Vincent’s scandal: what’s the protocol for chemotherapy and are low doses less effective?

St Vincent’s scandal: what’s the protocol for chemotherapy and are low doses less effective?

Ian Haines posits in his 'The Conversation' essay that there is actually no existing evidence to show that a flat dose of 100mg of carboplatin provides inferior outcomes in chemotherapy.

Ian Haines is Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, AMREP Department of Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne & Senior Medical Oncologist and Palliative Care Physician, Melbourne Oncology Group, Cabrini Haematology and Oncology Centre, Wattletree Road, Malvern, Monash University
Reference: theconversation.com/st-vincents-scandal-whats-the-protocol-for-chemotherapy-and-are-low-doses-less-effective-63445

29 Jul 2016

Photo gallery of the week: 29 June BMedSc(Hons) information night

Dr Justin Hamilton, CCS Honours coordinator, and Prof Stephen Jane, HOS CCS, speaking at CCS's recent BMedSc(Hons) event. CCS is co-hosting a further Honours information night on 16 August, for all intending Honours students from the BBiomed, BSc and BBiotech undergraduate streams. Intending graduate research students are also invited to attend as the range of research projects spans the medical research continuum from basic to translational and clinical applications.

Photo gallery of the 29 June BMedSc(Hons) information night now up: Link
Deadline for BMedSc(Hons) applications: 9 August 2016
16 Aug AMREP (CCS, SPHPM, Burnet, Baker IDI) Honours and Graduate Research information night taking RSVPs: Link to information; Link to Register

Forthcoming CCS events: Seminars, public events, general notices

Maria Selvadurai will be presenting on 2 Aug at
her PhD Confirmation of Candidature seminar.

Central Clinical School has regular seminar series and postgraduate presentations. All event notices are maintained on the CCS Events calendar.CCS staff & students can see details of both public and local events (including professional development courses, trade fairs and Graduate Research Student calendars) and deadlines, at the Intranet's Announcements page.

Various departments have their own calendars. See CCS seminar index: www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/events/seminars.html

What's on for next week 1-5 Aug 2016:

Mon	►	1-Aug	13:00	PhD Pre-submission seminar: Ms CK Yao
Tue	►	2-Aug	11:00	PhD Mid-candidature Review Seminar: Ms Shauna French
	►	2-Aug	11:30	PhD Confirmation of Candidature Seminar: Ms Maria Selvadurai
	►	2-Aug	12:15	PhD Pre-submission Seminar: Ms Marina Iacovou
Wed	►	3-Aug	10:30	PhD Confirmation Seminar: Ms Heather Alison Gilbert
	►	3-Aug	11:30	Immunology Seminar Series: Jodie Abramovitch
Thu	►	4-Aug	12:00	Cutting Edge Journal Club: Ashlee Burt

Forthcoming events