Congratulations to CCS NHMRC Investigator Grant recipients

L-R: Professor Paul Myles, Dr Shalini Arunogiri, Dr Andrew Neal, Dr Margaret Lam, Professor Mark Fitzgerald

Congratulations to our five successful National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant recipients! Commiserations to our many researchers whose grants were ranked highly, but nonetheless missed out. See detail below of CCS recipients. 

 

Overall, Monash University was awarded over $43 million to support 30+ researchers, and our Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences won 26 Investigator grant fellowships worth $37.4M. See Faculty and Monash lists here. See detail of NHMRC funding round outcomes released 14 September.

World's largest study of frontline healthcare workers during 2020’s second wave report significant increase in workload

The largest study of the impact of COVID on workplace disruption to front line health care workers has revealed that almost half reported that they had altered paid or unpaid hours, with over one in six being redeployed and one in four reporting changes in work roles. Only 1 percent reported confidence in these new positions. That said, most felt supported by their workplace and this assisted in them having half the risk for severe anxiety, depression, burnout and PTSD than those who did not feel supported by their workplace, a finding the authors argue has relevance to the current crisis.

Read the story here.

Developing improved non-invasive imaging for assessing heart damage

Ex vivo scans of hearts from fibrotic (left) and control mice which
were administered a unique fluorescent peptide that targets collagen
type I. A striking enhancement of the damaged heart ventricles
is observed. Image: Figure 5 in study

A Monash University team has led the development of novel imaging tracers that could advance non-invasive assessment of heart damage. 

Cardiac fibrosis is a scarring process causing excess deposition of collagen in the heart, leading to distortion of its architecture and function. It is a significant disease feature in many cardiac conditions, including heart failure, atrial fibrillation (AF) and myocardial infarction (MI).

8-14 September 2021 Central Clinical School recent publications

20% to 30% of patients awaiting cardiac surgery are anemic.
A study has been designed to ascertain the benefits and risks of
 IV iron administration in anemic patients awaiting cardiac surgery.

Recent publications featuring research as notified by PubMed during 8-14 Sept 2021 from Central Clinical School affiliated researchers in the following departments. The below is not a comprehensive list. The most recent validated publications for the school and departments can be seen on their publications pages, linked to from the headings below. Otherwise, read down the entry for recent notifications.

Giving prominence to the patient perspective: Launch of the CARE webinar series

Register for the inaugural CARE seminar on 7 October featuring
Dr Durga Mithraprabhu, Dr Nick Bingham, Prof Andrew Spencer
(pictured L-R here), Dr Tiffany Khong and a patient advocate,
Mr Henry Blatman from the Spencer group.

by Drs Catherine Carmichael and Karen Alt

There is an increasing awareness within the health and medical research community that including the patient perspective in research design and implementation greatly enhances the significance, relevance and quality of research outcomes.  Patients, family members and carers (collectively termed “consumers”) bring their valuable lived experience to research teams and contribute to a shared goal of turning new discoveries into better patient outcomes.

Body image issues loom large: Gemma Sharp gives three top KIT tips

Dr Gemma Sharp prepping for the documentary

When a distorted sense of yourself becomes pathological, you could have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). BDD is getting more common and more extreme. Why?

Dr Gemma Sharp was one of the experts interviewed in Channel 10's recently broadcast (8-9 September 2021) documentary "Mirror, Mirror" by Todd Sampson to answer that question. She also participated in the Facebook Live chat after the screening. See below for some of the questions asked. 

Dr Sharp has also won a grant from the Australian Psychological Society (APS) of Clinical Psychologists 2021 Research Grant Award for futher development of her team's world-first body image chatbot "KIT", which helps people experiencing body image concerns while they are on social media. The grant will be used to improve KIT's conversational abilities, with KIT having spoken with more than 20,000 people already! 

Wins for the work and innovations of sexual health researchers

The MSHC team members L-R: Prof Kit Fairley, A/Prof Eric Chow,
Prof Marcus Chen, Prof Catriona Bradshaw; lower row L-R:
A/Prof Lei Zhang, Prof Deborah Williamson, Prof Jane Hocking

Melbourne Sexual Health Centre researchers won individual and team awards at the 2021 Joint Australasian Sexual Health + HIV&AIDS Conference.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Eric Chow  for winning the Best Poster Award at the Sexual Health+HIV&AIDS conference! His poster is about spatial mapping of gonorrhoea notifications by sexual practice in Victoria.

Congratulations also to the team at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC), as part of the Melbourne Collaborative Group, which has won the 2021 Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health Alliance Innovation Award. See detail below.