CaRE webinar video featuring dementia researchers and advocates now published

The webinar featured short presentations followed by a panel discussion.
L-R: (Top row) David Derby, Lucy Vivash, Tara McDonald; (Bottom
row) Juliana Silva, Nadine Andrew, Malcolm Johnson. See video.

The Community and Researcher Engagement (CaRE) committee hosted a webinar on 18 May 2022, "What we know about the brain and how it changes with dementia", which covered a range of relevant topics and perspectives relating to dementia, from the perspectives of those affected by the disease, clinicians, and researchers.

With dementia being one of the leading cause of death and a significant cause of disability in Australia, particularly in older populations, most of us will—at some stage, and in some way—be touched by the disease.

See:

• Webinar recording (1:30:20 hrs)
• Program (pdf, 3.2 mb)
• CaRE news and events web page
  

Reducing weight and wait lists for osteoarthritis patients

Professor Wendy Brown consulting with a patient

A team of Melbourne researchers has discovered the significant positive impact of weight loss surgery for patients with obesity in delaying, and in some cases removing, the need for total knee joint replacement. Their study has been published in the prestigious journal JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association.

It is the first randomised trial of its kind in the world, funded by the NHMRC and led by Professor Peter Choong and Professor Michelle Dowsey from University of Melbourne / St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, in collaboration with Monash University’s Professor Wendy Brown and Dr Paul Burton, assessed the efficacy of substantial weight loss induced by bariatric surgery in reducing complication risk after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in patients with severe obesity and osteoarthritis.

See full faculty story

Congratulations to Erica Plummer and Sabrina Salberg on Bridging Postdoctoral Fellowships

L-R: Dr Erica Plummer and Ms Sabrina Salberg

Congratulations to Dr Erica Plummer and Ms Sabrina Salberg who have been awarded Bridging Postdoctoral Fellowships. It was a very competitive round.

The Bridging Postdoctoral Fellowships (BPF) support the career development of promising newly-qualified postdoctoral researchers and final year PhD students. They are intended to provide initial support for recent PhD graduates and final year PhD students while they apply for externally-funded fellowships.

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”.

Diabetes and dementia: exploring the links

Professor Velandai Srikanth and Associate Professor Chris Moran
tease out the connections between type 2 diabetes and dementia in
their recent review. See also a recent video presentation from them.

by Anne Crawford

Studies have linked type 2 diabetes with dementia in later life for some years but the connection between the two conditions, causal or otherwise, is still to be clarified.

A review by researchers from the Department of Geriatric Medicine, Peninsula Health and Medicine, Central Clinical School has highlighted the need to further explore the potential mechanisms and pathways linking the two conditions.

Monash Department of Diabetes shines in research awards

L-R: Dr Muthukumar Mohan, Professor Karin Jandeleit-Dahm
and Dr Carlos Rosado have each been awarded funds under the
2022 Diabetes Australia Research Program (DARP)

Congratulations to the Department of Diabetes’ Professor Karin Jandeleit-Dahm, Dr Muthukumar Mohan and Dr Carlos Rosado who have each been awarded funds under the 2022 Diabetes Australia Research Program (DARP).

The Department of Diabetes recipients were among 31 Victorian-based researchers, including eight from Monash University, awarded more than $2 million under DARP this year.

17-23 May 2022 Central Clinical School recent publications

Indigenous data sovereignty and governance raises its own special issues:

Nature Medicine correspondence on the Australian TBI National Data

project from NTRI authors and others. Image: Danielle Mate

Recent publications featuring research as notified by PubMed during 3-16 May 2022 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.