PhD student receives Gustav Nossal Postgraduate Scholarship Award

Congratulations to Dr Douglas Tjandra for receiving the Gustav Nossal Postgraduate Scholarship Award from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Dr Tjandra is undertaking a PhD with Prof Alex Boussioutas and Dr Rita Busuttil in the Gastroenterology Department at the Central Clinical School and Alfred Hospital. His PhD has a dual focus on a condition called gastric intestinal metaplasia (a precursor lesion to gastric cancer) and genetic conditions which predispose to both gastric and colorectal cancers.

He will look at the clinical, molecular, genetic and immunological features which affect the level of risk, and how our healthcare systems can be optimised in screening and follow-up to improve outcomes for patients and reduce associated healthcare burdens.

Student awarded MS Australia scholarship to research a new therapeutic approach to brain repair

PhD student Danica Nheu has received a $105,000 scholarship from MS Australia to complete a three-year research project aimed at slowing disease progression and enabling recovery from disability. 

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurological diseases, affecting up to 2.8 million people globally. This chronic disease is caused when the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks the central nervous system. These attacks cause active MS lesions, and the nerve cells themselves can also be damaged, leading to life-long disability.

Dr Steven Petratos’ research team has shown that a specific protein is present within active MS lesions when nerve fibres are damaged. Danica’s project aims to propose a new method to block the protein present in the diseased brain during MS, to halt disease progression and provide recovery from disability.

Central Clinical School awarded $7M through MRFF for medical research

The Australian Government has awarded more than $53M through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to 21 Monash researchers for research into cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, dementia, cancer, primary health care, nutrition and more.

Four of these projects, totalling over $7M, were awarded to Central Clinical School researchers.

Professor Terence O’Brien received $3M for a world-first trial of a drug treatment for poorly controlled epilepsy. This new drug is the first potentially curative drug for people with epilepsy who are resistant to control with current anti-seizure drugs.

Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood received $2M for a primary care technology-enabled intervention to improve symptom self-management for people with chronic respiratory illness.

New staff appointments

We are pleased to announce that Dr Michelle Zajac has been appointed as the new School Manager of the Central Clinical School (CCS) and A/Prof Andrew Stewardson has been appointed as the new Director and Associate Professor of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology at Alfred Health (a joint appointment between Alfred Health and CCS).

Michelle is well known to the School, having done an outstanding job as our Senior Research Manager at CCS since 2019, and Senior Research and Operations Manager at CCS since 2021. During this time, Michelle has successfully executed a broad range of management responsibilities while also overseeing a considerable growth in the research income of the School and the Monash-Alfred Clinical Trials Program.

A/Prof Stewardson has been with the Alfred and Monash University since 2017 and has made stellar contributions across clinical service, quality improvement and research in the area of Infection Prevention and Control. He has emerged as one of the leading national experts in Infection Prevention and Control, including being the immediate past Chair of the Healthcare Infection Control Special Interest Group of the Australasian Society of Infectious Diseases, and member of the national Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG) and the Infection Prevention and Control Panel for the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce.

Graduate Research Opportunities - Internships Information Session

We encourage all graduate research students and supervisors to attend this session presented by our Associate Dean, Associate Professor Priscilla Johanesan to hear more about the graduate research opportunities regarding internships.

This will be held on 28 March (Tuesday) at Lecture Theatre, Level 5, Alfred Centre from 1:15pm-2pm.

A/Prof Gemma Sharp interviewed on ABC News Breakfast

The Department of Neuroscience’s Associate Professor Gemma Sharp recently appeared on ABC News Breakfast to discuss a new international study on disordered eating in children and adolescents.

Women champions at the CCS

From Drs. Zhoujie Ding and Lenka Vodstrcil, co-chairs of the CCS Gender Equity Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) committee

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year, the International Women’s Day (IWD) theme calls us to ‘Embrace Equity’ and celebrate the achievements of women. We are encouraged to engage in important conversations on Why equal opportunities aren't enough and Why equal isn't always fair. All of us start and come from different places, so true inclusion requires equitable action.

To celebrate IWD, CCS staff were invited to nominate female champions who strive towards an equitable workforce at the School. Thirty-four exceptional women were nominated across many departments and centres of the School. A full nomination list and nomination quotes can be found here.

PhD candidates Courtney McLean Alexandra Dvorscek, Alyssa Budin, and Michaela Guthridge were nominated for “being a tireless advocate for the welfare of her fellow PhD students”, “making exceptional contributions to the department and the EMCR community”, “contributing to numerous committees with exceptional passion”, and “bringing her strong background in women's rights programs (from NGOs to the UN) through to her innovative doctoral program”, respectively.

Among academic staff, Associate Professor Gemma Sharp was nominated for “dedicating her career to helping women improve their sense of body image which is core to self-identity and self-esteem, and a passionate supervisor and mentor to her predominately female team where she tries to provide them with the opportunities they need to thrive”. Dr Kelly Wyres and Dr Lenka Vodstrcil, among the sixteen women EMCR champions that were nominated, were highlighted by multiple nominators and shared similar quotes including “taking an active role in mentoring and supporting women in science and ECRs” and “being generous with her time with students and passionate about supporting the careers of younger women”.

Professional staff champions Mary Bowes from the Department of Infectious Diseases, Rebecca Reismanis from the Department of Immunology and Mahira Arooj (senior technical officer at CCS) were nominated for “helping the department run smoothly, from making new staff feel welcome to keeping everyone informed”, “being a fantastic lab manager who goes above and beyond to meet the needs of the department, ensuring OHS compliance and the smooth day to day running of the labs”, “actively supporting equity, calling out discrimination and biases when observed and experienced”, respectively.

Our nominees were asked to share their thoughts on the themes “what is the difference between 'equity' and 'equality'” and “What can we do to improve equity for women and not only their equality”. All of the female champions identified that ‘equity’ emphasises catering for the specific needs for women to overcome the historical disadvantages that they face, which is at a higher level than simply providing equal opportunities.

While we can continue to amplify the unique contributions of women in STEM, we still have a long way to go in order to break down the structures and biases that prevent all women from reaching their potential. To combat the discrimination and marginalisation of women globally, the United Nations Australia’s IWD theme ‘Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future’ goes further and calls for bold, transformative ideas, inclusive technologies, and accessible education to combat the discrimination and the marginalisation of women globally.