NHMRC Investigator Grant announcements

Congratulations to our researchers who‘ve been awarded National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grants in the 2023 round, announced in late December. . 

Investigator Grants support high-performing researchers at all career stages with salary and research support, to form collaborations and pursue important research directions as they arise. 

CCS researchers received nine grants worth $16.3 million, with funding commencing in 2024: 

Professor Benjamin Marsland (Immunology and Pathology) - Harnessing Microbes and Metabolites to Combat Respiratory Diseases ($2.9m).

Professor Patrick Kwan (Neuroscience) – Transforming Epilepsy Outcomes Through Innovative Technologies ($2.7m)

Professor Joseph Doyle (Infectious Diseases) – Accelerating Progress Toward Hepatitis C Elimination as a Public Health Threat ($1.6m)

Dr Omer Gilan (Clinical Haematology) – Epigenetic Regulation of Self Renewal in Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis ($1.2m)

Adjunct Professor Marcus Chen (Melbourne Sexual Health Centre) – A New Model for Improved Syphilis Management and Control ($2.9m)

Dr Ian Harding (Neuroscience) – The Cerebellum-Striatum Axis in Progressive Movement Disorders ($1.6m)

Associate Professor Vilija Jokubaitis (Neuroscience) – Multiple Sclerosis in Childbearing Women: Clinical Management, Consequences and Biological Management ($2.8m)

Dr Shobi Sivathamboo (Neuroscience) – Preventing sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: Identifying Predictive Biomakers and Advancing Automated Seizure Detection for Real-Time Interventions’ ($662,040). 

And finally, Dr Prasanti Kotagiri (Immunology), who joins us in the new year from The University of Melbourne, received a grant for Improving long-term outcomes post kidney transplant through study of the immune receptor repertoire ($497,224)

Pictured from top L-R: Omer Gilan, Vilija Jokubaitis, Shobi Sivathamboo, Marcus Chen, Joseph Doyle, Benjamin Marsland, Patrick Kwan, Ian Harding, Prasanti Kotagiri

See here for a full list list of Investigator grants winners.

2024 Gastroenterology, Immunology and Neuroscience (GIN) Program Symposium

Join us for the 2024 GIN Program Symposium, a dynamic platform where leading experts and researchers converge to explore the latest advancements in the gut-immune-brain axis. Registrations now open

We are thrilled to welcome esteemed speakers, including interstate experts Chris Dayas and Sam Costello, alongside Petter Brodin and Clare Lloyd from Imperial College London, UK. Be part of this transformative experience and delve into the forefront of cutting-edge research and discovery.

Details

• Date: 13 February 2024
• Venue: The Betty & John Laidlaw AO Alfred Innovation & Education Hub, 75 Commercial Road, Melbourne.
• Registration link
• Abstract submission link

For further information, please contact Juliana Castro, GIN Discovery Program Coordinator on ccs-gindiscovery@monash.edu.

Miss Sofia Carter - Highest achieving BMedSc(Hons) student

Congratulations to Miss Sofia Carter, the highest achieving Monash University BMedSc(Hons) student for 2023!

Sofia's research on antibiotic resistance in urinary tract infections (UTIs) highlights the need for changes to antibiotic recommendations for uncomplicated lower UTIs in nonpregnant females.

Speaking of the award which includes a $1000 prize money, Sofia said,  "To have spent this exciting and challenging year learning from some exceptional researchers was honestly rewarding enough - but being recognised with this award and the Alfred Research Alliance awards has provided even more reasons to be grateful".

Pictured L-R: Prof Terence O'Brien, Head of School, Miss, Sofia Carter, Prof Steven Jane, Dean, Sub-Faculty of Translational Medicine & Public Health

Head shaving fundraiser event for Cancer Immunology Research

Christopher Chew, PhD Student in the Cancer Development and Treatment Laboratory (Shackleton Lab) has been growing his hair for the last 8.5 years and will be shaving his head on Saturday 9 December in Melbourne CBD as part of Hair Off For Hair Loss.

The event will be run with the City of Melbourne as part of the Little Korea Street Food Christmas Festival - What's On Melbourne, including food, live performers, face paint, balloon art and Christmas celebrations!

Funds will be directed towards hair loss related initiatives including cancer immunology research, supporting the alopecia areata foundation and skin health institute.

Unveiling Hidden Potential: The Underappreciated Benefits of Integrating Community Medical Perspectives into Research

Co-authored by Chris Ewert Community Representative and Evangelia Bishop, CaRE Coordinator

Monash University established the Consumer and Researcher Engagement program (CaRE) to facilitate mutually beneficial and meaningful connections between researchers and community members with lived experience as a patient or carer of the medical conditions being studied at the Central Clinical School (CCS)

CaRE is a planned process covering a broad range of interactions with the specific purpose of informing, consulting, partnering, and empowering community members to contribute to medical research through a number of approaches.

When pain after surgery becomes chronic

Authors: Paige Druce, with special thanks to community representative Chris Ewert for contributing to this article.

Pain after surgery is expected. Pain that lasts for days, or even weeks is normal, and usually nothing to be concerned about. But for some patients, pain can persist for months or even years and develop into chronic pain.

It can be hard to know when pain after surgery becomes chronic pain because the symptoms can range from mild to severe. However, the pain can be distressing and debilitating for the people it affects, including stabbing and tingling feelings, numbness, altered sensations and problems with sensitivity.

Chronic pain after surgery may depend on the operation undergone and is often difficult to treat, meaning there are no proven strategies for prevention. So, it’s one of the most important research priorities in Perioperative Medicine – the area of medical care that covers the time from surgery being considered, through the operative period, to the patient’s full recovery. 

Vice-Chancellor’s award for Professor Anne Holland

Monash Medicine Nursing and Health Science researchers and staff have received ten awards in the Vice-Chancellor’s Education, Research and Professional Excellence Awards 2023. These awards acknowledge the efforts of high-performing Monash staff and the impact of their work on the Monash community.  See full list of recipients HERE.

From, Professor Terence O'Brien, Head, Central Clinical School

It is with great pride that I can inform you that Prof Anne Holland, Head of Respiratory Research@Alfred, CCS, was awarded the Monash Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research Engagement and Impact. This highly prestigious award recognises Anne’s sustained, impactful research developing and trialling in-home rehabilitation as a way to improve access for patients with chronic lung disease, providing an alternative to the traditional in-person delivery at outpatient facilities. Her work has resulted in a transformative shift of clinical practice towards a more integrated model of disease management (in-person and at-home via web-based platforms), as demonstrated by its citation in 27 clinical guidelines and position papers on pulmonary rehabilitation, pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, skeletal muscle dysfunction, oxygen therapy and respiratory management, from eminent bodies including the Thoracic Societies in the UK, USA, Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.

Please join with me in congratulating Anne on her award.