www.med.monash.edu.au/medicine/alfred/research/epidermal-development.html
22 Apr 2016
Forthcoming CCS events: Seminars, public events, general notices
Kirsty Wilson |
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 this coming week: 25 - 29 Apr 2016
Tue | ► | 26-Apr | 10:00 | General Honours Literal Review Seminar |
Wed | ► | 26-Apr | 10:00 | General Honours Literal Review Seminar |
Thu | ► | 27-Apr | 12:00 | Cutting Edge Journal Club - Kirsty Wilson |
Fri | ► | 29-Apr | 9:00 | Day of Immunology |
Forthcoming events
Save the date: Monash Health Translation Precinct Research Week 22-26 August 2016
Save the date! The Monash Health Translation Precinct (MHTP) is holding its research week 22-16 August inclusive. It will feature poster presentations, the annual Translational Research Symposium (on Thursday 25 Aug), a public forum and more. We will update you with details of the program and links for RSVPing to events as they are confirmed. For more information, contact Katherine.Greenberg@monash.edu.
Explore ‘Immunology heroes and villains’ at the annual Day of Immunology 29 April 2016
Image at the DoI photo exhibition opening 21 April at St Ali Cafe in Melbourne. "T cells see red, cancer immunotherapy to the rescue. A snapshot of a melanoma tumour. " Dani Tutuka, from the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. |
Since 2005, The Day of Immunology has celebrated and explored the highly sophisticated human immune system, the mysteries of which are still being unravelled. The complex system guards against infection, but can also attack the body it is designed to protect. The Day of Immunology aims to strengthen awareness on the importance of the immune system and promote scientific research.
21 Apr 2016
Preventing the development of multi-organ autoimmunity
By Dr Jodie Abramovitch
Autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system incorrectly
recognises self-tissues and organs as being potentially dangerous - like a
pathogen. The immune system attacks the tissue or organ – sometimes in an
organ-specific manner (eg. type I diabetes) or sometimes in a multi-organ
fashion (eg. lupus) – which leads to disease symptoms. What causes the onset of
autoimmune disease is not well understood and, consequently, there is no cure
with treatments predominantly aimed at relieving inflammatory symptoms.
Elisha de Valle - first author of this study |
This study revealed that NF-κB1 has an essential role in controlling
the function of Fo B cells, primarily to limit the production of inflammatory factor
IL-6. In the absence of NF-κB1, the production of IL-6 becomes deregulated and severe autoimmune disease can
occur. These conclusions further the understanding of the mechanisms that control IL-6 production and may lead to better management of
patients with autoimmune disease.
Reference: de Valle E, Grigoriadis G, O'Reilly LA, Willis SN, Maxwell MJ, Corcoran LM, Tsantikos E, Cornish JK, Fairfax KA, Vasanthakumar A, Febbraio MA, Hibbs ML, Pellegrini M, Banerjee A, Hodgkin PD, Kallies A, Mackay F, Strasser A, Gerondakis S, Gugasyan R. NFκB1 is essential to prevent the development of multiorgan autoimmunity by limiting IL-6 production in follicular B cells. J Exp Med. 2016 Apr; 213:621-41.
doi: 10.1084/jem.20151182.
Which type of polio vaccine is best?
By Dr Jodie Abramovitch
The current polio vaccine was developed by Albert Sabin in 1961 and is a live-attenuated, orally administered vaccine (OPV). Live-attenuated means that the polio virus is alive but unable to cause disease. In settings with high childhood mortality, the OPV is believed to have non-specific effects that allows for protection against other childhood infections such as paralytic poliomyelitis (also known as infantile paralysis caused by the polio virus), tuberculosis and measles. This non-specific protection is thought to be able to reduce mortality to infectious diseases, particularly in childhood, by up to 17%. The significance of this protection is controversial.
To reduce the incidence of poliomyelitis
which is around 75 cases worldwide per year, the World Health Organisation
(WHO) has recommended the OPV be replaced by an inactivated form (IPV) of the
polio virus. Inactivated means the virus used in the vaccine is dead.
The current polio vaccine was developed by Albert Sabin in 1961 and is a live-attenuated, orally administered vaccine (OPV). Live-attenuated means that the polio virus is alive but unable to cause disease. In settings with high childhood mortality, the OPV is believed to have non-specific effects that allows for protection against other childhood infections such as paralytic poliomyelitis (also known as infantile paralysis caused by the polio virus), tuberculosis and measles. This non-specific protection is thought to be able to reduce mortality to infectious diseases, particularly in childhood, by up to 17%. The significance of this protection is controversial.
Professor Magda Plebanski |
In a recent correspondence published in The Lancet, a group of
physicians and scientists, including Professor Magdalena Plebanski from the
Department of Immunology and Pathology, voiced their concern at a potential
change to the form of the current polio vaccine from OPV to IPV. It was noted
that previous evidence suggests that the IPV does not confer the same
non-specific protection as the OPV. Therefore, the IPV may be associated with
an increase in childhood mortality (caused by a range of different infectious
diseases). The authors postulated that for every case of poliomyelitis that is
reduced by the IPV about 4000 extra deaths due to other infectious diseases (resulting in 300 000 additional deaths each year) may
occur that could have been prevented by the OPV.
The authors of this correspondence concluded by urging the WHO
to conduct randomised trials of the two different forms of polio vaccine before
phasing out the OPV. This would allow for a better understanding of the non-specific
protection that each of the polio vaccines provides against other infectious
diseases. The results of these trials would inform whether the IPV leads to a
higher infectious disease mortality overall when compared to the OPV, as well
as whether the OPV and IPV may be administered alongside one another in
children to prevent poliomyelitis and keep infectious disease mortality low.
Reference: Fish EN, Flanagan KL, Furman D, Klein SL, Kollmann TR, Jeppesen DL, Levy O, Marchant A, Namachivayam S, Netea MG, Plebanski M,Rowland-Jones SL, Selin LK, Shann F, Whittle HC. Changing oral vaccine to inactivated polio vaccine might increase mortality. Lancet. 2016 Mar; 387:1054-5.
doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00661-9.
doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00661-9.
Recent CCS publications: Week ending 22 April 2016
Transcranial stimulation |
Duan M, Steinfort DP, Smallwood D, Hew M, Chen W, Ernst M, Irving LB, Anderson GP, Hibbs ML. CD11b immunophenotyping identifies inflammatory profiles in the mouse and human lungs. Mucosal Immunol. 2016 Mar;9(2):550-63.
Link: doi 10.1038/mi.2015.84.
Fitzgerald, P.B., Hoy, K.E., Elliot, D., McQueen, S., Wambeek, L.E., Daskalakis, Z.J. A negative double-blind controlled trial of sequential bilateral rTMS in the treatment of bipolar depression. Journal of Affective Disorders (2016) 198 pp. 158 - 162
Link: doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.03.052
Lim HY, Ng C, Donnan G, Nandurkar H, Ho P. Ten years of cerebral venous thrombosis: male gender and myeloproliferative neoplasm is associated with thrombotic recurrence in unprovoked events. J Thromb Thrombolysis. 2016 Apr 16. [Epub ahead of print]
Link: PMID 27085541
Maller JJ, Anderson RJ, Thomson RH, Daskalakis ZJ, Rosenfeld JV, Fitzgerald PB. Occipital bending in schizophrenia. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2016 Apr 11. pii: 0004867416642023. [Epub ahead of print]
Link: PMID 27066817
20 Apr 2016
Monash changes medicine degree from 2017
Our medical program, the Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine (MD), has been designed in close consultation with doctors, health care professionals and leaders in the health and research sectors in order to give our students the scientific background and clinical expertise needed for a successful career as a doctor.
18 Apr 2016
Perspective: Do doctors give weight to evidence in clinical decision-making?
Doctors may deny that they unconsciously bias the results of studies, but the evidence shows they do. pixdeluxe/iStockphoto |
Here’s how you should go about doing it. Link to full story
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)