Video of the Week: Dr Steven Petratos

Still of Steven Petratos and his group from the video

Dr Steven Petratos, head of the Regenerative Neuroscience and Development Laboratory discusses his laboratory's recent discovery of a novel drug that could potentially help patients with Secondary Progressive MS, the stage that follows relapse and remission.

Video: https://youtu.be/tUJPy1ABZxw
Article: http://ccsmonash.blogspot.com.au/2018/01/molecule-may-help-halt-ms-progression.html#more

What's on at CCS 05-09 Feb 2018

Prof Patrick Kwan will be
the keynote speaker at
Thursday's Grand Rounds

Central Clinical School (CCS) has regular seminar series and postgraduate presentations. Event notices are posted on the CCS Events calendar.

CCS staff and 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 CCS intranet's Announcements page.





What's on at CCS 05-09 Feb 2018

Wed 07/02/2018   ► 14:00   PhD Confirmation Milestone: Amy Searle

                              ► 14:30   PhD Confirmation Milestone: Anna Beale    
                              ► 16:45   AMREP students Free Yoga
Thur 08/02/2018   ► 11:30   Cutting Edge Journal Club: Cassandra Castelino  

                              ► 12:00  The Alfred Grand Round: Sleep & Epilepsy
                              

Recent CCS publications: 1 - 9 January 2018

Shauna French and Justin Hamilton. Shauna is Justin's
PhD student and has two publications listed this week
on anti-thrombotic research.

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the following departments. Note, browse down this entry for complete publications list. Linked headings for each section are to the departments' home pages.

•  Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine (AIRMed)
•  Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine
•  Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD)
•  Diabetes
•  Gastroenterology
•  Immunology and Pathology
•  Infectious Diseases
•  Medicine
•  Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC)
•  Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (MAPrc) 
•  National Trauma Research Institute
•  Neuroscience
•  Surgery and Centre for Obesity Research and Education (CORE)

Recent CCS publications: 15 Dec 2017 - 1 Jan 2018

Prof Leon Bach, Department of Medicine
(Alfred) published a paper on insulin-like
growth factor binding proteins, implicated
in disorders including malignant, metabolic,
neurological and immune diseases

Recent publications for Central Clinical School affiliated authors in the following departments. Note, browse down this entry for complete publications list. Linked headings for each section are to the departments' home pages.

Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine (AIRMed)

Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine

Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD)

Centre for Obesity Research and Education (CORE)

Diabetes

Gastroenterology

Infectious Diseases

Immunology

MAPrc

Medicine

Melbourne Sexual Health Clinic (MSHC)

Neuroscience

Surgery

Funding boost for research on rare cancers and diseases

L-R: A/Prof Andrew Wei, A/Prof David Curtis, A/Prof Erica Wood and Prof David Pilcher

Congratulations to the medical researchers from The Alfred and Monash University who have scooped more than $5.5million in funding to tackle rare cancers and diseases!

The four major research projects were among 19 Australia-wide to receive federal government backing under the Medical Research Future Fund’s Rare Cancers, Rare Diseases and Unmet Needs Clinical Trials Program.

Holding hands a way to ease pain, study finds

Holding hands with someone you love helps reduce perception
of pain. Photo: Thinkstock

by Anne Crawford

Holding hands – an intimate moment, a gesture of reassurance or a show of friendship and connection.

Now a Monash University study demonstrates that this simple gesture can have an analgesic effect on stress and pain, supporting the role of social connections in managing pain in clinical settings.

Molecule may help halt MS progression, says Monash scientist

Dr Steven Petratos 

by Anne Crawford

Monash University researchers are set to conduct a large study into a drug that may thwart the progression of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

The preclinical study, led by Dr Steven Petratos from the Department of Neuroscience, was given the go-ahead after MS Research Australia announced a $70,000 grant to support it. If successful, clinical trials would follow.

International infection protocol challenged

Professor Paul Myles

by Anne Crawford

The World Health Organization (WHO)’s recommended guidelines on surgical wound infection, one of the most common serious post-operative complications, has been questioned by Monash University researcher and Alfred Health clinician Professor Paul Myles.

Patients with surgical site infections (SSI) are twice as likely to need admission to intensive care as other post-operative patients and are twice as likely to die. Surgical site infections are estimated to require an extra two million bed days a year and are believed to add a one billion-dollar cost to health care providers in Australia.

Media mentions: Sexually transmitted disease study

Prof Christopher Fairley

Melbourne Sexual Health Centre research reporting that gonorrhoea and syphilis cases are on the rise again in Melbourne have appeared in several media outlets over the summer break.

The centre's study described trends in sexually transmitted infection over nearly a century of data from 1918 to 2016.

Researchers speculated that casual sex through online dating, and reduced fear of HIV, could be factors behind the recent trend.