(Formerly known as Central Clinical School)
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| Disrupted circadian rhythms contribute to heart disease risk. Image: Shutterstock |
Globally, heart disease is a major threat to human health. The identification of its risk is vital for its prevention. To date, the cluster of risk factors used as an index for predicting heart disease is collectively known as the 'metabolic syndrome'. They include high blood pressure, blood lipids and sugar, and also obesity.
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| Dr Ben Sinclair with a Reviver participant |
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| Medihoney antibacterial wound gel sub-optimal: Study. Image: annalscts |
Their 2020 Christmas edition is very much about having your cake and eating it too! See the Low FODMAP Christmas Cake with Brandy Custard recipe and more at their blog site, to which you can also subscribe to get the latest news items delivered to your inbox.
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| CCS won ten NHMRC Ideas Grants in the 2020 round. |
Congratulations to Central Clinical School's ten NHMRC Idea grant recipients. See more about the CCS projects, below. The grant income for the school from this round totals $9.5M across the period 2021-2025.
Commiserations to our researchers whose grants were ranked very highly, but nonetheless missed out.
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| Dr Stuart McDonald has won a $1M NHMRC grant for research on a blood test for mild traumatic brain injury. |
This grant was one of 283 grants announced by the Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP on Tuesday 15 December, with a total budget of $260 million. The Ideas Grants provide an opportunity for researchers to make future advances in health and well-being, with projects being funded for 3-5 years.
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| Prof Anne Holland (centre, lowest row) and her group |
Dr Tom Karagiannis is a researcher in the Diabetes Department of Monash University's Central Clinical School. This year his research has been focused on analysing molecular compounds of potential use to combat the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
He explains that SARS-CoV-2 is the latest of a series of coronaviruses to jump from animals to humans, and there will be more in the future as we continue to have increased contact with wild animal populations given the decrease of their habitat.
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| Associate Professor John Lubel |
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| Fig 1 from review article on neurological heterotopic ossification by Wong et al. |
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| A/Prof Anne Abbott has won the John Maddox Prize for Early Career |
Associate Professor Anne Abbott, an Australian neurologist at the Central Clinical School at Monash University in Melbourne, has been awarded the 2020 John Maddox Prize for Early Career individuals. She received the award for her innovative research on, and tireless advocacy for, “evidence-true” stroke and arterial disease prevention treatment.
A/Prof Abbott’s innovative research was first published in 2009. It showed that in people without referable stroke symptoms, non-invasive medical intervention is at least as effective as carotid artery surgery (endarterectomy). The carotid artery is the main brain artery and commonly affected by arterial disease. Medical intervention, consisting of lifestyle changes and medication, has improved in stroke prevention effectiveness by at least 65% over the last 3-4 decades. Medical intervention reduces all arterial disease complications, healthcare costs and healthcare risk.
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| Associate Professor Anneke van der Walt |
Dear CCS Staff, Adjuncts and Students,
It is with great pleasure and pride that I can inform you that A/Prof Anneke Van Der Walt has been appointed to the joint Alfred/Monash appointment as Director Multiple Sclerosis Neuroimmunology Unit (MSNI), Alfred Brain, Alfred Health, and Associate Professor of Neuroscience, The Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University.
This is a key academic clinical leadership position for clinical neurosciences at Monash and The Alfred. A/Prof van der Walt will be responsible for clinical and research leadership, and ongoing strategic development, of the MSNI Unit at Alfred Health and Monash University. She is an outstanding clinical neurologist and researcher, with a national and emerging international reputation for her research in the fields of multiple sclerosis, neuroimmunology and neuro-ophthalmology.
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| Dr Mastura Monif (left) and A/Prof David Wright |
Dr Monif's research project is titled, The contribution of monocytes and P2X7 Receptor in MS relapse. The grant amount is $45,906 plus GST.
A/Prof Wright's research project is titled, Is the brain’s waste clearance system impaired in motor neuron disease? The grant amount is $46,000 plus GST.
by Matt Cull
Monash University is creating a first of its kind training program for postgraduate students, aimed at driving innovative new medical ideas to market.
Three TRM students describe how they have been finding the experience.
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| Tied top BMedSc(Hons) CCS students Michael Dong and Madeleine Tse |
Congratulations to two of Central Clinical School's Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours) students, Mr Michael Dong and Ms Madeleine Tse, who have tied for top position in this year's cohort.
One of Central Clinical School's 2nd year PhD students, Ms Georgia Fuller Symons, has won 1st place in Session 2 of the Monash Neuroscience in a Flash Competition. Congratulations Georgia!
Georgia's topic was "Hitting close to home: concussion in Australian collision sport". See more detail of her talk topic below.
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| COVID-19: What could happen next? forum video |
The forum featured Professor Paul Zimmet AO, talking about the new CoviDIAB registry which is tracking patients with first-time onset diabetes; and Drs Elspeth Hutton and Robb Wesselingh talking about the new NeuroCOVID registry being set up to track patients with neurological complications. Professor Christina Mitchell AO, Dean of Monash's Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, gave an introduction. See links to the time of their presentations below, and also the audience questions.
by Matt Cull
Monash University is investigating a link between COVID-19 and diabetes which is not yet fully understood, though it is becoming clear that COVID-19 is indeed causing first-time onset of diabetes.
In collaboration with King’s College in London, Monash University has established a register of patients, called CoviDIAB, who reported having developed diabetes after confirmed exposure to the disease COVID-19 which is caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Many patients had no known instances of diabetes in their family and were not believed to have been at high risk for the illness prior to being infected with the coronavirus.
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The Stem Cell Biology group which has four of the co-authors on a Nature Communications study. L-R Ms Jacqueline Boyle, Prof David Curtis, Ms Shokoufeh Abdollahi, Mr Feng Yan, Dr Cedric Tremblay, Mr Andrej Terzic, Ms Jesslyn Saw, Dr Christina Makhlouf. Dr Tremblay is lead author on the study which provides the first preclinical evidence that Dynamin inhibitors are effective as a combination therapy for acute leukaemia. |
Recent publications featuring research as notified by PubMed during 1-7 December 2020 from Central Clinical School affiliated researchers in the following departments. The below is not a comprehensive list:
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| A/Prof Jason Ong has won HSRAANZ best paper award |
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are over 1 million curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) a day. Earlier detection and timely treatment are needed to better control STIs, especially among those less likely to engage with healthcare systems. In recent years, there has been a global scale-up of programs for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
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| Drs Simon Teteris & Maria Demaria |
Anita Barry writes, "We had something unexpected and lovely happen yesterday [Wednesday 9 December] in the teaching labs at Clayton. We currently have third year students undertaking an intensive practical course as they missed out on this experience in first semester due to COVID-19.
"Our thoughtful Immunology students surprised two of our co-ordinators (Dr Simon Teteris and Dr Maria Demaria) with appreciation gifts of chocolates, flowers and a donation to UNICEF for 310 TB immunisations! Great to see the students showing the love for our dedicated, hard-working and talented co-ordinators!"
Our CCS graduate students who have been selected as finalists in the competition would love your support on the day:
Their abstracts and the link to register can be found on the Neuroflash web page.
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| A+ EMCR Best Paper CCS winners were, L-R: A/Prof Jason Ong (MSHC), Dr
Tiffany Phillips (MSHC), Dr Natalie Thomas (MAPrc) and Dr Maithili Sashindranath (ACBD) |
i. News
The Alfred Research Alliance Early and Mid Career Research (A+ EMCR) have published their final newsletter for the year, featuring:
ii. Survey
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| Our speakers in the forthcoming forum on Wednesday 9 December, 7-8 pm, showcasing CCS's new registries tracking COVID-19 complications, in diabetes, and in neurological disorders, including chronic fatigue. L-R: Prof Christina Mitchell, Prof Paul Zimmet (diabetes),
Dr Elspeth Hutton, Dr Robb Wesselingh (both Elspeth & Robb on
neurological complications). See more and register. |
Medical researchers – facing reduced government grants and funding in the wake of COVID-19 – are turning towards investors and philanthropy groups to keep their labs open and what they are finding is that these avenues are faster, more responsive and often more lucrative than more traditional research funding.
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| Prof Paul Myles in theatre |
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| Rehabilitation for brain injury patients can be lifelong. A Citizen Jury was asked for their recommendations on best care. Study |
Brain injury rehabilitation is long‐term - in fact, it can be lifelong - and not cheap. So far, little published information or debate has informed policy for service delivery in Australia.
As health budgets are finite, there are major challenges to providing the best care to people with brain injuries.
Members of the public were invited to take part in a Citizen Jury at the Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Centre in Melbourne. The ABI Centre features single-bed rooms at Caulfield Hospital and provides rehabilitation to meet the needs of people with severe brain injuries, resulting from trauma, stroke and other medical causes of acquired brain injury. The Citizen Jurists were asked, ‘What considerations are important to include in a model of care of brain injury rehabilitation?’
Recent publications featuring research as notified by PubMed during 24-30 November 2020 from Central Clinical School affiliated researchers in the following departments. The below is not a comprehensive list:
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| L-R: A/Prof Justin Hamilton with his PhD student at the time, Shauna French, who is now at Harvard Medical School; A/Prof Nigel Jones with his current PhD student Flavia Gomes; Prof Nicola Harris who became one of CCS's graduate research coordinators in November 2018. |
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| Honours student Manisha Dona |
Congratulations to Manisha Dona, CCS Neuroscience BSc Honours student, who was awarded an Oral Presentation Excellence Award at the Students of Brain Research (SOBR) Network student symposium yesterday for her oral presentation titled “The association of diet, sleep and physical activity on disability outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis”.
Ms Neha Kaul co-supervised Manisha together with Dr Vilija Jokubaitis. Neha said, "Thank you to the Multiple Sclerosis & Neuro Immunology [MSNI] team, in particular Louise Rath and Vilija and her lab group for their support in this project.
"Congratulations Manisha, well deserved and a reflection of your hard work in this particularly difficult year!"
The research was funded in part by the Alfred Research Alliance EMCR Collaborative Seed Grant awarded in late 2019.
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| Associate Professor David Wright wins VBIC award |
A/Prof Wright's award was made by VBIC Chair, Professor Gary Egan and Victoria's Lead Scientist, Dr Amanda Caples.
See more about the Alfred Research Alliance Monash Biomedical Imaging facilities of which David is the director, at www.monash.edu/medicine/ccs/neuroscience/facilities/imaging
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| The 20 Nov 2020 medRxiv preprint publication co-authors in Associate Professor Menno van Zelm's Immunology/Allergy research team include: L-R: Mrs Simone Reinwald, Ms Gemma Hartley (first author), Dr Craig McKenzie, Professor Robyn O'Hehir AO (author), Associate Professor Menno van Zelm (senior author), Ms Pei Mun Aui (author), Dr Emily Edwards (author), Mrs Neeru Varese (author). |
Monash researchers have revealed – for the first time – that people who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus have sustained protection against reinfection for at least eight months.
The research is the strongest evidence for the likelihood that vaccines against the virus, SARS-CoV-2, will work for long periods.
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| Culture and sensitivity testing of S. aureus Image: Wikimedia |
A team of researchers from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (MNHS) Department of Infectious Diseases, the Faculty of Information Technology (IT) and The Alfred’s Department of Infectious Diseases have been awarded $3.4M from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) for the SuperbugAi Flagship project.
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| CT images of ex vivo mice lungs. A&B. Axial images of a standard CT
compared to a high-resolution micro-CT quality image. C. Maximum
Intensity Projection (MIP) of the iodine-based contrast inflated lung
for bronchial tree visualisation. Image: Karen Alt |
Three-dimensional imaging of the mouse lung plays an important role in preclinical research to better understand injury extent and recovery especially of respiratory viruses such as SARS-COV-1 and -2.
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| Age, sex, menopause and brain structure study. Human brain mapped with diffusion tensor imaging: The Atlantic |
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| See Dr Vilija Jokubaitis's research seminar highlights video |
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| Dr Janet Towns, PhD |
Janet's thesis title is, "Modern Ethical Syphilology: Elucidating Treponema pallidum transmission; and novel strategies for improving early detection of syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections". She was supervised by Professor Kit Fairley, A/Prof Eric Chow, A/Prof Lei Zhang, Professor Marcus Chen (Melbourne Sexual Health Centre) and Professor Stephen Graves (University of Newcastle).
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| Check out the KIT body image chatbot |
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| Professor Andrea Whittaker | Dr Nenad Macesic |
Without urgent action it's estimated that superbugs will kill 22,000 Australians a year by 2040.
Superbugs threaten to be the next great health crisis of our time, claiming many more lives than COVID-19, and a comprehensive national infection database is urgently needed to arrest the spread, Monash University researchers say.
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| Australia's addiction crisis is in the spotlight in an SBS series. CCS and Turning Point's Dr Shalini Arunogiri comments |
Australia’s addiction crisis, is in the spotlight, following the release of a new SBS documentary series, ‘Addicted Australia’.
The four-part series follows the personal journeys of 10 clients, their clinicians, peer support workers, families and friends, and lays bare the challenges faced by families and their loved ones who are searching for a different life.
Monash University partner, Turning Point, has designed the six-month treatment program the clients are undertaking.
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| Study shows speech discrimination impairment is a marker of disease severity in multiple sclerosis. Image: Hearing Review |
Professor Natasha Lannin and Dr Laura Jolliffe of the Brain Recovery and Rehabilitation Group in Monash University's Department of Neuroscience explain how their research and practice support the rehabilitation of people with neurological damage from stroke or brain injuries to regain function and independence.
Prof Lannin is a Chief Investigator on three new trials which have received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnerships Projects program this year (project list link).
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| L-R: Prof Nicola Harris (CIA), Dr Tiffany Smith and Prof Robin Gasser are collaborating on an ARC project to control parasitic nematodes which are a problem in agricultural animals. |
Prof Nicola Harris and Dr Tiffany Smith have teamed up with Professor Robin Gasser, who specialises in parasitology at the University of Melbourne, to discover drugs which will work against blood-feeding parasite nematodes of animals. This project aims to identify more sustainable control strategies of nematode parasites of livestock, which cost more than 400 million yearly to the Australian wool and meat industry.
Congratulations to Central Clinical School colleagues Professor Peter Gibson (Department of Gastroenterology) and Professor Kathryn Holt (Department of Infectious Diseases), who have been named on the 2020 Web of Science Highly Cited (HiCi)'s list: https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2020/. This recognises leading researchers in their fields over the last decade, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science™ .
See other Monash researchers on the 2020 HiCi list here.
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| Register here for the 9 Dec forum, 7-8 pm |
What happens next with COVID-19? It's complicated... Once infected with COVID-19, the illness can cause devastating complications which we don't yet understand. Register here for our 9 Dec forum
A forum, "COVID-19: What could happen next?" on 9 Dec at 7-8 pm will give you the chance to hear from our panel of diabetes and neurology experts on the urgent need to know the extent and causes of new-onset and dysfunction with diabetes and neurological conditions. They'll outline how registries are vital to provide the best interventions and management for treatment, and to understand the potential longer-term impact on the health of people who have been infected.
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| Register here for 25 Nov webinar on mental health treatment |
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| See the Alfred-Monash Brain Tumour biobank video |
If you would like to work with the Alfred Brain Tumour Bio-databank on a research project or use samples for your research, then please contact Loretta Piccenna (loretta.piccenna@monash.edu) and ABTB Clinical Coordinator, Emily Galea (E.Galea@alfred.org,au).
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| Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease burden grows as people become fatter: Study. Image: Shutterstock |
What is the Monash ‘Neuroscience in a Flash’ Competition? 
See more about Monash's Neuroscience capabilities
The ‘Neuroscience in a Flash’ Competition is a challenge for graduate research students, to creatively present their research thesis to a general audience, in three minutes, using only one slide!
As a result of the current COVID-19 restrictions, the Department of Neuroscience will be hosting the competition virtually, using Zoom:
Register to attend here www.monash.edu/medicine/research/grad-research/monash-neuroscience-in-a-flash-competition-2020
Welcome to Matt Cull, who is currently finishing his final year in journalism, and is undertaking an internship with Central Clincal School, working with Julia Veitch.
Matt also holds a Bachelor in Music from Monash University. Over the course of completing his degree he has worked in advertising and finance, and enjoys covering stories across a wide range of topics. He has a particular interest in politics and science, and how those topics intersect with journalism. He moved to Melbourne from Perth to study at Monash, and has also spent time studying abroad at New York University.
Matt will be writing up our research and producing videos for during his internship.
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| Prof Allen Cheng will talk about Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic 12-1.30 pm, Tues 17 Nov. Register |
The Alfred Education and Innovation Hub with Alfred Research Alliance present a webinar with Professor Allen Cheng discussing Australia’s response to COVID-19, on Tuesday 17 November, 12 noon - 1.30 pm.
Prof Cheng is an infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist who has been Victoria's acting Deputy Chief Health Officer since July 2020 - throughout the state's second COVID-19 wave.
See more below or register now.
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| L-R top row: Alex Dimitropulous, Coco Shi, Akshita Rana. Lower row: April Raftery, Rishabh Sharma, Nicola Sergienko. |
Central Clinical School's 13th annual graduate research symposium held on 4-5 November was very successful, with around 40 students presenting or participating from across the school, so it was a very strong field. See the booklet for pictures of all participants.
A number of new sessions were introduced this year including a keynote presentation. Many thanks to Shane Nanayakkara for sharing his insights. Congratulations to the student organisers (some but not all pictured above) and both student and staff participants, and of course the winners! See list below and also on the CCS graduate research web page.
This episode of What Happens Next? features all the best tips and guidance from our experts about how to help young people manage their social media use for mental health and wellbeing, and how it can be used to build communities and share stories. Gemma Sharp is one of three interviewees in this podcast, speaking on how to be aware of when social media use is becoming unhealthy.
Every generation faces its own moral panic over new technology. Even right back to Socrates when the use of written text in books was seen as something that would negatively impact our lives. In the 20th century, wireless radio and television was thought or assumed to bring about the downfall of civilisation.
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Wearing masks restricts vision to a small extent, requiring people to look down to negotiate steps and other obstacles or hazards. What is the best advice for the elderly with restricted mobility? Image: Shutterstock |
Mask wearing continues to be mandatory in Victoria as a tried and tested public health measure to limit the spread of COVID-19. The World Health Organisation has recommended that mask-wearing be routine practice throughout the world. What are the implications for those who experience difficulty negotiating their environment?
Elderly people have all kinds of mobility issues. Wearing masks adds to the complexity of their experience. The authors of a recently published British Medical Journal (BMJ) editorial about mask-wearing and risk of falls in older people suggest that slowing down walking pace may be safer than looking down when wearing face masks.
Associate Professor Michele Callisaya, Professor Keith Hill and colleagues who created the Safe Exercise at Home website have published a reply. She says, "We advocate that advising people to simply slow down without taking other aspects of negotiating your environment while wearing a mask is not the best approach. Masks do restrict your vision to some extent. Strategies should be individualised and looking down over a mask is required especially on curbs and obstacles."
See the group's response: https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4133/rr
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Mauritius took early, stringent action to prevent the spread of COVID-19. To date, only 368 people have been infected: Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology study. Image: Shutterstock |
