2021 CCS 3MT competition on 27 May: All welcome!

This year's PhD students entering in the CCS 3MT heat being held 27 May: See CCS 3MT web page or read further down.
L-R from top: Pia Campagna, Erskine Chu, Muhammad Javaid, Runxuan Lin, Jacques Ma, Rachna Ram, Jennifer Reilly, Akshita Rana, Nicola Sergienko, Marissa Sgro, Georgia Symons

Each year, Central Clinical School graduate research (GR) students compete in the "Three Minute Thesis" competition (3MT), offered in every Australian university. 

The CCS 3MT competition is an opportunity for our GR students to convey the relevance and importance of their research in just 3 minutes. It is an excellent opportunity to achieve a higher profile for research students and their work. The Monash 3MT finalist will then be invited to represent Monash University at the Asia-Pacific 3MT competition, which will be held in Queensland at the University of Queensland.

2021 CCS 3MT competition details

The School's annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition will take place on 27 May, pitting eleven brave young researchers (see detail below) against each other in a bid to explain their research in plain English, and in only three minutes. The competition is a wonderful opportunity to practice sharing complex but vital research with a lay audience.

• CCS 3MT (flyer) (Thursday 27 May 2021 @ 2:00pm-3:15pm via Zoom)
• Faculty 3MT Final (Week: 19 June 2021 - 26 June 2021); and
• Monash 3MT Final (Tuesday 17 August 2021)
• Asia-Pacific Virtual Final (27 Sep 2021 - 20 Oct 2021)

Judging panel

• Prof Terence O'Brien, Dr Karen Alt and Ms Julia Veitch

Prizes

• Winner ($300)      
• Runner-up ($200)               
• People's choice ($50)

Further details regarding the 3MT competition including rules and judging criteria can be found online.

Participants

	Akshita Rana Supervisors: A/Prof Christopher Hagemeyer, Dr Be'eri Niego, Dr Erik Westein Topic: Stroke, heart attack and a 'smart' little antibody: A tale unfolds Department: ACBD
	Marissa Sgro Supervisors: A/Prof Richelle Mychasiuk, Dr Rhys Brady and Dr Glenn Yamakawa Topic: Investigating the Role of the Gut Microbiome in Adolescent and Adult Mild TBI Pathophysiology Department: Neuroscience
	Runxuan Lin Supervisors: A/Prof Nigel Jones and Prof Patrick Kwan Topic: Does epilepsy make Alzheimer’s disease worse? Department: Neuroscience
	Nicola Sergienko Supervisors: Dr Kate Weeks, A/Prof Julie McMullen and Dr Daniel Donner Topic: Shedding light on cardiac protein phosphatases: the role of B55α-PP2A in heart development and disease Department: Baker
	Jacques Ma Supervisors: Dr Carlos Rosado, Prof Merlin Thomas Topic: A novel approach to intracellular delivery of GLP-1 for diabetes and obesity pharmacotherapy Department: Diabetes
	Georgia Symons Supervisors: A/Prof Sandy Shultz, A/Prof Joanne Fielding, Dr Meaghan Clough, Dr Scott Kolbe Topic: Hitting close to home: Concussion in Australian rules football Department: Neuroscience
	Rachna Ram Supervisors: Prof Warren Rozen, Prof Paul Bonnington, Prof David Hunter-Smith Topic: Augmented reality visualisation to aid breast reconstruction surgery in the operating theatre Department: Peninsula
	Maria Pia Campagna Supervisors: Dr Vilija Jokubaitis, Prof Helmut Butzkueven, Dr Jeanette Lechner-Scott, Dr Rodney Lea Topic: Finding the right treatment for the right patient with multiple sclerosis Department: Neuroscience
	Muhammad Javaid Supervisors: Prof Patrick Kwan, Dr Ana Antonic-Baker, Dr Alison Anderson, Prof Terence O’Brien Topic: Development of personalized disease-in-a-dish model of focal cortical dysplasia using induced pluripotent stem cells Department: Neuroscience
	Jennifer Reilly Supervisors: Prof Paul Myles, Prof Wendy Brown, Prof Belinda Gabbe Topic: Predicting the risk of death after surgery to inform decision-making and care pathways Department: Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
	Erskine Chu Supervisors: Dr Bridgette Semple, A/Prof Margaret Hibbs, A/Prof Richelle Mychasiuk Topic: SHIP-1 in Regulating Microglial Responses After Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury and Adult Steady State Brain Department: Neuroscience