Monash clinical trials of new drug shows promise for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia

A Monash University-led study has found a promising new treatment for patients with the second-most common form of dementia in people under 60, resulting in a stabilising of escalating behavioural issues, and a reversal of brain shrinkage due to the disease.

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Welcome to Professor Amy Brodtmann, Neuroscience

Professor Amy Brodtmann and her team will be
joining the Department of Neuroscience on 4 July

from Professors Helmut Butzkueven and Terry O'Brien

We are delighted to announce that Professor Amy Brodtmann and her research group will be joining the Department of Neuroscience, The Central Clinical School, Monash University on 4 July.

Prof Brodtmann and her team members are global leaders in human cognitive neuroscience research.

After returning from her post-doctoral appointment in the Centre for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease at Northwestern University, Chicago, in 2005, Professor Brodtmann established the Eastern Cognitive Disorders Clinic at Eastern Health, Melbourne, which has grown to a national flagship service for the diagnosis, treatment and clinical trials of atypical dementias.

Day of Immunology 2022

The Monash team at the 2022 Day of Immunology. L-R back row Nirmal
Bhatt, Flavia Gomez, Kathy Hsin, Gemma Hartley, Maria Demaria.
Front row: Katrina Kan, Jesse Mulder and Jurie Tashkandi

By Dr Maria Demaria, Lecturer, Department of Immunology and Pathology, Central Clinical School

The International Day of Immunology is celebrated every year on 29 April. The Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) organises a number of events to coincide with this day. In Victoria and Tasmania, our events included a public lecture, research institute discovery tours, science in the pub, and secondary school student workshops and careers sessions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the first year since 2019 that many of these events have been held. 

5 April - 2 May 2022 Central Clinical School recent publications

Measuring quality of recovery after surgery:
BJA systematic review. Dr Mark Shulman,
pictured, is one of the authors.

Recent publications featuring research as notified by PubMed during 5 April - 2 May 2022 from Central Clinical School affiliated researchers in the following departments. The below is not a comprehensive list.

The most recent validated publications for the school and departments can be seen on their publications pages, linked to from the headings below. Otherwise, read down the entry for recent notifications.

Telehealth goes under the spotlight

Telehealth has become a valuable tool in delivering health care.
Image: Shutterstock

by Anne Crawford

Before COVID, telehealth was gaining traction as a new way of delivering health care; in the midst of the pandemic, it became a necessity. A Monash University study set out to find what healthcare providers thought of the implementation of the model of care given its rapid acceleration in their field.

The researchers conducted a 12-month service-wide survey of the attitudes to telehealth held by clinicians, managers and administrative staff in Peninsula Health in June-July 2021. 

New clot-busting drug may improve treatment for stroke patients

L-R: Professor Christoph Hagemeyer and Dr Be'eri Niego have

published a study investigating a new drug for blood clots.

by Anne Crawford

A team of Monash University researchers has demonstrated that an innovative drug that removes blood clots improves the outcomes of acute ischaemic stroke and has a promising safety profile. 

The study, led by Professor Christoph Hagemeyer and Dr Be’eri Niego from the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD), showed the potential of their new clot-busting agent ‘SCE5-scuPA’ in mouse stroke models.

The findings were published in ‘Blood Advances’ late last month.

In their own words: Healthcare workers’ tales of toil amid COVID-19

Original article reproduced from Monash Lens, featuring Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood

One of the significant anecdotal narratives out of Australia’s COVID-19 nightmare has been the enormous psychological and physical toll on frontline healthcare workers.

The high rates of burnout, depression, and even thoughts of suicide and self-harm. The continual rollercoaster of emotions, self-care struggles, and the doomed juggle between work and home.