Researcher finds ‘gold standard’ test for MS wanting

Dr Meaghan Clough researches cognitive speed in early MS

by Anne Crawford

For seven years, researcher Dr Meaghan Clough frequently observed Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients performing well on the standard test used to measure cognitive function then talk to her about cognitive problems they were facing. She wondered about the discrepancy.

“On further investigation I would realise that actually they did have a cognitive deficit,” Dr Clough said. 

Working memory (WM) and attention deficits are a common – and disturbing – symptom of MS.

‘Nothing about us, without us’: Professor Paul Lawton on First Nations Australians and kidney disease

NAIDOC week (July 3 to 10) celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

We are delighted that Professor Paul Lawton (Director of Renal Medicine) is presenting the CCS seminar on Fri 8 July as part of NAIDOC week. Other speakers will include the Panuku patient preceptor team. See below for more detail about the seminar.

CGRSC x MGA Student Careers Expo on 4 August: Save the date!

CGRSC x MGA Careers Expo

Save the date! The Central Clinical School (CCS) graduate research student committee (CGRSC) in collaboration with Monash Graduate Association (MGA) representatives have been organising a Students Careers Expo. The event will be run across an entire afternoon with speakers for all different facets of science. Register here

Diabetes researcher wins prestigious international award

Congratulations to Professor Karin Jandeleit-Dahm on being honoured with a 2022 Hagedorn award. 

The award, presented at the meeting of the German Diabetes Society in Berlin in late May, recognises diabetic research internationally. It comes with a prize of 25,000 euros ($A38,000), co-funded by Novo Nordisk. 

Professor Jandeleit-Dahm, Deputy Head of the Diabetes Department and who leads Monash’s research program into diabetes and kidney disease, holds the Leibniz Chair for Diabetes Research at the University of Dusseldorf, Germany.

New diabetic kidney disease target raises hopes

Professor Karin Jandeleit-Dahm and Dr Jay Chandra Jha

by Anne Crawford

Monash University scientists are developing what could be a promising new therapeutic target to combat diabetic kidney disease. 

The Central Clinical School researchers led by Professor Karin Jandeleit-Dahm and Dr Jay Chandra Jha, together with an international collaboration, recently revealed details of the predominantly pathological role of the pro-oxidant enzyme NOX5 in diabetic complications, particularly diabetic kidney disease (DKD), and are working on small molecule inhibitors to target it. 

More accurately measuring the difficulty of an operation in advance with NASA technology

The NASA TLX is a multi-item questionnaire which is used in a
variety of fields. TLX stands for Task Load Index, and is a measure
of perceived workload. Image: MeasuringU

Surgery is not an exact science. No surgeon truly knows the complexity of an individual operation until after it is over, and this is difficult to accurately measure.

A group of Melbourne surgeons, led by Dr Stephen Bell, in Monash University’s Department of Surgery and also a surgeon at The Alfred, has adapted an index used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a way to measure an operation’s difficulty. 

The research found that the NASA TLX Index accurately measured the technical difficulty of an operation, and therefore may be useful to gauge a trainee’s proficiency over time, which currently relies on self reporting. It can also be used to assess changes in surgical techniques and new technologies.