Platform Access Grants Success!

Jess Borger, Tiffany Bouchery and Emily Edwards

Congratulations to Emily Edwards, Jess Borger and Tiffany Bouchery who recently received Platform Access Grants  from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.  The scheme is an initiative to encourage research development through engagement with the FMNHS technology research platforms, with a view to strengthen researchers capability and international competitiveness. The seed funding also aims at attracting external national and international competitive grants.

Suspect exposed in aggressive blood cancers

Jody Haigh's group. L-R: Dr Katharina Haigh, Mr John Drummond,
Mr Mina Takawy, Dr Catherine Carmichael, A/Prof Jody Haigh,
Dr Maggie Costa. See more about the lab & its research.

by Anne Crawford

Monash researchers are progressing work into genes which they have revealed initiate aggressive forms of leukaemia. They hope that the genetic tools they have developed for their investigations will be used to identify novel compounds for the treatment of cancers including Early T-cell precursor leukaemia (ETP-ALL) and other related blood diseases.

Combatting superbugs – potential role of combination antibiotic therapy

By Dr Jodie Abramovitch

Infections caused by drug resistant (methicillin-resistant) Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of bacteria, can have serious health consequences. These infections are typically found in hospitals but can also occur within the community. MRSA is known as a superbug because it is able to survive many types of antibiotic treatments. 

Prof. Anton Peleg

Daptomycin is a ‘last-line’ antibiotic and is commonly used in the treatment of MRSA infections. However, there is evidence that daptomycin is unable to treat some MRSA infections which means alternative treatments are urgently required to prevent the spread of infection.

Monash researchers Dr Jhih-Hang Jiang and Professor Anton Peleg (Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases) study hospital-acquired infections and have recently focussed on how to combat daptomycin-resistant S. aureus. Samples of S. aureus from patients with infections were isolated and treated with different antibiotics, alone and in combination. When treated with both daptomycin and another antibiotic called gentamicin, antibiotic-resistant S. aureus was more effectively killed when compared to daptomycin treatment alone. However, it was noted that this approach may be associated with toxic side effects when used in patients.

This study concluded that combination therapy is an effective way to treat and limit the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus, particularly in deep-seated, complicated infections. Further research is still required to balance the benefits of this approach with the potential risks. 

Reference: Jiang JH, Peleg AY. Daptomycin-Nonsusceptible Staphylococcus aureus: The Role of Combination Therapy with Daptomycin and Gentamicin. Genes (Basel). 2015 Nov; 6:1256-67

Healthy participants sought: Genes, Cognition, Brain Function and Schizophrenia

Image: WebMD

The Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre is seeking healthy volunteers between 35 and 65 to undertake a study examining the relationship between genetics, cognition, brain function and schizophrenia. We are interested in recruiting those with no personal or family history of schizophrenia, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder and those with no personal history, but who do have a first degree relative (children or siblings) with any of these illnesses. See more.