(Formerly known as Central Clinical School)
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| L-R: Dr Karen Alt and Dr Chyn Chua |
Focussing principally on the talent within Clinical Haematology and ACBD, the symposium showcased both senior as well as early and mid-career researchers. CLICK HERE to find out more about all achievements at the ACBD that were highlighted at the symposium.
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| Community representatives were very engaged with the presentation |
by Dr Juliana de Castro, CaRE committee member
The Community and Researcher Engagement (CaRE) program from the Central Clinical School at Monash University hosted a hybrid seminar called ‘Myeloproliferative Neoplasms – Towards Precision Medicine’ at the Betty & John Laidlaw Education & Innovation Hub on Thursday, 13 October 2022.
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| Ex vivo scans of hearts from fibrotic (left) and control mice which were administered a unique fluorescent peptide that targets collagen type I. A striking enhancement of the damaged heart ventricles is observed. Image: Figure 5 in study |
Dr Be'eri Niego (CIA), Dr Karen Alt (CIB) and Professor Christoph Hagemeyer (CIC) are recipients of a Heart Foundation Vanguard grant announced 6 October. The grant is for $150,000 across two years.
Dr Alt said, "In this project, we aim to develop new peptides, which tightly bind various types of collagen and enable the delivery of imaging contrast agents to the affected heart. This clever approach, also termed 'Molecular Imaging', allows more sensitive imaging and earlier diagnosis of heart conditions."
See all 2022 Vanguard grant recipients at the A+ precinct here.
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| Jurie Tashkandi won best oral presentation award in Prato |
The title of her presentation was "Magnetic Particle Imaging using Trastuzumab Targeted Nanoparticles for Cancer Imaging".
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| Schematic illustration of the new MOF Antibody crystals and their ability to specifically seek out cancer cells to detect them and deliver highly potent drugs with unprecedented precision. Credit: Dr Francesco Carraro and Prof Paolo Falcaro (Co-First and Co-Senior author on the Advanced Materials Paper) |
However, that is precisely what researchers from the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases at Monash University in collaboration with the TU Graz (Austria) have developed: the world’s first metal-organic framework (MOFs) antibody-drug delivery system that has the potential to fast-track potent new therapies for cancer, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases.
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| Ex vivo scans of hearts from fibrotic (left) and control mice which were administered a unique fluorescent peptide that targets collagen type I. A striking enhancement of the damaged heart ventricles is observed. Image: Figure 5 in study |
Cardiac fibrosis is a scarring process causing excess deposition of collagen in the heart, leading to distortion of its architecture and function. It is a significant disease feature in many cardiac conditions, including heart failure, atrial fibrillation (AF) and myocardial infarction (MI).
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| Register for the inaugural CARE seminar on 7 October featuring Dr Durga Mithraprabhu, Dr Nick Bingham, Prof Andrew Spencer (pictured L-R here), Dr Tiffany Khong and a patient advocate, Mr Henry Blatman from the Spencer group. |
There is an increasing awareness within the health and medical research community that including the patient perspective in research design and implementation greatly enhances the significance, relevance and quality of research outcomes. Patients, family members and carers (collectively termed “consumers”) bring their valuable lived experience to research teams and contribute to a shared goal of turning new discoveries into better patient outcomes.
Monash University has launched world-first technology that can detect magnetic nanoparticles anywhere in the body, enabling enhanced medical applications such as tracking of beneficial CAR-T cells during cancer therapy.
The new technology was funded through an ARC LIEF grant with contributions from Monash University and RMIT, and combines Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) with Computed Tomography (CT) and Hyperthermia capabilities for preclinical, in vivo research. It is located at the Monash Alfred campus and is operated by the Alfred Research Alliance-Monash Biomedical Imaging (ARA-MBI) platform.
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| PhD Student, Ms Charlene Lam and consumer partner Ken Young. See his story, "Sequencing MPNs could change my life" |
On behalf of the Community and Researcher Engagement (CARE) Committee at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD), we are proud to announce the launch of our Community Engagement program.
This program aims to connect dedicated researchers at the ACBD with community members (often called consumers) who have experienced a blood disorder or cancer. Consumers will be partnered with researchers or a research group, bringing their valuable lived experiences to the team and contributing to our shared goal of turning new discoveries into better patient outcomes.
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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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A/Prof Christoph Hagemeyer and
Dr Karen Alt
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| A/Prof. Christoph Hagemeyer |
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| Dr Karen Alt |
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