When negative results are positive: Monash Trauma Group researchers feature in new journal Special Collection

Dr Rhys Brady is first author on the paper

by Dr Loretta Piccenna
Research Manager, Department of Neuroscience

Research fellow Dr Rhys Brady, from the Monash Trauma Group and equal first author Stephanie Bird (Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne) published a study earlier this month in Neurotrauma Reports special collection: Null Hypothesis Initiative.

 

The study by Dr Brady and colleagues found that in mice with moderate traumatic brain injury there was an initial activation of one particular pathway which disappeared after four weeks, and they tested whether one specific compound would improve recovery.

Congratulations to Professor Richelle Mychasiuk!

Richelle Mychasiuk has been recognised for her outstanding research

with promotion to Professor 

Professors Helmut Butzkueven, Head of Department of Neuroscience at Central Clinical School (CCS) and Terry O'Brien, Head of School, CCS write:

It is with great pleasure that we can inform you that Richelle Mychasiuk has been promoted to Full Professor (Level E) in the Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University.

Brain injury from concussion in young football players causes long-term damage

Study shows subtle abnormalities in young AFL football players' brains
six months after concussion injury.

Monash Neuroscience Trauma Group researchers have published the first study to report long-term physical damage to the brains of young adult Australian rules players, even six months after their most recent concussion, raising concerns about the long term neurological health of these players. 

See:

• Monash Medicine news story
• Cerebral Cortex paper 
• Monash Trauma Group
  

Congratulations to Dr Mujun Sun on her promotion

Congratulations to Dr Mujun Sun on her promotion! Dr Sun is an early career researcher in the Department of Neuroscience and has been promoted to Research Fellow (Level B) effective 9 June 2021.

Dr Sun was the recipient of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Bridging Postdoctoral Fellowship, as well as a 2019 Brain Foundation Research Gift. She is a Principal Investigator in the Monash Trauma Group. Upon the recent promotion, she will continue to work with the other Investigators in the Trauma Group to address the very important and costly issue of brain trauma.

See more:

• Dr Mujun Sun Monash researcher profile
• Monash Trauma Group 
• Follow Mujun on Twitter, @MujunSun

Intergenerational and lifelong chronic pain starting in early life

2nd year PhD students Jennaya Christensen (left)
and Sabrina Salberg (right)

Chronic pain is a costly public health issue that is highly prevalent and causes a great burden to people who are affected, their families, their workplaces and the health system. 

New research from the Monash Trauma Group at the Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University shows that there is a difference both in gender and type of adverse childhood experience in the expression of specific biomarkers linked to chronic pain. 

Additionally, early life stress such as maternal separation, and a high-fat, high-sugar diet lead to higher pain sensitivity, increased anxiety-like behaviour and changes in the neurobiology (structural and functional level) of the brain.

Chronic pain often occurs during childhood, with 1 in 5 children or adolescents having reported it and it being more prevalent in females than males. 

The long-term consequences of sport concussions

Georgia Symons (left) and Will O'Brien (right) are CCS PhD students
in the Monash Trauma Group and both are first authors on papers
investigating concussion in sport. See respectively
Symons et al. paper; O'Brien et al. paper

Australian football is the most popular collision sport in Australia – with an average of 6-7 concussions occurring every 1000 match hours across amateur and professional leagues. Despite this high incidence of mild traumatic brain injury, there has been little study of the long-term neurological damage associated with this sport.

Two recently published studies by the Monash Trauma Group in Central Clinical School's Department of Neuroscience looked at the long-term consequences of concussion on the sporting field. They found that indicators of brain injury in the blood and saliva can be persistently changed for years after the injury.

Blood test to help diagnose and manage mild traumatic brain injury

Dr Stuart McDonald has won a $1M NHMRC grant for research
on a blood test for mild traumatic brain injury.

Dr Stuart McDonald, from the Monash Trauma Group, in the Department of Neuroscience, CCS, and his colleagues have been awarded an NHMRC Ideas Grant of $1,092,780 for his research on blood markers of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). 

This grant was one of 283 grants announced by the Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP on Tuesday 15 December, with a total budget of $260 million. The Ideas Grants provide an opportunity for researchers to make future advances in health and well-being, with projects being funded for 3-5 years.