PhD Scholarship Opportunity: Developmental Biology and Genetics - closing date 15 May 2015

PhD Scholarship Opportunity: Developmental Biology and Genetics
Faculty / Portfolio:    Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Central Clinical School
Location:   AMREP (Alfred Hospital), Monash University
Supervisors:  Dr Sebastian Dworkin and Professor Stephen Jane
Remuneration:  $25,849 per annum full-time rate (tax-free stipend) for three years (at current APA rates)
Closing date: 15 May 2015
See detail below:

Last date to RSVP for 5 Nov ANZSCDB symposium

RSVP today for the 2014 Annual ANZSCDB symposium. It is being held in Melbourne, and hosted by Monash University at the Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct (AMREP). The symposium will showcase cutting edge cell and developmental biology research taking place in Melbourne, from both students and post-doctoral fellows, working on various aspects of cellular mechanisms, organism development, tissue/birth defects and regenerative medicine.
See web page or download program. 

7th Annual ANZSCDB Melbourne Cell and Developmental Biology Symposium

In 2014, the Annual ANZSCDB symposium is being held in Melbourne, hosted by Monash University at the Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct (AMREP). The symposium will showcase cutting edge cell and developmental biology research taking place in Melbourne, from both students and post-doctoral fellows, working on various aspects of cellular mechanisms, organism development, tissue/birth defects and regenerative medicine. See web page or details below.

Recent publications: Medicine, surgery, anaesthesia, cancer, neuroscience

Dworkin S, Simkin J, Darido C, Partridge DD, Georgy SR, Caddy J, Wilanowski T, Lieschke GJ, Doggett K, Heath JK, Jane SM. Grainyhead-like 3 regulation of endothelin-1 in the pharyngeal endoderm is critical for growth and development of the craniofacial skeleton. Mech Dev. 2014 Jun 7. pii: S0925-4773(14)00029-X. doi: 10.1016/j.mod.2014.05.005. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 24915580.

Lewis PM, Smielewski P, Rosenfeld JV, Pickard JD, Czosnyka M. A Continuous Correlation Between Intracranial Pressure and Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity Reflects Cerebral Autoregulation Impairment During Intracranial Pressure Plateau Waves. Neurocrit Care. 2014 May 28. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 24865272 full text.

Myles PS. Antifibrinolytics, aspirin and cardiac surgery: evidence, guidelines and implications for current research. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2014 May;42(3):293-7. PubMed PMID: 24847551

Myles PS. Untangling the triple low: causal inference in anesthesia research. Anesthesiology. 2014 Jul;121(1):1-3. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000000282. PubMed PMID: 24936917

Oehme D, Goldschlager T, Ghosh P, Jenkin G, Rosenfeld JV. Concern over the use of recombinant bone morphogenetic protein in spinal fusion surgery: are stem cells an alternative? ANZ J Surg. 2014 May;84(5):302-3. PubMed PMID: 24877230

Szmulewicz DJ, McLean CA, Rodriguez ML, Chancellor AM, Mossman S, Lamont D, Roberts L, Storey E, Halmagyi GM. Dorsal root ganglionopathy is responsible for the sensory impairment in CANVAS. Neurology. 2014 Apr 22;82(16):1410-5. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000352. Epub 2014 Mar 28. PubMed PMID: 24682971

Tremblay CS, Curtis DJ. The clonal evolution of leukemic stem cells in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Curr Opin Hematol. 2014 Jul;21(4):320-5. doi: 10.1097/MOH.0000000000000058. PubMed PMID: 24857886

Discovering the genetic origin of craniofacial defects

Dr Seb Dworkin on his scientific ‘fishing

expedition’ with zebrafish embryos,
teasing out the genetic origin of cranio-
facial defects

One in 25 children is born with some form of prenatal defect. Three quarters of those affected have a craniofacial defect, caused by poor bone formation in the face and skull. That is, 0.1-0.3% of all babies born present with a facial defect, which can vary from almost undetectable to such problems as a cleft palate or serious disfigurement. Surgery can help facial reconstruction for some children, but it is not available, or suitable, for all.

The alternative is to prevent the defect from occurring in the first place, which means its cause must be understood. The problem stems from an error in the genetic instructions for the facial formation. However, which genes? Which sequences? What affects the genes? There are hundreds of possible causes, and without knowing exactly which genes are involved in the process of embryo formation, it will not be possible to develop preventive gene therapies.

ARC grant successes for Central Clinical School: Justin Hamilton (ACBD) and Seb Dworkin (Medicine)

Australian Research Council grant successes for Central Clinical School were:

Dr Justin Hamilton, Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, has won a Future Fellowship totalling $745,744 over 5 years.

Dr Sebastian Dworkin, Department of Medicine, was awarded a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award totalling $383,066 over 3 years 

See detail of their projects below.