Ancient gene involved in spina bifida also plays a role in motor coordination and anxiety

A/Prof Stephen Ting

by Anne Crawford

Curiosity and a compelling hypothesis prompted clinician and haematology researcher, Associate Professor Stephen Ting, to revisit the subject matter of his PhD a decade later. The findings of his recent study into the transcription factors of an ancient gene family known as the Grainyhead-like (Grhl) genes have revealed more than he expected and may have implications for future neuroscientific research.

Congratulations to Alfred researchers on MIME funding

The Monash Institute of Medical Engineering (MIME) has announced its 2015 Seed Funding Awardees, to which over $700,000 has been disbursed in research project support. The projects will be undertaken in collaboration with researchers in the Faculties of Engineering and IT.

The Central Clinical School recipients were:

Professor Mark Fitzgerald (National Trauma Research Institute)   

• Chest trauma: Develop semi-automated device for emergency drainage of blood in the chest cavity (pleural decompression device)    
• Trauma resuscitation: Develop wireless heads-up display for real-time decision support in trauma situations   

Professor Anton Peleg (Department of Infectious Diseases)

• Hospital-acquired infections: Develop surface coatings for medical devices that resist the attachment of organisms and establishment of biofilms, particularly antibiotic resistance biofilms

Adjunct Professor Bruce Thompson (Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine )

• Asthma treatment: Development and testing of a nebulizer with “dial up” particle size control that can target small airways, improving the treatment of asthma   

Professor Andrew Spencer (Australian Centre for Blood Diseases)

• Multiple myeloma diagnostic tool: Develop a diagnostic test for detecting circulating tumour DNA for use in primary healthcare

 

 

MIME PhD Scholarship support

MIME also funds PhD scholarships so students can be recruited to work with researchers. Successful researchers from CCS were: 

Dr Heather Cleland, Mr Stephen Goldie (Department of Surgery)

• Burn injuries: Develop a tissue engineered skin substitute, which will enable rapid and permanent wound closure, as well as functional and aesthetic reconstruction   

Dr Stephen Ting (Australian Centre for Blood Diseases)

• Leukemia stem cell detection: Single cell identification, separation, isolation and assay of bone marrow and leukemia stem cells     

 


Professor Mark Fitzgerald (National Trauma Research Institute)   

• Trauma resuscitation – develop wireless heads-up display for real-time decision support   

Professor David Kaye (Department of Medicine, Baker IDI)

• Heart attack: Develop 3D-printed muscle patch for heart repair

Photo of the week: Ting/Curtis stem cell research group

March 2015. Stem cell research group. L-R Front row: Ms Shilpa Beeraka (Research Assistant), Ms Sarah Ghotb (Research Assistant), Dr Stefan Sonderegger (Research Officer), Dr Emma Toulmin (Research Officer), Dr Sara Rhost (Research Officer)
L-R standing: Ms Jacqueline Boyle (Honours student), Mr Andrej Terzic (Honours student), Ms Ashlee Conway (PhD student), Dr Stephen Ting (Group Leader), Ms Loretta Cerruti (Research Assistant), Ms Bonnie Dopheide (Laboratory Operations Officer), Dr Cedric Tremblay (Research Officer) , A/Prof David Curtis (Group Leader), Ms Jesslyn Saw (Research Assistant), Miss Denise Doan (Honours student), Dr Sung Kai Chui (PhD student), Dr Victoria Ling (PhD student) 
See more:

• Photo gallery of the group
• The group's research www.acbd.monash.org/research/stem-cell.html
• Australian Centre for Blood Diseases www.acbd.monash.org/
• Central Clinical School Google+ photo galleries plus.google.com/+CentralClinicalSchoolMonashUniversity1/photos