Nitrous oxide anaesthetic damages leukocyte DNA

Prof Paul Myles, HOD Department of Anaesthesia & Perioperative Medicine, & colleagues have published research looking at the damage caused by the commonly used anaesthetic gas nitrous oxide to the DNA of leukocyte cells, with implications for wound healing. "The authors observe that maintenance of anesthesia with 70% nitrous oxide and sevoflurane in patients undergoing colorectal surgery doubles the incidence of DNA damage [as measured in a comet assay]"

Treating spine trauma in morbidly obese patients

Hannah Rosenfeld, 5th year MBBS student at University of Adelaide, and colleagues, have published a paper on the logistic, medical, and societal challenges faced in treating spine trauma in morbidly obese patients. Last author on the paper is Hannah's father, Prof Jeffrey V. Rosenfeld, HOD Surgery.

Slowing down SLE kidney disease

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), more simply known as lupus, is an autoimmune disease where the body makes antibodies against its own DNA. It may involve a variety of genes, follow a variety of genetic pathways, and damage a variety of cell types. In many cases, the consequence is impairment of kidney function, which is known as glomerulonephritis.

Rome Foundation prize for research on relationship between gluten andgastrointestinal symptoms

Dr Jessica Biesiekierski recently graduated, having completed her PhD with the Department of Gastroenterology. The Rome Foundation Board selected her paper entitled “Gluten causes gastrointestinal symptoms in subjects without celiac disease: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial” to receive the Rome Foundation Ray Clouse Prize for the Paper Most Cited on Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders, 2011. The prize was awarded on 18 May.

Immunology research on alveolar lung macrophages wins ASI prize

Erika Duan is a PhD student in the Leukocyte Signalling Laboratory, headed by Associate Professor Margaret Hibbs, studying alveolar lung macrophages. Erika won a prize at the Australasian Society of Immunology (ASI) annual conference in December 2012 for her presentation on how lung macrophages vary with infection and inflammation and the challenges of translating the mouse model data to understanding the human context.

Twitter @MonashCCS

School news is now warm & buzzy.  Follow CCS news on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonashCCS. Why bother with Twitter when you've got email? It's a simple, easy, platform independent way to send, receive and relay short messages referenced with the creator ID, with the option of attaching photos, by either computer or phone.

Department of Immunology on Facebook

The Department of Immunology is now on Facebook (FB).  The FB page features events, news, photos, updates, relevant links and so on. Please make Immunology your 'friend' to receive updates, and 'like' the page. This type of communication in particular helps the Department's outreach to intending students. See the Immunology Facebook page.