Trauma drug TXA good before 3 hours, not so good after 3 hours - why?

Tranexamic Acid (TXA)

Why is it that an antifibrinolytic drug that is given to reduce bleeding in severe trauma patients can sometimes cause the very thing it is intended to stop? Professor Rob Medcalf explains the paradox in a published commentary that throws light on how the fibrinolytic system (that removes blood clots) can be inadvertently turned on when it should be turned off.

Tranexamic acid, or TXA for short, was extensively tested in 2010, in a trial of severe trauma patients called CRASH-2. The results showed improved outcomes if TXA was administered in the three hours immediately after injury, but after three hours, more deaths were caused due to bleeding. This commentary summarises the results of a study from a group in the US describing how TXA is doing different things at different times following head injury.

Reference: http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/bloodjournal/125/16/2457.full.pdf

Recent publications from Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine

The Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine (AIRmed) publications in 2015:

Abbott IJ, Papadakis G, Kaye M, Opdam H, Hutton H, Angus PW, Johnson PD, Kanellis J, Westall G, Druce J, Catton M. Laboratory identification of donor-derived coxsackievirus b3 transmission .  Am J Transplant. 2015 Feb;15(2):555-9. doi: 10.1111/ajt.12986. Epub 2015 Jan 12

Barnes S, Kotecha S, Douglass JA, Paul E, Hore-Lacey F, Stirling R, Snell GI, Westall GP.  Evolving practice: X-linked agammaglobulinemia and lung transplantation.  American Journal of Transplanation.  2015 (in press)

Public Lecture: Drugging the undruggable - Targeting PTP1B for novel therapeutics

Professor Nick Tonks, Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, New York, USA
Biomedicine Discovery Lecture: Vallee Foundation
Drugging the undruggable: Targeting PTP1B for novel therapeutics
12 noon - 1 pm, 14 May 2015, Clayton campus of Monash University
Please register to attend at http://goo.gl/b9oAOM

Active Travel Zone planned for AMREP staff who walk, run or cycle to work

Alfred Health is making it easier for staff to cycle, run or walk to work with the establishment of an Active Travel Zone at The Alfred. The facility, which will assume space on the ground floor of the staff car park, includes plans for:
• Additional secure bike parks (300)
• Lockers to safeguard personal items
• Showers (eight), change rooms and toilets

The Alfred is committed to a healthy and environmentally responsible workplace, and has been informed by a travel planning process and staff consultation undertaken in partnership with Bicycle Network (2014/15). Construction of the Active Travel Zone will commence later in May. Existing bike storage in the car park will be temporarily relocated from this weekend (9 May). See signage for further information.

For more information contact Kirstan Corben, Lead for Population Health and Health Promotion on k.corben@alfred.org.au or 9076 5318.

Medical funding needs boosting - ASMR campaign

In 2014, NHMRC project grant success rates were below 15% and are the lowest in our history. These funding rates mark a significant drop of over 8% since 2011. This year our sector faces its toughest challenge yet, with NHMRC project grant success rates predicted to drop below 10%. In addition, the NHMRC budget allocation in 2014 dropped below the 2008 investment. If we don’t act immediately, this reduced investment into health and medical research (HMR) will result in attrition of a world-class, highly skilled and productive workforce and also negatively impact our capacity to improve health outcomes.

The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) is calling for all medical researchers and supporters of medical research to write letters to our minsters ASAP and before next Tuesday's (12 May 2015) budget announcements, requesting an increase in funding for the NHMRC.  See the ASMR website campaign page for more context and a form letter. Email addresses can be found on the second page of this letter. 

Congratulations to Dr Kirk Kee for TSANZ win

Congratulations to Dr Kirk Kee, Department of Allergy, Immunology and respiratory medicine, who won the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand 2015 Annual Scientific meeting best abstract in Pulmonary Physiology and Sleep for: “Effect of Sleep Disordered Breathing and Inspired Carbon Dioxide on Work and Cost of Breathing during Sleep in Humans with Heart Failure”. Authors: Kee K, Sand SA, Stuart-Andrews CR, Edwards BA, Skuza EM, Roebuck TR, Thompson BR, Hamilton G, Berger PJ, Naughton MT.

Photo of the Week: Red Lab Coat Day

Maha Bakhuraysa, PhD student in Dr Steven Petratos's lab, writing "Multiple Sclerosis" in Arabic. You can support Australia’s MS research #kissgoodbyetoms by donating at www.kissgoodbyetoms.org. You can also spread the work with tweeting the hashtag #KissGoodbyetoMS and #redlabcoatday. Weblink for further information and to donate:  www.kissgoodbyetoms.org

Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia (MSRA) had their inaugural Red Lab Coat Day on 1 May 2015 to "Kiss goodbye to MS" by raising awareness and funds for Multiple Sclerosis research. Dr Steven Petratos of the Central Clinical School heads up a research group focussing on stem cell therapies for brain disorders, including Multiple Sclerosis. His lab was one of twelve participating nationally in the MSRA campaign.

Dr Petratos was the only Australian to receive project funding in 2014 from the International Progressive MS Alliance and his Senior Research Fellow, Dr Christopher Siatskas received $290,000 in MSRA funding in 2011. The group is investigating the underlying pathology of progression, and the MSRA funding is assisting the investigation of a new strategy for developing a therapy that limits damage to nerve cells and stops the progression of MS.

• To donate: www.kissgoodbyetoms.org.
• hashtags #redlabcoatday #kissgoodbyetomsSee more:
• About the Petratos group's research: www.med.monash.edu.au//medicine/alfred/research/petratos-group.html
• Photo gallery of the Red Lab Coat Day group