Access to health care critical to STI control for Indigenous youth

Image: Creative Commons

Two papers by Williams et al. and Scott et al. describe the sexual risks and health-seeking behaviour of young Indigenous Australians. Their sexual risks and health-seeking behaviours are similar to the general Australian population, yet their risk of past sexually transmissible infections (STIs) is higher. These findings are consistent with previous findings and suggest that access to health care, and not sexual risk, remain critical to STI control in remote Indigenous communities.

 Reference: Fairley, C.K., Chow, E.P.F., Hocking, J.S. Early presentation of symptomatic individuals is critical in controlling sexually transmissible infections. Sexual Health, 12(3) pp.181 - 182.

Burns wound dressing using a synthetic skin substitute

Use of synthetic skin substitute
for dressing burn wounds

The Victorian Adult Burns Service (VABS) has a cadaver skin bank. However, due to issues surrounding cost, graft rejection, disease transfer and limited availability, Biobrane - a synthetic skin substitute - is the preferred temporary wound dressing for uncontaminated excised wounds in the VABS unit. The use of Biobrane has been incorporated into the unit's surgical treatment algorithm. Biobrane may be considered an expensive wound closure option, but a recent study suggests it is more cost and time-effective than cadaveric allograft when used as a temporary wound closure method. 

Reference: Tan H, Wasiak J, Paul E, Cleland H. Effective use of Biobrane as a temporary wound dressing prior to definitive split-skin graft in the treatment of severe burn: A retrospective analysis. Burns 41(5) pp.969-976. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2014.07.015

Congratulations to Professor Russell Gruen on Singapore appointment

Congratulations to Professor Russell Gruen who has been appointed Professor of Surgery at the new Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and Director of the Nanyang Institute of Technology in Health and Medicine at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. For the past six years, Russell has made a significant contribution to trauma research in Australia and internationally as Director of the National Trauma Research Institute (NTRI) and as a Trauma Consultant at The Alfred Hospital. He will continue his affiliation with Monash University as Professor of Surgery and Public Health.As Chief Investigator of the PATCH study, Russell has advocated for greater understanding of the role of TXA for severely injured patients that are treated in advanced trauma systems. He will remain an integral part of the study. We wish him and his family all the best in their move to Singapore.

EMCR news, views, events, mentoring and more in their July issue of EMCR times

See all the recent Early & Mid Career Researcher news from the AMREP precinct in the July issue of EMCR Times.
Their website has also been updated, see:
www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/ecr/index.html.

Participants sought: Does diet influence inflammatory markers in the blood?

High fibre food is part of the study

Are you healthy and interested in the latest dietary research? We are investigating how dietary fibre and orally ingested vinegar may influence inflammatory markers in the blood. Dietary fibre is used by the gut bacteria to produce small molecules that may have anti-inflammatory effects in the blood. Vinegar is also a source of one of these small molecules, acetate. We are interested to see if an increase in acetate levels in the blood could change the activity of immune cells in the blood. Participants would be provided with high and low fibre diets as well as a small amount of vinegar to drink.

14 Aug: 2015 VicHealth Awards submission due for health promotion projects

Victoria is a world leader in health promotion. Whether it’s ground-breaking research, a community-led health initiative, or a state-wide awareness campaign, communities across the state benefit from health promotion every day.

The 2015 VicHealth Awards will celebrate these great projects that are making our communities happier and healthier places, and empowering Victorians to take control of their health and wellbeing.

CSIRO Protein Expression Workshop 29-31 July 2015

The CSIRO Protein Expression Workshop is an annual event designed to improve the understanding of proteins for structural and biological studies. Join us for the 16th Annual Protein Expression Workshop 29-31 July 2015. See detail.