School of Translational Medicine News Blog

20 May 2016

Advanced Course - Infections in the Immunocompromised Host. Registrations open

Advanced Course - Infections in the Immunocompromised Host

This advanced course will provide a comprehensive two-day program covering all the key topic areas related to infections in immunocompromised patients. The course is targeted not only to advanced trainees but also to specialist consultants, pharmacists and others who play a role in caring for immunocompromised patients across the areas of infectious diseases, microbiology, respiratory and renal medicine, cardiology, hepatology, haematology-oncology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, intensive care and general medicine. The course is targeted to those nationally and those within the Asia-Pacific region.

Course details

Date: Friday 14 - Saturday 15 October 2016
Time: 0900 - 1800
Venue: Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct (AMREP), AMREP Lecture Theatre, Ground Floor, 55 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 3004.
Program: TBA

Registration (Registrations close: Wednesday 31 September 2016)

Registration link
Cost
- Early Bird (Until 31 August 2016
  - Registrars/Students/Pharmacists/Allied Health: $350.00
  - Consultants: $450.00
- After 31 Aug 2016
  - Registrars/Students/Pharmacists/Allied Health: $400.00
  - Consultants: $500.00

Turning MS inside out - Congratulations to Steven Petratos on MS Research Australia grant!

2016 Red Lab Coat Day celebrated by Steven Petratos & his group.
L-R Erica Kim, Speros Thomas, Amani Alrehaili, Kylie Magee,
Melissa Beimond, Jae Young Lee, Steven Petratos

Congratulations to Dr Steven Petratos who has been awarded a project grant of $160,000 across 2016-2017 from MS Research Australia to investigate axonal degeneration in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects approximately 2.5 million people worldwide, and is an insidious neurological disease that can have a severe and disabling course. Currently, the best therapies can only limit relapses in patients but as these individuals age with the disease, they become vulnerable to progression.

Participants sought for 'Borderline Personality Disorder' therapy trial

BPD poses a major public health impact, and this highlights the urgent need for a new treatment approach.

5.9% of Australians have BPD during their lifetime – equivalent to 236,000 Melbournians, and 6,370 City of Stonnington residents, at any one time. Within our local Alfred Health catchment area, approximately 4,000 people already seek care for BPD. Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (MAPrc), which is a part of the Alfred hospital, receives 3-4 new referrals for patients with BPD to their specialist clinic each week.

Affecting both men and women, BPD develops in adolescence and can result in severe consequences. A history of complex trauma is common, and BPD sufferers tend experience intense emotions and mood swings. Not being able to manage these emotions often results in issues in their relationships with others. As seen in Emma’s case, other features of the disorder include chronic self-harm and suicidal behaviours, cognitive disturbances, intense anger, and chronic feelings of emptiness. It can also include poor self-esteem, fear of abandonment, and transient stress-induced psychosis. Untreated, 10% of these people with BPD will complete suicide.

Researcher wanted

Research Fellow, Department of Immunology and Pathology, Central Clinical School

Department/Unit: Department of Immunology and Pathology, Central Clinical School
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences
Classification (salary rates): Level A
Employment type: Fixed-term (Full-time)
Work location: The Alfred Hospital
Enquiries: Prof Magdalena Plebanski, email: magdalena.plebanski@monash.edu ph

+61 3 990 30667

The Vaccines and Infectious Diseases (VID) Laboratory is located at the Central Clinical School’s Department of Immunology and Pathology which in turn is primarily located on the Alfred Hospital campus in Prahran as a partner institute in the Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct (AMREP). Our partner organisations are the BakerIDI Institute, the Burnet Institute and Alfred Health, where strong teams research related and complementary topics including respiratory, metabolic, cardiovascular and infectious diseases. This environment provides exciting opportunities for us to engage in strong cross-field collaborative and clinically applicable research programs with our AMREP partners.

Are you seeking support and guidance from an experienced senior or peer clinician researcher? Do you want to grow your research career & networks?

BioMedVic is hosting an Victorian Clinician Researcher Network (VCRN) event on 16 June 2016, Mentoring for Clinician Researchers, to learn about the importance of mentoring for clinician researchers and how to foster a successful mentoring relationship. Register here

13 May 2016

Photo of the week: 2016 Day of Immunology


Hands-on immunology research was part of the 2016 Day of Immunology at the Gene Technology Access Centre. Monash's graduate students kindly helped out as demonstrators. Left to right are Mahtab Parvaresh (Dept of Immunology), Angela Nguyen (Dept of Immunology), Paul Gill (Depts of Immunology & Gastroenterology) and Tim Gottschalk (Dept of Immunology). See more: Photo gallery Department of Immunology research Day of Immunology activities

Forthcoming CCS events: Seminars, public events, general notices

2015 mid-year BMedSc(Hons) intake with eight Indonesian students

Central Clinical School has regular seminar series and postgraduate presentations. All event notices are maintained on the CCS Events calendar.

CCS staff & students can see details of both public and local events (including professional development courses, trade fairs and Graduate Research Student calendars) and deadlines, at the Intranet's Announcements page.

Various departments have their own calendars. See CCS seminar index: www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/events/seminars.html

What's on for this coming week: 16-20 May 2016

Mon	►	16-May		Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours) Faculty information night
Tue	►	17-May	13:30	Faculty oral and poster oral presentation: Midyear BMedSc(Hons) Thesis. Alfred Centre, Level 5
Wed	►	18-May	11:30	Immunology Seminar Series - Stephen Daley
Thu	►	19-May	10:30	PhD Mid-Candidature Review Seminar: Mr Sung Wook Chung
	►	19-May	10:30	PhD Mid-Candidature Seminar: Mr Dominik Draxler
	►	19-May	11:30	PhD Mid-Candidature Review Seminar: Mr Aron Thomas Hill
	►	19-May	12:00	Cutting Edge Journal Club: Dr Jodie Abramovitch