Congratulations to Cheng Lo, Sudip Paul and Amy Wilson on their higher degree completions!

L-R: Completed graduate research students Amy Wilson,
Cheng Hean Lo and Sudip Paul

Congratulations to our recently completed graduate research students, Cheng Hean Lo, Sudip Paul and Amy Wilson! Their degrees were conferred 16 April 2020. We wish them well for their future scientific careers.

Day (& Year!) of Immunology events, public lectures and more

Professor Nicola Harris is one of the speakers
at the 2020 Day of Immunology public lecture
on 15 May. RSVP here 

2020 is being a big year for immunological research. A worldwide scientific hunt is on for tests, prophylactics, treatments and vaccines for the deadly coronavirus, COVID-19. So the annual celebration of immunological research, the Day of Immunology, has never been more timely.

Monash University's Department of Immunology and Pathology is a major contributor to the event. Professor Nicola Harris, a research group leader in the department, will be one of the three speakers for the 15 May public lecture. RSVP here

Prof Harris will be speaking on worms! Not earthworms, but parasite worms such as tapeworms and hookworms, known collectively as helminths, which are transmitted by soil. When they get into us, they live in our gastrointestinal tract. We have a long evolutionary history of co-existence with these parasites, and our immune system has developed a variety of responses to these soil transmitted helminths (STH), and their interactions with our immune system and the intestinal microbiome.

Dr Runa Lindblom, LEGO Master!

Dr Runa Lindblom (left) with a team mate, working on the LEGO

challenge. Image: Channel 9

Dr Runa Lindblom, a recent PhD graduate from the Department of Diabetes, has a no-longer-hidden talent, which is building LEGO models. She had developed a brain tumour which had to be operated on, and in the process of recovery turned to LEGO. The turn was for the better, as she won a competition, then was recruited for Channel 9's LEGO Masters challenge.

See the Channel 9 story: 9now.nine.com.au/lego-masters/lego-masters-2020-runa-brain-tumour/0c306475-3a64-4513-b83f-51e6f9c13b18

Professor Terry O'Brien appointed Head of Central Clinical School

Congratulations to Professor Terry O'Brien on his appointment as Head of Central Clinical School! Professor Christina Mitchell AO, Dean of Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences writes:

"It is my great pleasure to formally announce the appointment of Professor Terence (Terry) O’Brien as Head of School, Central Clinical School, following an international search.

Epilepsy drugs have 'little effect' on patients becoming seizure-free: paper

Central Clinical School researchers have been investigating the efficacy, toxicity and tolerability of newer generation anti-epileptic drugs – an area that has been under-researched. We present some of their findings in this series of stories.  

Adverse effects of antiseizure drugs little changed over 30 years

Dr Zhibin (Ben) Chen

by Anne Crawford

An international study led by Monash University scientists has shown that tolerability to antiseizure medication (ASM) has not improved over 30 years. This was despite the advent of nearly 20 ‘second-generation’ drugs – those developed after 1980 – designed to better the earlier treatments.

Tolerability is a key determinant of the effectiveness of epilepsy treatment; greater effort to improve it was needed in ASM development, the paper urges.

Toxic effects of anti-epileptic drugs 'overstated'

Dr Emma Foster is a neurologist and

PhD student working on epilepsy

by Anne Crawford

Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) have frequently been linked to cognitive impairment such as difficulties in concentrating, learning, understanding and remembering, which can be more disabling to the patients taking them than the seizures for which they are prescribed.\

But studies looking into this in the past haven’t always taken into account other factors affecting the patient that may also affect cognition such as advanced age, increased frequency of seizures and mood disorders such as depression, said Central Clinical School (CCS) PhD student Emma Foster.