Central Clinical School awarded $7M through MRFF for medical research

The Australian Government has awarded more than $53M through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to 21 Monash researchers for research into cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, dementia, cancer, primary health care, nutrition and more.

Four of these projects, totalling over $7M, were awarded to Central Clinical School researchers.

Professor Terence O’Brien received $3M for a world-first trial of a drug treatment for poorly controlled epilepsy. This new drug is the first potentially curative drug for people with epilepsy who are resistant to control with current anti-seizure drugs.

Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood received $2M for a primary care technology-enabled intervention to improve symptom self-management for people with chronic respiratory illness.

New staff appointments

We are pleased to announce that Dr Michelle Zajac has been appointed as the new School Manager of the Central Clinical School (CCS) and A/Prof Andrew Stewardson has been appointed as the new Director and Associate Professor of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology at Alfred Health (a joint appointment between Alfred Health and CCS).

Michelle is well known to the School, having done an outstanding job as our Senior Research Manager at CCS since 2019, and Senior Research and Operations Manager at CCS since 2021. During this time, Michelle has successfully executed a broad range of management responsibilities while also overseeing a considerable growth in the research income of the School and the Monash-Alfred Clinical Trials Program.

A/Prof Stewardson has been with the Alfred and Monash University since 2017 and has made stellar contributions across clinical service, quality improvement and research in the area of Infection Prevention and Control. He has emerged as one of the leading national experts in Infection Prevention and Control, including being the immediate past Chair of the Healthcare Infection Control Special Interest Group of the Australasian Society of Infectious Diseases, and member of the national Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG) and the Infection Prevention and Control Panel for the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce.

Graduate Research Opportunities - Internships Information Session

We encourage all graduate research students and supervisors to attend this session presented by our Associate Dean, Associate Professor Priscilla Johanesan to hear more about the graduate research opportunities regarding internships.

This will be held on 28 March (Tuesday) at Lecture Theatre, Level 5, Alfred Centre from 1:15pm-2pm.

A/Prof Gemma Sharp interviewed on ABC News Breakfast

The Department of Neuroscience’s Associate Professor Gemma Sharp recently appeared on ABC News Breakfast to discuss a new international study on disordered eating in children and adolescents.

Women champions at the CCS

From Drs. Zhoujie Ding and Lenka Vodstrcil, co-chairs of the CCS Gender Equity Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) committee

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year, the International Women’s Day (IWD) theme calls us to ‘Embrace Equity’ and celebrate the achievements of women. We are encouraged to engage in important conversations on Why equal opportunities aren't enough and Why equal isn't always fair. All of us start and come from different places, so true inclusion requires equitable action.

To celebrate IWD, CCS staff were invited to nominate female champions who strive towards an equitable workforce at the School. Thirty-four exceptional women were nominated across many departments and centres of the School. A full nomination list and nomination quotes can be found here.

PhD candidates Courtney McLean Alexandra Dvorscek, Alyssa Budin, and Michaela Guthridge were nominated for “being a tireless advocate for the welfare of her fellow PhD students”, “making exceptional contributions to the department and the EMCR community”, “contributing to numerous committees with exceptional passion”, and “bringing her strong background in women's rights programs (from NGOs to the UN) through to her innovative doctoral program”, respectively.

Among academic staff, Associate Professor Gemma Sharp was nominated for “dedicating her career to helping women improve their sense of body image which is core to self-identity and self-esteem, and a passionate supervisor and mentor to her predominately female team where she tries to provide them with the opportunities they need to thrive”. Dr Kelly Wyres and Dr Lenka Vodstrcil, among the sixteen women EMCR champions that were nominated, were highlighted by multiple nominators and shared similar quotes including “taking an active role in mentoring and supporting women in science and ECRs” and “being generous with her time with students and passionate about supporting the careers of younger women”.

Professional staff champions Mary Bowes from the Department of Infectious Diseases, Rebecca Reismanis from the Department of Immunology and Mahira Arooj (senior technical officer at CCS) were nominated for “helping the department run smoothly, from making new staff feel welcome to keeping everyone informed”, “being a fantastic lab manager who goes above and beyond to meet the needs of the department, ensuring OHS compliance and the smooth day to day running of the labs”, “actively supporting equity, calling out discrimination and biases when observed and experienced”, respectively.

Our nominees were asked to share their thoughts on the themes “what is the difference between 'equity' and 'equality'” and “What can we do to improve equity for women and not only their equality”. All of the female champions identified that ‘equity’ emphasises catering for the specific needs for women to overcome the historical disadvantages that they face, which is at a higher level than simply providing equal opportunities.

While we can continue to amplify the unique contributions of women in STEM, we still have a long way to go in order to break down the structures and biases that prevent all women from reaching their potential. To combat the discrimination and marginalisation of women globally, the United Nations Australia’s IWD theme ‘Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future’ goes further and calls for bold, transformative ideas, inclusive technologies, and accessible education to combat the discrimination and the marginalisation of women globally. 

CCS Staff & Students Dodgeball Championship

We are delighted to announce our first wellbeing event of the year, organised in conjunction with the CCS Graduate Research Student Committee (CSGRSC) and CCS Wellbeing Champion, Dr Yardenah Brickman, to bring you the CCS Dodgeball Championship! Create or join a team of five to compete to be the best dodgeball team in CCS. Student and students from all levels encouraged to play.

Spectators welcome with a light lunch provided. Prizes to be won for winning team, most department diverse team, and most academic-level diverse team. See flyer for more details!

• Date: Thursday 16 March 2023
• Time: 12:30 - 1:30pm
• Venue: Fawkner Park, opposite tram stop 26
• Registration link (to register attendance for catering purposes or join/create a dodgeball team)

Recent publications 19 - 21 February 2023

Recent publications featuring research as notified by PubMed during 19 - 21 February 2023 from Central Clinical School affiliated researchers.

See the most recent validated publications for the school here. Otherwise, read down the entry under department headings for recent PubMed notifications. The below is not a comprehensive list.

Australian Centre for Blood Diseases

Lucy A Coupland, David J Rabbolini, Jonathan G Schoenecker, Philip J Crispin, Jennene J Miller, Tony Ghent, Robert L Medcalf, Anders E Aneman Point-of-care diagnosis and monitoring of fibrinolysis resistance in the critically ill: results from a feasibility study Crit Care. 2023 Feb 10;27(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s13054-023-04329-5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36765421/

Sridurga Mithraprabhu, John Reynolds, Rose Turner, Hang Quach, Noemi Horvath, Ian Kerridge, Anna Kalff, Krystal Bergin, Jay Hocking, Flora Yuen, Tiffany Khong, Brian M Durie, Andrew Spencer Circulating tumour DNA analysis predicts relapse and improves risk stratification in primary refractory multiple myeloma Blood Cancer J. 2023 Feb 13;13(1):25. doi: 10.1038/s41408-023-00796-9.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36781844/

Department of Diabetes

Devy Deliyanti, William A Figgett, Thomas Gebhardt, Joseph A Trapani, Fabienne Mackay, Jennifer L Wilkinson-Berka CD8+ T Cells Promote Pathological Angiogenesis in Ocular Neovascular Disease Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2023 Feb 16. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.122.318079.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36794587/

Department of Infectious Diseases

Michael J Loftus, Richard J Everts, Allen C Cheng, Perenise Eti, Timote Fakasiieiki, Lupeoletalelei Isaia, Enita Isopo, Adam W J Jenney, Viali Lameko, Hinauri Leaupepe, Folototo Leavai, Sue J Lee, Mele Moungaevalu, Andrew J Stewardson, Rosemary Tekoaua, Douglas Tou, Geoffrey Wuatai, Anton Y Peleg Antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial isolates from clinical specimens in four Pacific Island countries, 2017-2021 Lancet Reg Health West Pac. 2023 Feb 2;32:100677. doi: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2022.100677. eCollection 2023 Mar. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36798514/

Department of Neuroscience

Iva P, Martin R, Fielding J, Clough M, White O, Godic B, van der Walt A, Rajan R. Discriminating spatialised speech in complex environments in multiple sclerosis. Cortex. 2023 Feb;159:217-232. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.11.014. Epub 2022 Dec 24. PMID: 36640621  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36640621/

Spelman T, Ozakbas S, Alroughani R, Terzi M, Hodgkinson S, Laureys G, Kalincik T, Van Der Walt A, Yamout B, Lechner-Scott J, Soysal A, Kuhle J, Sanchez-Menoyo JL, Blanco Morgado Y, Spitaleri D, van Pesch V, Horakova D, Ampapa R, Patti F, Macdonell R, Al-Asmi A, Gerlach O, Oh J, Altintas A, Tundia N, Wong SL, Butzkueven H. Comparative effectiveness of cladribine tablets versus other oral disease-modifying treatments for multiple sclerosis: Results from MSBase registry. Mult Scler. 2023 Feb;29(2):221-235. doi: 10.1177/13524585221137502. Epub 2022 Nov 26. PMID: 36433775  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36433775/

Department of Psychiatry

Hannah L Coyle, Neil W Bailey, Jennie Ponsford, Kate E Hoy Investigation of neurobiological responses to theta burst stimulation during recovery from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) Behav Brain Res. 2023 Mar 28;442:114308. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114308. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36702385/

Department of Surgery

Michael Šeman, Andrew F Stephens, Antony Walton, Stephen J Duffy, David McGiffin, Shane Nanayakkara, David M Kaye, Shaun D Gregory, Dion Stub Impact of Concomitant Mitral Regurgitation on the Hemodynamic Indicators of Aortic Stenosis J Am Heart Assoc. 2023 Feb 15;e025648. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.122.025648. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36789874/

Peter Batchelor, Stephen Bernard, Dashiell Gantner, Andrew Udy, Jasmin Board, Mark Fitzgerald, Peta Skeers, Camila Battistuzzo, Mick Stephenson, Karen Smith, Andrew Nunn Immediate Cooling and Early Decompression for the Treatment of Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: A Safety and Feasibility Study Ther Hypothermia Temp Manag. 2023 Feb 13. doi: 10.1089/ther.2022.0046. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36779969/