Around the Precinct – 17 September 2020

Better ways to diagnose skin cancers and determine risk factors for metabolic disease; an international study finds pregnancy can delay the onset of MS; new tools and treatments in the fight against COVID-19 and drug overdoses, and new research narrows in on the causes of Visual Snow. Here’s just some of what has happened this week at the Alfred Research Alliance.

ALFRED HEALTH

Testing AI for Skin Cancer

Artificial intelligence (AI) could soon become a powerful tool in skin cancer assessment. The Victorian Melanoma Service at Alfred Health is currently conducting a trial into the effectiveness of the technology. Victorian Melanoma Service director A/Prof Victoria Mar (pictured) said the Improving Skin Cancer Management With Artificial Intelligence (SMARTI) trial directly compares AI results to that of doctors in the real-world setting providing a ‘second opinion’. Read more…

BAKER HEART & DIABETES INSTITUTE

First-of-a-kind Biomarker to Determine our ‘Metabolic’ Age

A team at the Baker Institute is developing a ‘metabolic BMI’ and ‘metabolic age’ to help people better understand how well their metabolism is working and when they need to intervene to prevent disease. Project leader and Head of Metabolomics Prof Peter Meikle explains that dysregulation of our metabolism underpinned many chronic diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and age-related dementia. “By taking a drop of blood we can identify about 750 lipid species in 15 minutes and use them to predict a person’s risk of metabolic disease,” Prof Meikle says. Read more…

COVID-3D Tool to Fight Virus

Ensuring treatments remain effective as viruses mutate is a huge challenge for researchers. Now, a team at Baker Institute, led by A/Prof David Ascher, with colleagues at the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute and the University of Melbourne, have developed a tool to monitor mutations that make it difficult to develop coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines and drugs. The powerful new tool, which builds on the Institute’s growing work in the area of bioinformatics, harnesses genomic and protein information about the virus and its mutations to aid drug and vaccine development. Read more…

MONASH UNIVERSITY PUBLIC HEALTH & PREVENTIVE MEDICINE

Four papers, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association have confirmed that cheap, widely available steroid drugs help seriously ill patients survive COVID-19. This included data from the REMAP-CAP trial, led by Prof Steve Webb and Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer, Prof Allen Cheng, both from Monash SPHPM. The combined evidence led the World Health Organisation to issue new treatment guidance recommending steroids to treat severely and critically ill patients. Read more…

MONASH CENTRAL CLINICAL SCHOOL

World’s first major study shows delayed MS onset due to pregnancy

A comprehensive international study, led by Monash researchers Dr Vilija Jokubaitis Dr Wei Yeh, has found that pregnancy can delay the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS) by more than three years. Women are four times more likely to have the disease than men and are frequently diagnosed during childbearing years. The study involving more than 3600 women is the latest in dozens of high impact research studies into MS conducted using the MSBase database of more than 70,000 people with MS in 35 countries. Read more…

Lockdown, Daylight Saving Time and the Impact on Health

As daylight saving time looms, and some Australians remain in lockdown, experts have warned of the health and socioeconomic consequences of disrupting our body clocks (circadian rhythm), which is linked to poor mood, sleep and general health. In March, two Monash experts – Prof Paul Zimmet AO, Professor of Diabetes, and A/Prof Sean Cain from the Turner Institute for Brain & Mental Health, put a proposal to Federal Minister for Health, The Hon Greg Hunt, seeking to address the issue. Read more…

Keeping Heart Lines Clean

The ventricular assist device (VAD), a mechanical pump that helps the heart move blood, can be a vital therapy for end-stage heart disease, but infections on the ‘driveline’ – the cable which connects the internal pump to the batteries and computer outside the body – can cause serious complications.  Monash University microbiologists Dr Yue Qu (R) and Professors David McGiffin (L) & Anton Peleg are part of a collaboration that has gained a grant from the Medtronic External Research Program to further research into driveline infection.

Is COVID-19 Reshaping the Australian Psyche?

Perhaps one of the unexpected impacts of COVID-19 on Australians is a reshaping of our national psyche. There has been a rise in mental ill health, anxiety and depression, with women, the elderly and the vulnerable in particular experiencing more mental health problems. However, the community’s response has not been to ignore this and say, “She’ll be right, mate”, but to insist on greater resources for Australians struggling with mental ill health. Read more from Prof Jayashri Kulkarni…

Causes of Visual Snow Being Revealed

Neuroscientists have recently characterised how visual processing is disrupted in the condition known as Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS). VSS causes constant and dynamic “snow” across the entire field of vision. Its impact on those affected is immense, yet the cause has remained a mystery. Now, a study led by A/Prof Joanne Fielding (pictured) from the Dept of Neuroscience has provided the first evidence of objective and quantifiable behavioural changes in patients with visual snow syndrome. Read more…

Promotion Congratulations

Congratulations to Prof Andrew Wei who has been promoted to Adjunct Professor for the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD). The promotion is well-deserved recognition for Prof Wei’s academic scholarship and clinical leadership in acute myeloid leukaemia and his mentorship of post doctoral scientists, advanced trainees in haematology and fellows, which has delivered international recognition for Alfred Health and Monash University. Read more… 

BURNET INSTITUTE

Infographics Highlight Naloxone Access Disparity

Naloxone has been used as a response to opioid overdose by paramedics for decades, but its availability differs drastically between the states in Australia. A new set of infographics, collated by Burnet Institute PhD student and research assistant Penny Hill, will help to dispel some of that confusion, especially for drug users and carers. “It’s really important for people to be aware that if an overdose does include any opioid, it [naloxone] will reverse that part of the overdose. Even if it’s a polydrug overdose, if opioids are involved, naloxone will still help,” Ms Hill said. Read more…