BULLETIN 80 SUMMER 2014
Research from the heart Dr Gall’s research has two separate themes - understanding the determinants of cardiovascular disease across the lifetime, and the factors that impact on stroke recovery (in particular the reasons why, in general, men make a better recovery from stroke than women). Dr Mark Nolan and Ms Leah Wright have also each received Health Professional Scholarships from the Heart Foundation. These scholarships will assist with work looking at the use of cardiac imaging in radiation-related cardiotoxicity, and with detection and management of pulmonary vascular disease.
Dr Verity Cleland and Dr Seana Gall with the Heart Foundation CEO-TAS, Graeme Lynch.
Menzies’ research related to heart disease has received a boost of more than $3.7 million from funding won through competitive grants announced since October. Relatives of patients with premature heart disease will be targeted in new research to be conducted by Menzies Director and cardiologist, Professor Tom Marwick, who received a $2.6 million grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council. Professor Marwick’s $2.6 million grant will allow a randomised controlled trial that will inform methods for assessing patients’ risk of coronary artery disease. The trial will involve the relatives of patients with premature coronary artery disease. In other grant successes, Dr Verity Cleland and Dr Seana Gall have each been awarded a $448,000 Future Leader Fellowship from the Heart Foundation. Dr Cleland’s work will look at the changes in levels of physical activity at key life transitions such as leaving school, parenthood and retirement. Dr Cleland’s research focuses particularly on women experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage and women living in rural areas.
Professor Marwick said coronary artery disease remained a major cause of premature death and disability, especially in Tasmania. “This work is very significant for population health in Tasmania and for clinical research into heart disease. One third of all Tasmanian deaths are related to cardiovascular disease so to be able to investigate new preventative treatments and to find out more about impacts on the cardiovascular system throughout the life stages is very important for us here at Menzies.”
Research Medallist Professor Graeme Jones, the leader of the Musculoskeletal Health and Diseases theme at Menzies, has been awarded the University of Tasmania Research Medal for 2014. The Research Medal recognises a staff member who has made a major contribution to excellence in research and research training. Professor Jones’ research focuses on osteoarthritis. His team was highlighted in the National Health and Medical Research Council’s “Ten of the Best” research projects list in 2013.
Director’s message
Welcome to the Summer edition of the Bulletin. You will see in the pages of the Summer Bulletin a recurring theme – details of the work done by community members and organisations to assist Menzies in its mission. The Thank You Morning Tea at Government House encapsulated this, and we also see it in the donations made by organisations and individuals who spent their own time and energy raising money. I cannot stress enough the importance of this support for us. It has also been gratifying to see our world-class researchers winning significant funding through the competitive grant process. We are very clear in our research aims at Menzies and these could not be pursued without this level of success. You will have noted that our moniker has a slightly different ring - we are now the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, a small change that describes our work more clearly but signals no change in our direction or in our place within the University of Tasmania.
Professor Tom Marwick, Director
Lastly, I would like to wish all Menzies donors, volunteers, research participants and supporters a safe and restful Christmas and a very happy 2015. King regards,
Professor Tom Marwick Director
It takes a community . . . Menzies neuroscience researchers have received some wonderful support from community groups in the past few months. On top of $25,000 donated in April, Parkinson’s Tasmania donated another $20,000 in September to support research into the causes of Parkinson’s disease. In August the family and friends of Brendan “Paddy” Dwyer organised ‘Pig in the Pub for Paddy’, a fundraiser at the New Sydney Hotel in Hobart. Mr Dwyer died of motor neurone disease (MND) earlier this year, and on Sunday August 17 his family and friends filled the New Sydney for an afternoon of Irish music and socialising as a way of remembering Mr Dwyer. With Associate Professor Tracey Dickson and her team there to answer questions about MND, plus raffles, auctions and a generous donation of takings from the New Sydney proprietors, $12,000 was raised to support MND research at Menzies.
New grants will advance brain research Success in nationally competitive grant applications has resulted in a boost of more than $850,000 for neurodegenerative disease research at Menzies. Dr Kaylene Young has been awarded a grant of $586,000 to look at the development of a non-invasive therapy to
Associate Professor Tracey Dickson with Brendan Dwyer’s friend Steven Bourke, who organised ‘Pig in a Pub for Paddy’, and members of Mr Dwyer’s family.
reinsulate damaged nerve cells in the brain for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Associate Professor Tracey Dickson and Dr Catherine Blizzard’s team have received $180,000 from MND Australia to study the causes of motor neurone disease and frontotemporal dementia. Dr Katherine Southam has received a fellowship of $100,000 from Alzheimer’s Australia to continue the work she undertakes with Professor David Small determining the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease.
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No simple solution in obesity debate
Menzies supporters packed the main lecture theatre in the Medical Science Precinct on 25th September to see the second annual Menzies Debate. This year the topic was “The obesity epidemic should be managed by cure, not prevention”. The award-winning science journalist Mark Horstman, of ABC’s Catalyst, moderated an evening of serious discussion and light-hearted verbal jousting. With more than 60% of Australian adults either overweight or obese, and the individual and societal costs increasing all the time, the debaters questioned whether a preventative strategy was working, or whether other strategies needed to be looked at. There was little doubt among the audience, with an overwhelming vote in favour of prevention both before and after the debate. Most in the room would agree however that the debate succeeded in highlighting the complexities of managing the obesity epidemic – there is no simple solution.
Members of the audience cast their vote.
The debate can be seen online at //new.livestream.com/ UniversityofTasmania.
Dr Verity Cleland, Dr Amanda Neil and Dr Roscoe Taylor argued for prevention.
Kate Chappell, Siyan Baxter, Tran Lan Pham and Michelle Kilpatrick.
Professor Alison Venn, Adjunct Associate Professor Martin Hensher and Associate Professor Tim Greenaway argued for cure.
Dr Rob Walters and Fiona Coote.
Health economics researcher wins international award A young health economics researcher from the Menzies has won an international award for research into the economic impact of osteoporosis in China. PhD student Mr Lei Si was awarded the International Osteoporosis Foundation Young Investigator Award. His work was chosen from submissions from researchers and clinicians from more than 38 countries. Mr Si’s study is the first to forecast the incidence and costs of osteoporotic fractures in China in the coming decades and was
performed using a cost-effectiveness model developed and validated by the Health Economics Research Unit at Menzies. In 2010, more than 2.3 million osteoporotic hip, clinical vertebral and wrist fractures were estimated to have occurred in the Chinese population aged 50 years or older, costing more than US$9.6 billion to the Chinese healthcare system. Women were estimated to have sustained around four times the number of fractures as men, accounting for 73% of the total costs. Osteoporotic fractures and costs are expected to double by 2035 and will continue to increase until 2050. The head of health economics at Menzies, Professor Andrew Palmer, and Professor Tania Winzenberg are Mr Si’s supervisors. Researchers from Anhui Medical University and Nanjing Medical University in China have also been involved in the research. The model developed for the Chinese setting will be adapted to allow global projections of the human and economic costs of osteoporosis-related fractures.
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Thank you to our valued supporters Thank you to all of our donors for your ongoing financial support and commitment to Menzies. Listed below are new individual and community supporters since our last Bulletin. Mr Colin B Adams Mrs Helen Altmann Ms Emily M Armstrong Ms Juanita Barrett Mrs P Barrow Mr Richard N Batt Ms Lana Best Ms Sharon Bingham Ms Linda Blazely Mr Timothy J Breen Campania Fire Brigade Mrs Leonie Carolan Ms Pamela Chen Mr Kim Creak Mr Jonathan C Dakin
Mr Peter Davis Mrs Carrie Davitz Mr Deegan Department of Immigration & Border Protection Social Club Mrs Mary Dixon Ms Rosemary Dwyer Emeritus Professor John Goldsmid Ms Poppy Fay Dr Raj Gogia Mr Stuart Hamilton Harcourts Ms Miranda C Harman
Mrs Christine Hills Mr Craig H Hobbs Mr Robert Johnston M Kerslake Ms Elizabeth Kiel Mr Scott Knuckey Ms Sabina Lane Mr Charles H Lewis Mr Mackenzie Lovell Dr Michael C Lumsden-Steel Dr Scott Mackie Ms Sarah Manten Ms Judith Marston Dr Allison J Matthews
Mr James A McCulloch Mrs Carrie McKenna My Messiah Ministries Mr Daniel E Morgan Mrs Jeannine Otto Mrs Karmen Pemberton Mr Gene G Phair Mr John C Playle Ms Sonya Priest-Cazaly Ms Anne Quarrelll Mr David Quinn Mr James Ramsey Mrs Lynne Richards Mr Stephen Sharples Mrs Melita Shore
Ms Marian Star Sullivans Cove Whisky Miss Sze Yen Yap Taroona Football Club Tas Networks Mr Mathew J Taylor Ulverstone Men’s Shed Ms Anne Warren Ms Susan Webster Mrs Sharen Willing Mr Scott Wilson Terry Withers
Listed below are our Everyday Angels – our supporters who make regular gifts to Menzies. Mr Tim Albion Mrs Teisha Archer Mr Bill Avery Ms Jennifer Banks Mrs Jan Barren Mrs Larissa Bartlett Mrs Kathleen Bevis Mrs Pamela Blunt Ms Kathleen Brient Dr Catherine Bulman Ms June Butler Dr Susan R Cherry Mr Tim & Mrs Emma Claridge Mrs Anita Clarkson Mr Peter Cochrane Mrs Noela Copeman Mr A M Cornish AO Mr Robert D Cotgrove Mrs Elizabeth Crowther Mr Brendon Davidson Mrs Brigid Davis Ms Moya T Deigan Miss June Doering Ms Kathryn Dudley Mrs Julie Duff
Mr & Mrs Laurence Dunn Mrs Patricia M Edwards Mr Josh & Mrs Felicity Ey Dr Derek Findlay Mr Peter & Mrs Molly Fountain Mrs Beverley Geard DW & MP Goff Mr G & Mrs J Goss Mrs Judy Grant Mr Garth & Ms Brenda Haas Mrs Susan Haigh Mr Michael J Haney Miss Judy Hebblethwaite Ms Kathryn Hill Mrs Susan L Hinds Mr John Hudson Ms Carol Hurst Mrs Doreen Ireland Mrs Vanda R Jackson Mr Gary & Mrs Susan Jacobson Ms Anne James
Mrs Wendy Jefferies Mr Raymond & Ms Dianne Jones Mrs Margaret & Mr Alan Keogh Mrs Margaret Knight Mrs Terry & Mr Ian Law Mrs Jane Lovibond Mr David T MacLeod Mrs Marie Magill Mrs Betty Marshall Ms Kathryn Marthick Mrs Lib & Mr Russell McCashney Mr Ian McConnelly Mr Marcus McEwan Mrs Helen McKibben Mrs Philippa Micklem Mrs Jane Mitchell Mr Sam Mollard Mr Peter Morgan Ms Tess Mount-Harvey Mr Bill & Mrs Deborah Napier Ms Wendy Noye Ms Felicity Oakford
Mrs Sally Oakley Mrs A O’Toole Miss Alison Parsons Mrs Jennifer Parsons Kim Paterson Mr A & Mrs T Paterson Mrs Glenda Paton Mrs Pauline Payne Ms Janine L Pearson Ms Alison & Mr Barend Poortenaar Mrs Cleone Probert Mrs Pamela Rabbidge Mrs Jancis & Mr Alan Rees Ms Monica Richardson Mr Bob & Mrs Frances Russon Mr Patrick Sampson Mrs Jennifer Scott Mrs June Scott Ms Patricia Shires Mrs Susan Sluce Mr Richard Sperring Mrs Gwynneth & Mr Richard Sperring
Mr Alex Stanelos Mr David Steward Ms Carmel Taylor Mrs Cynthia Tennant Mr Arturo Thomas Mr David Tulip Mrs Rosemary Van den Berk Mr Walter & Mrs Robin Verth Mrs Anne Warren Mr Peter Weldon Mr John & Mrs Kathlyn Wheatley Ms Barbara White Mrs Thurza Whiting Mrs Nancy Williams Ms Janice Wilson Hypertronics Tasmania
Award-winning volunteers In 2014 Menzies nominated our wonderful volunteer team for a Hobart City Council Volunteer Recognition Award. Not surprisingly, they were successful. The award celebrates the valuable contribution that volunteers make to the Hobart community. Menzies’ volunteers Lyn Wilkie and Pauline Paton are pictured accepting the award from the then Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Damon Thomas, at a reception at the Hobart Town Hall. Congratulations to the team!
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Researcher profile: Dr Ryan Russell You have recently arrived at Menzies ... Where have you come from?
What are some of the recent findings from your work?
Originally I am from New Orleans, Louisiana. However I have lived in various places for school and work. I received my PhD from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. I also spent time in Maastricht and Blacksburg, Virginia, studying under Luc van Loon and Mathew Hulver respectively. Afterwards, I did post-docs at the University of Maryland’s Department of Medicine and at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Our work in the Muscle Research Group has shown differences in microvascular blood flow (blood flow through the smallest capillaries) and metabolic function under various conditions in both humans and rats. Specific to my research is the theory that microvascular control regulates metabolic function decades before the development of type 2 diabetes.
What is the current focus of your research? I am honoured to be able to continue work from my PhD, identifying early cardiometabolic abnormalities in people with a family history of type 2 diabetes. At Menzies, working with the Muscle Research Group and contrast-enhanced ultrasound, we are trying to find the causes of aberrant cardio-metabolic function decades before the onset of type 2 diabetes. This kind of work can make it possible to target specific mechanisms to eradicate type 2 diabetes globally.
What is the biggest challenge in your area of research? There is never enough time or funding to do all that I hope to accomplish. Right now, I am recruiting, testing, exercise training, and doing the data analyses for multiple clinical trials, and trying to finish by mid-April. What is the most interesting aspect of your work? I love learning new aspects of my work. I had never considered the many interactions of microvascular blood flow and metabolic function until recently. What is wonderful is that I get to pick up where my PhD thesis
left off, and propel the work I was doing by leaps and bounds at Menzies. Together with the diabetes group, we hope to make major strides in the early detection and eradication of type 2 diabetes. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I am developing a Menzies Facebook page dedicated to trying to inform people on the many benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle (www.facebook.com/MenziesFit). Also, I actually really like the people with whom I work. So in my spare time, my wife and I enjoy taking dance classes together, or planning outings with my new friends from work. Though publishing in the New England Journal of Medicine or Nature would be fun too.
Joining the dots between child and adult health We’ve got a special anniversary happening at Menzies – it’s 30 years since the Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey was conducted, and that means one of our landmark studies in back in full swing. The Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey provided the original data for the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health (CDAH) study, which has followed up
participants 20, 25 and now 30 years after the original survey to help determine the significance of childhood lifestyle in adult health. The Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey took health measures from 8498 children aged between seven and 15 from throughout Australia. The health measures included fitness, height, weight and information about health-related behaviour.
Since 2000 researchers have tracked down several thousand of the original participants, with health checks taking place in 2004-6 and 2009-10. Thirty-year follow-up clinics were held in Hobart and Launceston in October and in Melbourne in November this year. The Tasmanian and Victorian clinics are being run with the support of Blundstone, Siemens and donations from Menzies’ supporters.
Our chance to say thank you We were reminded once again of how much we cherish the Tasmanian community when we held our annual Thank You Day for Supporters and Volunteers at Government House on October 13. His Excellency The Honourable Chief Justice Alan Blow, Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania, and Mrs Blow, kindly hosted our morning tea in the beautiful ballroom.
The weather outside was chilly but the atmosphere inside was warm and convivial, with about 150 of our supporters and volunteers attending. The Director of Menzies, Professor Tom Marwick, spoke of how we depend on the support of donors and volunteers, and His Excellency spoke of Menzies’ special connection with the community and the gains in medical science made possible by that relationship.
Professor Marwick and Mrs Blow.
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The enrolment of Chinese students is supported by a scholarship program funded by both the University of Tasmania and AMU. Menzies also has one PhD student enrolled from Southern Medical University (SMU) in Guangzhou, and a memorandum of understanding for collaboration with SMU has been signed this year.
Among the new students from China enrolling at Menzies are, from left, Yuanzi Ye, Tongcui Jiang, Xiaoqing Peng, Harvey Donghua Hu, Yilan Zhen and Ming Lu.
Menzies-China partnership thriving at home and abroad A record number of PhD students from China are now conducting research at Menzies, as the institute’s collaboration with China continues to strengthen. Anhui Medical University (AMU) is at the centre of the MenziesChina collaboration. It is one of the oldest educational institutions in the city of Hefei, in eastern China. With a population of 7.5 million, Hefei is the largest city in Anhui province and is known for expertise in science and technology.
Professor Changhai Ding, a musculoskeletal researcher at Menzies and a former student of AMU, has been instrumental in building the research bridge with China. “Menzies has an excellent reputation for the quality of its medical research, which is essential in setting up links with Chinese universities,” Professor Ding said. “Our international students are an important part of our contribution to advancing medical knowledge that will make a difference wherever it is applied.” Menzies researchers now supervise 25 Chinese PhD students at the institute in Hobart, with up to 10 more students likely to begin their research in 2015. The program of bringing Chinese students to Menzies began in 2011 and has grown quickly. “The staff here have been really helpful since the first day I joined. I have developed my personal skills by working with experts from different disciplines. I enjoy the life in Tasmania, a State with such beautiful scenery, clean air and friendly people.” Lei Si, who has been a PhD Candidate in health economics at Menzies for the past two years. See story on page 3.
Trading skills and knowledge This year Menzies has run its first course for post-graduate students in China. The course, led by Professor Andrew Palmer, who directs the Health Economics Research Unit at Menzies, was held at Anhui Medical University. Professor Palmer’s course on the health economics of diabetes prevention and treatment was supported by the International Diabetes Federation and attracted students from nine institutions
throughout China. Academics from the University of Melbourne also contributed to the teaching. The course was run in English, with Chinese translation of key points by former Anhui student, Lei Si, who is now a PhD student in health economics at Menzies. With the help of generous hosts at AMU the course was extremely successful, and Professor Palmer is planning another course in 2015.
Inaugural Ashdown Family Scholarship We are most fortunate at Menzies to receive a number of scholarships for PhD and Honours students that are generously funded by supporters from within the community. Mr Neil Ashdown has provided a gift to Menzies that will support a fully-funded elite-level PhD scholarship in perpetuity. This gift of exceptional generosity adds significantly to our ability to attract and train researchers of a very high calibre in Tasmania. We were delighted to have introduced Dr Mark Nolan to Mr Ashdown in August, as the recipient of the inaugural Ashdown
Family Elite Research Scholarship. Dr Nolan is a clinical cardiologist who has come to Tasmania to do his PhD under Professor Tom Marwick, investigating the links between cancer treatments and the onset of cardiac decline. Menzies Institute for Medical Research An Institute of the University of Tasmania 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart, Tasmania 7000 Phone: 03 6226 7700 menzies.utas.edu.au 6
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More than Flowers In Memoriam August 2014-November 2014 We gratefully acknowledge gifts made in honour of: Anonymous (2) Mr Albert Harding Mr Athol Lehner Mrs Beryl Kathleen Todd Mr Brendan Dwyer Mr Bob Cure Mrs Dulci Costello Mrs Heather Mary Bird Mrs Iris Byard Mr Kevin Anthony Kelly Ms Lillias Doreen Johnston
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