Bulletin #0102
SPRING 2020
Smoke from devastating Black Summer bushfires costs society almost $2 billion A study led by the Menzies Institute for Medical Research found the catastrophic 2019-20 Australian bushfire season saw smoke-related health costs climb to AU$1.95 billion. This new research, published in Nature Sustainability, showed that the most impacted states were New South Wales (AU$1.07 billion), followed by Victoria (AU$493 million) and Queensland (AU$224 million). One of the lead authors, Nicolas Borchers Arriagada, said the findings were a major anomaly when comparing the 20 most recent fire seasons. “The total cost was well above the next highest estimate of AU$566 million in 2002-03 and more than nine times the median wildfire associated costs for the previous 19 fire seasons of AU$211 million,” he said. “We estimated that the smoke-related impacts of the most recent fire season
Lasting impact: Death and injury caused by flames of bushfires are actually the tip of the iceberg, according to lead author Nicolas Borchers Arriagada.
Many survivors of bushfire events are both physically and mentally triggered by smoke for the rest of their lives
included 429 smoke-related premature deaths in addition to 3,230 hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory disorders and 1,523 emergency attendances for asthma.” Death and injury caused by flames of bushfires are actually the tip of the iceberg, Mr Borchers Arriagada said.
“The smoke from the fires is insidious and leaves in its wake extraordinary suffering that has, by and large, until recently been under-estimated and sidelined as a critical management issue,” he said. “Many survivors of bushfire events are both physically and mentally triggered by smoke for the rest of their lives.”
AT MENZIES, OUR PEOPLE ARE OUR GREATEST ASSET. WITH YOUR SUPPORT THEY CAN BE YOURS TOO Every day, our researchers dedicate themselves to tackling the diseases that most affect Tasmanians. Dr Barbara de Graaff is one such researcher, focusing her attention on the burden of liver cancer in Australia. Primary liver cancer (when the cancer starts in the liver) is one of the few cancers in Australia for which we have seen increased incidence and mortality in recent years. Only 18% of people diagnosed with liver cancer are still alive after five years, making early detection crucial.
Early diagnosis is crucial to improve survival. High-risk groups should be screened every six months however, this doesn’t always happen. With your support, we can continue our research and improve early detection of liver cancer in Australia and save lives.
The Menzies Community Fellowship has supported some of the best and brightest researchers in Tasmania to undertake globally significant medical research. It is 100% funded by the generous donations of our community. Please consider a gift today. With your generosity, we can
HOW TO DONATE
Focused: Dr Barbara de Graaff.
continue to undertake research to improve early detection of liver cancer in Australia and save lives.
Donate online at menzies.utas.edu.au/donate or through the donation slip on the last page of your Bulletin.
Menzies Bulletin Spring 2020
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Director’s message Welcome to our Spring Bulletin! It’s always reassuring in a year of turmoil to see the green leaves back on the trees and life continue to regenerate.
I’m proud of the research we have undertaken this year despite some interruptions
I’m proud of the research we have undertaken this year despite some interruptions. We have contributed to many significant publications and received recognition for our research excellence. I’d like to personally congratulate Dr Andy Flies and Associate Professor Dawn Aitken for being named 2020 Tall Poppies by the
Australian Institute of Policy and Science which recognises and celebrates Australian intellectual and scientific excellence. You can read more about their achievements later in this edition. In this Bulletin we also feature our research into the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season and the staggering health costs to the community,
some interesting research on turmeric supplements, and learn more about Associate Professor Seana Gall who leads our research into stroke prevention. Kind Regards,
Distinguished Professor Alison Venn Director
Due to COVID-19, for the foreseeable future Menzies will be increasingly contacting our supporters via email. If you have not yet provided Menzies with your current email address, please contact Jane Richards on jane.richards@utas.edu.au or phone 6226 7707 as soon as possible. Thank you.
Mind matters: Left to right, Tas Networks CEO Lance Balcombe, Mind Games founder Sherri Ring, Menzies Professor Angela Martin and PhD student Adam Nebbs.
Raising the red flag for mental health In 2019 The Mind Games raised $70,000 for Menzies to research mental health in the workplace. Due to COVID-19 restrictions this year’s Mind Games have been postponed until next year, however the money raised in 2020 has been put towards a Mind Games
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Menzies Bulletin Spring 2020
scholar, PhD student Adam Nebbs. Adam worked in the finance community for almost 10 years but found the work became unfulfilling as it was
very focused on hitting key performance indicators and productivity. Adam decided to change course and return to university to focus on his main area of interest, workplace mental health. Adam’s research will be on mental health management assessment tools for the workplace and he will work with the Menzies mental health research team to conduct a
scoping review of what tools exist to help workplaces measure their policies and procedures against best practice. COVID-19 has impacted mental health significantly. Research shows 78% of survey participants said their mental health had worsened since the pandemic. To get involved in The Mind Games 2021 and help raise funding please visit themindgames.com.au
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
People living with MS to benefit as healthcare goes digital Our new patient-centred digital healthcare tool InforMS has received $1.4 million in funding through the prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Projects program. InforMS is being developed in partnership with MS Research Australia to help people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) better manage their symptoms. This unique tool will create a paradigm shift in MS self-care, clinical care and research. Professor Ingrid van der Mei said: “InforMS will utilise modern monitoring technologies like mobile apps and wearables to collect valuable MS information. “It will empower people living with MS by providing timely information to track their MS via their smart devices. This data can then be used to influence treatment decisions, monitor symptoms, and identify insights and disease trends to enhance MS research.” The information collected by the InforMS tool will be invaluable for future MS research and treatment. From better insights into the day-to-day impacts of MS to the effectiveness of treatment, this tool gives us access to
It will empower people living with MS by providing timely information to track their MS via their smart devices
IT, Atlassian and vital insight from people living with MS. The partnership grant will enable testing, optimisation and implementation of the new digital InforMS tool.
data that was once beyond the reach of researchers, clinicians and people living with MS. The first step in developing the InforMS tool will be to utilise existing information from MS Research Australia’s Australian MS Longitudinal Study (AMSLS) – a research platform comprising a registry of people living with MS and their selfreported data. This data will be the building block from which InforMS will be developed. This important project could never have come to fruition if it wasn’t for the incredible support and involvement of several MS stakeholders. These include MS Australia and the MS State Societies, Kiandra
Understanding MS a global success Our increasingly popular Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS) online course has been internationally recognised once again after being named one of the best online classes of all-time by Class Central. The Understanding MS course, which was developed by the Menzies Institute for Medical Research in collaboration with MS Limited and the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, came 10th out of the 200 courses included in the Best Online Classes of All-Time list.
The Understanding MS course is an integral part of our MS Research Flagship. It is designed for people living with MS, their carers and support networks, and healthcare providers as well as anyone with an interest in learning about the disease. Information on risks, symptom management, interventions and lived experiences are given through a series of videos presented by academics, nurses and allied health professionals, and importantly, people living with MS. This year, the course had over 10,000 sign-ups from more than 130 countries. The fifth iteration of the Understanding MS course will be running in March 2021. For more information or to sign up go to ms.mooc.utas.edu.au For more information about Class Central go to classcentral.com/ collection/top-free-online-courses
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DONATIONS
THE LATE DR ALICE MEREDITH HODGSON Leaving a bequest to Menzies is a powerful way to help alleviate the serious impact of disease on our community once and for all. The late Dr Alice Meredith Hodgson, known as Meredith, is one of many to have left a gift-in-will to Menzies. Meredith Hodgson became an author with a passion for Tasmanian Colonial History after a successful career in human services management and policy with ventures on the side into farming and the wine industry. More recently, Meredith turned more formally to its study with a key focus on bringing colonial manuscripts to a present-day audience, completing a Graduate
Diploma and Postdoctoral degree of Philosophy in History and Classics, at the University of Tasmania. Meredith contributed to
chapters of Convict Lives at the Ross Female Factory in 2011 and, with Lucy Frost, edited Convict Lives at the Launceston Female Factory
in 2012. Meredith’s annotated transcription of an 1854-55 diary was published in 2014 under the title Miss Leake’s Journal which explores daily colonial life in an elite rural household in the Tasmanian Midlands. Meredith’s most recent work was her book The Convict Letter Writer published in 2018. Meredith’s generosity will fund research at Menzies, contributing to improvements in the health of people locally and around the world, and for this we are extremely grateful.
THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR DONORS FOR YOUR ONGOING FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND COMMITMENT TO MENZIES Listed below are our Everyday Angels, who make regular gifts to Menzies. Mr Timothy Albion Ms Juliet Allen Ms Anita Allie Ms Kylie Anderson Mrs T Archer & Mr A Archer Mrs Jennifer & Mr Lionel Banks Ms Jess Bannister Mr Callan Barber Dr Larissa & The Hon David Bartlett Ms Janet Beadle Mr Tobi Beard Mrs Pamela Blunt Mr P Bonusiak & Mrs B Robinson Mr Paul Boucher Ms Jessica Bradley Ms Kathleen Brient Ms Beverley Brown Mrs Jane Burrell & Mr Lloyd Sokvitne Ms Katrina Calder Ms Jill M Cassidy Dr Susan R Cherry Mrs Emma & Mr Timothy Claridge Mrs Beverlene J Clark Mrs Anita & Mr Michael Clarkson Mr Peter Cochrane & Ms Miranda Harman Mr Clark T Cooley Mr R & Mrs G Cotgrove Mr Craig Coventry Ms Moya T Deigan
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Ms Carolyn Dunnewijk Mrs Patricia & Mr Donald Edwards Mr Joshua & Mrs Felicity Ey Mrs Elaine & Mr Dennis Fairfield Dr Derek & Mrs Elizabeth Findlay Mr Simon Fleischmann Mr Peter Fountain Mrs Beverley Geard Mrs Judy & Mr Trevor Grant Mrs Susan Haigh Mr Philip Hand Mrs Maggie Harris Ms Paula Harvey Ms Tess Harvey-Mount Ms Judith Hastie Mrs Shirley & Mr Frederick Heath Ms Judy Hebblethwaite Ms Alison Hennessy Mrs Susan L Hinds Mr B & Mrs J Hortle Ms Shelley Hunter Ms Carol Hurst Ms Marni Hyland Mr Andrew & Mrs Anne Inglis Mr Darrin Irvine Ms Samantha J Jackson Mr Gary & Mrs Susan Jacobson Mrs Wendy Jefferies
Menzies Bulletin Spring 2020
The following individual and community supporters donated for the first time. Ms Agnes Johnston Mr Raymond & Ms Dianne Jones Ms Tracey Jordan Mrs Margaret K Keogh Ms Margaret Knight Ms Sabina Lane Mrs Terry & Mr Ian Law Ms Anne & Mr Anthony Le Clerc Mr Mark Ley Ms Lucy LindberghOstling Ms Rebecca C Lipscombe Mrs Jane & Mr Nicholas Lovibond Mr David T MacLeod Mrs Marie Magill Mrs Betty M Marshall Mr Dugald McDougall Mr Marcus McEwan Mrs Frances Joan McKinlay Ms Kate McQuaid Mrs Philippa Micklem Dr Kenneth & Mrs Yvonne Milton Mr Sam Mollard Mrs Joanna More Mr Joel F Morrison Ms Wendy Noye Mrs A & Mr T Nutting Mrs Astrid A O’Toole Mrs Sally Oakley Ms Indigo Parer Mrs Jennifer A Parsons Miss Alison Parsons
Latrobe Senior Citizens Club The Foot Stop Podiatry Services Sea Wish Gowns Pty Ltd Ms Kay Adsett Mrs Christine Ball Miss Pauline Beasley Ms Kerry Behn Mrs Patricia & Mr Norm Blackburn Mr Darrell Booth Ms Gabrielle Bracken Mrs L Brodribb & Dr R Brodribb Ms Kaylee Campradt Mr & Mrs T Clifford Ms Ethel Climent Ms Gillian Copeland Mrs Helen Cory
Bernice Cragg Ms Adelle De ZilvaStewart Mr B Doyle Mr B Doyle Mr Beau Dymond Ms Claire Farquharson Mrs Jodie Fishwick Ms Marianna Foos Dr Florence Fowodu Mr Rick Furnell Ms Heather Geard Mr Stephen Gilbert Mr Glenn Guillas Mrs Anne Harrison Ms Lisa Hofer Ms Valerie Jakrot Ms Leanne Jenkins Dr Johanna L Jones Mrs Margaret Jones Ms Susan Kuciak
Ms Karan Main Ms Lynne Marszalek Mrs J & Mr R Mezger Ms Julia Mezger Ms Mary Mills Ms Riana Nesdae Ms Lian Sawires Mrs Patricia Shea Mrs Patricia Shea Ms Bernadette Smon Ms Trudi Taylor Ms Jill J Thompson Mr Brad Thrupp Mr Philip J Tomney Mrs Sharon Upchurch Mr Peter M Vaane Ms Judith Weedon Mrs Karen L Wilson Mrs Karen L Wilson Ms Claire Witty Ms Sharon Woods
Mrs Glenda Paton Mr Andrew J Pitt Mr L & Mrs L Polglase Mr Nathan & Mrs Christabel Porter Mrs Pamela Rabbidge Ms J Reade & Mr P Webb Mr Alan & Mrs Jancis Rees Mrs E & Mr C Richards Ms Hannah Richardson Mrs Margaret J Richardson
Mrs Jill & Mr Eric Robinson Mrs Frances M Russon Mr Patrick Sampson Mrs Susan Sluce Ms Chianti Spaulding Mr Richard Sperring Mr Alex Stanelos Ms Skye Stowe Miss Amber C Sturges Ms Carmel Taylor Mrs Cynthia Tennant Ms Karen TwynamPerkins Mrs Rosemary Van
den Berk Mr Walter & Mrs Robin Verth Miss Valerie Wade Ms Barbara Warner Mrs Anne Warren Ms Caroline Wells Mr John & Mrs Kathlyn Wheatley Mrs Kathryn Whitchurch Ms Mandy J Williams Ms Janice Wilson Mrs Elizabeth Woolley
OSTEOARTHRITIS
Turmeric supplement more effective than placebo for osteoarthritis knee pain In a new study, extract of Curcuma longa, commonly known as turmeric, was found to be more effective than a placebo for reducing knee pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis. However, turmeric did not change the structural aspects of knee osteoarthritis, such as swelling or cartilage composition. These findings from a randomised, doubleblind, placebo-controlled trial were published in the prestigious journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr Benny Eathakkattu Antony, the principal investigator of the CurKOA trial and senior/ corresponding author of the paper, said despite the large numbers of people around the world who are diagnosed,
KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON DIABETIC RETINOPATHY Rajya Laxmi Gurung is a PhD student with the Genetics and Cancer Theme who is finding the genetics behind diabetic retinopathy.
15-MINUTE PHONE SURVEY
there are no approved diseasemodifying drugs available to treat osteoarthritis. “Common treatments, such as paracetamol and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have only mild to moderate effects and can have adverse side effects,” he said. “Due to this an urgent need exists for safer and more effective drugs to treat osteoarthritis. “The study randomly assigned 70 participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and ultrasound evidence of swelling inside the knee joint to receive either 2 capsules per day of turmeric or a matched placebo for 12 weeks to determine whether turmeric reduced knee symptoms and joint swelling. Changes were assessed by standardised
She is supported by a PhD scholarship co-funded from Diabetes Tasmania and the University of Tasmania’s College of Health and Medicine, and is also recipient of the Patricia F Gordon Postgraduate Top Up Scholarship in Medical Research. Diabetic retinopathy is a complex eye disease with a
Findings: Dr Benny Eathakkattu Antony was the principal investigator of the CurKOA trial.
questionnaire and MRI, respectively, over 12 weeks.” The researchers also looked for changes in cartilage composition, pain medication usage, quality of life, physical performance measures, and adverse events.
An urgent need exists for safer and more effective drugs to treat osteoarthritis
After 12 weeks, they found that patients taking the turmeric supplements reported less pain than those in the placebo group with no adverse events. Despite the positive findings, due to the modest effect of the turmeric, small sample size of the study, short-duration of follow-up and the single research centre, the researchers suggest that multicentre trials with larger sample sizes and long duration of follow-up are needed to assess the clinical significance of their findings.
huge impact on a patient’s quality of life and is a very common eye complication related to diabetes mellitus. It affects the retina, the eye structure responsible for vision present on the back of the eye. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness in the working-age population in
Australia and worldwide. This research will not only lead to a greater understanding of diabetic retinopathy but may also impact clinical practices including better screening of at-risk populations, distinguishing patients who are more or less likely to respond to treatment, and even identify new treatment alternatives.
Tasmanian pharmacy staff (pharmacists, technicians and assistants) are needed for quick 15-minute phone survey about iodine. Answer a few questions to go into a draw to win one of 20 $50 gift vouchers.
Visit this link for more information and to register your interest bit.ly/3n6hcDF
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Seana Gall
Associate Professor
What is the current focus of your research? My team and I are focusing on stroke prevention. We recently received a large grant through the NHMRC for a five-year of program of work in this area with collaborators from Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand.
What are some of the recent findings from this work? We’ve been looking at whether we can understand the differences in the risk of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases between men and women by looking back to their risk factors when they were children. There
does seem to be some influence of risk factors from childhood on these differences between men and women as adults, including things like weight and socioeconomic factors. What is the most interesting aspect of this work? There have been lots of advances in treating strokes in the past 10 years or so, but much less research on ways we might prevent it. So it’s great to be doing this new and exciting program in stroke prevention with leading experts from across Australia and New Zealand.
What other research do you undertake? I’ve been leading a program of research to understand how we might improve outcomes after a rare type of stroke called aneurysmal
It’s great to be doing this new and exciting program in stroke prevention with leading experts from across Australia and New Zealand
Menzies researchers named as Tasmanian Tall Poppies
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Menzies Bulletin Spring 2020
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I love to read and cook. When the weather’s nice, I like to get out on the water with my family in our boat.
Honoured: Associate Professor Dawn Aitken was named a 2020 Tall Poppy; Dr Andy Flies is the 2020 Tasmanian Young Tall Poppy.
We are thrilled that two of our researchers have been named as Tall Poppies. The Tall Poppy Campaign was created in 1998 by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) to recognise and celebrate Australian intellectual and scientific excellence and to encourage younger Australians to follow in the footsteps of our STEM stars. It has made significant achievements towards building a more publicly engaged scientific leadership in Australia. The Tasmanian Young Tall Poppy Campaign was launched in 2009 and has seen 25 Tall Poppies across the state. Dr Andy Flies is the 2020 Tasmanian Young Tall Poppy. He has an outstanding record covering both academic achievement, engaged communication with the wider
subarachnoid haemorrhage. We’re focusing on whether the time it takes people to get treatment affects survival or recovery. I’m also interested in risk factors for stroke, with smoking being really important. We’ve being doing some local research into the idea of raising the age of sale for tobacco products to 21 years.
community and a sustained contribution towards science communication. He leads the Wild Immunology Group and his primary research interest is understanding how the immune system interacts with cancer cells to facilitate better cancer immunotherapies and vaccines. Developing a vaccine to protect Tasmanian devils from the devil facial tumour
[The Tall Poppy Campaign] has made significant achievements towards building a more publicly engaged scientific leadership in Australia
diseases is his main focus. Associate Professor Dawn Aitken was also named a 2020 Tall Poppy. Her work aims to improve our understanding of osteoarthritis and develop better treatments for the disease. One of her key research areas is to test new drug treatments. She conducts randomised controlled trials,
where patients are allocated to either the study drug or a placebo (that is, a tablet/ capsule that looks like the study drug but does not contain the active drug being tested). By doing this she can truly test whether a specific drug improves pain or is able to slow down cartilage loss. Congratulations to Andy and Dawn!
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More than flowers In Memoriam
One sentence in your Will can fund life-saving medical research. If you would like more information, please contact the Institute Advancement Manager on 03 6226 7700. Bequests save lives by funding research. Thank you.
We gratefully acknowledge gifts made from the following estates: Estate of the late Frances Patricia McKinlay Estate of the late Lindsey Darrel Delaney Estate of the late Frances Patricia McKinlay Estate of the late Carol Anne Davenport Estate of the late Gladys Gardwood Estate of the late Alice Meredith Hodgson Estate of the late Brent William Flassman Estate of the late Peter Coleman We gratefully acknowledge gifts made in honour of: Mrs Margaret (Margo) Booth Mr Robert A Daly Mrs Margaret Gilbert Mr James D Groves Mrs Beverley J Lewis Mrs Helen McKibben Ms Margaret Nicholls Mr Christopher O’Reilly Mr Kevin R Pearce Mr Desmond Salter Mr Raymond Thomson