Bulletin #0103
Farewell and thank you to our outgoing Board Chair, Bruce Neill This year we farewell our long-standing Board Chair, Bruce Neill. Since becoming Chair in 2013, Bruce has been our most significant donor, volunteer and advocate. He played an important part in the development of the second Medical Science building by taking a leadership role to fundraise the final $7.5 million which achieved the $90 million target. He has also personally supported six post-doctoral Select Foundation Fellowships which are ongoing. These fellowships involve many of our major research themes and include health services research, primary care and chronic pain, mental health, public health, cancer, multiple sclerosis and immunology.
Bruce has always been interested in our people and research achievements, and regularly showcases them to his personal and professional networks, providing opportunities for us that would have remained untapped without his efforts. We are fortunate that one of our current board
Bruce has always been interested in our people and research achievements, and regularly showcases them to his networks
2020 Tasmanian science Technology engineering and maThemaTics (sTem) awards We are extremely proud that 2020 was the fourth year in a row that a Menzies researcher has been awarded the Tasmanian Young STEM Researcher of the Year. Well done to Dr Hoang Phan for being recognised for her research into health inequalities in the management and outcomes of stroke. In addition to this, the 2020 Minister’s STEM Innovation of the Year Award was awarded
members, Professor Moira Clay, is stepping into the role of Chair. Moira combines her experiences from a successful 10-year research career in laboratory-based cardiovascular research, her achievements in research strategy and management, and her experience building bridges between research
to Tim Gale on behalf of the research team that designed the ‘OxyGenie’ neonatal automated oxygen control system. Menzies Professor Peter Dargaville is a key member of this team which has developed new
WelcoMe to our neW BoArd MeMBers! Mr Edward Kemp Professor Geoffrey Donnan AO Ms Rebecca Kardos
organisations to achieve research impact. This year we are also saying goodbye to long-serving board member, Professor Bob Williamson. We thank Bob for sharing the depth and breadth of his experience in the medical research sector and for his constructive and invaluable input into our decision-making. On behalf of Menzies, the medical research community, and the wider Tasmanian community we sincerely thank our outgoing board members for their dedication and support and welcome Moira into the role of Chair.
Award winners: Michael Ferguson, Minister for Science and Technology, and Dr Hoang Phan.
technology that has improved breathing in babies in neonatal intensive care. Tasmanian STEM Awards reflect the quality and capability of our science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals, communicators and educators, particularly their deep connection with the Tasmanian community and its future.
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director’s message Welcome to the first Bulletin for 2021 In this edition we bid farewell to Bruce Neill, our Chair of the Menzies Board since 2013.
We thank Bruce for his passionate championing of medical research, his guidance, encouragement, and philanthropic support
We thank him for his passionate championing of medical research, his guidance, encouragement and philanthropic support. Two major legacies from Bruce stand out in my mind. Throughout his tenure he has been an ongoing advocate for philanthropy and fundraising for Menzies, as well as being a generous personal donor. This has been important in shaping the Menzies Institute
as we know it today. In more recent years he was committed to the concept of a flagship focusing on our multiple sclerosis research. Bruce advocated for the work and facilitated meetings with stakeholders, including political representatives in Canberra. The MS Research Flagship Program subsequently received $10 million in federal government funding plus
millions more in philanthropic and other funds. I would also like to warmly welcome our new Chair, Professor Moira Clay, and I look forward to working with her and all our Board members as we advance our discoveries and research impact. 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.
heart Foundation Fellowships for menzies researchers
Funding boost: Associate Professor Verity Cleland has received a Future Leader Fellowship of $560,000 over four years.
Two researchers at Menzies have been awarded prestigious Heart Foundation of Australia Fellowships. This latest funding is for 2020 Research Award Recipients with research projects commencing in 2021. Associate Professor Verity Cleland has received a Future Leader Fellowship of $560,000 over four years to continue her work looking at ways to improve heart health through walking and cycling for transport. “We know that regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart attack and helps control other risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity,” Assoc Prof Cleland said. “Unfortunately, since the 1980s less than half of Australian adults have been active enough to
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Menzies Bulletin
prevent disease. If all adults met physical activity recommendations, this would prevent at least 11 per cent of Australian and 6 per cent of global heart disease, saving more than $805 million each year in Australia and preventing more than three million deaths each year worldwide.” The project will explore how walking, cycling, and using public transport to get from place to place contributes
Unfortunately, since the 1980s less than half of australian adults have been active enough to prevent disease
to cardiovascular health. It will also look at how to promote and incentivise people to incorporate more physical activity in their day to day life through incidental exercise, and working to better understand how to create environments that support more walking and cycling. Dr Dean Picone has been awarded a Heart Foundation 2020 Postdoctoral Fellowship of $150,000 over two years, with an additional $20,000
Paul Korner Innovation Award as he submitted one of the top innovative projects in the round. Dr Picone’s Postdoctoral Fellowship will enable him to continue his work on refining the measurement of blood pressure. “Ultimately we hope this will lead to better diagnosis and medical care of people with high blood pressure, to reduce global death and illness from cardiovascular disease,” Dr Picone said.
FUNDING
research into Parkinson’s and cardiovascular diseases the focus of funding success The latest round of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding includes support for Parkinson’s and cardiovascular diseases research at Menzies. Dr Phillip Melton and collaborators received just over $1,275,000 for their research which seeks to understand why women who have had the high blood pressure related condition preeclampsia during pregnancy have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in Australia. Women who experienced preeclampsia have been shown to have a two-to-eight-fold increased risk for cardiovascular disease ten to fifteen years after giving birth. On average this is 10 years earlier than for women who had uncomplicated pregnancies. “There is currently limited research focused on developing effective screening, follow-up and intervention strategies for women after they have had preeclampsia. More sophisticated studies are urgently required to understand
the problem and create strategies to reduce short and long-term risk and that is the aim of my project,” Dr Melton said. Professor Tracey Dickson and Dr Ruth Musgrove have
more sophisticated studies are urgently required to understand the problem and create strategies to reduce short and long-term risk and that is the aim of my project
received almost $535,000 to look at the causes of Parkinson’s disease. “Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that has no cure or effective treatment,” Professor Dickson said. “We know where in the brain the disease begins, but how it spreads is unknown. We are excited to use new techniques, developed with our colleague in Chemistry, Professor Michael Breadmore from the University’s School of Natural Sciences, to gain insight into this process which will potentially reveal new treatments.”
New Senior Advancement Manager – Sumeena Keshow We have a new Senior Advancement Manager based at Menzies working on fundraising for the Institute and across the wider College of Health and Medicine and around the state. Sumeena comes with a career spanning 21 years in the community and forpurpose sector, with expertise in relationship management and a passionate interest in helping build healthy, inclusive communities, nurturing learning and education, and fostering positive social change. She is a professional
Welcome: Menzies Director Distinguished Professor Alison Venn and new Senior Advancement Manager Sumeena Keshow.
fundraiser whose latest experience includes working within the environment sector in ecology/natural sciences research and advocacy. Earlier in her career, Sumeena worked in a variety of public engagement roles in the arts, including at the National Gallery of Victoria.
sumeena is enjoying getting to know the many and varied donors and community members who support medical research
Sumeena is excited to now work within the health and medical research area, and is enjoying getting to know the many and varied donors and community members who support medical research. If you have any contact with Sumeena please make her feel welcome.
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FUNDING
the future of Ms health care – new digital tool receives vital funding The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has announced $1.4 million in funding for an innovative multiple sclerosis (MS) patientcentred digital health care tool – InforMS – as part of their prestigious Partnership Projects program. The Multiple Sclerosis Research Flagship based at Menzies, in partnership with MS Research Australia, is developing InforMS to help people living with MS better manage their symptoms. This digital patient-centred health care tool will create a paradigm shift in MS self-care, clinical care and research. InforMS will use modern monitoring technologies such as 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
tracking: InforMS willl use mobile apps and wearables to collect MS information.
devices. This data can then be used to influence treatment decisions, monitor symptoms, and identify insights and disease trends to enhance MS research. Information collected through the InforMS tool will be invaluable for future MS research and treatment. From greater insights into the dayto-day impacts of MS to the effectiveness of treatment, this innovative system will
provide access to data that was once beyond the reach of researchers, clinicians and people living with MS. The first phase of the InforMS development project will 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 will be used
FUn day FUndraiser For moTor neUron disease
sense of community: The crowd watch a game of cricket at Devonport’s Byard Park.
Thousands of people from the North West Coast community turned out at Devonport’s Byard Park on Sunday, February 21 to fundraise for motor neuron disease (MND) research at Menzies. The day was in support of local GP Bryn Parry who has been recently diagnosed with the disease. There was something for everyone with a cricket match, ice bucket challenge, food stalls, classic cars and live entertainment. Our lead MND researcher, Professor Tracey Dickson, attended with her family
as the building block from which the new InforMS tool is to be developed. This important project relies on the support and involvement of several MS stakeholders, in particular MS Australia and the MS State Societies, Kiandra IT, Atlassian as well as important insight from people living with MS. The partnership funding will enable testing, optimisation and implementation of the new digital InforMS tool. Expert contributors to the InforMS project include: Professor Ingrid van der Mei, Professor Bruce Taylor, Professor Andrew Palmer and Professor Leigh Blizzard, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania; Professor Dianne Nicol, Professor Helmut Butzkueven, Dr Vilija Jokubaitis, Monash University, Professor Simon Broadley, Griffith University, Belinda Bardsley, MS Nurses Australasia.
The money raised will make a big difference to our mnd research
and was thrilled to see the community coming together on a beautiful Devonport day to raise money in support of Bryn. “Thanks to everyone involved,” Professor Dickson said. “The money raised will
make a big difference to our MND research. It will mean we can continue our work to understand the cause of this terrible disease and to develop new treatments to stop it in its tracks.”
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pROFIle
ReSeaRCheR pROFIle
dr nicholas Blackburn
Research Fellow Computational Genomics What brought you to Menzies? I’m originally from Hobart and completed my PhD here at Menzies back in 2015. I moved away for five years to work in Texas to grow my skills in the genetic analysis of human diseases. But I ’m a Tassie boy at heart so when an opportunity arose to return home to conduct world class research as part of the Menzies Multiple Sclerosis Research Flagship, I couldn’t say no. What is the current focus of your research?
I’ve joined the MS Research Flagship to work on the genetics of multiple sclerosis with Dr Jac Charlesworth. We’re studying families with multiple cases of MS. Such families are rare but they do exist and we’re successfully recruiting families with at least two or three closely related people living with MS, as well as their unaffected relatives. What are some of the recent findings from this work? We’re using genomics to study these families. By pinpointing changes in the genetic code shared between family
members with MS we aim to find explanations as to how and why they have developed this disease. Finding these changes lets us identify a gene or genes we can study in the lab to understand why MS develops and potentially find targets for treatment aimed at protecting or repairing the nervous system. For one study family we’ve identified a single change to the genetic code that we are currently modelling in Assoc Professor Kaylene Young’s lab to help us understand how this change may be driving MS development. What is the most interesting aspect of this work? Most of my work is computational, working with data and finding the best ways to visualise it. When we’ve identified potential disease-causing change
to the genetic code, the most amazing realisation for me is that these changes have fundamentally affected the person that carries them, and that person could easily be you or me. It’s truly a privilege to be able to work with data like this to drive forward our understanding of a debilitating disease that affects more than 25,000 Australians. What other research do you undertake? A passion sideproject of mine is a study on green sea turtles I started while living in Texas. It seems strange at first for a human genomics researcher to also do work on sea turtles but surprisingly a lot of the approaches we take to study human disease also work across the animal kingdom. One of the threats sea turtles
Vice-chancellor’s recogniTion oF coVid resPonse COVID-19 has brought challenges to all aspects of life. At Menzies there have been particular people who have taken on an enormous extra workload to keep our community safe from the virus and they were recently acknowledged at the ViceChancellor’s Awards.
steady hand: Jen Rayner was recognised for her efforts during the pandemic.
The Manager of our Clinical Research Facility, Jen Rayner, won the Award for Outstanding Contributions in Response to the COVID Situation. During the pandemic Jen developed and implemented COVIDspecific procedures for screening, infection control, physical distancing and identifying ‘vulnerable’ research
participants. These procedures were later adopted by other areas of the university outside of the Clinical Research Facility. Jen has also provided advice regarding COVID-specific risk assessments to colleagues across the university. The significant work that Jen led undertaking risk assessments and developing
standard work procedures encompassed the Clinical Research Facility and the Biobus. This work enabled researchers to continue critical research projects that involved vulnerable study participants who needed follow up and clinical advice throughout lockdown. On top of this, she played a
face is a tumour disease called fibropapilloma. Turtles with this disease can grow hideous tumours all over their body, some growing as big as grapefruits and this of course affects their ability to swim, find food and survive in the wild. I’ve been studying what genes are altered in these tumours so we can hopefully understand more about the basic biology of this disease in hope of pointing us toward potential treatment targets. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Currently I’m enjoying rediscovering Hobart and Tasmania with my partner, who luckily was able to join me from the US. I’m an avid gamer and currently halfway through reading the Game of Thrones novels.
major role in ensuring the entire Medical Science Precinct was able to function in a COVIDsafe way, and performed temperature checks of people entering the building for over 100 hours! We also had around twenty staff who contributed to the College of Health and Medicine’s Pandemic Response Team. This team was recognised at the ViceChancellor’s Awards for providing invaluable public health expertise to support the Department of Health’s response. Many of our staff have had central leadership roles in Tasmania’s effective pandemic response in the areas of public health medicine, epidemiology, biostatistics and data systems. Congratulations to Jen and the wider team for their hard work and recognition.
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DONORS
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. Findex Hobart Mr Timothy Albion Ms Anita Allie Ms Kylie Anderson Mrs T Archer & Mr A Archer Mrs Jennifer & Mr Lionel Banks Ms Jess Bannister 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 J Burrell & Mr L 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 Ms Carolyn Dunnewijk Mrs Patricia & Mr Donald Edwards Mr Joshua & Mrs Felicity Ey Mrs Elaine & Mr Dennis Fairfield Dr Derek & Mrs Elizabeth Findlay Mr Peter Fountain Mrs Beverley Geard Mrs Judy & Mr Trevor Grant Mrs Susan Haigh Mr Philip Hand Mrs Maggie Harris Ms Paula Harvey Ms Judith Hastie Mrs Shirley & Mr Frederick Heath Ms Judy Hebblethwaite Ms Alison Hennessy Mrs Susan L Hinds Mrs Shirley Honeysett Mr B & Mrs J Hortle Ms Shelley Hunter Ms Carol Hurst Ms Marni Hyland Mr Andrew & Mrs Anne Inglis Mr Gary & Mrs Susan Jacobson
Mrs Wendy Jefferies 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 Rebecca C Lipscombe Mrs Jane & Mr Nicholas Lovibond Mrs Aileen Lynch 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 Miss Alison Parsons Mrs Jennifer A Parsons 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 Mrs Margaret J Richardson Ms Hannah 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 Mrs R & Mr E Steenbergen Ms Skye Stowe Miss Amber C Sturges
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The following individual and community supporters donated for the first time. Blight Rayner Architecture Pty Ltd Adelaide Hampson Manion Plumbing Westland Nurseries Pty Ltd Ms Sarah Abood Ms Kirsten Asmussen Ms Gail Baird Ms Helen Bear Ms Shelley Bennic Mrs Rosemary & Mr Ricky Beswick Ms Emma Bovill Ms Rachel Burke Mr Don Cameron Ms Lisa Clifford Mr Brian Clifford Ms Cailyn Clifford Ms Janet Cutler Mr Paul Davidson Ms Prue Davison T Deegan Mrs Katherine Denholm Mrs Alice Dingley Ms Catherine Donald Miss Sharnee Escott Ms Kirsten Fairfax Mr Jonathon Feil Ms Sarah Flemmings Ms Felicity Gill Ms Nicole Gillingham Ms Angeline Goh Ms Rebecca & Mr Stan Gottschalk Ms Jeanette Headley Ms Sarah Ince Mr Joshua Kelland Kerry King
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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 Brenda Veryl White Estate of the late Brent William Flassman Estate of the late Christopher Norman Horne We gratefully acknowledge gifts made in honour of: Mrs Lynne Andrews Mr Kevin Hill Mr Peter L Jones Mr Graham McKenna Mr George Smith