Boost for Devil Facial Tumour Disease research
Studies into the development of a Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) vaccine have had exciting boosts in recent months.
Two different transmissible cancers (DFT1 and DFT2) currently exist that have resulted in the loss of about 68 per cent of the devil population. The development of an edible bait to vaccinate wild devils is the goal of the project and will then be used as a model for combating other diseases in wildlife.
Associate Professor Andrew Flies has been named a Future Fellow by the Australian Research Council (ARC). He has been
awarded $1,065,744 for his project Be Prepared: Rapid Diagnostics and Field-Ready Vaccines for Wildlife. This research addresses wildlife disease, focusing on developing rapid diagnostic tests and vaccines for transmissible cancers affecting Tasmanian devils. The project also aims to enhance conservation efforts by developing new tools to understand and prevent disease in other native species.
In addition to this, major funding to help save the iconic Tasmanian devils is one of three ARC grants
recently awarded to the University of Tasmania worth a total of $1.5 million.
Funding of $740,000 will flow to Menzies to continue their research and development of a vaccine to protect Tasmanian devils from DFTD.
This project has assembled a large national and international team of world-class researchers and institutions to cover all the expertise and resources we need to determine if we can protect devils from DFT1 and DFT2.
This project has assembled a large national and international team of world-class researchers and institutions
In particular, key partners are the Ceva Wildlife Research Fund, along with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, Animal Control Technologies Australia, and the US Department of Agriculture. These partners provide additional funding, resources and expertise to successfully complete this project.
Wildlife warrior: Associate Professor Andy Flies has been named a Future Fellow by the Australian Research Council for his research into cancers affecting Tasmanian devils.
I encourage everyone to jump online and visit our (new and refreshed!) website menzies.utas.edu.au
Director’s message
Thank you to everyone who attended our recent event in Launceston and heard about the exciting research going on across the state from Professor Bruce Taylor and Associate Professor Verity Cleland. It was wonderful to meet you!
I encourage everyone to jump online and visit our (new and refreshed!) website menzies.utas.edu.au to see if there is a research project or clinical study in your region that you would be eligible to participate in.
Since our last Bulletin, we’ve also had the Multiple Sclerosis Research
Flagship’s ‘Research With Connections’ consumer and community event. It was a wonderful day, attended by more than 100 people. We took the opportunity to wrap up and celebrate the many achievements of our large, multi-year MS project, funded through the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund. We have also had some
exciting funding successes for our Devil Facial Tumour Disease research team that I know you’ll be happy to read about in this edition. This success comes on the back of many years of community support, and for this we thank you.
Kind regards,
Tracey Dickson Director
WORLD HYPERTENSION DAY EVENT FOR MAY MEASUREMENT MONTH
On World Hypertension Day, the Menzies Cardiovascular Research Flagship – in collaboration with the School of Nursing – provided community blood-pressure measurements across Tasmania to nearly 300 members of the public.
Ten locations were set up with the help of 38 School of Nursing undergraduate students. You may have seen us in the Menzies building, at Mitre 10 in Kingston or Sorell, at Plaza Shopping Centres in Burnie, Prospect, Kings Meadows, Howrah or Claremont, or at Devonport’s Paranaple Centre. The Hansen Yunken worksite at the former Forestry Building on Melville Street was also involved.
Participants had their blood pressure taken and were invited to provide de-identified data for Menzies to better understand blood pressure in Tasmania. Data collected will also
contribute to the global May Measure Month initiative.
Our aim in taking blood-pressure measurements was to raise awareness of the importance of regular measurements. For nearly two-thirds (63%) of participants our study team provided more information on high blood pressure and recommended a follow-up measurement with their doctor. These participants had bloodpressure measurements suggesting they may have high blood pressure or be at risk of developing high blood pressure.
One in three Australian adults have high blood
pressure, but only half of them know they have it. We cannot treat and control high blood pressure if people remain unaware of their condition. This has major health equity and economic implications across Australia.
To address this national health problem, the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance and Hypertension Australia joined
forces to establish the National Hypertension Taskforce, with the aim to significantly improve Australian blood pressure control rates from 32% to 70% by 2030. The Taskforce is a national collaboration of 25 organisations across the health spectrum, including peak bodies, researchers, clinicians, and consumers with lived experience.
Joining forces: Left to right, Anne Poynter (School of Nursing student), Serah Kalpakavadi (Menzies PhD student), Martin Schultz (Menzies researcher), Tom Galpin (School of Nursing student) and Preety Maharjan (School of Nursing student).
Key review of the health co-benefits of fighting climate change
A team from Menzies recently published an important review on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the prestigious journal Lancet Planetary Health.
Menzies Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Ngan Dinh and Professorial Research Fellow Martin Hensher led the major review of studies measuring the health co-benefits of policies and strategies aimed at reducing emissions across different sectors of the world economy.
The review’s findings concluded the need for standardisation of how we measure, estimate and value health benefits and co-benefits in relation to climate change, and the need to ensure that we
develop and use much better methods to capture full estimates of the likely future health impacts of climate change itself.
The review included 267 studies from around the world, covering policy interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in sectors as diverse as energy generation, transport, diet, cooking fuels sources, housing and agriculture. More than half of these studies came from either China or the US .
A ‘co-benefit’ occurs
when action to achieve a policy objective in one sector – for example, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by electrifying public transport – brings additional benefits in another area, in this case health.
The studies reviewed typically look at a combination of health co-benefits – reduced levels of premature death, sickness, access to health services, and lost days of work and school time due to illness. Reducing
The findings concluded the need for standardisation of how we measure, estimate and value health benefits and co-benefits in relation to climate change
Looking to the future: Professorial Research Fellow Martin Hensher co-led an important review on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
greenhouse gas emissions leads to health co-benefits in several ways: most importantly, by reducing air pollution, but also through health gains from dietary changes, increased physical activity, and reduced injuries from traffic accidents.
The main focus was on how researchers had measured and estimated health co-benefits from climate change mitigation.
Crucially, only 5% of these studies had included the future health benefits of limiting climate change itself – for example, the future impacts of extreme heat events, flooding and bushfires, or the expanding reach of diseases such as malaria and dengue. The other 95% of the studies had not focused on the direct impacts of climate change. These studies therefore significantly underestimate the longterm health benefits of taking action now to prevent climate change.
‘Profound impact’: The legacy of a $10m multiple sclerosis funding boost
A world-first stem cell biobank and a groundbreaking clinical trial for brain repair treatment are among the significant advances in multiple sclerosis (MS) research at Menzies.
These achievements come in the wake of a $10 million funding boost to the Institute’s MS Research Flagship program in 2019.
Nearly five years after receiving the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant under the Emerging Priorities in Consumer Driven Research initiative, the MS Research Flagship is celebrating its impact. Looking to the future, it will continue to build on its well-developed collaborations and research platforms, and accelerate discoveries in MS research leading to the prevention, better treatment and better management of MS.
For more than 30 years, Menzies has been at the forefront of MS research. This is in part driven by the unique concentration of people living with MS in Tasmania, which has the highest rate of MS in the country. The further away from the equator people live the higher the prevalence of MS.
The MRFF funding
has significantly accelerated the Flagship’s advancements in several key areas:
Understanding the cause of MS
• The MS Family Study, by examining the genetics of families with a high incidence of MS, has expanded our knowledge of the rare genetic variations and biological pathways associated with MS.
• The establishment of the MS Stem biobank enhances our understanding of the biological causes of MS, provides a platform for drug candidate screening, and advances MS research both nationally and internationally.
MS treatment
A free, online health economic simulation model has been developed to help researchers and clinicians assess the impact of MS treatments – including drug therapies, lifestyle
For more than 30 years, Menzies has been at the forefront of MS research
Menzies will be increasingly contacting our supporters via email.
If you would like to provide Menzies with your current email address, please email Menzies.Advancement@utas.edu.au or phone 6226 7707. Thank you.
interventions, public health programs, medical devices and surgical interventions – on clinical and cost outcomes.
• Groundbreaking national clinical trials TAURUS 1&2 have assessed the safety and efficacy of magnetic brain stimulation (MBS) as a potential brain repair (remyelination) therapy for MS, improving our understanding of brain cell regeneration and myelin repair. Final study results are expected by the end of the year.
MS education and management Our Understanding MS massive open online course (MOOC) has achieved global reach, with more than 50,000 participants from more than 180 countries. The MOOC significantly improves MS knowledge, health literacy, self-efficacy, communication confidence, and self-reported behaviour change. We have developed new MOOCs on ‘Mental Health and MS’, ‘Deciding About Disease Modifying Therapies for MS’,
‘Ageing Well with MS’ and ‘Supporting MS Carers’. Additionally, we’ve developed the apps MS WorkSmart and My SymptoMS to help people with MS manage their symptoms and remain active in the workplace. Since 2019, the MS Research Flagship has grown significantly, expanding from about 30 founding members to more than 90 members. Additionally, its consumer and community reference committee has grown from seven to 17 members, collaborating closely with the Flagship at every stage of research, strategy and governance. This committee is now recognised as a leader in consumer and community involvement within the Australian research landscape.
On 28 June, the MS Research Flagship hosted its fourth successive ‘Research with Connections’ symposium in Hobart. About 130 people – 80% MS consumers and community members –attended the event that connects researchers with the MS community through presentations, conversations and celebrations.
Keep up with our news
Would you like to keep up to date with the latest Menzies news? Find us on Facebook and ‘like’ our page. You can read all our Bulletins and reports electronically at
2024 Menzies Winter Appeal Bulletin
You may have seen a letter or email telling you about the 2024 Menzies Winter Appeal.
In fact, you may have been one of the 222 people who donated. It was an excellent result, with just over $93,000 raised.
Funds raised will be used to fund projects like the one we featured in this year’s appeal. You may recall we highlighted the work of Dr Nick Blackburn and the research project he manages – the
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Family Study.
The work that Nick is leading will discover why some families have multiple relatives diagnosed with MS. In turn, this will lead us to understand why MS starts in the first place –and hopefully ways we can stop it.
Without generous donations from our community, critical projects such as Nick’s may never get off the ground.
You may also be aware that our research teams are sometimes
Without generous donations from our community, critical projects such as Nick’s may never get off the ground
successful in applications for larger grants from funding bodies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Australian Research Council (ARC).
Many of these projects are seedfunded from our appeals, meaning that our researchers can demonstrate the potential for their projects to grow and contribute to significant improvements in the health and wellbeing of our communities.
It’s very impressive, and we know how fortunate we are here at Menzies to have the support of our community. Thank you.
How will you be remembered?
In Memoriam
One sentence in your Will can fund life-saving medical research.
If you would like more information, please contact the Advancement Office on 03 6226 1920.
Bequests save lives by funding research. Thank you.
We gratefully acknowledge gifts made from the following estates:
Estate of the late Maxwell George Brown
Estate of the late Mary Winifred Maxwell
We gratefully acknowledge gifts made in honour of:
Jean Mary Chivers
Penelope Dunkley
Helen Mackenzie
Rickie James Nicholls
Mike Picone
Michael Leonard Shaw
Marina Slate
Barrie Walter Squibb
Bruce Wells
Crucial support: Dr Nick Blackburn and Menzies Director Professor Tracey Dickson.
CONSUMER PROFILE
Chris Gumley
Chair of the MS Research Flagship’s consumer and community reference committee
What is your connection with Menzies?
I’m currently the Chair of the MS Research Flagship’s consumer and community reference committee (C&CRC), having joined as an inaugural member in September 2019 and then serving as deputy chair from August 2021 until November 2023. As a person living with a diagnosis of MS for about 35 years, and as an ex-healthcare professional, I enjoy
being able to contribute my lived experience to the various MS research projects at Menzies.
What is your role within the institute?
Along with my role as Chair of the MS Flagship’s C&CRC, I also sit on the MS Flagship’s steering committee along with another consumer. I initially found this very daunting, but now enjoy attending. I find this governance role extremely interesting and
am supported in sharing my views and opinions. I’m also a member of the newly established Menzies Community Involvement with Consumers, Researchers and Lived Experience committee (Menzies-CIRCLE).
What is the most interesting aspect of your role?
I enjoy all aspects of my roles. I love being involved in the review of documents for assessing the use of appropriate, understandable language, as well as ensuring project concepts have relevance to a person living with MS. I now have a much greater understanding of the amount of work and dedication it
takes researchers to get from an ‘idea or concept stage’ to doing the actual research and investigating. It has also been wonderful meeting so many different people who all have an impact at Menzies, such as the researchers, the professional staff, clinicians, students, volunteers and people with lived experience of different medical conditions.
What is the part of your work that makes you the proudest?
Everything that I’m involved in at Menzies makes me proud, as I think the Institute is striving to achieve its mission to perform internationally significant medical research leading to healthier, longer and better lives for Tasmanians. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I have a very supportive and wonderful group of family and friends. I have three daughters with partners and seven grandchildren who I’m very proud of and enjoy. I also enjoy playing bingo and sewing. I facilitate a monthly MS peer support group meeting, provide the occasional one-toone peer support and volunteer for MS Plus as part of their wellbeing program.
Helping hand: Chair Chris Gumley (pictured, third from top left) with the 2024 MS Consumer and Community Reference Committee.
My gift
Please accept my one-off gift of:
$25
$50 $100
$250 Other $
Gifts of $2 and over are tax deductible. or
My payment
Please accept my regular monthly gift of:
$
Cheque/money order: Enclosed is my cheque/money order (payable to the Menzies Institute for Medical Research)
Credit card:
Please debit my Visa MasterCard
Credit card number Name on card Signature Expiry date /
Please allocate my gift to: The current Menzies appeal Where most needed A specific area of research
My details
Title: Mr Mrs Ms Miss Other
Name Address
Telephone ( )
Please send me information on remembering Menzies in my Will I have already included a gift to Menzies in my Will Yes, I want to invest in a healthier future for all Tasmanians. 100% of your gift will be used for research in Tasmania.
Postcode
Donate
Donate by phone
