4 November 2009
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Mohd Yusaini Bin Mohd Yusri, Shakirah Sharif and Ng Wei Ming Damin |
The Monash Sunway campus in Malaysia this year celebrates another milestone in its continued evolution with the graduation of the first class of Malaysian-trained doctors.
The 47 young students will be the first to graduate from the University's prestigious Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program in Malaysia.
Their five-year path through the Sunway MBBS program has constantly covered new ground.
They are the first international medical graduates anywhere in the world to be fully accredited by the Australian Medical Council.
They were the first class to split their time between Malaysian and Australian campuses and hospitals, gaining experience in both medical settings.
They were among the first Monash medical students to study specialised Malaysian subjects including tropical medicine and to work at clinics in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Segamat, Pontian and Kulai in Johor.
The students were also among the first to train at the purpose-built RM1.8 million Clinical School and Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru.
Head of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences Professor Dato' Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain has been there to see the first class of young doctors learn and mature to become skilled clinicians.
"I think because of the accreditation by the Australian Medical Council the standard of the course has gone to a dramatically high standard," he said.
"They should be able to stand on their own as independent learners and immediately be able to adapt themselves to their environment."
Both the Australian and Malaysian MBBS program share an emphasis on rural and regional health care. Practical training in rural regions gives students experience of 'hardcore medicine' in areas of growing demand.
Professor Anuar Zaini is confident the new graduating class represents not only a new influx of young doctors into Southeast Asia, but also a new standard in medical training for Malaysia.
For more information visit the Monash Magazine website.
4 November 2009
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| Professor Michael Cowley |
A Monash physiologist, whose research into weight management, obesity and diabetes has led to significant medical breakthroughs and drug design, has been awarded one of the nation's top research honours.
Professor Michael Cowley received the prestigious Commonwealth Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year.
The prize is granted to an internationally-renowned scientist who has completed their PhD within the past 10 years, and whose research has the potential to advance human welfare or society. The prize is worth $50,000.
"I am tremendously grateful to receive this award," Professor Cowley said.
"It's wonderful to know that my team and I are being recognised for the therapies we are developing for obesity."
Professor Cowley, from the Department of Physiology, has shown that neural circuits in the brain sense blood glucose and fat levels in the body. However a broken internal regulator can impair appetite regulation and lead to obesity, increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Professor Cowley has gone on to develop a combination anti-obesity drug called Contrave that can reactivate the fat sensor in obese patients and help them lose weight.
In US trials participants who took Contrave lost between 5 and 10 per cent of their body weight in one year.
If the Food and Drug Administration approves the drug for prescription use in the US, Contrave could, subject to regulatory approval, be licensed in Australia.
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Edwina Cornish, who nominated Professor Cowley for the prize, said she was delighted with his success.
"Michael's discoveries have the potential to radically change how we treat metabolic disease and help Australia deal with a recognised crisis in Indigenous and non-Indigenous health," Professor Cornish said.
Professor Cowley's award caps off a successful year. He has received a Pfizer Australia Senior Research fellowship, Austin Doyle Lectureship, and Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation Fellowship.
4 November 2009
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Monash has attracted $67.6 million in government funding in the latest round of grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Improving on 2008, Monash received $33.8 million from the ARC, including more than $29 million for 94 Discovery Projects grants, a 42 per cent increase in the number of grants funded and a 44 per cent increase in the value of funding awarded.
Monash also received $4.8 million for 17 Linkage Projects grants, with a further $8 million in cash and in-kind support pledged from partner organisations. This was the sector's highest success under the scheme with more than 73 per cent of applications funded (compared to an average of about 45 per cent.)
Successful Discovery Projects include:
Approved Linkage Projects include:
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Edwina Cornish said the University's success reflected the increasing standing of Monash researchers.
"The strong support from the ARC confirms that our researchers are leaders in their fields who can work effectively with industry to develop solutions to the many challenges society is facing,” Professor Cornish said.
A further $33.8 million was provided from the NHMRC to fund 64 research projects, as well as Career Development Awards, Practitioner Fellowships and Research Fellowships.
Some of the projects funded include:
Dr Michelle Dunstone, Dr Jinhua Li, Dr Velandai Srikanth and Dr Terence Haines were awarded funding in the Career Development Awards Scheme for Early/Mid Career Researchers.
Associate Professor Karin Leder, Dr Lesley Day and Professor John McNeil attracted a total of $1.4 million in Partnership Grants.
Professor Rachelle Buchbinder and Professor Paul Fitzgerald received Practitioner Fellowships to commence in 2010 and Associate Professor Rosemary Horne, Associate Professor Matthew Watt, Associate Professor Christopher Sobey, Dr Richard Ferrero and Dr Edouard Stanley were awarded NHMRC Research Fellowships.
Monash also attracted $976,155 as part of the NHMRC Equipment Grants scheme.
"Monash research continues to go from strength to strength and this current NHMRC announcement of increased research funding, number of projects and people being supported confirms it," Professor Cornish said.
4 November 2009
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A 15-year study across northern and central Victoria has shown that about two-thirds of bird species – including lorikeets, pardalotes, thornbills and honeyeaters – have declined dramatically in distribution and numbers.
A team of researchers, including ecologists from the Monash Australian Centre for Biodiversity systematically monitored woodland bird populations at 560 sites in a 30,000 square kilometre area from St Arnaud to Chiltern, mostly in box and ironbark forests.
"Most worrying is that species thought to be secure, the red wattlebird, striated pardalote, grey shrike-thrush and musk lorikeet, have declined as much as or more than species already of conservation concern – those listed as threatened, vulnerable or endangered, such as the crested bellbird, black-chinned honeyeater and crested shrike-tit," Professor Ralph Mac Nally said.
"Many species were encountered 60 per cent less often in surveys, and their abundances were down by at least 40 per cent."
Professor Mac Nally said climate change and the provision of food such as nectar, insects and seeds had compounded the already serious effects of broad-scale habitat loss and fragmentation in the region since the 19th century.
"The region has been largely cleared and the remaining woodlands poorly managed over many decades, so that the system was vulnerable to effects of climate change and the severe drying we have seen since 1996," Professor Mac Nally said.
"There also seems to be much less breeding and lower breeding success in the past few years in remnant vegetation. We think that the recent plunge in numbers reflects a longer period of breeding failure, so that when adults die, there are few young to replace them," Professor Mac Nally said.
However, the research team reported some positives. They found more breeding in relatively young replanted sites, especially on more fertile soils, suggesting that widespread replanting may be part of the solution to reversing the decline.
4 November 2009
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| Professor Rob Willis meets with students |
Monash will host a two-day conference in December to provide a platform for academic and professional staff to address the challenges students face adjusting to university life.
The 2009 Monash Transition Retention and Progression Forum from 9-10 December will also discuss the Federal Government's Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education, which calls for universities to focus on a student-centred, demand-driven approach to higher education.
The forum will include a keynote speech from Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in her capacity as Minister for Education, and Professor Marcia Devlin, the inaugural Chair in Higher Education Research at Deakin University.
Monash Vice-Chancellor Professor Ed Byrne said the Federal Government's new education targets meant universities would need to put strategies in place to encourage student enrolment from under-represented groups as well as mechanisms to support their transition to university life.
"As a high-quality research-intensive institution with more than 56,000 students and campuses in regional and metropolitan Melbourne we have a long track record in the provision of a wide range of transition programs to assist students to settle in and succeed," Professor Byrne said.
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs) Professor Rob Willis said the forum would build on the wealth of ideas generated at last year's Transition Roundtable.
"This conference is a fantastic opportunity for University staff and students, secondary school teachers and key stakeholders to discuss new strategies to encourage people to undertake university study and also the issues faced during the transition from secondary study or work to university study," Professor Willis said.
"This year we're particularly interested in looking at the transition process for international and Indigenous students as well as students from low socio-economic backgrounds and regional areas.
"I look forward to hearing from staff about their experiences of student transition and their views about the current transition-related initiatives and programs at Monash."
For more information or to register visit Monash Transition Retention and Progression Forum website.
4 November 2009
 Upgrade / install Flash player for optimum video viewing or refer to the alternative versions below. Unicyclist videoAlternative versions: |
Monash honours student Sid Rajan has unicycled from Perth to Adelaide in the name of education.
The Peninsula campus education student is writing his thesis on the experience of long distance cycling, and as part of his data collection is riding from Perth to Sydney along the southern coast of Australia on a unicycle.
With stage one from Perth to Adelaide now complete Sid is about to head back out on to the road for stage two of his ride, the 2050 kilometre trek from Adelaide to Sydney.
He has used the three month break in between stages to write his thesis and fundraise for the Art of Living Foundation and the Clown Doctors.
Sid said the first leg of the tour went well and, despite sore knees, he made it to Adelaide in 58 days.
"The Nullarbor was the crux of the ride. Apart from a few moments of hunger and thirst, I didn't have too many problems," he said.
"A lot of people stopped their vehicles to have a chat and even offered me food, water and sometimes even money, which was great."
Sid said some of the more memorable moments were riding a 146 kilometre straight stretch of road, where time and space seemed to stand still for one and a half days.
"Riding 145 kilometres in one day from Nullarbor to Nundroo - a distance I have never covered before and doing it with a loaded backpack - was also very satisfying," he said.
"I met a lot of great people - from a Vietnam war veteran to a Japanese cyclist."
For more information on Sid's project and to follow his adventures on the second leg of his journey visit the 3 Oceans Unicycle Tour website.
4 November 2009
A group of 20 Monash archaeology students has recently returned from a two-week dig at the ancient fortress of Pietramarina in Tuscany, Italy.
The study tour aims to introduce students to the techniques and methods of archaeology.
This is the first time Monash students have participated in excavations in Italy with the program made possible through collaboration between the Centre for Archaeology and Ancient History, Monash Prato Centre, the Soprintendenza Archeologica of Prato and the Comune of Carmignano.
Focusing on the study of ancient Etruscan civilisation and Archaic Rome, the unit allows students to study the excavated material in a broader cultural landscape through direct experience of the Etruscan artefacts.
Pietramarina, which lies about 45 kilometres south of Prato, is thought to have been an urban settlement in the 5th Century BC, prior to operating as a watch and check point to control access and passing trade.
Third-year arts/science student David Hocking, who became interested in archaeology after watching Indiana Jones movies as a child, said for most students it was their first-ever experience of an archaeological excavation.
"It was amazing. We began the excavation work from the ground surface working our way back through the centuries we initially found evidence of the later occupation of the site when it was used for collecting sap from the trees in the 18th and 19th centuries." he said.
"Other areas revealed remains of the lives of the people who inhabited the site long ago, including roof tiles, wooden beams, post holes, walls and even pottery, fragments of bronze and decorated wooden items.
"In a way, as you move down the layers you are moving back in time; it's a bit like having a time machine."
David, who hopes to undertake honours study next year, said archaeology took a lot of patience so that any discovered material was not damaged.
"This approach is gratifying when you discover something that you may have spent hours carefully scraping through nothing but mud and dust," he said.
"Slowly as the dig progresses you begin to reveal things that form a picture of what it was like to live there."
4 November 2009
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| Nathan, John and Angas Hurst |
Associate Professor John Hurst from the Faculty of Information Technology had extra reason to be proud when he witnessed his son Nathan graduating with a PhD in IT recently.
Nathan is a fourth-generation Hurst PhD – following in the line of his father (PhD Computer Engineering), his grandfather (PhD quantum field theory) and his great-grandfather (PhD in surface chemistry).
"We dusted off my grandfather's PhD gown for the occasion, and it was a really great celebration of the Hurst family's doctoral lineage," Associate Professor Hurst said.
"It was a very proud moment for the family."
All four generations of Dr Hursts were represented at the graduation on 22 October 2009: Angas Hurst was in the audience, John Hurst (son of Angas) read the graduands names, and Nathan (son of John) was a PhD graduand, wearing the same gown that his great-grandfather Walter Hurst wore at his graduation at Cambridge in 1923.
Professor Hurst's grandfather, Walter was the first South Australian, and third Australian, PhD graduate from Cambridge University.
4 November 2009
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| Laurie Cuttiford |
A rating tool developed by Monash sustainability expert Laurie Cuttiford has taken out the prestigious 2009 TEFMA Innovation Award.
The award, which is given out every two years, recognises an innovation that has improved the "delivery, efficiency and effectiveness of facilities, their management and services".
Developed as part of the University's Model ESD Building Review project, the tool benchmarks buildings in their current condition and assesses opportunities to improve the environmental performance of existing assets.
The tool produces reports on all aspects of sustainability including water, energy, indoor environmental quality, material and waste minimisation.
Mr Cuttiford, who works with the Office of Environmental Sustainability, developed the Model Ecologically Sustainable Design (ESD) Assessment Tool based on ESD strategies listed in the Six Steps to Sustainability and the Monash University Guide for Design and Management of Ecologically Sustainable Buildings, the Eco-Accord Model.
"The assessment takes into account the building's design, technologies, interior architecture, material selection, water conservation, landscape design, operational requirements and innovation to build a report on a building's overall environmental efficiency," Mr Cuttiford said.
Several significant Monash buildings have already been assessed using the tool, including Clayton's Robert Blackwood Hall, Alexander Theatre, and Sports Centre, along with building H at Caulfield, the George Jenkins Theatre at Peninsula and all campus libraries.
As a result many opportunities have been identified to improve the environmental performance of the buildings including initiatives that will reduce energy consumption, save water, and most importantly for staff and students, improve the environmental comfort of the facilities.
Projects have included installing sensor lighting, improvements to heating and ventilation systems, water harvesting and more day lighting of spaces.
4 November 2009
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| Dr Christina Rudin-Brown |
Name: Dr Christina (“Missy”) Rudin-Brown
Org. Unit: Human Factors Team
Title: Senior Research Fellow
Dept: Accident Research Centre
How long have you been with Monash University?
Since January this year.
Prior to working at Monash, where were you located and what was your role?
I was a human factors specialist with the Road Safety Directorate of Transport Canada (Canadian federal department of transport) in Ottawa, Ontario.
What challenges are ahead in your current role?
I am looking forward to learning how to be an effective supervisor and manager; although I don't think it will be very difficult seeing as the human factors team is made up of such motivated, independent and intelligent researchers.
I'm also looking forward to using my experience in government to help the team secure more research contracts in the road safety area.
What is it about your job that holds your interest or is particularly satisfying?
I love being able to figure out why people do things. I also take a lot of satisfaction from knowing that the results of my work can be used to make the world a safer place. Human factors research is the ideal way to accomplish both goals…and the fact that I get paid to do something that I enjoy so much is a bonus.
What is your favourite place in the world and why?
My favourite place in the world is wherever my family happens to be (which is in Melbourne at the moment.)
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
That you only get one life, so it is best to do things the way you want to do them (and have no regrets).
What is something about yourself that most of your colleagues wouldn't know?
That I sing in a women's barbershop chorus and the Australian Christmas choir.
4 November 2009
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Researchers from the Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics have found the Australian tourism industry is responsible for generating a substantial amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The group developed a method to measure the carbon footprint of tourism and applied it to measure the footprint for 2003-04 – the latest year for which a full data set was available.
Their findings show the tourism industry directly generated 26.3 million tonnes of GHG emissions, 4.7 per cent of the total Australian industry and household emissions for that year.
Tourism's indirect emissions were estimated at 28.1 million tonnes.
The findings give an indication of the possible impacts that policy measures, such as the Australian government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) will have on costs in the industry.