17 August 2005
17 August 2005
A researcher who aims to discover why the body sometimes rejects organ transplants and a microbiologist who hopes to unlock the mystery of Legionnaires' disease have been awarded Victoria Fellowships.
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The Victorian Government established the fellowships, worth $18,000 each, eight years ago to recognise young researchers with leadership potential who were developing ideas that could be of commercial benefit to Victoria.
One of the recipients, Dr Whitney Macdonald (pictured right), 29, from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, said although Australia had one of the highest transplant success rates in the world, many problems still existed.
"Although we have come a long way in managing the problem of organ rejection, there is still room for improvement," Dr Macdonald said.
She is leading a project investigating the way in which a recipient's T-cells (immune system cells that fight infection) recognise donor cells as foreign in transplant rejection. The work is a collaboration between laboratories at Monash, headed by Dr Jamie Rossjohn, and the University of Melbourne, led by Professor James McCluskey.
Dr Macdonald will use her fellowship to travel to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Colorado, in the US, to learn a new way of identifying proteins on the surface of a cell to which an immune response has been directed.
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The other recipient, postgraduate student Ms Hayley Newton (pictured left) from the Department of Microbiology, is researching how the bacterium Legionella pneumophila infects people and causes Legionnaires' disease, a rare form of pneumonia. Ms Newton is completing her PhD studies in the laboratory of Dr Elizabeth Hartland.
"My ultimate aim is to understand the mechanism of this disease, potentially leading to the development of new treatment and prevention strategies," she said. "In a way, my research is like detective work -- we look for clues to how the bacteria infiltrate the host, and with that knowledge we can find new ways to treat the disease."
Ms Newton, 25, will travel to Northwestern University, Chicago, in the US, in October, to concentrate on studying three genes that appear to enable the bacterium to infect human cells.
17 August 2005
Staff at Monash's Caulfield campus gathered last week to mourn the passing of alumnus and former staff member Mr Sam Ly, who was killed in the London bombings in July.
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Mr Ly's girlfriend of six years, Ms Mandy Ha (pictured), and Monash chaplain Reverend Peter Hoang opened the memorial service with the lighting of a candle and the offering of incense.
Former colleague and technical services coordinator at Caulfield campus Mr George Lambiris paid tribute to Mr Ly.
"To us here at Monash, Sam was a great friend and work colleague," Mr Lambiris said.
"He was always willing to help. His customer service and IT skills were exceptional, and his ability to persist and diagnose complex problems was amazing.
"He would never give up. He was widely acknowledged as a friendly, extremely helpful person, outgoing and just a real pleasure to have in your team."
Mr Ly graduated from Monash in 2002 with a degree in computing/banking and finance. He worked for client services in the Information Technology Services division at Caulfield from 1998 to 2003.
In a statement read at the service, vice-chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said Mr Ly was remembered by the Monash community as a cheerful, positive person who was always going out of his way to be helpful.
"All of us at Monash join Sam's family and friends in celebrating his life and the influence he had on those around him," Professor Larkins said.
"We mourn his passing in these tragic circumstances when he had so much more to give."
Ms Ha thanked the Monash community for its ongoing support.
She said Sam's family had been grateful for the amount of support they had received from Monash.
"I think Sam would have felt privileged to know he had impacted on so many people's lives," she said.
17 August 2005
The Australian Women's Skeleton team has undergone aerodynamic testing in one of Monash University's wind tunnels in preparation for the Torino Winter Olympics in Italy.
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| Australian Women's Skeleton competitor Ms Michelle Steele undergoes aerodynamic testing in one of Monash's wind tunnels. |
The little-known winter sport involves competitors sliding down a track head-first on a small sled.
The four-member team was tested in full race gear, including sleds and helmets, to determine whether different body positions could decrease wind resistance and lead to better race times.
Monash houses several wind tunnels, one of which is the biggest in the southern hemisphere.
Aerodynamicist Mr Scott Wordley, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, said the tunnel recreated race conditions.
"We measured the distance and angle of the track where they'll be competing to find the speed they'll be travelling at and then matched that wind force, which was up to 120km/h," Mr Wordley said.
"We built a special rig to mount the sled and athlete in the wind tunnel, which allowed us to record the drag force."
Mr Wordley said with the wind tunnel testing, the athletes were able to reduce drag by between 5 and 10 per cent.
"The hard part will be for the team to find and remember the new positions when they're competing," he said.
"We believe Australia's technology in Skeleton will be as good as the rest of the world's come the next Winter Olympics."
The Australian Women's Skeleton team, part of an Australian Institute of Sport talent identification program, has been training for 11 months and is considered of international standard.
Trials for the Winter Olympics begin in October, and the athletes will learn in January whether they have qualified.
Australian downhill skier A J Bear is using Monash's wind tunnel today as part of his preparation for the Winter Olympics.
The wind tunnels have also been used to test the aerodynamic forces of a Formula 1 racing car, V8 Supercar teams and the remodelling of the Spencer Street train station.
17 August 2005
The Victorian Minister for Innovation and State and Regional Development, Mr John Brumby, has launched major building works at the Parkville campus by ceremonially turning the first sod.
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| Digging it. From left: Professor Chapman and Minister Brumby. |
Mr Brumby and the dean of the Victorian College of Pharmacy, Professor Colin Chapman, also inspected plans for the major expansion and redevelopment of the college.
Mr Brumby said the Victorian Government was a key supporter of biomedical science and research, and that the building works were a good fit with the government's vision for Victoria as a leading science and research hub.
Professor Chapman said the new building would accommodate biotechnology research and innovation that would greatly enhance the world-class standing of the college's research into drug discovery and delivery. It would also house the planned Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, he said.
"The institute will go a long way towards filling a gap in the 'value chain' between the discovery of targets for drug development and the successful development of new pharmaceutical products for the world market," Professor Chapman said.
"It will be based on the current research strengths in the faculty and will play an important role in translating drug discoveries made at Monash and elsewhere into effective medicines."
Construction of the new building -- the first phase of a major expansion of the campus -- is due for completion in 2007.
17 August 2005
For the first time in 20 years, snow fell on the Gippsland campus last week, covering the landscape in a thick blanket of white.
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| Much of south-eastern Victoria was blanketed in snow last week, and the Gippsland campus at Churchill was no exception. |
Although a cold snap affected most of the state, Gippsland was the only Monash campus to have snowfall, a welcome experience for staff and students.
Ms Loretta Hambly, director of strategic planning at Gippsland, said the campus had received a good cover of snow with flakes falling for several hours, making it more widespread and thicker than the last snowfall at the campus in the mid-1980s.
"It was a most unusual occurrence. Although we were warned by the weather bureau of the possibility of snow, we were still pleasantly surprised when it began falling," she said.
"We pride ourselves on being a friendly campus -- and that really shone through. Everyone came together to enjoy a very special and unique occasion. It was a festival-like atmosphere with students snowboarding and tobogganing."
Mr Kirk Slywa, education vice-president of the Monash University Gippsland Student Union, said the day would hold a special place in his memory.
"There was such a tremendous feeling about the campus -- it was amazing. Soft flakes of snow were falling and the campus was just beautiful," he said.
Although campus operations were not affected, roads to South Gippsland were closed between 1 pm and 3 pm. In the event that roads did not re-open before close of business, the crisis management plan would have been implemented to accommodate staff or students overnight.
Professor Nigel Tapper, of the Department of Geography and Environmental Science, said although the likelihood of it snowing at the Gippsland campus again this winter was extremely low, it should not be ruled out.
"It could easily be another 20 years before snow falls at the Gippsland campus again, but there's the odd chance that it could snow this year or next," he said.
17 August 2005
International aid agency World Vision last week presented vice-chancellor Professor Richard Larkins with a plaque, thanking the university for its generous support of tsunami victims.
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| From left: Professor Richard Larkins, Ms Michelle Gale and Professor Gary Bouma. |
The university community raised nearly $12,000 for World Vision through regular staff contributions made by salary sacrificing. A further $25,000 was passed on to other aid agencies nominated by the donors.
World Vision's corporate and donor relations manager, Ms Michelle Gale, said the agency was grateful for the overwhelming response from Australians to the tsunami appeal.
She said World Vision would remain in tsunami-struck regions in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Myanmar for up to 15 years, helping locals rebuild their communities.
Ms Gale, who presented the plaque on behalf of Monash alumnus and World Vision chief executive Mr Tim Costello, said there was still much work to be done.
"We're still at the disaster stage, where we are providing temporary shelter and preventing disease outbreak," Ms Gale said. "We are also establishing 'child-safe areas' to protect vulnerable children from child prostitute traffickers."
The chairman of the Monash University Tsunami Support Group, Professor Gary Bouma, who attended the presentation, said Monash would continue to help, often in association with universities in Australia and Indonesia.
The tsunami was the result of an earthquake that struck the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on the morning of 26 December last year. It triggered tidal waves that swept into coastal villages and seaside resorts. More than 220,000 people died, with half a million injured and a million others left homeless.
17 August 2005
Monash's focus on stem cell science has expanded to include multiple sclerosis, following the appointment of prominent immunologist Professor Claude Bernard to the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories.
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Professor Bernard (pictured) and members of his research team will join the laboratories in September, working alongside leading stem cell scientists Professor Alan Trounson and Associate Professor Richard Boyd.
Professor Bernard is internationally renowned for his research into the underpinnings of MS and the development of new therapies for people with the disease. Only a handful of researchers worldwide are looking at the use of stem cells in repairing damage to the brains of people with MS.
Professor Bernard, who is foundation director of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry at La Trobe University, said the move to Monash provided a tremendous opportunity to bring his team's knowledge of MS together with the expertise of other groups within the university.
"My focus is to develop MS research in a number of areas, using the many talented scientists at Monash to provide a multidisciplinary response to auto-immune diseases," he said.
Professor Bernard's appointment has attracted a $20,000 donation from the private human research ethics company Bellberry Ltd. Bellberry is a not-for-profit organisation that provides an independent Human Research Ethics Committee to help process human research trials.
Bellberry director Professor Malcolm Mackinnon said demand for the review of human research through public hospitals was high, placing a large load on public hospital human ethics committees.
At a function at the Science Technology Research and Innovation Precinct last week, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Professor Edward Byrne, welcomed the Bellberry donation and congratulated Professor Bernard on his appointment.
"Multiple sclerosis is the major cause of neurological disability in younger Australians," he said. "Professor Bernard is a world-renowned researcher in this field, and we are grateful that a company that is clearly providing a revolutionary new way to assist innovative research in this country has chosen to support his work."
Vice-chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said it was great to have a neuroimmunologist of Professor Bernard's stature coming to work in the innovative and exciting environment of the laboratories. Professor Larkins also thanked Bellberry for its donation.
17 August 2005
The results of the user survey conducted by the Monash University Library have indicated a significant increase in user satisfaction.
A majority of survey participants thought the library was performing well, with the highest level of satisfaction being recorded for services provided by library staff. The most improved area was the library's level of communication with users regarding services and collections.
A key area identified as needing improvement was the number of workstations available for use.
University Librarian Ms Cathrine Harboe-Ree said the results would be used to guide library planning and improvements to facilities and services.
"The results confirm that we have been focusing our efforts in the right areas," Ms Harboe-Ree said. "The comments and findings will guide us into the future as we plan a series of refurbishments in branches and major improvements to facilities and services."
The 2005 online survey yielded 4133 responses and measured customer satisfaction and performance in several key areas.
Respondents were asked to consider 38 statements and rate each in terms of importance to them and how they thought the library was performing in that area.
Overall, 39 university libraries in Australia and New Zealand participated in the survey conducted from 9 to 23 May by the Rodski Behavioural Research Group.
The next Library Users' Survey will be held in 2007.
Results of the 2005 survey can viewed in detail at the library website at www.lib.monash.edu/reports/survey-customer/2005/.
17 August 2005
Arts student Ms Emily Greco will soon put aside student life to shoulder the responsibility of 'Premier of Victoria' as part of the government's Youth Parliament Program.
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Ms Greco (pictured), who will be officially declared Youth Premier on 27 August, will carry out her duties throughout September, culminating in Youth Week from 25 to 30 September.
The first-year student, who is majoring in politics and criminology, will oversee official functions and promote the Youth Parliament Program.
Ms Greco was selected from 120 delegates from around Victoria during a week-long residential training program. The program was held to prepare participants for the proceedings and protocol of Youth Parliament.
The young parliamentarians will introduce legislation and pass draft bills to elected members of Parliament, who can table them officially.
Ms Greco said Youth Parliament was much more than role-playing. "In past years, members of the Youth Parliament have debated several important Bills, including the Bill to introduce over-the-counter sales of the morning-after contraceptive pill," she said.
"This year, we want to introduce a Charter of Rights for young people and legislation to make it compulsory for licensed premises to provide drink spike detectors for customers," Ms Greco said.
"I plan to represent the youth of Victoria to the best of my ability by bringing to light the issues affecting youth.
"I hope to meet Premier Steve Bracks and Opposition leader Robert Doyle when I am in parliament, as I know they are both supporters of the Youth Parliament Program," she said.
The program is apolitical and open to all Victorians aged 15 to 25.
17 August 2005
Despite the big chill across Victoria last week, several Monash campuses were fired up with celebrations for the 9th Annual Multicultural Festival.
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| Trisna Fraser heats up the stage with a belly dance at the Clayton campus. |
Designed to provide awareness and showcase Monash's multicultural community, the week-long festival included cultural performances, exhibitions, short film screenings and food stalls.
One of the highlights included a belly dancing performance by Underbelly performers, which drew a full house despite the wintry conditions.
Organised by International Student Services, the week concluded with a Multicultural Ball held at the Park Hyatt Hotel on Friday night.
International Student Services logistics officer Mr Keith Loy, who helped organise the week, was delighted by its success.
"Monash is, by nature, a truly multicultural society, so embracing our diversity is very important," he said
"Events such as the multicultural festival help to create a feeling of unity within the student body and showcase marvelous aspects of the different cultures that call Monash home."
At the Berwick campus, 500 students and staff attended an afternoon of celebrations in the student lounge.
Held for the 4th year running, the celebrations included performances, food stalls, an international beer competition and fundraising for a Cambodian orphanage.
Mr Noel Yek, chairman of the Berwick International Students Association, who organised the event at the campus, said creating cultural awareness and promoting unity was important in the current global climate.
"The responses we received were very positive," he said. "The atmosphere of acknowledgment and respect for the different cultures that were involved in the afternoon helped promote multiculturalism and ensured we achieved our goal of encouraging unity."
Similar celebrations were held at Peninsula and Gippsland campuses, while the Caulfield campus will hold its festival next week. No activities are planned for Parkville.
17 August 2005
Monash researcher Dr Jason Beringer has received $106,000 to examine the long-term impact of bushfires on the ecology of south-eastern Australia's high country.
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Dr Beringer (pictured), a senior lecturer in the School of Geography and Environmental Science, was awarded the grant for his project 'Alpine ecosystems responses to fire'. The three-year grant includes funding for a PhD scholarship.
The project, funded by the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), is part of a wider national study on high country fuels and ecosystems
"The study will provide valuable information to aid in the sustainable management of water resources and the important and inevitable role of fire," Dr Beringer said.
"South-eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone environments in the world. In January 2003, almost one million hectares of national park and other reserves were burnt. Due to the fire's high intensity, there were significant ecological impacts in these areas."
Dr Beringer's project will examine the accumulation of high country fuels such as sticks and leaf litter and how much potential fuel is produced, as well as the long-term impact of water runoff from the 2003 fires on water quality and alpine streams.
The Bushfire CRC is a collaborative venture established under the Commonwealth Government's Cooperative Research Centres Program.
The centre involves state fire and land management agencies, eight universities, CSIRO, federal government agencies including the Bureau of Meteorology, Emergency Management Australia and the Australian Building Codes Board, and New Zealand fire and forest research agencies.
Research funded by the centre is aimed at enhancing the management of the bushfire risk to the community in an economically and ecologically sustainable way.
17 August 2005
Former Monash staff member Mrs Halina Hankus has accepted a medal, awarded posthumously to her father and uncle, who saved the life of a Jewish child in Poland during the Second World War.
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| From left: Mr Naftali Tamir; Mrs Bendix, Mrs Hankus with her grandchildren Emilio and Ashli Bendix. |
Mrs Hankus, who worked at Monash for nearly 28 years, accepted the award honouring the late Mr Jan Ciechanowski and his brother Mr Stefan Ciechanowski as Righteous Among the Nations. She received the award from the Israeli Ambassador to Australia, Mr Naftali Tamir.
The Protestant Ciechanowski family of Krakow took in three-year-old Eva Pass and raised her as their own when all the members of her immediate family were sent to concentration camps by the German authorities occupying Poland. Mrs Hankus, who was five at the time, treated Eva as a sister.
The Ciechanowskis ran the risk of immediate execution if they were discovered. The story had a happy ending when Eva was reunited with her family at the end of the war.
Mrs Hankus, who worked as a technical officer in the Department of Pharmacology in the Faculty of Medicine from 1968 until 1996, attended the award ceremony at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick on Sunday 14 August.
"My father, my mother Maryla and my uncle were very brave, because the penalty for helping Jews at the time in Poland was death," Mrs Hankus said.
"There were more than 20 people, including the extended family and boarders, living in a small house and no-one betrayed their secret," she said.
Mrs Hankus's daughter, Mrs Dorothy Bendix, is a web development officer at Monash International. "The award is significant," Mrs Bendix said. "I am proud of the actions of my grandfather's family during such a trying time."
17 August 2005
Undergraduate students from Malaysia and beyond were given the opportunity to meet pro vice-chancellor Professor Merilyn Liddell at a week-long orientation for new Monash University Malaysia students last month.
A cultural adaptation program was also organised for the international students to enlighten them on Malaysia's culture and the importance of heeding its laws.
To foster a healthy relationship among its student population, the university initiated a 'buddy' program throughout orientation week, where existing students helped new students acclimatise to their new study environment.
The incoming students also attended workshops and briefings on university life. The university's counsellor, Ms Rajani Vidyasagar, conducted an assertive skills workshop to help the students express and communicate their needs appropriately and prepare them for the challenges ahead.
17 August 2005
Staff, students and alumni joined in lively debate last week to assess the priorities and challenges facing Monash's medical course.
The inaugural Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Great Alumni Debate, 'Medical education today: what are the priorities and are we meeting them?', examined new methods of patient-centred learning against the traditional focus of medical courses -- anatomy and basic sciences.
In 2002, Monash changed its medicine degree to a five-year course with greater emphasis on patient-centred learning, where, rather than spend hours in lectures on traditional subjects, students now take a holistic approach, focusing on patients and their problems.
The dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Professor Edward Byrne, presenting his view on medical education, said Monash was one of the last medical courses in Australia to undergo these changes. He assured students they would be well equipped for practice when they graduated from the Monash course and that it was constantly under review.
Professor Byrne said under the old teaching system, students entered their clinical years with a great deal of scientific knowledge that had often seemed irrelevant while they learned it.
The Monash course was a hybrid combining the best of a traditional approach with self-directed learning, he said.
Professor Byrne stressed his commitment to retaining the basic medical sciences as a priority in medical education at Monash.
"The way forward is the middle road -- taking the best of the new courses and the best of traditional courses and merging them together in the one course," he said.
The debate was well attended by staff and students, with several students commenting on the personal satisfaction they were getting from their course.
Debate facilitator and Monash University alumnus Dr Sally Cockburn said medical education was constantly evolving and always attracted attention.
"In its infancy, centuries ago, there was public outrage at the notion of anatomy teaching techniques where medical students dissected cadavers," she said.
"These days, there is heated debate over whether there is enough time within the current courses around the country devoted to the study of anatomy.
"Monash has a reputation for producing high-quality medical practitioners, so it's important for us to continue to debate the issues in order to ensure the course is the best it can be."
17 August 2005
A new display of weighing instruments at the Monash Science Technology Research and Innovation Precinct highlights the simple beginnings of the modern research that takes place at the precinct.
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| Mrs Nicola Williams with display pieces. |
'A Question of Balance' is a display of weighing instruments from the Faculty of Science collection.
The display was commissioned by Dr Elane Zelcer, executive director of the Monash STRIP, at the suggestion of collection curator Mrs Nicola Williams.
The collection, initiated by Mrs Williams, includes apparatus crafted in the Monash workshops in the early 1960s and consists predominantly of measuring equipment.
Mrs Williams, who has been building the collection since the early 1980s, conceptualised and constructed the display to enhance the atmosphere of the STRIP at the Clayton campus.
Displayed in UV protective glass cases, the instruments are installed on either side of the main entrance.
They include one of only two known assay balances, crafted in 1898 by Colonel Robert Law of the Melbourne branch of the Royal Mint, and a bread scale acquired from the NSW Consumer Affairs Trade Measurement Laboratory.
Mrs Williams said she felt both pride and delight in having pieces from the collection on display.
"'A Question of Balance' raises awareness of the basic technology foundations behind the ultra-modern research that takes place in the STRIP labs," she said.
"It also shows the importance of the history of science and the beauty of old instruments.
"Having the pieces on display in such a great space allows for maximum exposure, which was always the point of the collection."
She is currently working on a large display for the Hargrave Andrew Library, which will include a telescope owned by Sir John Monash.
17 August 2005
Monash South Africa has donated two computers to the Munsieville Adult Education and Training Centre as part of a community outreach program.
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| Ms Audrey Mutambiranwa with Mr Jefferey Rasimphi at the computer donation. |
The centre had no computers previously and the two donated are to be used for administration.
Monash South Africa corporate affairs manager Ms Audrey Mutambiranwa said Monash would provide computer literacy training to two of the centre's staff members. These staff could then pass their skills on to others, she said.
Centre supervisor Mr Jefferey Rasimphi said the computers would make a huge difference, allowing the centre to better communicate with the South African Department of Education on details of its students.
Established in 1994, the centre operates from the Thutolefa Senior Secondary School in Munsieville near Krugersdorp.
It has 323 students and 27 educators, whose salaries are paid by the Department of Education. The majority of the students were deprived of the right to learn as children, often because their families were too poor to afford school fees.
17 August 2005
An exhibition exploring people, places and environments is on show at Monash's Switchback Gallery at the Gippsland campus until 8 September.
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| Created by Kate Cotching. |
Urban Jamfeatures the work of three inner-city Melbourne based artists -- Kate Cotching, Arlene TextaQueen and Yandell Walton.
Each artist has reflected on how they might see the world if it were conjured from a dream, the environment in which they live, or made up of people who inhabit their lives.
Kate Cotching is a Bachelor of Arts (honours) graduate from RMIT and is well known for her intricate paper sculpture and installations.
Arlene TextaQueen graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Western Australia in 1995 and has lived and worked in Melbourne since 1998. She uses textas to create nude portraits she calls 'textanudes'.
Yandell Walton, a printmaker and mixed media artist, is currently undertaking a Master of Fine Arts degree at RMIT University.
The exhibition curator, Dr Lucy Elliott, completed her doctorate at Monash's School of Literary, Visual and Performance Studies in 2000.
"The diverse practices of each artist reflect on, reverberate with and re-think the interior and exterior landscapes," Dr Elliott said.
"Cotching's intricate paper sculpture draws our attention to the built environment, encouraging us to think about the possible impact it may have on our lives.
"Walton's digital prints and installation work conjure up a world in which wonderment and a sense of impending dread sit alongside each other, while TextaQueen's vibrant images of the female nude offer us a pleasure in looking that engages the senses."
Mr Mark McDean, Switchback Gallery exhibition coordinator and lecturer in sculpture at Monash's Gippsland Centre for Art and Design, said the exhibition was a "must-see", particularly as artists were bringing visual aspects of inner city culture to a regional gallery.
"These are three of the hottest contemporary art practitioners in Australia," Mr McDean said.
"Together they cover a broad range of practice. It's interesting to note the artists also bring an international flavour to the Switchback Gallery. Kate Cotching has just returned from a four-month Australia Council residency in Rome, and Arlene is presently completing a residency in New York."