It gives us great pleasure to see a substantial and complex line of research enquiry be recognised via publication in the prestigious journal Developmental Cell. CHIRI’s Carl Mousley is a leading author in an international collaborative study shedding light on functional proteins that are critical in regulation of cell proliferation and by extension, potential target for cancer treatment. Have a read of the study and please take the opportunity to congratulate Carl on this outstanding achievement. Read more…
Collaborative study shedding light on potential target for cancer treatment
Prizes awarded to CHIRI scientists at the prestigious Lorne Conference
The Lorne Conference Series, held annually in the town of Lorne along Victoria’s picturesque Great Ocean Road, is one of the premiere events in the Australian biomedical research calendar. CHIRI’s Dr Mark Agostino, along with PhD students Sebastian Pohl and Melissa Eccles, recently attended the 43rd Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function. Dr Agostino received a Postdoc Travel Bursary for his attendance at the conference and presented three posters of recent work covering topics including Wnt signalling, regulation of integrin signalling, and structural glycobiology. Sebastian and Melissa both received prizes for their posters, respectively titled “DEAD-box RNA helicase DDX20 in redox-dependent regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling in triple-negative breast cancer” and “Specific combinations of presenilin 1 protein regions are required for differential cleavage of amyloid precursor protein and Notch receptor”. The prizes to all of Curtin’s attendees at the conference serve to highlight nationally the high quality of research at CHIRI across all of its key themes. Read more…
2017 Dementia Australia Research Foundation Grants Program
Congratulations to CHIRI’s Dr Mark Hackett (School of Molecular and Life Sciences) who has been awarded Dementia Australia Research Foundation’s Mamutil Project Grant ($50,000) for his project titled “Investigation of age-related alteration to hippocampal elemental and biochemical homeostasis and neuro-vascular function, as a means to identify new therapeutic strategies to minimize or delay dementia onset in the elderly”.
The Chair of the Dementia Australia Research Foundation, Professor Graeme Samuel AC, said the grants provided vital support to early career researchers who were eager to make a difference in the field of dementia research. Read more…
International Biology of Ageing II conference prize winner
Congratulations to CHIRI’s Dr Connie Jackaman (School of Biomedical Sciences) who was awarded the Best Short Talk prize at the International Biology of Ageing II conference held at the Grand Copthorne Hotel in Singapore 14th-17th November 2017. The presentation titled “Depletion of macrophages in elderly, but not young, mice improves IL-2/anti-CD40 immunotherapy and increases anti-tumour T cell activity” was chosen from a panel of international experts in the ageing field across Europe, UK, USA and Singapore.
CHIRI PhD Student recommended for Chancellor’s Commendation
Congratulations to CHIRI PhD Student Himel Khaleque who has received two A* for her PhD and was also recommended for a Chancellor’s Commendation. Her thesis was entitled “Acidihalobacter: Novel Halotolerant Iron- and Sulfur- Oxidizing Acidophiles with Potential for Saline Water Bioleaching”.
Himel is a microbiologist biotechnologist who joined the School of Biomedical Sciences in 2014 for her PhD under the primary supervision of Prof Elizabeth Watkin and was co-supervised by Dr Josh Ramsay and Dr Anna Kaksonen of CSIRO- Land and Water.
PhD Success – Revathy Carnagarin
Another PhD success story with CHIRI PhD Student Revathy Carnagarin, primary supervised by Prof Crispin Dass and co-supervised by Prof Arunasalam Dharmarajan (School of Biomedical Sciences) securing a position as a post doc research associate- clinical research at UWA Medical School. Revathy is now located at Dobney Hypertension Clinical Research, Royal Perth Hospital and reports to Winthrop Professor Markus Schlaich, Dobney Chair in Clinical Research. Congratulations and good luck Revathy on this fantastic appointment!
Cancer Researcher – Abhijeet Deshmukh
Congratulations to CHIRI PhD candidate, Abhijeet Deshmukh (School of Biomedical Sciences) for receiving a position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of the prestigious centres devoted exclusively for cancer research, patient care and education. It is affiliated with University of Texas, Houston, Texas, USA. Abhijeet will be working on the identification and characterisation of cancer cells that have undergone Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, either within the primary tumor or within blood. This is will include developing small molecule inhibitors to inhibit EMT and cancer stem cell properties for treating metastasis and preventing or treating the development of therapy resistance. Read more…
NHMRC Research Fellowship – Prof Christopher Reid
CHIRI is delighted to celebrate one of our own with the announcement of a prestigious NHMRC Research Fellowship awarded to Professor Christopher Reid: Improving the Prevention, Treatment and Management of Cardiovascular & Chronic Disease in the Community ($774,540). Chris is one of CHIRI’s lead eminent researchers within the Vascular & Metabolic Theme of CHIRI. Chris is a cardiovascular epidemiologist with joint appointments as Research Professor in both the School of Public Health at Curtin University in Perth and the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University in Melbourne. He is Director of the Monash Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics and the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Cardiovascular Outcomes Improvement (2016-2020). He holds a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship in addition to being the Chief Investigator on an NHMRC Program Grant (2016-2020), focusing on cardiovascular disease prevention. His major research interests include clinical outcome registries, randomised controlled trials, and epidemiological cohort studies. Read more…
2018 Spinnaker Grant – CHIRI Recipient
Congratulations to CHIRI Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dr. Jully Gogoi Tiwari (School of Biomedical Sciences). Her research project titled “Targeting the Fn14 receptor to inhibit chronic liver disease progression” has been successful in attracting a 2018 Spinnaker Grant of $15,000. The grant will be formally awarded at the Spinnaker Health Research Foundation’s Annual Awards Night on 4th Dec, 2017. Jully works in Dr Nina Tirnitz-Parker’s “Liver Disease and Regeneration Group”, where her research focuses on the identification, characterisation and experimental manipulation of adult liver progenitor cells/liver stem cells and their role in hepatic regeneration vs. hepatocarcinogenesis.
Stem Cell and Cancer Researcher – Malini Visweswaran
Congratulations to CHIRI PhD student Malini Visweswaran (School of Biomedical Sciences), who has received outstanding academic achievement for her PhD thesis examination. Malini’s PhD thesis has been awarded an A grade distinction and supported for the Chancellor’s commendation from both her thesis examiners.
Malini is a stem cell and cancer researcher who joined the School of Biomedical Sciences and CHIRI in 2013 for her PhD under the primary supervision of Professor Arun Dharmarajan, co-supervised by Professor Philip Newsholme and Associate Professor Rodney Dilley. Her PhD was on “Implications of the Wnt signalling pathway for adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in a breast tumour environment”.
Malini has been recognised by her colleagues and staff as being very hard working and helpful, and who is highly motivated to achieve great outcomes. Malini has had an excellent academic track record throughout her career as she was the First rank holder for her post-graduation in Stem Cell Technology and Tissue engineering and the recipient of a Gold medal and Second rank for her post-graduation in Applied Microbiology from the University of Madras, India.
Please congratulate Malini, wish her good luck for the future.
