MMS newltter - Children pages with thumbnail-newsletter

It is with pleasure that I pen my first Melbourne Medical School (MMS) Newsletter.

I am keen that this newsletter provides all of our MMS staff with a regular update on our activities.

The Teddy Bear Hospital is a worldwide initiative which aims to reduce childhood anxiety about medical environments, and to enhance the communication skills of health professionals when dealing with children.

What is the EXCITE program and why are clinical teachers enrolled? The first graduating cohort of students  completed the three year Excellence in Clinical Teaching (EXCITE) program in 2015.

Department of Medical Education research projects featured at the recent Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) Learning and Teaching Innovation Showcase

It provides clinical trial and grant support services through the coordination of research services in biostatistics, heath economics and health informatics, and data management and governance

A recent HaBIC-lead project has addressed health informatics knowledge for the workforce and key barriers to effective knowledge transfer

The MMS engagement with China and the Chinese community continues to grow.

A snapshot of some of the awards and graduations celebrations by Melbourne Medical School during 2015

Senior Lecturer Medical Education in Indigenous Health Jacinta Tobin was very excited to attend the Graduation of her 10th group of graduating medical students on Saturday 5 December 2015

There’s a new mentoring program for younger academic surgeons and the question of how you build an academic career while being a part-time member of staff is being grappled with.

Two Aboriginal students, Dr Ngaree Blow and Dr Tara Purcell, who have both participated in initiatives for improving Indigenous Health learning in the MD, completed the intercalated Doctor of Medicine/Master of Public Health (MD/MPH)

Professor David Amor has been appointed as the inaugural Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair of Developmental Medicine, in the Department of Paediatrics, Melbourne Medical School..

The Melbourne Children’s Campus continues to cement itself as a leader in genomics, and welcomes Professor John Christodoulou as Chair in Genomic Medicine..

Welcome to the first Melbourne Medical School Newsletter for 2016. This year will be an important year of consolidation for our new governance structure and further exploration of our budget in the light of constant changes in the funding environment. There are also some important developments to be reported relating to the imminent opening of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC), Critical Care Medicine (CCM) and Ageing

The Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) is the major draw-card at The Good Friday Appeal Kids Day Out and the University of Melbourne’s largest student engagement activity for the year. TBH expanded in 2016 to include over 900 student volunteers from both medical and allied health disciplines. Teddy's underwent a number of health related activities including triage (to assess which Teddy's needed to be flown to the hospital or taken by ambulance)..

The new $1 billion Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) facility in Parkville is on track to open in mid-2016. Professor Sean Grimmond who will be located in the VCCC when it opens will lead the Cancer Research Strategy for the Faculty and University..

During 2015, The Department of Medical Education developed the Standardised Case Based Discussion (SCBD) as a way to explore student clinical reasoning in depth with a standardised format. Clinical reasoning is one of the fundamental skills that medical students must master to practice as a clinician.

The MMS Department of Rural Health was recently excited to support Indigenous art initiatives and local artists in the Shepparton community by hosting an exhibition ‘Strong Spirit’ on behalf of Gallery Kaiela in the foyer of the Department of Rural Health building.

Geoff McColl joined the Vice-Chancellor, Provost and other senior staff at this year's Midsumma Pride march.

The inaugural Financial Markets Foundation Chair Developmental Mental Health, a  joint appointment between the Department of Paediatrics and the Department of Psychiatry based at the Royal Children’s Hospital, is Professor David Coghill.

Peter McDougall the Executive Director Medical Services and Clinical Governance at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) was appointed a clinical professor of the MMS Department of Paediatrics in 2015.

The Departments of Paediatrics and Psychiatry (generously supported by the Creswick Foundation) recently hosted two public lectures by Professor Robert Emde, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado. Professor Emde spoke on:

'The importance of pioneers: Personal reflections on Rene Spits and Selma Fraiberg: Infant Mental Health and using your emotions'

'Infancy and our Endowments in Development'

Fergus Cameron Head of the Diabetes Services and Deputy Director of the Department of Endocrinology Unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and a group leader of Diabetes Research at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute has been an honorary appointment with the MMS Department of Paediatrics since 2002.

In 2015 Helen Dedman reached a milestone, 25 years at the University of Melbourne.  The Melbourne Medical School held a small celebration to recognise her 25 years of service to the University.

Professor David Swanson Vice-President of Academic Programs and Services for the American Board of Medical Specialities visited the MMS Department of Medical Education in March.  Professor Swanson has an honorary professional appointment at the University of Melbourne.

The newly formed Primary Care Diabetes Society of Australia (PCDSA) will host their Inaugural National Conference on 30 April 2016. The PCDSA aims to support primary care health professionals to deliver high quality clinically care to improve the lives of people living with diabetes.

Professor Ian Young – former Vice-Chancellor outlines the opportunities and challenges for Australia in building its knowledge-based future and the role and needs of university research to achieve this future

I was reminded of the privilege of working in the Melbourne Medical School at the University of Melbourne at the recent Open Day.

Professor Carol Harvey Head of the Department of Psychiatry’s Psychosocial Research group and others from the Department of Psychiatry, are part of a partnership project that has received funds from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) to evaluate the appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of PARCS.

The Centre of Research Excellence in Cognitive Health was launched on Wednesday 15 June.

Safe Mothers, Safe Babies is a program that provides mental healthcare to pregnant women at risk of family violence.

The Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (MNC/the Centre) part of the MMS Department of Psychiatry has established a  Greek-Australian travelling fellowship in Neuropsychiatry and is delighted to welcome its first fellow Dr Stefanos Dimitrakopoulos to Melbourne.

In June, Julie Bishop Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs along with local leaders in the Shepparton community visited the Department of Rural Health and Shepparton Medical Centre.

The Department of Psychiatry is proud to announce that Professor Nicola Lautenschlager, Chair of Old Age Psychiatry, has been selected to receive a service award from the International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA).

On 18 August 2016 it was standing room only in the Ian Potter Auditorium when Professor Dave Coghill presented the 2016 Alice Barber Lecture ‘Fidgety Phil and Head in the Air Johnny: What is ADHD and why is it still so controversial.’

Meeting on 7 September 11 am - 12 noon to discuss potential research opportunities for the approximately one billion lines of de-identified historical health data relating to approximately 3 million Australians now available on data.gov.au.

The Department of Psychiatry continues to enhance its engagement with China: developing working relationships with colleagues in China; developing and delivering training; and facilitating collaborative research with exchange programs and joint research symposiums.

Associate Professor Walterfang, a consultant Psychiatrist and Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry (Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre), has been recognized for his dedication to neuropsychiatry clinical research with the awarding of the prestigious Royal Melbourne Hospital Research Medal and a $50 000 contribution towards his current research project.

The annual Student Award Presentations celebrating the Parkville Precinct’s best and brightest research students undertaking Honours, Master of Biomedical Sciences and PhD studies was held on 23 May at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) was recently officially opened by Joe Biden, Vice-President of the United States but before that, and occupancy staff of the MMS had a tour of the empty facility.

A Scholarly Selective Symposium was held during the Royal Melbourne Hospital Research Week . Thirty MD (Royal Melbourne Hospital Scholarly Selective) students submitted for Poster and Oral presentations of their scholarly selective projects completed this year.

The annual Department of Psychiatry Research Symposium was held on Thursday 18 August. Shown is Mr Chenxing next to his winning poster on 'Pathway-wide association analysis of schizophrenia'.

The 2016 Victorian Showcase of Educational Research in Health Professions gathered an engaged community of educational researchers to showcase some exciting new ideas developed as part of local clinical education programs and led by the EXCITE team at The University of Melbourne.

Health professional educators, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and community members came together in September for the Teaching about Health Literacy in Health Professional Education and Training Symposium.

The Department of Medical Education (DME) held its inaugural Research Forum on 25 October.

The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences is launching a new award course – the Specialist Certificate in Clinical Leadership in 2017. Course coordinator Professor Jill Klein provides some top tips for clinical leaders below.

The NHMRC funded Australian arm pf TRoCS is bringing cardiac surgery units around Australia together as key players in this major international study into blood transfusion.

Associate Professor Lyndell Lim of the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) is one of five recipients of the 2016 Ramaciotti Health Investment Grants.

Researchers from the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) have won $750,000 after competing the finals of the 2016 Google Impact Challenge held in Sydney.

Renewal of an Memorandum of Understanding has been a chance to reflect on the successes of an ongoing partnership between Melbourne and Lao Universities delivering outcomes for child health and medical education.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the name given for a group of developmental disorders that include a wide range of symptoms, skills, and levels of disability.

MD2 student Michael Li was recently invited to participate at the annual Australian National Piano Awards in Shepparton.

The University of Melbourne is leading a push for Australia to recognise sarcopenia, a muscle-wasting disease that affects one in three people globally over the age of 60.

Personal genomic testing, what is it and what does it mean for Australians?

A new Centre for Research Excellence funded by the NHMRC will be established at St Vincent's Hospital precinct within the Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne.

Professor Cassandra Szoeke and co-authors have published an article discussing factors from mid-life that predict memory in later life.

Professor Cassandra Szoeke (Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital) discussed the Healthy Ageing Program on an episode of the ABC’s Catalyst program on 23 August 2016.

In an Australian first, leading researchers have come together to take bionic research to another level with the launch of the Advanced Biofabrication Centre at St Vincent's Hospital.

The primary goals of health services research are to identify the most effective ways to organise, manage, finance and deliver high-quality care; reduce medical errors; and improve patient safety.

University of Melbourne anaesthetists will use a $4.8 million research grant to study whether using the drug ketamine as part of a patient’s anaesthesia, and for post-operative pain relief, can help prevent them developing chronic pain after major surgery.

The end of the year is almost upon us and, in amongst the celebratory events, this is a time to reflect on our achievements.

The Rural Clinical School, University of Melbourne held their 2016 RCS Graduation Celebration at Brown Bros Milewa recently.

Professor Darren Kelly from the Department of Medicine and Radiology has been profiled in a recent edition of Grow magazine.

The first few months of every new year has three intersecting challenges.

The Department of General Practice is pleased to present our short course program for 2017.

Research led by neurologists at the Royal Melbourne Hospital showed that two highly potent therapies for multiple sclerosis – alemtuzumab and natalizumab – are very similar in their effect on the disease.

Making primary health care more accessible for students most in need.

An international collaboration led by the Translational Obstetrics Group (TOG) has discovered a treatment that could save many of the 60,000 lives lost each year to preeclampsia.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) Clinical School Awards and Family Night was held in early February to honour the 2016 prize winners. Many prizes are awarded on this night, but the most recently established prize is the RMH Clinical School Long Case Prize.

Elizabeth (Liz) Molloy has been appointed Professor in Work Integrated Learning in the Department of Medical Education, Melbourne Medical School.

A test being developed by Melbourne doctors to detect the risk of having a premature baby will be fast-tracked after securing international backing.

While most students are on break in June, Doctor of Medicine (MD) students gather at the Melbourne Convention Centre for the MD Student Conference (MDSC). MDSC is an educational initiative unique to the Melbourne Medical School, and for the last seven years, the annual event has been well received by students.

Melbourne babies as young as 16 months are having ovarian tissue frozen in the hope they can have children later in life.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of medical education at the Austin Clinical School.

The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, is quoted as saying "change is the only constant in life".  I think this Melbourne Medical School editorial reinforces this notion by reporting on many changes within and outside our School which have bearing on our work.

Northern Clinical School Student helping to inspire the next health services students.

The University of Melbourne making a real difference to general medical practitioners in small rural communities.

Norway, McDonald's, Cabins and Midnight Sun – the Oslo Experience.

New developments at the Melbourne Children’s Clinical Paediatric Update.

Visiting Emeritus Professor Stefan Lohmander gets down to work during a brief 4-day visit.

Following a comprehensive revision, changes have been implemented to the processes of appointment and review of honorary staff at Melbourne Medical School.

Congratulations to Pam Morison and Nora Hanafi, recipients of the inaugural Melbourne Medical School Professional Staff Award.

Dr Van Rheenen, a researcher at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (MNC), is trying to better understand cognitive impairments in people with severe mental illness.

Centre for Research Excellence in Total Joint Replacement is now open for business!

High-achieving honours and graduate students were presented with awards in various categories at the annual awards evening held at Royal Melbourne Hospital on the 22^nd May 2017.

The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Professor Shitij Kapur visited the University of Melbourne, Department of Rural Health in Shepparton recently.

The GV Rural Health Careers Workshop was held on Thursday, 1^st June 2017 at the University of Melbourne, Department of Rural Health and GV Health in Shepparton.

Staff in the O&G Department decided to take matters into their own hands and challenged their colleagues to never use a disposable cup again.

A few weeks ago, I had great pleasure in attending the inaugural Melbourne Medical School Research Symposium organised by Jane Gunn, David Lane and the School’s Research Committee.  At this event, we celebrated the research funding successes of our staff and then heard from five Melbourne Medical School researchers about their research lives.

On September 9th the Royal Melbourne Hospital Simulation Centre in collaboration with The University of Melbourne RMH Clinical School ran a unique pilot program called Med-e-Sim.

Collaborations between researchers from the Department of Medical Education (DME), MMS clinical sites, and international centres, have resulted in research examining different facets of learning and teaching in clinical placements and within the MD program.

Dr Beth Russell, PhD Candidate at Melbourne Medical School, was awarded the prestigious Ian Maddocks Guest Lecture Award at the recent Australian Palliative Care Conference in Adelaide for her pioneering research in palliative care triage.

A design studio, Studio 07, recently completed at the Melbourne School of Design interrogated the contemporary experience of dying and challenged societal responses to palliative care through sixteen speculative architectural projects.

Masterclass: Normalization Process Theory in feasibility studies and process evaluations in health and social care.

Department of General Practice expanding the horizons of community health in China.

Dr Petrina Barson, Honorary Fellow in the Department of General Practice, has been teaching Compassion Cultivation to MD students at the Western Clinical School since 2015, and she has always thought this is an odd question.

Heartiest congratulations to Dr Emily Wright from the Department of Medicine and Radiology...

Melbourne Medical School students were very much involved in the recent Stroke Society of Australasia annual scientific meeting held in Queenstown in New Zealand.

This one-day interactive course aims to help practitioners working in the area of domestic, family and sexual violence to shape their ideas into research projects.

Meet Frank Smolenaers who develops innovative solutions for Health with the help of end users in the Alfred's "Digital Health Design Lab".

Mobile eLearning Delivery Solutions for the cost-effective creation of professional development courses.

University of Melbourne scientists are tackling commercial journals' excessive online submission fees, copyright theft and deteriorating peer review with a new inexpensive online journal called “youcite.com”.

Clinician researchers from different career stages provided engaging and inspiring stories during a special research event on the 23rd of November 2017.

As part of its strong commitment to student wellbeing, on Thursday September 14th, the Melbourne Medical School supported RUOK? Day activities across its metropolitan and rural clinical school sites

Department of Surgery Awarded $1.1 million NHMRC Partnership Grant

The third SEXrurality Conference was held on 1 & 2 August 2017 at Grange Cleveland Winery in Lancefield, Victoria...

The Children and Young People’s Research Group in the Department of General Practice (DGP) has welcomed news of successful projects that will consolidate existing Australian partnerships, and create new ones with Indonesia, in improving adolescent health and wellbeing.

Nine clinician researchers affiliated with the Medical School’s Anaesthesia, Perioperative and Pain Medicine Unit, from six MACH partner hospitals, have been awarded more than $500,000 from a pool of $1.7 million in the latest Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) annual grant round.

The University of Melbourne researchers have presented a very new concept in Vienna in October through 51,113 patients.

Master of Genetic Counselling and Master of Genomics and Health - Update

On Friday 23rd February Professor Cheryl Jones (Department of Paediatrics) and Professor Andrew Sinclair (MCRI) co-hosted an appropriately fabulous festschrift for Professor Sylvia Metcalfe

On 19 February 2018, the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity hosted the launch of the newly established, NHMRC-supported, Australian Centre of Research Excellence in Malaria Elimination (ACREME).

The third annual 3dMed Symposium 2017 (#3dMedAu17) was held on Friday 25th August at Austin Health. The conference was hosted by the 3dMedLab, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne.

Clinical supervisors in regional Victoria welcomed staff from the Department of Medical Education’s EXCITE program to help build clinical supervision capacity rurally.

From Rural Sri Lanka to Inaugural Ted Munsat award : The journey of neurologist Tissa Wijeratne, MD

“it is surmounting difficulties that makes heroes”

With nearly five million headache sufferers in Australia having less access to specialist care. What is the solution?

The Goulburn Valley Regional Training Hub (GVRTH), managed by the Department of Rural Health (DRH), the University of Melbourne, is one of 26 Regional Training Hubs established Australia wide.

Clinical trials and health research projects can benefit from Biostatistics and Health Economics short courses to build knowledge and skills

This month third year MDs from the Northern Clinical School ran a Teddy Bear Hospital.

After a long, frustrating couple of years, medical students at the RMH can now finally enjoy a clean, updated and relaxing environment to rest, recover, socialise, eat some lunch or even just study quietly.

Congratulations to our Dean's prize recipient for 2017, Naivedh Bhat and the inaugural recipient of the Bachelor of Medical Science Scholarship for High Achievement, Fatmah Azzura, who will complete her year of intensive research training in 2018 with the Melbourne Medical School.

Dr Anita Goh from the Academic Unit of Psychiatry of Old Age, Department of Psychiatry, FMDHS, has been accepted into the ground-breaking Homeward Bound Global Leadership program for women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine).

International leader in arterial coronary surgery visits Royal Melbourne Hospital

Annual Aboriginal Health conference at Dept of Rural Health continues

The Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence is hosting its inaugural International Domestic Violence and Health Conference: Sustainable Change in the Health Sector

Pre-term babies could benefit from University of Melbourne and Carmentix Australia P/L study of Melbourne

This is a two-day course aimed at researchers who seek to undertake qualitative research interviews

Three MHDS students have been invited to attend the CanTest International School for Cancer Detection Research in Primary Care. The School is a week of workshops, talks, and time for early career researchers to network and develop research proposals

For students struggling with a stigmatised issue like their mental or sexual health, it can be difficult to take the next step from recognising the problem to taking action, that’s why students can now access the ReachOut Next Step site

It is with mixed emotions that I draft my final Melbourne Medical School newsletter. As most of you know, I have been appointed as the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland

This month, medical students from the University of Melbourne participated in the Enabling EDIE^© workshop run by Dementia Australia

Professor Judy Savige of the Department of Medicine, and formerly Professor of Medicine at Northern Health for 10 years, has been awarded the 2018 RACP College Medal.

The world’s population is ageing and common chronic diseases affecting older people, such as osteoporosis and sarcopenia, place a significant burden on the individual as well as the healthcare system.

University of Melbourne alumnus Wui Kin Chin (MBBS, 1996) summited Mt Everest on May 16, 2018 at 10.30 am.

Professor Jill Klein tells us of her record breaking game of women's soccer by the Dead Sea, and what it means for developing resilience and a growth mindset.

The Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Group (PC4) held their fifth Scientific Symposium in Sydney on May 25.

Internationally renowned researcher, Prof Kevin Eva, has accepted an honorary appointment as a Professorial Fellow in the Department of Medical Education.

The talented Biopen team are taking their research to the next level.

Staff from the Immunology Research Centre at St Vincent's Hospital presented their research at the Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis 13^th Annual Workshop in the Yarra Valley, 6-8 June 2018.

Are you a busy clinical teaching needing support with developing a medical education project?

Danielle Siler was awarded the nursing student prize at the recent Department of General Practice Awards Night.

Becoming a ally of the LGBTIQA community represents a commitment to facilitating and promoting safe, inclusive and diverse workplaces.

Impressive three-minute oral presentations, by final year medical students, opened Research Week at Melbourne Health.

Department of Psychiatry professor and FMDHS China Program member, Chee Ng delivered training to nearly 200 mental health professionals in Shenzhen, China from 11-15 June 2018.

Our medical students have talents in many fields, and it was with pleasure I heard a group of students had decided to form the UMMSS orchestra this year.

Students undertaking placements with the Going Rural Health (GRH) program, of the Department of Rural Health, are making a significant impact in small rural communities.

The International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Disease (ISPPD) is not the catchiest name but the subject matter is critical in Global Health.

The Mobile Learning Unit (MLU), Melbourne Medical School, was awarded the top three prizes for best oral research presentations at Melbourne Health Research Week, 21-28 June 2018, the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

The inaugural Australian School on Connectomics was held at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre on May 30 with support from the University of Melbourne, Centre for Integrative Brain Function, and Monash Institute for Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences.

Department of Paediatrics students presented their research at the 9^th Annual Student Research Symposium as part of ASMR Medical Research Week held on June 1, 2018

The National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship is currently working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on antimicrobial stewardship educational content development and delivery for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Are you a woman who works in the health sector in Victoria?  Do you identify as a survivor of family, domestic or sexual violence?  Are you interested in sharing your experience confidentially?

Schedule of confirmed Events for the rest of the year.

Friends and colleagues from near and far gathered at the Ian Potter Gallery on Friday 13^th April to farewell the Melbourne Medical School’s Head of School, Professor Geoff McColl, ahead of his relocation to the sunshine state to take up a new appointment as Executive Dean, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland.

I am delighted to be writing my first newsletter as interim Head of the Melbourne Medical School. I’d like to thank you all for the warm welcome I have received coming into the role and for the many encouraging words of support during this period of transition.

The Teddy Bear Hospital introduces children and students to the workings of an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation​​​.

Professor Peter Choong​ has been awarded one of only 14 Practitioner Fellowships by the NHMRC.

The National Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship Forum will be held on November 1-2, 2018.​

The NCAS at the Department of Medicine and Radiology provided training on antimicrobial use surveillance and steward​ship to the Malaysian Ministry of Health.

The DME’s inaugural Health Professions’ Research Symposium evening was held at University House in August​.

The latest book from DME’s Clare Delany and Elizabeth Molloy is now available. ​

​A brand new monthly conversational podcast about recently published articles within the cancer in primary care area.

A brand new initiative by the Melbourne Medical School supporting researchers.

Educating healthcare professionals on osteosarcopenia and the importance of fall prevention in older people.

A new online resource to introduce researchers and students to qualitative research.​

A course designed for busy healthcare professionals showcasing the latest clinical advances in migraine treatment ​to improve patient lives.​

A new Melbourne Medical School initiative to support researchers to optimise their grant applications.​

The 2018 University of Melbourne Medical School Prizes were awarded to students at the Vernon Collins Oration.

US specialists Professors Barbara Rothbaum and Marylene Cloitre​ presented masterclasses in using evidence-based therapies to treat military and veteran mental health issues at a recent practitioner forum.

The discovery of a novel vasodilatory​ receptor in the splanchnic vascular bed of cirrhosis prompts researchers to develop novel receptor blockers to treat portal hypertension and variceal bleeding, the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cirrhosis.

Primary Care 2050

The ASSA Paul Bourke for Early Career Research was awarded to Dr​ Tamsyn Van Rheenen, Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre.

Prof Keith Martin, from Cambridge University (UK), has been appointed Ringland​ Anderson Professor of Ophthalmology and Managing Director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia.

Professor John Prins​​ commenced as Head of the Melbourne Medical School in October​.

The Melbourne Medical School held its annual Research Symposium on Monday 29 October under the theme of ‘Inspiring Journeys in Research’.

National Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship Forum​ was hosted by the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship at the University of Melbourne.

Forging new collaborations with infectious disease researchers and clinicians​.

Professor Alice Pebay​ relocates to Parkville to continue stem cell research collaborations.​

​Associate Professor Ian Trounce embarks on a four-year study to discover mitochondrial gene changes which may lead to better outcomes for patients with glaucoma​.

The University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research was delighted to welcome a delegation of officials and scientists from France led by the French Minister for Higher Education and Research, Professor Frédérique Vidal, to the University of Melbourne and Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre last week.

The MACH Workplace Learning Symposium​ sparked discussion​​ on how to share, promote and identify initiatives for workplace learning.

A new mobile learning course aimed at healthcare practitioners involved in the assessment and treatment of people with obesity. ​

The Department of Rural Health celebrates 20 years of success in Shepparton.

A new mentoring program launched to develop and support PhD students​.

A Michael Hirshorn Medical Research Commercialisation Grant was awarded to Dr​ Adrian Achuthan.

New research published provides evidence for current MS therapies delaying the onset of secondary progressive disease.

PC4 Scientific Symposium will be held on 4 April.

2019 Science and Technology Australia (STA) Superstars of STEM program includes Dr Anita Goh and Dr Kudzai Kanhutu.

A new mobile learning course on Immunisation​ to qualify nurses to practice as a nurse immuniser in Victoria.

The Volatile Anaesthesia and Perioperative Outcomes Related to Cancer (VAPOR-C) Study will interrogate the impact of different types of anaesthetics on patient outcomes.

Professor Choong was the highest ranked applicant in the NHMRC’s Practitioner Fellowship scheme for 2018.

A new mobile learning course, Pathway to Career Progression, provides a​ strategic roadmap for medical students and junior doctors to ​develop new skills and understanding on how to create and maximise their career choices. ​

The state-of-the-art facility located at the Sunshine Hospital campus will open in May 2019.

New career opportunities, Strategic Grants for Outstanding Women and key learnings from Singapore based alumni.​

Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced a $30 million Federal Government funding commitment to the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD).

Collaborating to optimise​ patient outcomes in the VCCC palliative medicine research group.

Movember​ Foundation and Cancer Australia fund research to improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer.

A ​practical session designed to improve your MCQ item writing and post-test feedback skills​.

Rural Clinical School alumni Dr Sebastian Kirby receives​ prestigious student award.

A new mobile learning course for busy healthcare professionals.​

Establishing a culturally inclusive healthcare environment to ensure Australians residing in rural areas receive equitable access to care and experience better health outcomes. ​​

A new way of communicating information to patients to ensure comprehensive understanding.​​

Save the Date: Saturday ​October 12, 2019​ at The Royal Children's Hospital.

Chelsea Perera was awarded the Department Honours Award and the Richard Larkins​ Prize for 2018​.

Professor Elizabeth Molloy and Brett Vaughan delivered clinical supervision training to medical school clinical educators at our partner institutions in China.​

Ensuring our students are up to date with the implications of the new Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Act.​

A resource for expertise and trends in medical and health professions education.​

​Providing real-time feedback for the treating team and the patient.

A​ joint initiative of the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney​.

Professors Geoffrey Donnan and Stephen Davis will transform emergency stroke care for all Australians with the recent award of a MRFF Frontiers Stage One. ​

​A unique eLearning package, to be released in ​October, providing students with a solid foundation of practical knowledge.

The NOURISH Point Prevalence Study: Nutritional Outcomes of patients Undergoing Resection for upper gastroIntestinal cancer in Australian​ Hospitals.

Professor Liz Molloy was an invited scholar in April 2019. ​

A pilot teaching program at the Austin Clinical School​.​

A forum for the presentation of high quality research and professional practice for sexual and reproductive health in rural settings. ​

A pioneer in inflammation research.​

Recognising the significant contribution to neuroscience research, in the field of multiple sclerosis, at an early career stage.​

​An outstanding contribution in the field of Global Childhood Infectious Diseases.

​The Good Friday Appeal Teddy Bear Hospital raised funds for The Royal Children's Hospital. ​

The University of Melbourne to host the showcase in November 2019.​

Meet the eight outstanding women awarded funding to support their career progression. ​

Disrupting Medical Education and a renewed focus on commercialisation.

It is my great pleasure and honour to assume my new role of Deputy Head of School and I look forward to meeting many of you in person in the near future. Our Melbourne Medical School (MMS) team aims to further develop the research portfolio of the MMS through a variety of mechanisms.

Congratulations to Professor Liz Molloy on being selected from a competitive international field as a Institute Fellow in Medical Education

We are very pleased to announce Dr Caroline Johnson was recently awarded General Practitioner of the Year for Victoria by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

There are seven Melbourne Medical School researchers who were awarded MRFF Rapid Applied Research Translation Round 2 Stage 2 funding.

As part of the Easier Research Business Program Workstream​ 2 – Marketing Our Research, we are rebuilding the research.unimelb.edu.au website.

Professor Kumar Visvanathan (Department of Medicine, St Vincent's Hospital) received a grant from​ Avant Foundation in 2018 to study the implications of incorrect diagnosis of pneumonia in hospitals.

We are very excited to announce the Cheers with Peers podcast was nominated in the Australian Podcast Awards.

The University of Melbourne's Ultrasound Guided Peripheral Venous Access Workshops, held on July 16, 17 and 23, were the largest held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Professor Eva Dimitriadis a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, Professor in Reproductive Biology at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology​, University of Melbourne and Co-Head of the Gynaecology Research Centre at The Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, specialises in infertility and pregnancy disorders associated with placental insufficiency and endometrial cancer.

On Tuesday 20 August, the Melbourne Medical School hosted many of its generous donors for dinner in celebration of the impact of scholarships.

The Melbourne Medical School was deeply saddened by the death of second-year MD student Andrew Kindred, at the end of August.

Ageing populations, together with a global epidemiological transition, are shifting health priorities in almost all places toward non-communicable diseases  including mental disorders, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Congratulations to Dr Ngaree Blow (Department of Medical Education) who was recently named as one of the Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence for 2019.

Melbourne Dental School, Continuing Professional Development Programs.

The Melbourne Children's GP Paediatric Update, coordinated by the Department of Paediatrics, will be held at The Royal Children's Hospital on Saturday 12 October 2019.

The University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research brings together University leaders committed to improving the outcomes and quality of life for people affected by cancer.

There are 6.4 million people suffering from migraine, with a total economic cost of $40 billion.

How do you deliver a cost-effective sustainable approach to healthcare that offers the most clinically effective and efficient care?

Join us for the first Research Symposium presented by the Centre for Integrated Critical Care, Department of Medicine and Radiology.

"Contributing locally and globally to clinical education conversations" is the theme for the 2019 Victorian Showcase of Research in Health Professions Education.

Our annual Melbourne Medical School Research Symposium provides an opportunity to celebrate the innovative and impactful research taking place across the School, with speakers ranging from graduate research students to senior research leaders.

And so we come to the end of another year and a remarkable decade. From the birth pangs of Electronic Medical Records to the rise of clinical tools connected to smart devices, the digital transformation of healthcare has arrived for all of us, with profound implications for our teaching, research and clinical practice.

It’s like an episode of Survivor, only no one gets kicked off the island. Meet the team who pull out all stops for one heady week in October to help select the next year's Doctor of Medicine student cohort. ​

Professor Debra Nestel, Department of Surgery, has been appointed Editor in Chief of the BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning (BMJ STEL).

The Department of Surgery would like to congratulate Dr Luke Campbell, a PhD graduand from Department of Surgery – Otolaryngology, who won the Prime Minister’s New Innovator’s Prize in Canberra recently.

Melbourne Medical School people in the media.

Serendipity, wanting more, and moving outside your comfort zone ... MMS researchers shared their heartfelt life and career journeys at the third MMS Research Symposium.

The second Melbourne Children's General Practice Paediatric Update (GPPU) was held at The Royal Children's Hospital on 12 October, 2019.

The Department of Medicine, Royal Mebourne Hospital (RMH), recently celebrated the achievements of the former Head of Department, James Stewart Chair, Professor Terry O’Brien by the unveiling of his portrait.

Associate Professor David Canty  is the Director of Ultrasound Simulation and a Senior Lecturer, Department of Surgery. He also works as a Consultant Anaesthetist, working a mixture of cardiac and non-cardiac surgery, in both public and private healthcare.

A landmark anaesthesia trial (the Balanced Anaesthesia Study) has been published in the prestigious general medical journal The Lancet.

Massimo’s Mission, a clinical and research program in childhood leukodystrophies has commenced.

Professor Alistair Royse, Acting Director of the University of Melbourne – Department of Surgery and Ultrasound Education Group, welcomed The Hon. Richard Wynne, Minster of Planning and Housing Victoria, to demonstrate the Butterfly iQ ultrasound on 25 October.

Professor Mary Galea is collaborating with Professor Fary Khan to work in the only Rehabilitation Flying Faculty in the world.

Department of Paediatrics PhD student Fiona Lynch has been celebrated as a leader amongst her university peers.​

Biomed Link, an annual conference held at St Vincent's Hospital, was attended by nearly 100 students on 6 November​.

St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne Consultant Endocrinologists, who hold joint appointments with the University of Melbourne, have recently received awards from the Australian Diabetes Society and Diabetes Victoria.

Reinetta Tanujaya, a MD student at the Western Clinical School,  was awarded the best poster prize at the 2019 Western Health Research and Best Care Conference.

Training is avaialable for REDCap, a secure, web-based application for building and managing online databases and surveys available to University of Melbourne researchers.

The Urinary Incontinence Management in Women online course is an opportunity to learn from six industry leaders in the areas of clinical practice, research, surgery, physiotherapy, and geriatrics to resolve female urinary incontinence.

Supervising clinical learners is an important and necessary part of the work lives of most health practitioners, however, many do not relish this component of their role.

Dr Jennifer Critchley passed away in 2018 but her legacy at the University of Melbourne, Department of Rural Health and GV Health lives on.

Fertility preservation is any medical procedure undertaken with the intent of preserving the ability to conceive a child, and carry the pregnancy through to a live birth. Some technologies have established efficacy, others remain experimental.

Professor John Prins Head of the Melbourne Medical School delivered a public lecture to a packed theatre at the University of Melbourne, Department of Rural Health, Shepparton on ‘The Obesity Problem: Is it sloth, is it gluttony or should we blame our parents?’

As a lived experience panel of domestic violence and abuse, the WEAVERs (Women and children who have Experienced Abuse and ViolencE: advisors and Researchers) provide unique insight into the impacts of domestic violence and abuse on survivors and their families.

Melbourne Medical School people in the media.

The coronavirus pandemic may have dashed Professor Martha Hickey’s hopes of launching her Flesh After 50 exhibition in late March, but the reasons behind it haven’t gone away.

Melbourne Medical School alumn, Dr Peter Salama, has died suddenly at the age of 51 on 23 January.

Love what you do, take time out, and value yourself: these were among the life lessons shared by five MMS clinician scientists and alumni at an International Women's Day breakfast for first-year MD students.

Dr Vanessa Cropley reflects on her life and career experiences as part of International Women's Day.

Associate Professor Natalie Hannan reflects on her life and career experiences as part of International Women's Day.

The Australian bushfires have caused emotional distress among thousands of people who were impacted directly or indirectly.

February 2020 saw students entering the first year of the University’s flagship Doctor of Medicine with a redesigned curriculum.

Director of Clinician Scientist Pathways, Associate Professor Margie Danchin, provides the guest editorial for the April 2020 edition of the Melbourne Medical School Staff News.

The National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS) at the Department of Medicine undertakes research focused on evaluating antimicrobial prescribing and improving the quality of antimicrobial use in diverse healthcare settings.

New Course Helps Eyecare Practitioners to Upskill and keep up to date with latest research results on age-related macular degeneration.

Grants up to $5000 are offered by the South Eastern Primary Care (SEPC) Fund to support the primary health care workforce in the South-Eastern region of Melbourne so they can provide optimum care for the community.

The Maze Phase is a new podcast from the Department of General Practice for primary health professionals working with teens, navigating life and the healthcare system.

The Mindful Centre for Training and Research in Developmental Health, located in Travancore, is the state-wide unit responsible for the delivery of postgraduate courses, training programs, professional development and research programs in child and adolescent mental health.

In June, Professor Ben Harrison was announced as the new Deputy Head of Psychiatry. Ben is known to many as a stellar researcher, based at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre.

Covid-19 dominated the headlines, and with it an array of tools, apps, resources  and devices developed by University of Melbourne clinicians and researchers, who also provided expert comment on clinical trials, mental health, family violence and more.

University students are a high-risk group for both dating violence and sexual violence. However, studies suggest that they may not recognise harmful behaviours.

Geriatrician Dr Kate Gregorevic speaks to MMS about her new book, Staying Alive.

As well as putting up their hands to assist frontline health workers in the Covid-19 response, via the SASH program, our students have been busy providing care packages, and household and childcare help.

When he’s not doing the rounds of Ararat Hospital, where he became the first and only fulltime doctor in January, Dr Dan Wilson (MD 2017) tends to a collection of tropical plants, including a monstera deliciosa, or swiss cheese plant.

Managing the care of an increasing and ageing prisoner population, including providing palliative and end of life care, is a challenge worldwide.

In October 2019, FMDHS received a philanthropic gift of $2 million from the late Mrs Marion Patten, to support research into ovarian cancer at the University, especially genome sequencing of women with ovarian cancer.

Adjusting to learning and teaching online has been a massive adjustment for our students and academics over recent months. For some departments, the lockdown has accelerated existing projects to move parts of the curriculum online.

Department of General Practice team members Professor Jon Emery, Professor Jane Gunn, Dr Patty Chondros, Associate Professor Vicky Palmer and PhD Candidate Sibel Saya have been successful in their bid for funding a trial of pharmacogenomics for anti-depressant prescribing in general practice.

Associate Professor Victoria Palmer, lead author Tara Dimopoulos-Bick (Agency for Clinical Innovation) and colleagues awarded ‘Article of the Year 2019’ by the editorial board of the journal of Patient Experience.

In April 2020 a team of MD3 and MD4 students under the guidance of clinicians from the Department of Paediatrics launched the COVID-19 Kids Research Evidence Update.

The Integrated Mental Health Research group based in the Department of General Practice, are working in collaboration with researchers from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Curve Tomorrow and Phoenix Australia to develop the COVIDDA app

Most people diagnosed with COVID-19 will be managed in the community, and the CovidCare App has been designed to support people while in isolation monitor their symptoms.

Congratulations to the 19 MMS staff, alumni and friends recognised in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Welcome to the winter edition of the Melbourne Medical School newsletter. As one half of the world emerges from its first winter living with COVID-19, we head into ours and I continue to be astounded by the resilience of staff and students during these uncertain times.

As Melbourne’s second wave of COVID-19 subsides, I would like to thank you all for the dedication and tenacity you’ve shown in continuing to stay the course over the past six months.

Dr Anita D’Aprano is developing and road testing the first culturally appropriate developmental outcome measure for Aboriginal children.

News from around the school on important milestones, awards and achievements.

Endometriosis and paediatric genomics research receive an MRFF funding boost.

Drive-through testing, school outbreaks, and domestic violence are some of the MMS research underway on COVID-19.

Phoenix Australia has developed a "living guideline" for practitioners and people living with PTSD, and a "map" for frontline healthcare workers to help prevent moral injury.

When an elderly person with limited English is admitted into an ICU, what do junior doctors need to know?

A team at Western Health and AIMSS has developed a groundbreaking tool that uses fat levels to help allay loss of bone and muscle function in older people.

Who better to advise on family violence policy, services and practice than survivors with lived experience? The Safer Families Centre has led the way in developing a survivor-centric framework.

Professor Fiona Russell is leading work that is saving children's lives, thanks to the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in low to middle-income countries.

Until recently, treatment for many young rural and regional cancer patients has come at a cost to their future fertility. Associate Professor Kate Stern is changing this.

When it comes to training the workforce that's keeping Victoria on track with immunisations, these two nurses are calling the shots.

​With conferences and seminars cancelled, the MMS community has been busy putting experts, professional development and other events online. Here's a selection of upcoming and recent web events.

Events experts from around the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct share their expertise on running an online event, and we highlight University resources available to you.

MMS students are helping their frontline colleagues at Northern Health in contact tracing, PPE and Pathology.

As a teenager in the 1990s, Dom Carroll excelled in science class, taking out the biology prize three years running. But as the 10th child in a family of 11 kids living in Central Queensland, going to university did not figure in how he imagined, or was encouraged to imagine, his future.

Melbourne Medical School researchers and clinicians share their expertise with the public.

New PhD opportunities at MMS.

Congratulations on behalf of the Melbourne Medical School to all staff who were nominated for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Staff Excellence Awards.

Endocrinologist Dr Rahul Barmanray has won the 2020 Australasian Diabetes Society President’s Clinical Young Investigator of the Year Award.

Research Engineer Dr Aaron Collins was awarded $50,000 as part of the 2020 Dean’s Innovation Grant

Dr Jonathan Kaufman has been awarded a prestigious grant for his ongoing research into effective diagnosis for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children.

Congratulations to the Department of Psychiatry’s Dr Ye Tian who has won numerous prizes and awards for her PhD research published in Nature Neuroscience co-authored with Professors Daniel Margulies , Michael Breakspear and Andrew Zalesky.

Dr Martin Dutch, Emergency Physician from the Centre for Integrated Critical Care and RMH, has been awarded the 2020 Melbourne Digital Innovation Champion for his role in developing a virtual monitoring system that transformed how patients were screened, triaged, monitored and treated.

Melbourne Medical School welcomes Penny Mahoney as the new Department Manager of Medicine and Radiology and Precinct Manager for Northern Health and Western Health.

The Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study is designed to examine how the social, emotional, educational and financial assets parents bring to pregnancy predict patterns of emotional, physical, social, and cognitive development in their children.

In this year of increased isolation, pressure and workload on our medical workforce, the benefits of a mentoring relationship for both mentors and mentees has become more apparent.

Staff and students from the Master of Genetic Counselling program in the Department of Paediatrics responded to the COVID-19 related shortage of placement opportunities by developing a virtual genetic counselling clinic.

The University of Melbourne’s Department of Rural Health offers service placements, which involves placing students in non-health settings like primary schools and early learning centres for a win-win approach that provides both learning opportunities and much-needed community care.

The new MMS Administration and Professional Staff (MAPS) network held its second event in November, featuring five managers based in the Melbourne Medical School who each gave a brief overview of their career journey followed by a discussion and Q&A.

The first-ever MMS Women Clinicians in Academic Leadership Symposium, held on Wednesday 4 November, attracted 439 attendees from Australia and overseas with more than half external to the University of Melbourne.

The Department of Rural Health ran a series of public webinars on COVID-19-related topics between June and November. Streamed across rural Victoria and beyond, the public webinars attracted up to 400 local and international viewers.

In a recent webinar hosted by the University of Melbourne Department of Rural Health, Victoria’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Brett Sutton shared his insights into the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and his hopes for a better 2021.

On 30 October, the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS) organised the third Australian Consensus Conference on the Prevention of Osteoporotic Fractures in Residential Aged Care Facilities.

Two University of Melbourne Rural Health Academic Network Coordinators teamed up with the Medical Director and Infection Control Nurse at NCN Health and undertook a research project to explore what helped prescribers to adopt optimal prescribing practices in antimicrobial use.

Christine Lancaster, an executive assistant in the University of Melbourne’s Department of Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital, recently undertook a ‘virtual’ six-week secondment with Yadu Health Aboriginal Corporation in Ceduna, South Australia.

From bushfires, floods, drought and pandemics to large-scale industrial accidents, terrorism-related incidents, economic crises and threats to national security, these events can take a heavy psychological toll on those involved.

The finishing line of this marathon of a year is in sight. I hope you're all taking some time off over Christmas and into January to get away from your screens and enjoy time with friends and family while you rest and rejuvenate.

Student Erin Crellin has been awarded Individual Best Achievement in Medical Research 2020 at the Aspire Awards.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed immeasurable obstacles for all teaching and professional staff, healthcare workers and medical students not only at Royal Melbourne Hospital, but globally. However, it also allowed for great creativity of thought and the rapid adoption and acceptance of innovative ways of delivering the very best of clinical education and mentorship.

The impact of humanity on the planet is now so profound that it has been suggested that we have entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, an epoch characterised by the dominance of humans and the destruction of the natural environment.

The Mindful Centre for Training and Research in Developmental Health, based in the Department of Psychiatry, has been awarded a $2m grant from the DHHS to build capacity in diagnosing autism spectrum disorder in child and adult mental health services.

It is timely to reflect on the qualities of our clinical teachers and acknowledge their immense contribution to the success of the Northern Clinical School in 2020.

Construction begins on a $6.5 million building project to deliver new student accommodation and teaching spaces in Shepparton, as part of the Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network.

The Melbourne Medical School is redesigning its flagship Doctor of Medicine for launch in 2022.

Reproductive Health Biobank recruits its 100^th donor, supporting research into serious pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction.

Funding success to develop new blood tests that could identify pregnant women at greatest risk of pre-eclampsia.

Physiotherapy and occupational therapy students provide support to aged care staff and residents based in the rural towns of Beaufort and Skipton

Students use telehealth to deliver services to primary schools, aged care and human services organisations across rural Victoria.

Safer Families Centre receives Oak funding to better understand psychological violence and coercion for health sector change.

Dr Yasmin Jayasinghe and team awarded the RCH Foundation Grant to support their fertility care from diagnosis to survivorship research.

After the challenges of 2020, the FlashGM Study leadership team was able to catch up in-person to progress research on the efficacy of new devices that guide diabetes treatment.

Australian-led study to determine if the effects of BCG vaccine reduce the incidence and severity of COVID-19 in healthcare workers.

OPUS Consumer and Community Involvement Program seeks members of the public to participate in osteoarthritis-related research projects.

An interdisciplinary health research team is investigating using novel AI techniques in developing learning algorithms to improve analysis and interpretation of mammograms and ultimately transform breast cancer screening.

An organoid model that accurately recapitulates the early human embryonic testis will create a paradigm shift in the way disorders/differences of sex development are studied.

New research highlights some of the care needs of prisoners facing end of life.

New clinical guidelines for the care of children with mild to moderate injuries presenting to acute care settings.

Several medical researchers from the Melbourne Medical School and its affiliate teaching hospitals and research institutes feature in recently published citation metrics.

The Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence is seeking participants for a national project about the experiences and behaviours of women and men while in intimate relationships.

A new exhibition – the brainchild of Professor Martha Hickey – celebrates positive images of older women through art.

Upcoming seminar discussing the challenges of improving geriatric trauma care.

Key themes from the annual planning meeting, performance planning and review reminder and further MRFF grant successes.

Outstanding honours, Master of Biomedical Science and PhD students celebrated at awards.

Associate Professor Margie Danchin has been recognised for her work in COVID-19 vaccine preparedness and her focus on effective public health communication in achieving vaccine acceptance.

Professor Elizabeth Molloy from the Department of Medical Education was awarded the Hamilton Russell Medal and Lecture for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 2021 Annual Scientific Congress.

Clinicians, researchers and language experts from the University of Melbourne have been working on ways to improve access to and participation in medical research and clinical trials.

Gastroenterologist Associate Professor John Nik Ding's latest research seeks to optimise treatment in adults suffering with Crohn’s perianal fistulae.

Led by Associate Professor Steven Tong, the largest trial for Staph aureus bloodstream infections involves 60 hospitals around the world and aims to recruit 6000 patients.

Students learnt about the benefits and unique experiences to be gained on a regional/rural placement at this recent webinar.

Year 9 students from Greater Shepparton Secondary College gained insights into the university experience and what’s involved in pursuing a health sciences degree.

Hosted by GP academic Bianca Forrester, the Department of General Practice’s podcast series The Maze Phase draws insights from experts in adolescent health and social care.

Produced on behalf of the Melbourne Children’s Campus in affiliation with WHO, the update reports on vaccine efficacity and effectiveness, the pipeline for vaccine development and the WHO SAGE timeline for vaccine authorisation.

New codes provide more flexibility in classifying research.

BCG vaccine trial led by Professor Nigel Curtis from the Department of Paediatrics reaches more than 6800 global participants.

Associate Professor Claudia Di Bella formed part of the winning team at the recent Water Polo Australian Open Masters Championships.

The ceremony celebrates excellence in learning and acknowledges graduates who have achieved the highest academic performance among their peers in the courses from which they have graduated.

Associate Professor Natalie Hannan in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has been awarded an ARC Future Fellowship.

Paediatric clinician and researcher Dr Jonathan Kaufman awarded the top university prize for excellence in a PhD thesis

MySafety website recently won silver in the DrivenXDesign Melbourne Design Awards. MySafety was developed in 2019 to support students who are concerned about a relationship or a sexual experience, or who are worried about a friend.

MD research project students showcase their findings at 2021 ACMD Rapid Fire Presentation Finals

Professor Stephen Davis has been recognised in the recent Order of Australia awards.

Associate Professor Rachel Davey named as Fellow of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR)

Mariam Hachem awarded the 2021 University of Melbourne Excellence Award, Cornelius Reagan Trust Award

Associate Professor Anna Ryan, Director of Assessment in the Department of Medical Education, was awarded a Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professions Education

Professor Emeritus Edmond Chiu AM, Department of Psychiatry awarded this year’s Australian Museum and Gallery Association (AMAGA) Victoria Award for Excellence (Volunteer)

One way to get active, get connected and foster teamwork across our Faculty is to sign up and join the MDHS STEPtember team.

The Master of Genomics and Health is a new program within the Melbourne Medical School that offers training in advanced genomics, variant curation, counselling and research.

An initiative led by the Centre for Adolescent Health recently culminated in the launch of the first ever Global Standards and Indicators for Health Promoting Schools and Systems and an accompanying Implementation Guidance.

Did you know that there are an estimated 28,300 people living with younger onset dementia in Australia?

Associate Professor Joanne Said from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and her collaborators have been awarded over $2M funding through the MFRR  International Clinical Trials Collaborations initiative for the C*STEROID trial.

Funded by the Department of Social Security through the National Disability Research Partnership, a large collaborative consortium is developing a 10-year National Disability Research Agenda.

Held on October 13,  the conference will facilitate the exchange of information on key issues in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health and wellbeing

The Clinical Nurse Educator group were fortunate enough to squeeze in a one-day Symposium prior to the lockdown.

While the year may be drawing to a close work continues apace in the Melbourne Medical School on the new Doctor of Medicine (MD) program commencing next year.

After a stellar career spanning thirty years at the University of Melbourne it is with mixed emotions that the Melbourne Medical School announces the retirement of Helen Dedman this month.

In November, Professor Deborah Williamson commenced as the Director of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at Melbourne Health and Professor of Public Health Microbiology in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Melbourne Medical School both located at the Doherty Institute.

An exciting opportunity for Medical Students and Junior Doctors has been developed in North East Victoria, where local doctors have designed events to welcome new arrivals into the medical community. NEMEN – North East Medical Networking, is a chance for students and medical professionals to learn from local specialists, ask questions of senior clinicians and get to know the medical community in the region.

Students and staff from the Northern Clinical School have made wonderful contributions to supporting the pandemic through their contributions to patient care and teaching.

The Rural Clinical School in Shepparton is preparing for the inaugural intake of 30 rural and regional MD1 students in 2022.

COVID-19 has cast an ominous shadow over our lives. When we look back over the last two years, everyone will have a story to tell, intertwined with memories, emotions and experiences – personal and professional.

The selections for the Shooting Team that would represent Australia at the Tokyo2020 Olympics finished the weekend before our first nationwide lockdown.

The Department of Medical Education will soon be launching year 1 of the new Doctor of Medicine. A significant amount of work has been taking place in preparation for the launch in 2022.

The Department of Rural Health, The University of Melbourne recently held its 6^th Annual Ngar-wu Wanyarra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Conference with a record 275 conference delegates.

This year’s Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS) Annual Symposium, 25 October 2021, included an introduction from Gustavo Duque, Professor and Chair of Medicine, Western Health and Director, Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS); a plenary lecture delivered by Professor Susan Davis from Monash University presenting a talk titled “Estrogen Action, Depletion and Replacement for Bone Health in Women”.

The Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT), which is led by the University of Melbourne, has welcomed the decision by the Australian Government to subsidise the cost of positron emission tomography (PET) scans to assist with the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Co-created by NHMRC Investigator Associate Professor Luke Burchill and Director and Producer Michelle Joy, the ‘RMHive’ mobile phone app was announced the winner of the 'Knowledge & Innovation' category at this year’s City of Melbourne awards. It is the latest in a long list of achievements for the ‘RMHive’ team.

Dr Tamsyn Van Rheenen has been selected as the recipient of the Klerman Young Investigator Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA).

Congratulations to Dr Ahmed Al Saedi, a Research Fellow at the Department of Medicine Western Health and Project Director at the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS), on being one of the recipients of the very competitive 2021 ASBMR Fund for Research and Education Research and Collaborative Grant Program.

Dr Rachel McQuade has received a highly competitive Impetus Grant from the USA.

This year marks the first time a Faculty-wide MDHS Honours Event has been run, bringing together students from a diverse range of research areas.

Chaired by Dr Chris French, Director of Honours, Professor Erica Fletcher, Associate Dean for Graduate Research as well as Health Hub staff and past students, pathway opportunities for students after Honours were discussed at the ‘Life Beyond Honours’ webinar event.

In recognizing social media as an important source of information for young people, a team of medical students has initiated a TikTok project.

The Women’s Health teaching team in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is currently putting together a podcast named MOGCAST which will feature many episodes on various topics on Women’s Health for MD3 students.

Primary care practitioners can now access free online training on managing youth suicide risk and self-harm.

The Innovation Acceleration Program (IAP) is a three-month long program being run by the University of Melbourne with our hospital partners; Western Health and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

The MMS Administration and Professional Staff (MAPS) Network is currently looking for new leadership to rejuvenate the network and bring fresh ideas to MAPS.

Join a Peer Network Program in the Melbourne Medical School to connect with others working in, or interested in clinical trials management and coordination, and research centre management and administration.

Tissue engineering is an exciting new area of medical research led by Dr Aurora Messina, Senior Research Fellow (Morphology) at the Department of Medicine at Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Being an Early Career Researcher (ECR) is a challenging time for many, with the competing demands of conducting your research, applying for grants and supervising students while faced with job insecurity. The Melbourne Medical School (MMS) is committed to supporting Early Career Researchers and is establishing the MMS ECR Consultation Group to ensure the ECR experience is seen and heard.

TRA₂SH* is a junior doctor-led environmental sustainability network active across Australia and New Zealand. Their goals are to engage and encourage curiosity in how to transform workplaces to be more environmentally sustainable through education, leadership, audit and feedback. Operation Clean Up is in its third year and is a binational day of engagement delivered by TRA₂SH members in their hospitals on Friday 22 April (Earth Day).

What is a ‘Community of Practice’?

A community of practice is a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly".

The Centre for Health Analytics, Melbourne Children’s Campus, envisions a community of practice as bridging political borders and working silos between organisations and campuses. We want to hone into the expertise of our community whilst fostering working relationships and problem-solving opportunities and develop data enthusiasts (and newbies) across campus, serve data users with useful resources, and create a more robust data workforce. We plan to do this by creating a platform for these relationships and discussions to flourish.

The University of Melbourne is joining forces with primary care researchers and rural health professionals to provide cancer patients from rural Australia with more equitable access to clinical trials to improve health outcomes.

I was a first-year medical student when I contacted Professor Finlay Macrae from the Department of Medicine over email to get involved in his research projects. I had recently finished my undergraduate degree in Queensland in Medical Science and found my research subjects enjoyable. With enthusiasm, fear of my move to Melbourne, and a quick Google search, I reached out to multiple clinicians for research opportunities. Professor Finlay Macrae was one of the few that got back to me.

Crohn’s and Colitis Australia (CCA) is delighted to announce that Dr Aysha Al-Ani has been awarded the CCA Inflammatory Bowel Disease PhD Scholarship for her project: “Novel Biomarkers in Inflammatory Bowel Disease”.

Congratulations to the research team led by Dr Celine Gubser within the Department of Infectious Diseases, Melbourne Medical School, on being awarded a competitive 2021 Doherty Collaborative Seed Grant.

MD Discovery options are brand new and exciting subjects in the redesigned Doctor of Medicine program, which launched this semester for MD1 students.

In 2021, the Melbourne Medical School (MMS) made important progress towards achieving the Faculty’s gender targets of 38 per cent Level E women in research and teaching and research work focus categories (with a stretch target of 40 per cent).

Soon to return to Switzerland, Dr Celine Gubser from the Department of Infectious Diseases shares the highlights of her time in Australia.

Maternity hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne saw an increase in stillbirths in Victoria during the first year of the pandemic, raising concerns that disrupted and reduced access to maternity services during lockdowns may have contributed to the change.

The Rural Clinical School in Shepparton has welcomed the first cohort of 30 MD1 students to undertake the Doctor of Medicine (Rural Pathway). The degree is offered as a component of the Federal Government’s investment in the Stronger Rural Health Strategy through the Murray Darling Medical Schools Network (MDMSN) to provide regional students an end-to-end rural medical pathway and to retain the graduates in the regions.

While gaining more exposure than in 2020, the students could not gain pre-pandemic exposure in Women’s Health during the Doctor of Medicine (MD) course in 2021. The Women’s Health team quickly ‘pivoted’ and implemented initiatives to maximise the students’ learning in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G), and Neonatal Paediatrics.

As the COVID-19 wave peaked at the end of last year, putting pressure on our health services, the Mercy Hospital for Women called upon its Women’s Health MD students to step in and assist with various ad hoc duties to relieve pressure on the hospital staff.

There has never been a more fascinating time to work as an immunisation and vaccine expert than during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent COVID-19 vaccine rollout. It has just reached its anniversary on 22 February 2022.

Professor Beverley-Ann Biggs leads a group of clinicians and researchers with interests in infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and immigrant health. Her international health activities are based in the Mekong countries and have focused on the introduction, evaluation and expanded use of new and under-utilised vaccines, strengthening the capacity for research and control of malaria and parasitic infections, the prevention of micronutrient deficiencies and helminth infections in women and young children, and integrated approaches for improved child growth and development.

Dear Colleagues,

It has been wonderful to see many of you back on campus as well as out and about at our various partner health services over the past few weeks.

Watch Associate Professor Tom Oxley's TED Talk: A brain implant that turns your thoughts into text.

Congratulations to Dr Kate Hodgson and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Neonatal team whose research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 28 April 2022.

Professor Cassandra Szoeke from the Department of Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital has recently completed a tour of Victoria and Tasmania to publicise her new book, Secrets of Women’s Healthy Ageing, published by Melbourne University Press.

New surgical probes will help surgeons to identify microscopic cancer tissue in real time, enabling them to check if they have removed all the cancer during an operation and reducing the need for repeat surgery. Funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), OncoRes Medical is now developing a suite of probes suited to keyhole surgery that will enable the detection of stiffer cancer tissue.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology congratulates researchers Associate Professor Yasmin Jayasinghe and Dr Clare Whitehead for being awarded funding by the Medical Research Future Fund in the latest round of Life Saving and Job Creating Medical Research grants. Almost half of the grants in the funding round went to University of Melbourne clinician researchers.

Executive Assistant to the Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Sarah Marcola has won the National Title in the strategic category of the Australian Administration Awards. Sarah has made innovative and strategic changes to improve the overall functioning of the Department and has initiated and grown a network of administrative staff across the Faculty to assist with their professional development.

Professor Jon Emery, Department of General Practice, and Professor Michael Jefford, Department of Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, have co-authored a new series on cancer survivorship care in The Lancet, highlighting that as cancer detection and treatment improves, our healthcare system needs to provide more holistic care for life, long after cancer.

After years in the planning and building of international collaborations, the Staphylococcus aureus Network Adaptive Platform (SNAP) trial has commenced recruitment. The first participant in this global trial was enrolled at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in February 2022.

On my first international trip for some time, I presented our research on understanding how the tumour microenvironment regulates brain cancer growth and resistance to therapy. Our work was presented at the Günther Schütz Symposium, at the DKFZ (German Cancer Research Centre) in beautiful Heidelberg, Germany.

Justin Ren, a PhD student from the Department of Surgery, Melbourne Medical School and Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), has had multiple acceptances for oral presentations at three prestigious international cardiac surgery conferences – The American Association of Thoracic Surgeons (AATS) in Boston, USA; the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) in Ottawa, Canada, and the European Heart Society (EHS) in Barcelona, Spain.

The Mobile Learning Unit (MLU), Department of Surgery, has been successful in two contracts with SA Health. In partnership with the Department of Nursing, the MLU will support 1,600 nurses and midwives to complete the Transition to Critical Care Nursing course. The MLU, in collaboration with the School of Health Sciences, the School of Psychology and leadership experts, will also roll out the new Supporting Healthcare Workers Through COVID course to 15,000 nurses and midwives.

In 2021, despite the chaos experienced for student placements as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Going Rural Health program (within the University of Melbourne’s Department of Rural Health) proudly partnered with Creswick Primary School to explore the possibility of allied health student placements at this mainstream school.

For three years, Professor Fred Hollande, Department of Clinical Pathology and Centre for Cancer Research, has brought together honours students and health consumers with the aim of providing students with a working knowledge of consumer engagement from the very beginning of their research career.

Additional accommodation and new learning and teaching spaces have been opened by the Federal Minister for Regional Health David Gillespie, which will enable medical students to live and train in the Goulburn Valley and be workforce-ready after graduating. This partnership between the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University moves us a step closer towards providing complete training for students in a rural setting.

Dear Colleagues,

I hope this finds you in good health as we enter the winter months. It has yet again been a busy period in the Melbourne Medical School (MMS) with a number of new initiatives launched since my last update.

Dr Jasmina Kevric, Northern Health’s trainee surgeon has won the prestigious Junior Doctor of the Year Award at the Australian Medical Association Victoria Awards (AMA) held Friday, 29 April 2022. The AMA Victoria’s Award Night showcases the contribution of the medical profession to the community, and supports the work of its members and the broader medical profession.

Air travel has long played an important role in academic life, but it’s also a major contributor to climate change. After a two-year halt on flying due to COVID-19, travel possibilities are now opening up again – it’s time for a University-wide process to decide how, collectively, we should navigate the tensions between the benefits and harms of staff air travel.

A reminder that all continuing and fixed term staff are required to complete health and safety training as part of the University’s commitment to providing a safe and healthy working and learning environment.

In early August, three MD Research Skills student finalists presented their research at the 2022 Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) Rapid-Fire Presentation finals.

MD and Master of Clinical Research student Nicholas Sclavos recently presented at the Australian Orthopaedic Association Victoria and Tasmania Winter Welcome on Friday 29 July.

The Melbourne Medical School congratulates Professor David O’Neal and Ms Judith Gooley on receiving the 25-Year Service Medal in recognition of their valued contributions to the University.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Joanne Said,Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology based at the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Sunshine, for receiving $3.65m as part of the recent NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies grant funding round.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Sheena Sullivan from the Department of Infectious Diseases, who has recently been awarded a prestigious Victorian Near-miss Award administered by veski.

Associate Professor Daniel Steinfort from the Department of Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital has been awarded the gold medal in clinical techniques, imaging and endoscopy from the European Respiratory Society Awards.

A team of researchers from the Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne and Monash University have won the Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research for their work informing new STI treatment guidelines and prevention strategies.

From July 23 to August 4, Janine Sala, Manager of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, along with three other University professional staff members, were based in Northeast Arnhem land as part of a volunteer cohort to support the Garma Festival. A Yothu Yindi Foundation event, the Garma Festival is cultural festival as well as a platform for cultural immersion, education, debate, exchange, and action.

We’re very pleased to announce that Eugenie Kayak has been appointed Enterprise Professor in Sustainable Healthcare at the Department of Critical Care.

Internationally recognised for her expertise in HIV cure, HIV-hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection and SARS-CoV-2 infection, Professor Sharon Lewin, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Melbourne and Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), has been appointed as the new President of the International AIDS Society (IAS).

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is pleased to announce its newly established Elephant Circle initiative, a support group with whom department staff and students can seek advice about addressing unacceptable workplace behaviour that they may witness or be subject to.

Temperatures below freezing and falling snow added an exciting element to the learning environment for 35 medical students at Falls Creek last month, as they attended the Alpine Showcase. Hosted by the Goulburn Valley Regional Training Hub in partnership with the Outlook Rural Health Club, the Alpine Showcase was designed for aspiring rural doctors, and showcased the varied and fast paced medical careers that are on offer throughout the region.

In July, the Department of Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital hosted the 3iii Symposium at the Ian Potter Auditorium as a hybrid event, attracting over 60 attendees.

General practitioners, practice nurses and practice managers implement research findings with patients daily. So, as such important stakeholders in research translation, why are they not routinely engaged to contribute to research development?

Dear colleagues,

As we round the corner into spring, I hope that you and your loved ones have not been affected too badly by COVID-19 or the usual seasonal illnesses.

Managers and supervisors play an important role in shaping the experience of their staff as they have direct impact on moments that matter to them the most.

The Melbourne Medical School is delighted to announce that the second Women Clinicians in Academic Leadership (WCAL) Symposium, Changing the system and culture of medicine to ensure women clinician scientist thrive, will be held from 9.30am–4.30pm on Friday 31 March 2023. Attendees will have the option to attend the event in-person at Melbourne Connect or online via zoom.

The Department of Rural Health at the University of Melbourne delivered the seventh Annual Ngar-Wu Wanyarra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Conference on Wednesday 12 October. Held for the first time at the University of Melbourne Shepparton campus on Yorta Yorta Country, over 300 guests attended the event both in-person and online. We thank our brilliant presenters and partnering organisations for their valued contribution to the event.

Congratulations to the Melbourne Medical School researchers who were successful in the recent round of the University of Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grants. These grants support early career researchers who demonstrate clear evidence of high research potential, with grants of up to $40,000 supporting high-quality research projects and pilot projects over a 12-month period.

The Ultrasound Education Group was successful in securing a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant of $3.68 million for a pragmatic randomised control trial of a focused cardiac ultrasound before surgery to treat femoral neck fractures. The five-year grant will fund a 2000 patient trial incorporating ten centres across Australia.

The Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health is pleased to announce its first round of seed funding for 2023.

The Melbourne Medical School congratulates Dr Carmine Onofrillo and Ms Doris Cao who were awarded this year’s Dean’s Innovation Grants.

Master of Psychiatry student, psychiatric registrar and MDHS Honorary tutor Dr Natalie Seiler has received first prize at the Graduate Student Association Graduate Art Prize. The Graduate Art Prize ceremony was held in October at the The Arts Centre Melbourne, with this year’s theme being 'resilience'.

Kate Brody from Department of Otolaryngology based at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital has won first place in the Volume Imaging Category of the 2022 LMA/VIA Image Competition.

Professor Emeritus Joseph Proietto was awarded the Willendorf award for clinical research on obesity by World Obesity.

Kamilaroi woman Kristy Gardner has been awarded an MDHS 2022 Indigenous Research Training Support Scholarship. This scholarship, worth up to $10,000, supports Indigenous postgraduate research students enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

Dr Alex Besson, currently a surgical unaccredited registrar at Western Health, has been awarded a position in the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health MACH-Track program.

On Friday 21 October the University of Melbourne Rural Clinical School held a graduation ceremony for the 2022 cohort of Doctor of Medicine students who have recently completed their degree.

University of Melbourne final year medical student Jasraaj Singh has received the Rural Doctors Association of Australia’s (RDAA) Medical Student of the Year Award for 2022.

Amanda Lobley has been appointed as the Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology's Elephant Circle. The Elephant Circle is a support group to whom department staff and students can go for guidance about how to manage and respond to poor workplace behaviour.

Professor Shekar Kumta has been appointed to the role of Precinct Academic Lead for Surgery at the Department of Surgery at Northern Health.

Congratulations to Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology researchers Dr Meaghan Griffiths, Dr Natasha de Alwis and PhD Student Bridget Arman who each won prizes at the recent Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Early Career Academic (ECA) Symposium.

Professor Nigel Curtis, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases in The Department of Paediatrics, was named the field leader in paediatric medicine in The Australian’s recent list of the Top 250 Australian researchers.

Professor Sharon Lewin, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Doherty Institute, has been awarded the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences' Outstanding Female Researcher Medal for 2022.

The 2022 edition of Chiron, the alumni magazine for the Melbourne Medical School, is now available.

The MMS Research and Research Training Committee recently endorsed the official establishment of the MMS Early and Mid-Career Academic (EMCA) Advisory Committee. The advisory committee provides early and mid-career academics in the school with a platform to voice their perspective on the development and implementation of research and research training support for MMS researchers.

Held annually, the Melbourne Medical School (MMS) Research Symposium celebrates and showcases high quality research across a wide range of disciplines and is open to all staff and graduate research students in the School.

Last month, some of the ALIVE team prepared and delivered a one-day workshop on understanding the basics of genuine co-design for graduate researchers. The workshop provided a practical, interactive and experiential learning approach, designed to develop an understanding of what co-design is and is not within a research context, using recent PhD work as examples.

The Paediatric Academy is a new collaborative organisation that has been launched by the Department of Paediatrics. It is designed to develop and grow an interprofessional community for academic paediatrics across the Melbourne Children’s Campus, supporting life-long learning and for staff, alumni and partners.

Following significant curriculum changes to the Doctor of Medicine course resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, an innovative clinical teaching program was created for final-year medical students through the Department of Paediatrics.

This year the Department of Medical Education offered seven new Discovery subjects for MD1 students. Human Health in the Space Environment is currently one of only two programs in the world offering accredited space medicine education for medical students.

The Discovery team has made significant progress over the previous year in the MD1 space. We have successfully delivered the first iteration of Discovery 1: Foundation program, which enables our Parkville and Extended Rural Cohort MD1 students to explore seven topics.

The Department of Medical Education is currently finalising the curriculum redesign of year two of the new Doctor of Medicine program. A significant amount of work has taken place in preparation for the updated program to be rolled out to students next year.  
The redesigned program will see students work through weekly online modules relevant to their rotations and placements at a time and place that suits them best. 
We continue to consult with staff and students to ensure we are building a high-quality blended delivery model with engaging online resources to support both face-to-face and asynchronous learning.

Through a partnership between the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University, nursing students will soon arrive in Tallangatta to undergo an innovative service-learning placement providing wellbeing services to residents.

A new study, led by the Centre for Eye Research Australia and the University of Melbourne, has found that Australians with inherited retinal disease (IRD) have a strong interest in undergoing gene therapy to prevent and treat blindness – but there’s a critical need for education programs to help them make informed choices about future treatments.

An international training program led by St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne aims to upskill doctors from rural Kenya in surgical techniques that will benefit thousands of patients with heart disease across the African continent – some of them young children.

Dear colleagues,

It has been a busy month stepping into my new role as Interim Head of School during what is an exciting time of change for the Melbourne Medical School, and I feel honoured to serve the School in this role. As the leadership team begin work to maintain our position as one of the leading medical schools in the country, I would like to thank Professor John Prins for his four years of leadership and distinctive service to our School.

Gabriella Smith is a final year medical student at the University of Melbourne Rural Clinical School. As part of her studies, Gabriella spent most of last year undergoing placement at Cobram Hospital through the Extended Rural Cohort program. For her final year, she will be placed at the Wangaratta Rural Clinical School and based at Northeast Health Wangaratta for placement.

Through a collaboration with the University of Melbourne School of Health Sciences and the Department of Rural Health, the Partnering for Impact event was held on Tuesday 14 February to meet with rural and regional health services and placement partners in Wangaratta.

The second cohort of students to undertake the entire Doctor of Medicine (MD Rural Pathway) in a rural setting has commenced at the University of Melbourne’s Shepparton Campus.

The Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit (CEBU) at the Melbourne Children’s campus, jointly supported by the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, is a longstanding source of expertise and support in research methods, with a focus on biostatistics.

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the official opening of the Pregnancy Research Centre at the Royal Women’s Hospital by Professor Sir Mont Liggins and then State Minister for Health the Honourable Marie Tehan, at the Hospital’s previous location in Carlton.

Climate change impacts health and wellbeing, yet the Australian healthcare sector is estimated to be the source of over 7% of Australia’s total carbon emissions. As health services begin to reduce their carbon emissions, it is important that decision makers and clinicians gain an understanding of how carbon footprints are determined at the national, organisational and product levels, as well as having the ability to critique the ever-increasing quantity of carbon footprints using life-cycle assessments (LCA) being published in medical journals.

The Challenging Allergy: Drug Hypersensitivity Symposium 2023 will be held across two days from Friday 19 May to Saturday 20 May at the Doherty Institute.

Congratulations to recipients of funding and support from the Innovation Acceleration Program, a joint investment between the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital which connects staff developing innovative ideas to expertise, skills and funding.

Australia’s world-class cardiovascular and stroke researchers were honoured at the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA) Excellence in Cardiovascular Research Awards. The Awards were officiated by the Honourable Ged Kearney MP, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care.

Ashleigh Jess from the Department of Medicine featured as a panellist and shared her story as a woman in science as Austin Health celebrated International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Ashleigh shared some of her work as a research nurse, in particular her role as a trial nurse in the RESILIENCE project.

Third-year PhD student Marija Dinevska from the Department of Surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital presented her research at Lorne Cancer 2023, attended by more than 500 scientists from around the world. Marija’s presentation, Spatial analysis of the immune and ECM microenvironment in metastatic brain tumours, showcased her soon-to-be-published research on metastatic brain cancer, the most common malignancy affecting the central nervous system.

Dr Ben Kirk from the Department of Medicine at Western Health has been awarded the 2023 John Haddad Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Dr Sushama Telwatte from the Department of Infectious Diseases has been selected to join the Global Virus Network’s Rising Star Mentorship Program. The program supports future virology leaders to collaborate with researchers, medical practitioners, and decision-makers driving evidence-based solutions to current public health challenges.

Professor Martha Hickey from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has been awarded a Cancer Council Victoria 2023 Grant-in-Aid for the project she is leading titled Salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy to prevent ovarian cancer (TUBA WISP II) for cancer therapy.

Professor Karin Thursky from the Department of Infectious Diseases has been appointed as a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health. The appointment recognises her research with the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, National Centre for Infections, and the Royal Melbourne Hospital Guidance Group, which informed both the National Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and the National Digital Health Strategy.

On this day last year, the SNAP trial started recruitment. Twelve months on, more than 450 participants have joined the study, already making it the second largest clinical trial for Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections in the world.

Associate Professor Tamsyn Van Rheenen, Head of the Mood and Psychosis-Spectrum lab at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, has been awarded a prestigious Al and Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship from the Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation. The Fellowship will further support her research for the next five years.

Professor Alistair Royse, Department of Surgery, has been awarded $5 million from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to advance the TA Trial, a prospective randomised trial into the use of total arterial compared to non-arterial coronary surgery.

Professor Alicia Dennis from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Department of Critical Care and Dr Prasanti Kotagiri from the Department of Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital have been awarded Fulbright Scholarships. Professor Dennis and Dr Kotagiri received the Future Scholarship and the New Australian Scholarship respectively.

Associate Professor Piero Perucca from the Department of Medicine (Austin Health) has been awarded the Michael Prize 2023 in the field of pharmacology and pharmacotherapy for his research into epilepsy.

ChatGPT is a language model developed by open artificial intelligence, which generates text based on a given prompt. The technology has been a source of debate in recent months, as concerns grow surrounding its impact on academic integrity.

The Melbourne Medical School’s Early and Mid-Career Academics Advisory Committee is on the lookout for new members to champion initiatives that support the academic and career development of all early and mid-career academics in the School.

Developed by the STRONG Kids STRONG Future team at the Department of Paediatrics, ASQ-TRAK is the only developmental screening tool that has been culturally adapted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Is it depression or dementia? The brain is our most complex organ and remains one of life’s biggest mysteries. Even with state-of-the-art technology and expert clinicians, it can be difficult to differentiate between a neurodegenerative disorder like dementia, and a primary psychiatric disorder such as depression.

The FlashGM study team  from the Department of Medicine came together with the Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative to thank all who contributed to the FlashGM study. Throughout the pandemic and recent flooding events, 40 Aboriginal community members with type 2 diabetes trialled flash glucose monitoring – a wearable diabetes sensor – for six months to optimise their diabetes management.

Professor Nick Opie, from the Department of Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, was an invited speaker at a Law Breakfast Forum in Sydney in December 2022. The forum focused on bringing together national and internationally acclaimed thought leaders and luminaries to discuss the world-first report from legal scholar, Dr Allan McCay, on the impact of neurotechnology on the practice of law.

Dear colleagues,  

I hope you have all had a great start to the year. It has been wonderful welcoming back our students over recent weeks as the new academic year commences.

Learn about upcoming completion seminars at the Department of Paediatrics that are taking place both in-person and on Zoom from late June through to August. Topics range from the molecular basis of brain malformations causing severe infantile epilepsies, to novel therapies to target rare genetic neurological diseases.

The International Congress of Genetics in collaboration with the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance and Human Genetics Association of Australasia are running a professional development workshop for healthcare professionals, which will explore genomic principles and processes, when to apply genomic testing to patients, the role of clinicians in genomic testing and more. It includes a series of lectures, breakout discussions and a panel discussion examining whether genomics has met its promise.

Registrations are now open for the 2023 Organoids Are Us symposium. Held both online and in-person, the symposium incorporates both basic and clinical, or diagnostic research. It is a significant international forum for the exchange of new data and provides an opportunity to learn about recent progress in the application of organoid-based technologies.

The MDHS Early-Career Academic Network is planning to host a Town Hall event for early-career academics to hear from and speak with members of the faculty leadership team, while also sharing concerns and issues regarding equity, representation, advocacy, and career development.

The Victorian Minister for Health, The Hon Mary-Anne Thomas, attended the Northern Health Foundation International Women’s Day (IWD) breakfast to learn more about the expansion of Northern Health’s Family Planning Clinic. The Northern Health Family Planning Clinic (NHFPC) is improving access to sexual and reproductive healthcare in Melbourne’s northern suburbs through no-cost abortion care, contraception advice, and STI prevention and treatment.

The tenth biennial Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) Connection conference will be hosted by Australian National University on Ngunnawal Country, Canberra, Australia from 22 – 25 October 2023.

The Melbourne Medical School (MMS) and Melbourne Dental School (MDS) are delighted to announce that registrations are currently open for the upcoming No-Bell Prize event.

The Spot Diagnosis Podcast, founded by Associate Professor Alvin Chong, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital and consultant dermatologist, and co-hosted by Dr. Anneliese Willems, a Primary Care Lecturer in the Department of General Practice and a general practitioner, has achieved a significant milestone of 40,000 downloads.

Professor Lena Sanci from the Department of General Practice and Primary Care has been appointed Chief General Practice Adviser to the Victorian Department of Health.

Professor Kumar Visvanathan has been appointed as Precinct Lead for the Department of Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital, replacing Professor Mark Cook AO. Professor Visvanathan joined both the academic Department of Medicine and the clinical Department of Infectious Diseases at St Vincent’s Hospital in 2012. He was also appointed as Co-Director of the Immunology Research Centre at St Vincent's Hospital.

Dr Amanda Baric has been awarded the Robert Orton Medal, the highest award the Faculty of Anaesthetists at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons can bestow upon its fellows. The Robert Orton medal was established in 1967 to recognise distinguished service to anaesthesia, perioperative medicine and/or pain medicine. This award recognises outstanding contributions to the profession outside of a clinical setting that sets the recipient apart from their colleagues.

Congratulations to Dr Kate Hodgson from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr Courtney Ierano from the Department of Infectious Diseases, and Dr Liz Paratz from the Department of Medicine, who were selected as finalists for the Victorian Premier’s Award for Health and Medical Research. Held annually, the awards recognise exceptional contributions by Victoria’s early-career health and medical researchers.

Professor Sharon Lewin, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Doherty Institute, has been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, placing her among the nation’s most distinguished scientists.

Regional and rural medical students from across Victoria and broader Australia can live, work and study to become a doctor entirely in regional Victoria through the Doctor of Medicine (Rural Pathway). The application period for the 2024 intake opened throughout the month of May, accompanied by a local marketing campaign aimed at attracting students from the region. The online information session held this year saw a 30 per cent increase in registrations compared to the previous year.

Launched earlier this year, the Staff Disability Inclusion Network provides support, community, and events to faculty staff with disability, including family members of people with disability. If you would like to connect with others who are navigating university life with a disability, we encourage you to join the network and our discussions on Teams (one for family/carers, and one for staff with disability). We are starting to organise events and would love to invite you along.

To celebrate National Reconciliation week, the student-led Outlook Rural Health Club organised a cultural tour at Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative on Tuesday 31 May in Mooroopna for rural medical students.

The Melbourne Medical School is excited to announce that applications for the 2023 round of the Strategic Grants for Outstanding Women will open on Monday 10 July.

The annual Rural Clinical School Student Retreat was held on 19 - 21 May in Lancefield and was attended by MD1 and MD2 students from all campuses, as well as final year La Trobe students who will be joining us next year for the MD1 Pathway.

Professor Nick Opie from the Department of Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital was invited to discuss the challenges of transitioning revolutionary brain-computer interface technology from academic research to the market on The Mentored podcast, hosted by entrepreneur Mark Bouris. Learn about Nick’s journey with his and Associate Professor Tom Oxley’s groundbreaking brain implant, the Stentrode, which enables paralysed individuals to control digital devices with their thoughts.

More than 300 guests attended the Melbourne Children’s Clinical Paediatric Update (MCCPU) in May. Fifteen sessions were held on topics including the health consequences of vaping, dual disabilities, and funded exome sequencing. The update is intended to provide general paediatricians and trainees with up-to-date information on a range of issues affecting child and adolescent health.

Carter Hissam is the latest Fulbright Future Scholar. His Fulbright project aims to explore the successful initiatives led by the Australian Department of Health which are embedding genomic health and medicines into routine clinical practice. As a student in Genomics and Health at the University of Melbourne, Carter will explore the ethical, legal, and social implications of genomic-based medicines through coursework, research, and community involvement.

The Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health (CERSH) held its biannual conference, SexRurality 2023, in Creswick. It was a resounding success with 150 people in attendance, including students and professionals from across many disciplines.

A new study of more than 1.6 million women has found elective induction of labour at 39 weeks’ gestation is associated with a 37 per cent decreased risk of perineal injury for labouring mothers.

STI test vending machines will be introduced for the first time in regional Victoria this month, providing accessible and affordable sexual health services to regional Victorian communities.

Narrative Medicine: The Pen and the Stethoscope launched in April as part of the MD Discovery Subject program. MD2 students were given the opportunity to learn about the craft of writing and explore how writing and reading can help them to become better, kinder and more attuned doctors.

There are now a total of 17 Discovery topics running this year, following an additional nine subjects being launched for students in Discovery 2, and one for students in Discovery 1. Planning and development for Discovery 3 and 4 is now well underway, with students to choose between the Research Scholar or Clinician Scholar pathways for their final two years of Discovery.

Professor Eugenie Kayak, Enterprise Professor in Sustainable Healthcare at the Department of Critical Care, and Professor Kathryn Bowen, Deputy Director of Knowledge Translation and Policy Impact at Melbourne Climate Futures and Professor of Environment, Climate and Global Health at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, both presented at the recent G20 2^nd Health Working Group side event in Goa, India.

The Safer Families Centre for Research Excellence has launched three evidence briefs. The first evidence brief summarises the findings of the Mothers’ and Young People’s Study, the second identifies and recommends solutions to the barriers health professionals may experience when addressing domestic violence, and the third describes the impacts of domestic violence on children and their family relationships.

A cohort of audiology students from the University of Melbourne embarked on a journey from Melbourne to participate in a rewarding placement program at three primary schools located in Mooroopna, situated in North East Victoria. These placements are an integral part of the Department of Rural Health's Service Learning Placements program, designed to cater to communities in need, including Mooroopna.

Professors Fiona Russell and Nigel Crawford from the Department of Paediatrics and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute are leading a new project in Lao PDR, bringing together experience from ATAGI and the support of countries in the Asia-Pacific region with the generation of data to inform immunisation policy. The project will support the capacity of the Lao PDR National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) in evidence-based decision making, with the local University of Health Sciences to collate and undertake the research needed to support these policy decisions.

Dear colleagues,

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend, and that you and your families are keeping well as we enter the winter months. It has been a busy period in the Melbourne Medical School (MMS) since my last update.

The Campus Mental Health Strategy is hosting Grand Rounds on Wednesday 25 October to celebrate Children’s Week. After the rounds, they’ll invite campus staff to join them for lunch as a thank you for their support, contributions, and interest towards the strategy.

All students from across the VCCC Alliance is invited to the 2023 CCPhD Student Symposium which will take place in person at Melbourne Connect.

The Doctors in Secondary Schools (DiSS) is inviting clinicians, nurses and educators to attend their Breakfast Club series.

The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research invites you to attend Creative Arts: An Antidote to Existential Repair on Tuesday 31 October.

The Department of Paediatrics is inviting consultant paediatricians to take on a creative and innovative one-day course at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

The Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health are delighted to hold the inaugural Immunology in Cardiovascular and Cardiometabolic Disease Symposium on Thursday 5 October 2023. The symposium aims to provide a platform to connect people who are interested in the immune system and cardiovascular disease.

Registrations are now open to attend the PhDone and Dusted Career Pathways Series on Monday 30 October.

The Doctors in Secondary Schools (DiSS) and St Vincent’s Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) team are hosting a five-part series on youth AOD designed for clinicians, nurses and educators.

The ACADI Health Tech Innovation Challenge offers students and researchers the opportunity to pitch for seed funding for a health technology innovation in the field of diabetes and its possible complications.

The Department of Rural Health are excited to deliver the upcoming 2023 Ngar-wu Wanyarra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Conference and welcome staff from across the Melbourne Medical School to come along.

Professor Leonid Churilov from the Department of Medicine (Royal Melbourne Hospital) was awarded the Excellence in Mentoring Award at the 2023 Stroke Society of Australasia and Smart Strokes Nursing and Allied Health Scientific Meeting.

Associate Professor Yugeesh Lankadeva from the Department of Critical Care was awarded a 2023 Victorian Young Tall Poppy Science Award from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science.

Professor Julie Bernhardt AM FAHMS from the Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health received the highest honour of delivering a Lecture of Excellence at the Stroke Society of Australasia Scientific meeting.

Professor Tu’uhevaha Kaitu’u-Lino from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health has been awarded a 2023 Round 1 ARC Future Fellowship for research exploring protease inhibitors in placental development and maturation.

Dr Sonia Chanchlani from the Department of Critical Care and Professor Rosemary McKenzie from the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health (MSPGH) have teamed up to develop a new postgraduate offering that is set to reshape the landscape of health reform - the new subject Health System Transformation.

The Centre for Digital Transformation of Health is delighted to announce that Academic Board approval has been received to update next year's Graduate Certificate of Health Informatics and Digital Health to include the Centre's Professional Certificate in Digital Transformation of Health core subjects.

The Doctors in Secondary Schools (DiSS) Clinical Training and Support Program team recently launched their new website.

Women's Health Week was a busy weeks for the Women's Healthy Ageing Project, the longest established study of women's health in Australia and for its Director, Professor Cassandra Szoeke from the Department of Medicine - Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Professor Nick Opie and Associate Professor Tom Oxley were featured in the Weekend Australian Magazine on Saturday 25 August to discuss the Stentrode.

MD3 student Anna Sing was one of three winners to perform with internationally renowned violinist Ray Chen in July.

The Department of Paediatrics and the Healthy Trajectories Child and Youth Disability Research Hub are upscaling the family empowerment program called ENVISAGE.

The Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health hosted the inaugural Fireside Chat on Thursday 17 August 2023 at the Royal Women’s Hospital.

The Vice-Chancellor recently endorsed the name change of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health.

The deans of 24 medical schools have called for GPs to be fairly funded and paid in comparison with other specialties in a newly released position paper. Dr Chance Pistoll and Dr Rebecca Starkie from the Department of General Practice and Primary Care, and Professor Stephen Trumble from the Department of Medical Education, are part of the working group that contributed to the development of this paper

The Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence has released a new framework to guide researchers and policy makers in the ethical engagement of victim-survivors in co-produced research and evaluations.

The Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health partnered with Life Saving Victoria (LSV) to develop the LSV Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy 2023-2026.

Diabetes Australia recently launched a report written by researchers from the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) on the impact of diabetes-related kidney disease within the Australian context.

The 2023 MD Student Conference was a great success, running the first fully in-person program since 2019.

Members of the University of Melbourne’s Department of Rural Health, Gateway Health staff and the Federal MP for Indi came together to celebrate the launch of the new psychology clinic in Wangaratta on Wednesday 23 August.

The Department of Critical Care was honoured to deliver a disaster response workshop to staff representing 20 public universities across Malaysia on Monday 6 September.

The University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital will lead a collaboration of service providers and institutions focusing on adult and older Australians as part of the State Government’s Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Dear colleagues,

I hope you are keeping well and enjoying the wonderful weather spring has brought us. It has been a busy few months at the School, and I would like to take a moment to reflect on some of the exciting initiatives that have taken place since my last update.

The Trans Health Research Group invite you to attend the launch of the new guidelines titled Including Trans People in Research: A practical guide to collecting data on gender and sex.

The ERP Program is looking for academic and professional MMS staff to join their Change Network.

Applications are now open for the Specialist Certificate in Empowering Health in Aboriginal Communities.

This year’s Northern Clinical School Humanities in Medicine Prize was awarded to Tom Arvanitis, MD3 student, for his written work titled You are never alone.

Final year rural medical student Jasmine Davis has achieved many accolades while at university, including the recent rural health advocate award.

Dr Paul Molina Chavez, MD3 Rural Pathway Director, has been awarded the RACGP Victorian General Practitioner of the Year.

Associate Professor Wei Qi Fan, Dr Jesse Irwin and Dr Amanda Baric from the Department of Medical Education have won a Northern Clinical School Teacher of the Year award.

The Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health was well represented during Northern Health Research Week.

Associate Professor Christine Rodda from the Department of Medical Education was awarded honorary life membership from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at the recent Annual Scientific Meeting.

Dr Lachlan Angus, endocrinologist and PhD student in the Trans Health Research Group in the Department of Medicine, has won the prestigious Bryan Hudson Clinical Endocrinology Award for 2023 at the Endocrine Society of Australia (ESA) Annual Scientific Meeting.

The Australasian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT), led by Professor Steven Tong from the Department of Infectious Diseases, has been awarded the prestigious 2023 Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Excellence in Statistics Award.

Professor Natalie Hannan from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health was awarded the Mercy Perinatal Mid-Career Women’s Health Medal at the Society for Reproductive Biology Annual Scientific Meeting in Brisbane on Tuesday 28 November.

Professor Martha Hickey, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health, and Professor Susan Walker, Head of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health, were elected as Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS).

Professor Susan Walker, Head of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health, was awarded the 2023 Women's Healthcare Australasia Medal of Distinction.

Associate Professor Brett Manley from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health was awarded the prestigious 2023 Marles STEMM award.

Associate Professor Samantha Loi from the Department of Psychiatry convened the RANZCP Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age Conference from 8 – 11 November.

The Paediatric Academy in the Department of Paediatrics recently completed the Leadership in Learning Health System Program in collaboration with Melbourne Children's Global Health.

Emeritus Professor Sidney Bloch from the Department of Psychiatry and Professor Nick Haslam from the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences has written a new book titled Troubled Minds.

Professor Martha Hickey’s new project In my Prime is an initiative created by Women’s Health Victoria in partnership with the University of Melbourne to address gendered ageism in healthcare.

Associate Professor Michelle Peate from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health has written about the five things you didn’t realise you need to know about perimenopause.

Professor Jon Emery’s Cancer in Primary Care group have received a $2.4 million MRFF grant to conduct a trial looking at the feasibility of offering DNA tests to screen for individual cancer risk in a GP setting.

The Department of General Practice and Primary Care is embarking on a major collaboration with Torch Recruit to support the development and conduct of primary care-based research, with a specific focus on the recruitment of suitable participants for clinical trials.

The Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) held its first Health Technology Innovation Challenge pitch event on Monday 13 November.

The Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations held its Annual Partnering Summit on World Diabetes Day on 14 November.

The 8th Ngar-wu Wanyarra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Conference took place on Wednesday 11 October at the Department of Rural Health's Shepparton campus on Yorta Yorta Country.

The Melbourne Medical School Research Symposium celebrates and showcases high quality research across a wide range of disciplines and is open to all staff and graduate research students in the School.

The Collaborative Practice Centre launched on Wednesday 22 November at the University of Melbourne.

As the holiday season approaches, I would like to thank you all for another fantastic year at the Melbourne Medical School. The School has achieved so much in 2023, and we couldn’t have done it without your commitment and hard work throughout the year.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital has recently opened its new Neuroimmunology Centre, led by Professor Tomas Kalincik from the Department of Medicine.

Associate Professor Sarah Dunstan, Principal Research Fellow from the Department of Infectious Diseases, has recently been awarded a research grant from the LEO Foundation to improve the treatment and transmission of leprosy in Nepal.

The Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health Elephant Circle held their second Fireside Chat at the Melbourne Brain Centre Heidelberg on Tuesday 5 March 2024.

National Kidney Action Week, observed from 11 - 17 May, serves as a crucial reminder that diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease. ACADI’s latest innovation, RenoTrue™, aims to aid in kidney disease prevention by enabling earlier detection of kidney function decline.

The Department of Critical Care Sustainability and Planetary Health Action Network (SPHAN) is engaging in new focus areas this year and invite all staff to learn more about the Network through participating in upcoming events, workshops and collaborative projects.

The Department of Medicine hosted its annual 3iii symposium titled Immunity, Immunotherapy & Immune-related Adverse Events on Thursday 2 May at Davis Auditorium - WEHI.

Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Newborn Health's Professor Martha Hickey leads a world-first series on Menopause published in The Lancet.

In a significant stride towards advancing excellence in medical research, the Melbourne Medical School (MMS) launched the Research Training Academy (RTA) on Wednesday 20 March 2024.

The Honours Alumni Mentor Program launched for 2024 with the commencement event held in The Brownless Library.

The MD Student Conference (MDSC) organising team are delighted to invite Faculty staff to the 2024 MDSC.

It has been a busy time as the Melbourne Medical School implements the third year of the redesigned Doctor of Medicine Flexible Pathways curriculum in 2024.

Dr Clare Looker, Victoria's Chief Health Officer, delivered a public lecture at the Department of Rural Health on Tuesday 5 March, returning to where she graduated from medicine in 2005.

Dear Colleagues

Dear Colleagues

It has been a rewarding start to the year as I embrace my new role as Head of the Melbourne Medical School. Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of meeting with each department and our esteemed health service partners to gain a deeper understanding of the elements that contribute to our School’s remarkable success.

Simone Gleeson is Manager of the Safer Families Centre.

Dr David Lane is the Research Manager of the Melbourne Medical School.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and many congratulations I have received since my appointment to the role was first announced.

This year’s MD Student Conference was another great success! Marking the 14^th iteration, the entirely student-led conference brought together nearly 1,400 Melbourne Medical School students to experience a week of engaging workshops, activities and special events.

The Department of Paediatrics is delighted to share the successful delivery of a 2-day Leadership in Learning Health System course in collaboration with Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta.

The Department of Clinical Pathology recently held the annual Patient Voice workshop for the 2024 Honours and Masters students.

The Melbourne Medical School Research Support team has announced that 52 graduate researchers from across the Faculty are participating in the 2024 No-Bell Prize competition.

Professor Joanne Said from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health has received a grant to progress a pilot trial aimed at establishing the effectiveness of an off-the-shelf antibiotic sometimes prescribed to women who are at increased risk of preterm birth.

A specialised virtual emergency department catering for people living with diabetes will improve access to care at the time of an emergency, while taking pressure off stretched hospital wards across Victoria.

The Wurru Wurru Health Unit (WWHU) in the Department of Medical Education have been working closely with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) to create the first LGBTQIASB+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Rainbow Mob) health resource for health professionals and medical students in Victoria.

The final report from the Parliamentary Inquiry into Diabetes has been released with 23 recommendations, many of which were advocated by The Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI).

The Research Support Team in the Melbourne Medical School was delighted to officially launch the inaugural MMS Early and Mid-Career Academic (EMCA) Mentoring Program on Wednesday, 31 July with an event organised for program participants. The launch event brought together a variety of mentors and mentees from across the School, along with members of the School’s EMCA Advisory Committee who have been pivotal to conceiving and planning the program.

The 2024 No-Bell Prize competition final took place on Tuesday 21 August in the Ian Potter Auditorium (Kenneth Myer Building) as the culmination of a Faculty-wide initiative commencing in April when the call for applications was first circulated.

The Rural Clinical School graduation celebration was held at The Woolshed at Emerald Bank in Shepparton on Friday 13 September for the Rural Clinical School's Doctor of Medicine 'Class of 2024'.

The Melbourne Medical School Research Support Team and the MD-PhD Student Executive Team organised a panel event titled Career Opportunities for Clinician Scientists on Monday 30 September.

A special week focused on topics of interest to Early and Mid-Career Academics (EMCAs) in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences was held between 28 October and 1 November 2024.

The Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) and Diabetes Australia have joined forces to announce the Australian Diabetes Clinical Trials Network (ADCTN), a research initiative designed to increase the number of diabetes clinical trials in Australia.

The Leading in Learning Health Systems Program, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia Awards and delivered by the University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics and Melbourne Children’s Global Health, recently ran its first course for nurse leaders in Vanuatu.

Are you a researcher from a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background or interested in conducting research in CALD communities?

September saw the inaugural Australasian Forum on Person-Centred Value-Based Health Care (PCVBHC) held at the Melbourne Convention Centre, organised by the Melbourne Medical School (MMS), Dental Health Services Victoria and Sprink UK.

The University of Melbourne’s Department of Surgery continues to push boundaries in surgical science, with programs spanning robotics, translational research, and patient-centred care.

The Melbourne Medical School Administrative and Professional Staff Network (MAPS) recently hosted a workshop focused on the transformative power of mentoring for professional staff. Led by Yope Vagenas, MDHS Manager, Culture and Development, this interactive session drew 35 participants eager to explore the benefits of mentoring and how it can support their personal and professional growth.

As we near the end of spring, I hope you and your families are keeping well and looking forward to the summer, and potentially some leave. There remains a great deal happening though as we head into the final stretch of the year, and I’m excited to share some key highlights with you.

On Tuesday 22 October and Wednesday 23 October, the Doctor of Medicine (MD) class of 2024 gathered at the Parkville campus to bring their MD journey to a close.

Elise Newman is the Department Coordinator for the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health, based at the Royal Women’s Hospital (RWH).

The Department of Paediatrics, in collaboration with Melbourne Children's Global Health, recently hosted an inspiring group of paediatric leaders from Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Fiji, and Vanuatu as part of the Leading a Learning Health System (LLHS) Program.

Echuca is set to become a hub for medical education, thanks to a new Rural Clinical School campus from the Department of Rural Health.

The Melbourne Medical School proudly celebrates recent recipients of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant rounds.

As we settle into the new year, it’s fantastic to see the School come to life with new and returning students, our dedicated staff, and a range of exciting initiatives taking shape. The start of the academic year brings fresh energy and new opportunities, and I look forward to what we can achieve in the year ahead.

The Department of Critical Care is one of the newest departments in the Melbourne Medical School, having recently celebrated its fourth anniversary, and it continues to thrive.

This Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dean's Honours Ceremony was held in person at the Woodward Conference on Thursday 27 February, hosted by Associate Dean Teaching and Learning Professor Liz Molloy.

Founders of Kali Healthcare, Associate Professor Fiona Brownfoot and Honorary Dr. Emerson Keenan from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, and Newborn Health, alongside Professor Marimuthu (Palani) Palaniswami from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, are developing an advanced AI-powered wearable foetal heart rate monitor, a groundbreaking innovation recently featured in Qantas Travel Insider.

Professor Peter Rogers, a researcher in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, and Newborn Health, has led the development of an innovative, non-invasive method for early detection of endometriosis.

On 13 March, the Melbourne Medical School hosted Professor Cara Tannenbaum from the Université de Montréal, Canada, for a special presentation held in the Doherty Auditorium.

The RESTORE Centre of Research Excellence was officially launched on Wednesday 19 February at an event at the University of Melbourne.

Diabetes Victoria and the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) headquartered at the University of Melbourne have together announced a 10-year funding commitment to support ACADI’s ongoing impactful diabetes research.

The Master of Genomics and Health Program is proud to announce their largest incoming class ever for 2025.

Associate Professor Hamish Graham and his colleagues emphasise that prioritising medical oxygen access is crucial for building resilient health systems worldwide.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the 2025/26 University of Melbourne Health Service Environmental Sustainability Competition.

The Australian Diabetes Clinical Trials Network (ADCTN), a collaborative initiative between Diabetes Australia and the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI), is now open for protocol submissions. This exciting development offers researchers the opportunity to receive expert review and potential endorsement for investigator-initiated diabetes clinical trials.

The Department of Medical Education is delighted to announce the launch of the revised Clinical Supervision Online course – a fully online, self-paced learning experience designed to help clinical supervisors build confidence, clarity, and effectiveness in their role.

Professor Brett Manley from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health has been awarded a $3 million grant through the NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies (CTCS) scheme to lead the BabyCCINO trial, an adaptive trial of caffeine dosing to improve outcomes for very preterm infants.

The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre came alive on Friday 18 April, as the Teddy Bear Hospital returned for the annual Kids Day Out – part of the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

The Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Children’s Global Health partnered with the Pacific Paediatric Association to deliver the Leading a Learning Health System course for interprofessional paediatric clinicians, as part of the Pacific Paediatric Association Conference.

The Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health is celebrating a number of significant achievements and initiatives in research and education.

The Melbourne Medical School is proud to announce the launch of a major new education research initiative. The project, Readiness for Team-based Collaborative Practice is funded with AUD $583,000 by Graduate Entry Medical Program Application & Selection Service (GEMPASS).

On Wednesday 7 May, the Melbourne Medical School (MMS) professional staff management team travelled to Mount Clear College in Ballarat to support 120 Year 11 and 12 students in the exploration of future career pathways.

This year marked the 15^th annual MD Student Conference, an inspiring week that brought together more than 1,400 future doctors at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

It’s hard to believe we are already at the halfway point of the year. It’s been a busy time at the Melbourne Medical School, and I couldn’t be prouder of the many exciting initiatives underway and the collaborative energy that’s buzzing within our School community.

The Melbourne Medical School is excited to welcome a new home for its St Vincent’s Hospital Clinical School at the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD), opening in the second half of 2025.

The Department of Rural Health proudly opened its campus in Shepparton for the Goulburn Valley Tertiary Information Day on Sunday 10 August.

Since starting as Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, I have been deeply encouraged by our Department’s breadth, depth and desire for collaborative research.

Professor George Braitberg AM, Marion Orchison and Associate Professor Jonathan Knott from the Department of Critical Care travelled to Delhi in late July to deliver a series of workshops on Disaster Medicine.

The Teddy Bear Hospital took over Chadstone Shopping Centre over the weekend of 23^rd and 24^th August to raise funds for the Royal Children's Hospital.

Professor Brett Manley from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health presented at this year’s Women and Infants Research Foundation.

A landmark multicentre study led by Associate Professor Elliot Long and colleagues in the Paediatric Research in Emerging Departments International Collaboration (PREDICT) network has been published in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, offering a comprehensive snapshot of community-acquired sepsis in children across Australia and New Zealand.

These past few months at the Melbourne Medical School have been both busy and demanding, yet rewarding, giving me many opportunities to connect with our community in meaningful ways.

The Melbourne Medical School is pleased to share From Lab to Leap: DeepTech to Bold Ventures, bringing together researchers, founders, investors and industry leaders passionate about turning scientific discovery into real-world impact.

As the festive season approaches, I would like to thank you all for another fantastic year at the Melbourne Medical School. The School has achieved so much since my last update, and we couldn’t have done it without your commitment and hard work throughout the year.

The Department of Paediatrics is embedded in The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), where we serve as the hospital's education partner and work closely with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. This brings enormous opportunities for our 100 staff and more than 300 honorary staff, many of whom have joint appointments across the Campus organisations.

The first ten graduates from Victoria’s sought-after Rural Medical Pathway program will soon begin their careers in regional hospitals, contributing to a long-term solution for the shortage of doctors in rural and regional Australia.

The Department of Rural Health hosted the 10^th Ngar-wu Wanyarra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Conference on Wednesday 15 October.

More than 100 people attended the 2025 Melbourne Medical School Research Symposium on Wednesday 5 November at the Melbourne Brain Centre in Heidelberg. This year’s program highlighted the vibrant and diverse research taking place across the Heidelberg Precinct.

The MMS and WEHI Partnering for Impact Series is a new initiative designed to connect discovery science with clinical research and accelerate collaborative opportunities between the two institutions. The inaugural event, held at the Ian Potter Auditorium on 16 October 2025, explored the broad theme Women’s Health.

Final-year MD4 students from the Northern Clinical School (University of Melbourne) and Intern pharmacists from Northern Health recently took part in an innovative interprofessional simulation designed to prepare them for real-world hospital practice.

On World Diabetes Day, held on Friday 14 November, ACADI hosted its 2025 Partnering Summit in Melbourne under the theme Bridging the Gap: Translating Innovation to Impact in Diabetes Care.

Dr Martin Nguyen, Associate Investigator for Healthcare Environmental Sustainability, and Dr Julie Dao, Research Fellow at the Healthcare Carbon Lab, were recently featured by ABC for their work with Medical Pantry.

With the year now underway, I would like to welcome you to the first edition of our Melbourne Medical School newsletter for the year. This is a great opportunity to reflect on recent highlights across our community, while also looking ahead to the priorities, partnerships and possibilities that will shape the year to come.

The Department of Medical Education (DME) reports a busy start to the year, with students engaged in clinical placements, interprofessional learning and research. DME has launched flexible postgraduate and professional development programmes in clinical education and leadership, and introduced a dual intake in the B.Med.Sci. Graduate research continues to grow. A new shared office space supports connection and collaboration. Staff are invited to contribute to teaching, assessment and scholarship.

The University of Melbourne has formally approved the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) as a University Research Centre for a 10‑year term, following endorsement by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

On 30 January, the Trans Health Research group proudly launched three new reports on three community priorities – employment, housing, and health care.

The Department of Rural Health partnered with the Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project (GSLP) to deliver 100 back to school bags for primary aged students as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen community engagement in the region.

Dental Stream students from the Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours) program were welcomed at an inauguration ceremony at Universitas Indonesia’s Depok Campus, marking academic excellence and ongoing collaboration between the University of Melbourne and its Indonesian partners.

The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dean's Honours Ceremony was held in person on Thursday 19 February, hosted by Acting Dean, Professor Mike McGuckin.

The Melbourne Medical School (MMS) and Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) hosted the first Partnering for Impact Series event on 26 March 2026.

Professor Sarath Ranganathan, Head of the Melbourne Medical School, has been awarded the prestigious Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) Research Medal, recognising his exceptional and sustained contributions to respiratory medicine.

The Department of Psychiatry has had a productive first half of 2026, marked by growth across education, research and public engagement. Established in 1964, the Department has grown considerably since then. Its main campus office is in the Alan Gilbert Building in Parkville, and it extends to clinical hubs at Austin Health, Royal Melbourne Hospital, St Vincent's Health, Northern Health, Western Health, Albert Road Clinic (Ramsay Health Care), and The Melbourne Clinic (Healthscope).

The University of Melbourne convened an Australia-India symposium in New Delhi, bringing together leaders in medical education, healthcare and policy to examine the evolving landscape of medical education in India.

The Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) has received a $14.6 million reinvestment from the Australian Government through the Medical Research Future Fund, supporting a further four years of work to improve outcomes for people living with diabetes.

Researchers from the Melbourne Medical School have published new research exploring a novel device for narrowed or blocked arteries, supporting ongoing efforts to improve patient care and health outcomes.

The Melbourne Medical School Research Support Team recently hosted Harnessing AI for Research Success, a full-day, practical workshop led by Dr Jason Downes (workshop facilitator) and funded through an MDHS Graduate Researcher Development Grant.

On Tuesday 19 May 2026, Melbourne Medical School (MMS) management team and faculty colleagues joined students at Woodmans Hill Secondary College for a careers event delivered in partnership with The Smith Family, creating opportunities for young people to explore future study and career pathways in a fun, interactive and engaging way.

Professor Franz Babl has been reappointed as the Professor of Paediatric Emergency Medicine at the University of Melbourne. His main role is to drive national and international research and research collaboration in acute care research in children.

As we steam on through the middle of the year, I have been reflecting on the many ways our community continues to create impact beyond the walls of our classrooms, laboratories and hospitals. While education and research remain at the heart of what we do, some of our most meaningful contributions occur when we bring people together to address shared challenges and efforts to improve health outcomes, both locally and globally, through the excellence of our research, education and our people. Several recent activities have reminded me of the strength of these partnerships and the important role universities play in fostering such collaboration, innovation and positive change.