Annual Report 2008-09 - Austin Health

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NEPHROLOGY, ENDOCRINOLOGY AND SURGERY Austin Health played a key role in providing hope for insulin-resistant type 1 diabetes patients through the National Islet Transplant Program that involved a consortium of Australian transplant and diabetes researchers. The program used emerging therapies to take insulin-producing islet cells from a deceased donor pancreas and injected them through a vein into the patient’s liver where they begin to produce insulin. Austin Health surgeons had a major role in donor organ retrieval and Assoc Prof Frank Ierino and his team provided a comprehensive medical screening program for potential recipients before waitlisting them for the procedure. This is a collaborative program in Victoria with St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and St Vincent’s Health where the early procedures have been performed and plans are underway to perform this procedure at Austin Hospital. NUTRITION AND DIETETICS Nutrition and Dietetics assessed the adequacy of fluid intake in dysphagic patients and identified the factors affecting fluid intake at three Melbourne teaching hospitals. Fifty patients were assessed. Of these, 46 per cent had a stroke diagnosis and 24 per cent had respiratory problems. Seventy-six per cent of patients were malnourished and the mean oral fluid intake was only 42 per cent of estimated fluid requirements. Those on thickened fluids, who required assistance with drinking, were bedridden or reliant on a wheelchair, met a significantly lower estimated fluid requirement than those independent with drinking or mobility. Strategies to improve fluid intake in this high-risk population are being investigated. The project was funded by a Deakin University small project grant. PHYSIOTHERAPY The Physiotherapy Department collaborated with and participated in a number of significant projects. Key projects included a study into the effect of lower limb prostheses (traditional vs novel) upon the ability of above-knee amputees to traverse ‘everyday’ terrain. The department contributed to a study into a three-dimensional analysis of shoulder girdle movement to understand factors associated with shoulder pain following stroke. SPINAL AND ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY RESEARCH Austin Health researchers were awarded more than $14 million from $19 million in grants available from the Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative for projects to improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injuries (SCI). A $4.9 million grant was awarded to the late Prof Robert Pierce to investigate how sleep quality could be improved in people with quadriplegia. Prof Pierce’s student, Dr David Berlowitz, was subsequently appointed lead investigator. Prof Mary Galea was awarded $4.7 million to investigate exercise in SCI patients, including its potential to recover neurological function. Another $4.9 million was awarded to a team led by Prof John Furness from The University of Melbourne that included several Austin Health chief investigators. Pictured left: Dr Melanie Freeman, cardiology fellow and Prof Louise Burrell, Head – cardiovascular research group, in the cardiovascular research lab. 26 Austin Health : 2008-09 ANNUAL REPORT
LUDWIG INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH AT AUSTIN HEALTH Prof Andrew Scott, Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) at Austin Hospital led a team responsible for the development of a new paradigm in targeting cancer cells, the monoclonal antibody (mAb) 806. Preclinical investigations and a phase one, first-in-man trial at Austin Hospital in 2007, determined that mAb806 binds to a previously unreported epitope of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) that is only exposed in overexpressed, mutated or amplified EGFR. Over-expression of EGFR occurs in more than 50 per cent of some types of cancers. Current therapies that target EGFR cause side-effects by targeting EGFR both when it is over-expressed on cancer cells and when it is present in usual amounts on normal cells. Unlike these reagents, mAb806 has been shown in pre-clinical testing to have no cross-reactivity with normal tissue, and is the first tumour-specific antibody directed towards a cancer-related growth factor receptor. In November one of the LICR spin-off companies, Life Science Pharmaceuticals, licensed mAb806 to pharmaceutical company Abbott. LICR at Austin Health continues to be actively involved with Abbott in the ongoing clinical development of this exciting cancer therapy candidate. NHMRC EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2008 Reinforcing Austin Health’s national importance as a research precinct, two of its researchers were recognised with prestigious NHMRC Excellence Awards, only given to the seven highest-ranking grant and fellowship recipients in Australia. Neurologist Prof Graeme Jackson, Director and founder of the Brain Research Institute was recognised for his work defining the causes of epilepsy and classifying the brain’s developmental abnormalities using magnetic resonance imaging. Dr Sofianos Andrikopoulos, head of the Islet Biology Research Group at The University of Melbourne Department of Medicine at Austin Health, was recognised for research that suggested that a common class of drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes, sulfonylureas, actually accelerate the disease. AUSTIN LIFESCIENCES RESEARCH WEEK Researchers from Austin Health and its associated institutions and universities participated in the annual Research Week celebrations in October. The Austin LifeSciences Symposium and plenary session were popular events, and 153 researchers displayed their work in the annual poster competition. Numerous awards were given for excellence in various fields of research, including allied health, cancer, stroke, nursing, parent/infant, clinical and general research. The 2008 Distinguished Scientist Award was presented to endocrinologist and internationallyrecognised expert on osteoporosis Prof Ego Seeman for his contribution to the Austin research community over his career at Austin Health. Rising talent Dr Cherie Chiang won both awards open to young researchers – the Austin Lifesciences Award for Basic Research and the Young Investigator Award, for her abstract Mineralisation and Bone Resorption are Regulated by the Androgen Receptor in Male Mice. NATIONAL HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL GRANT WINNERS 2009 Prof L Burrell: Vasopressin and heart failure, $551,250 Prof E Seeman, Dr R Zebaze and team: Cortical porosity to bone fragility, $596,250 Prof J Proietto: Understanding how obesity and abnormal lipids are linked, $320,100 Prof G Jerums, Assoc Prof R MacIsaac and team: eGFR in indigenous Australians, $926,200 Prof J Zajac, Dr R Davey and team: Male hormone receptors in boneforming cells, $451,625 Dr S Andrikopoulos, Dr B Fam and team: The role of a liver enzyme in controlling body weight, $475,125 Assoc Prof I Davis, Prof J Cebon, Assoc Prof W Chen and team: Immune targeting of melanoma stem cells, $506,250 Prof A Scott, Dr P Ramsland and team: Using the immune system to treat cancers, $543,500 Prof D Power: Waste control in kidney disease, $438,000 Dr D Christiansen, Dr P Ramsland, Dr H Vaughan, Prof M Sandrin and team: The role of carbohydrates in transplantation, $541,500 Prof R Bellomo and team: Erythropoietin in Traumatic Brain Injury (EPO-TBI), $1,848,475 Austin Health : 2008-09 ANNUAL REPORT 27
Page 1 and 2: Annual Report 2008-09 TURNING SCIEN
Page 3 and 4: To provide our patients with the be
Page 5 and 6: PERCENTAGE OF TIME AMBULANCES WERE
Page 7 and 8: The team’s genetic research contr
Page 9 and 10: The ongoing development and upgrade
Page 11 and 12: on disability access improvement is
Page 13 and 14: Mr Stephen Kerr Ms Joe Manton Ms Jo
Page 15 and 16: this will defend them against the r
Page 17 and 18: Pictured left: Mr Philip Hayward an
Page 19 and 20: Tower opened in 2005. ED staff cont
Page 21 and 22: Prof Seeman’s boundless enthusias
Page 23 and 24: Pictured left: Emergency Department
Page 25 and 26: Research Austin Health’s culture
Page 27: Pictured below: Dr Sofianos Andriko
Page 31 and 32: the provision of new simulation equ
Page 33 and 34: Pictured opposite: Dr Michael Geluk
Page 35 and 36: Prof Proietto also says that there
Page 37 and 38: Pictured left: the Food Services De
Page 39 and 40: Pictured below: division 1 nurse Je
Page 41 and 42: Fundraising Austin Health’s world
Page 43 and 44: Mr Keith Bailey Mr and Mrs Carl and
Page 45 and 46: Dr F Kerr Director Emergency Medici
Page 47 and 48: SCHOLARSHIPS Dr Ali Al-Fiadh Nation
Page 49 and 50: Our Clinical Services STATEWIDE SER
Page 51 and 52: “Hand hygiene is the single most
Page 53 and 54: Mandatory Reporting AVAILABILITY OF
Page 55 and 56: Statement of Priorities A ‘statem
Page 57 and 58: Statement of Priorities Part B: Per
Page 59 and 60: Disclosure Index The annual report

Annual Report 2008-09 - Austin Health

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