U#3888_MH_ResearchReport (S)

Monash Health
School of Clinical Sciences
at Monash Health
2017 at a glance
Our researchers’
work featured in
publications
including:
The New England Journal
of Medicine
The Lancet
Nature
Blood
Cell Reports
The School enrolled a record of
43
BMedSc(Hons) students
MHTP is the
largest site
for this cohort in the Faculty
Research grant success was a highlight
in 2017, with researchers from the
School of Clinical Sciences at Monash
Health (SCS) and the Department of
Molecular and Translational Science
(through the Hudson Institute of
Medical Research) awarded 23
National Health and Medical Research
Council (NHMRC) Project grants,
totalling $15.3 million. For the first
time, Monash Health Translation
Precinct (MHTP) researchers were
awarded total funding greater than
any other school of Monash University,
amounting to 30% of the Faculty’s total
grants.
MHTP Research Week was a success
for the second year, featuring keynote
speakers Nobel Laureate Professor
Peter Doherty AC and Vice-President,
Research & Development, CSL Dr
Andrea Douglas. Nearly 200 posters
were submitted and displayed
throughout Monash Medical Centre
and the Monash Children’s Hospital.
The new Monash Children’s Hospital
opened in 2017, which includes a $6
million university-funded education
and research space and a state-ofthe-art
Paediatric Simulation Centre
to train students for paediatric
surgical care.
SCS welcomed the University’s first
Chair of Precision Medicine with the
appointment of renowned molecular
geneticist Professor Melissa Southey.
In 2017, Professor Southey was part of
the international collaborative study
that discovered new genetic variants
that predict the risk of developing
breast cancer.
Professor Eva Segelov joined MHTP
as Director of Oncology at Monash
Health and Professor of Oncology in
the Department of Medicine, Monash
University. In a study led by Professor
Arun Azad, Head of Medical Oncology
Clinical Trials, a Monash Health patient
was the first in Australia to be recruited
to a new prostate cancer clinical trial.
Lung cancer patients also benefitted
from the relocation of clinical trials
from the Monash Cancer Centre,
Moorabbin, to the MHTP Clinical Trials
Centre. Monash Health hepatobiliary
surgeon and interventional endoscopist
Dr Daniel Croagh was awarded a
Monash Partners Comprehensive
Cancer Centre (MPCCC) grant worth
$184,000 for his research into precision
chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer.
A number of research areas achieved
significant recognition during 2017,
through high impact publications,
grants, prizes and awards. Monash
Haematology was approved as
a “Myelodysplasia (MDS) Centre
of Excellence” by the International
MDS Foundation, and Monash
haematologists received three of
only seven competitive Haematology
Society of Australia and New
Zealand (HSANZ) New Investigator
Scholarships across Australia and
New Zealand. Monash Haematology
patients benefitted from world-first
clinical trials being undertaken at the
MHTP Clinical Trials Centre.
Early career researchers in the Centre
for Inflammatory Diseases (CID)
won all major awards at the annual
scientific meeting of the Australian and
New Zealand Society of Nephrology
in recognition of their research into
kidney disease. Understanding the
basis of autoimmune disease was
a significant breakthrough, with
a publication in Nature, and the
Neuroinflammation Research Group
took out the majority of awards at the
Australian Vascular Biology Society
annual conference. An Australian-first
lupus registry and biobank (ALRB) was
launched. Led by Monash researchers,
the ALRB will be a valuable resource
for clinicians, scientists, industry and
government to provide real world
evidence of clinical effectiveness
of existing or new therapies and
management strategies in patients
with lupus.
Stroke research and researchers made
a significant contribution to the field in
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