Viral Immunology Group lead new Omicron vaccine trial

Associate Professor Branka Grubor-Bauk, Professor Eric Gowans and their Viral Immunology Group at th

21.06.20220 comments

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Professor PJ Wormald elected to Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences

Congratulations are extended to Professor PJ Wormald for being elected as a fellow to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the health and medical landscape in Australia.  Prof Wormald is Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Adelaide and lead researcher of the ENT Surgery research group which is based at the Basil Hetzel Institute, TQEH. The full list of 37 new Fellows can be found here..

Sarah and Zelalem awarded prizes at Florey Postgraduate Research Conference

Congratulations to Basil Hetzel Institute PhD students Sarah Bernhardt (Breast Biology and Cancer Unit) and Zelalem Mekonnen (Virology Group) for being awarded the Adelaide Medical School Prize and Research and Business Partnerships Prize (sponsored by CMAX) respectively at The University of Adelaide Florey Postgraduate Research Conference. The conference, held at the National Wine Centre yesterday, showcases the research activity of higher degree research students within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at The University of Adelaide. During the afternoon, Sarah also presented her 3MT talk again, as she was one of two Faculty students to make it through to the University wide final recently..

In the news: Dr Sarah Appleton and her research on OSA and heart disease

An article about Dr Sarah Appleton's research on Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) and links with heart disease appeared in The Advertiser on Monday 10 September. "Sleep problems cost Australia up to $66 billion annually, and $6 billion of this is directed to obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), a disorder characterised by snoring and repetitive collapse of the upper airway during sleep...Dr Appleton and her team [The Health Observatory, Basil Hetzel Institute and The University of Adelaide] are in the process of determining if a delayed OSA diagnosis and impact of treatment is linked to the development of heart disease and other conditions in Adelaide men... Now, with funding from The Hospital Research Foundation, researchers will be able to follow these men up and repeat the study to determine the characteristics of men who have severe OSA now but had no or only mild OSA five to 10 years ago." (full article - online subscriber only content: https://bit.ly/2MkUQLa)..

Congratulations to new BHI graduates

The graduation ceremony for the University of Adelaide's Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences was held on Tuesday 11 September 2018. Dr Alistair Jukes, who completed his PhD with ENT Surgery at the Basil Hetzel Institute, TQEH, was honoured to be chosen as the mace-bearer for the ceremony (photo below). Other BHI based graduates included Dr Hannah Gostlow (M.Phil. Surgery, Surgical Science Research Group), and Makutiro Masavuli (PhD, Virology Research Group), Helen Palethorpe (PhD, Solid Tumour Research Group) and Aden Lau (PhD, ENT Surgery/Rheumatology Research Group. Main photo shows L-R: Mak, Helen and Aden..

Finding ways to beat superbugs: Dr Katharina Richter

An article about Dr Katharina Richter's research within the ENT Surgery Group at the Basil Hetzel Institute, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, appeared in Saturday's The Advertiser newspaper. She is one of 8 researchers from The University of Adelaide who are featured in videos as part of celebrations of Nobel Laureate Howard Florey's birth 120 years ago. Head of the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at TQEH, and Research Leader of ENT Surgery, Professor PJ Wormald is another researcher featured in these videos [Florey 120 Anniversary]..

Three BHI researchers win NHMRC Early Career Fellowships

In the most recent announcement from the NHMRC, three early career fellowships have been won by BHI researchers who all completed their PhDs through the University of Adelaide while based at the Basil Hetzel Institute. Dr Vasilios (Bill) Panagopoulos, Breast Cancer Research Unit, and Dr Cher-Rin Chong, Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Therapeutics Group, were each awarded NHMRC Peter Doherty Biomedical Early Career Fellowships, while Dr Katharina Richter, ENT Surgery, was awarded an NHMRC CJ Martin Early Career Fellowship. In addition to these fellowships, Professor PJ Wormald, also from ENT Surgery, secured a NHMRC Development Grant valued at over $500,000. South Australia was awarded a total of 23 early career fellowships and development grants, so to have 4 awarded to BHI researchers is a fantastic achievement. Follow the links to each individual to find out more..

Mian wins the People’s Choice Award at the national IMPACT7 2018 event

On Thursday 9 August 2018 Mian Li Ooi, a PhD student in ENT Surgery at the Basil Hetzel Institute, received the IMPACT7 2018 People's Choice Award in Melbourne, Victoria. IMPACT7 is an annual event that brings together researchers from across Australia to present solutions to some for the world's most pressing challenges. Presenters had three minutes to pitch their projects to an audience of fellow researchers, judges and high school students. All presenters had attended a "pitch camp" on the Wednesday, during which a CSIRO team and facilitators from their accelerator ON program were available to assist researchers with their pitch..

Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Awards to Dr Danushka Wijesundara and Zelalem Mekonnen

Two BHI researchers from the Virology Group, led by Professor Eric Gowans, received major awards from the recent Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology (ACH2) Conference which was held in the Yarra Valley from 6-8 June. The Hospital Research Foundation's Early Research Fellow Dr Danushka Wijesundara was awarded the Australian Centre for Hepatitis Virology (ACHV) Chris Burrell HCV International Travel Award (value $4000), while the ACHV Domestic Travel Award (value $1000) was awarded to PhD student Zelalem Mekonnen..

ASMR Ross Wishart Memorial Award won by Dr Katharina Richter

Congratulations to Dr Katharina Richter, from the ENT Surgery research group, for winning the Ross Wishart Memorial Award at the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) Scientific Meeting in Adelaide last week. Another of the four finalists, Dr Sathish Paramasivan, is also from ENT Surgery. The Ross Wishart Memorial Award is given to the person who delivers the most outstanding presentation at the SA division's Annual Scientific Meeting during Medical Research Week. It is named in memory of Ross Wishart, a scientist and long-term member of the SA ASMR committee. Kati is continuing her research at the Basil Hetzel Institute where she completed her PhD (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - The University of Adelaide) in 2017..