Biomedical Science News

PhD graduation

Nastaran Hesam Shariati, previously a postgraduate student in the Discpline, recently graduated as a PhD. Nastaran is pictured at her graduation ceremony, along with her valued colleague, Paul Tawadros (at left), and supervisor, Alan Freeman (at right). Nastaran is now working at NICTA, an Australian centre for engineering and medical research, on an implantable device for spinal cord stimulation in patients with intractable pain.

Student dissectors – Presentation of certificates, 3rd April 2013

Student dissectors with anatomy lab staff

Congratulations to the 13 students who successfully completed an anatomical dissection in the anatomy lab over the Summer Break.

Last year 13 students from the FHS took part in our Student Dissection Competition held in the Anatomy lab over the summer break. Students were given random anatomical specimens ranging from shoulders, upper limbs, knees and feet and were assigned the task to dissect. Students devoted much of their holiday time to this project and showed great determination to complete their dissections before the commencement of Semester 1 2013.

The specimens were judged accordingly and all of the dissections were of a quality that they will be able to be used in our teaching program. Prizes were given to the 3 best dissections.

• 1st Place- Irene Yang
• 2nd Place- Elizabeth Stride
• 3rd Place-Heather York

All other students who successfully completed their dissections were:

• Ji Hui Neo
• Zhi Yi Kwok
• Huiy Gwan San
• Jordon Rose
• David Maiolo
• Shane Jayamanne
• Sonya Bridger
• Alexandros Tsathas
• Paul Platis
• Anastasia Zhirnova

Congratulations and thank you to all the students for their contribution to our anatomy lab. We hope the opportunity to dissect an anatomical specimen remains with you as an invaluable learning experience.

Assoc Prof Kay Double - Parkinson's disease presentation in Parliament House

L-R, Senator Carol Brown, AProf Kay Double, Mrs Dympna Irwin and Joanna Gash MP

On March 20th Assoc Prof Kay Double gave an invited presentation in Parliament House on the social and economic challenges posed by Parkinson's disease. A distinguished group of federal politicians attended this event including members of "Friends of Parkinson's" an informal group of politicians with a special interest in this disorder. The presentation was hosted by Senator Carol Brown and organised by Parkinson's campaigner Mrs Dympna Irwin.

Bio staff participation in Brain Awareness week

BAW 15 March 2013: incursion visit to Condell Park High School

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is held in March every year. This global campaign aims to increase public awareness of the benefits and progress of brain research. Fun activities and seminars happen around the world during BAW. Dr Jin Huang organised a variety of fun and hands-on BAW activities again. This year, on Friday 15/03/13, Dr Huang and her team (see below) celebrated BAW with the Year 8 kids from Condell Park High School. From the positive feedback students provided, it was clear the kids loved to get their hands dirty and lamb brain dissection was their favourite. They also discovered some amazing body sensations and found out how the brain works! Below are some of the written comments the kids provided:

• I had a great time.
• Best thing this year!
• Brilliant, perfect and enjoyable.
• This incursion was Awesome!!! We really enjoyed the activities and the Neuroscientists explained everything really well and we learned a lot. Hope to see you again soon.
• It was really fun and we will love to do this again next year.

We would like to thank Australian Neuroscience Society for funding these activities. These activities are also part of the activities organised by members of the Sydney Chapter of The American Society for Neuroscience.

Team: Drs Jin Huang (leader), Alan Freeman, Elizabeth Hegedus, Damian Holsinger, Elaine Wong and Miss Francesca Meliton; Dr Paul Tawadros (Macquarie University).

The Discipline welcomes two new academic staff

Joanna Diong has a background in physiotherapy and completed a PhD in clinical epidemiology and clinical biomechanics at The George Institute for Global Health under Professor Rob Herbert. Her research examined the incidence and mechanisms of contracture after spinal cord injury and she continued practicing clinically at Liverpool Hospital. After completing her doctoral research, Jo held post-doctoral appointments at The George Institute and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) to continue her research on mechanical properties of muscles, support the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) and adapt the UK national guidelines on the management of hip fracture in older adults for endorsement by the Australian NHMRC. Jo has broad interests in muscle physiology, applied anatomy and clinical research, and continues to extend her work in mechanical properties of muscles after stroke, gerontology and injury from falls, and evidence based practice.

Cliffton Chan is a physiotherapist with special interest in the prevention and management of neuromusculoskeletal conditions in a range of occupational and sporting groups. In his doctoral research, Cliffton worked exclusively with the eight premier symphony orchestras of Australia to target performance-related musculoskeletal disorders in professional orchestral musicians. His investigations focused on the role of physiotherapy-led triage clinics, purpose-designed exercise programs and body awareness training (i.e. Alexander Technique), as well as using novel ways to measure posture and a range of performance-related factors. Having worked extensively in the public and private sectors in Brisbane and Sydney, and taught musculoskeletal anatomy and physiotherapy at the University of Sydney, Cliffton is an experienced clinician and educator.

International prize awarded to Associate Professor Kay Double

Congratulations to Associate Professor Kay Double on being awarded the 2013 Humboldt Prize for Innovative Network Initiatives!

The prize is awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. This is an international prize for former Humboldt Fellows world-wide to develop schemes supportive of research and researchers in all disciplines internationally. Kay had submitted an application for support for the national mentoring program she had set up in Australia for young researchers in 2011. The prize is Euro 25,000 (to support the scheme). It will be presented in June 2013 at the Foundation's national conference in Berlin.