Newsletter April 2007
Staff
We are pleased to welcome Paul Bertrand as a new Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physiology who comes to UNSW after spending two years as Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada. Paul
obtained his PhD at the Michigan State University and spent 10 years at the University of Melbourne, at first in John Furness' Laboratory and later as an RD Wright Fellow.
Matthew Kirkcaldie is returning to Hobart at the end of the month and I would like to thank him for his service to teaching in the Department of Physiology over the last 2 and a half years.
SOMS Seminar
The next seminar will be held at 4pm on Thursday 26 April in the Athol Lykke Theatre followed by refreshments. This seminar will be given by Professor Gary Housley and is entitled “An ionotropic glutamate receptor mediates calcium-induced release in primary auditory neurones”. The paper of the month for March will also be awarded at this ceremony.
Prizes Ceremony
The Prizes Ceremony will be held at 5.30 pm on Wednesday 23 May in the Athol Lykke Theatre followed by refreshments. All staff are welcome, a program will be circulated in due course.
Renovations
The renovations on the ground floor and second floor are now complete. The next round of renovations will be on the third floor, plans are currently being drawn. Work on the new C25 building will start at the end of the year, further information will be circulated as it becomes available.
Research
I am pleased to announce that the new Chair of the Research Committee is Dr Shaun Sandow. Shaun has spent the last year assisting with the postdocs in the School and I am sure that he will do well in this role. My sincere thanks to Prof Phil Waite for her service on this committee as Chair for the last few years. The committee has achieved some remarkable successes in the past for the School, and hopefully this success will continue.
The Research Committee is please to announce that the following honours students have been awarded SOMS Scholarships: Garry Chang (George Mendz), Leanne Luong (Pacal Carrive), Daniel Gardon (Patsie Polly) and Nady Braidy (Ross Grant). There was tough competition for these, so well done to these students.
There will be a Postgrad social on the 27 April 2007 at 4-5pm in M204. This has been organised by your postgrad representatives - Angela Laird (Anatomy and Neuroscience), Nadim Alnaser (Physiology and Pharmacology) and Owen Hunyh (Pathology and IDRU). This is a completely informal social event, so come along and meet other postgrad students in SOMS and enjoy finding out what other people are doing.
Congratulations to Andrew Lloyd and his team for funding from the VC strategic initiative.
Don't forget the SOMS Century Club. If you have 100 publications or more please let Shaun know as we would love to add more members to our Century Club..
Paper of the Month
Anusha Hettiaratchi, Nicholas Hawkins, Gavin McKenzie, Robyn Ward, John Hunt, Denis Wakefield and Nick di Girolamo received the award of Paper of the Month for March 2007 with their publication “The collegenase-1 (MMP-1) gene promoter polymorphism – 1607/2G is associated with favourable prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer” published in the British Journal of Cancer. The certificate will be presented at the seminar on 26 April.
Museum
News from the Museum of Human Disease
New display: ‘Blood, Bugs & Bodies’
The newest addition to the Museum collection is now on display in the foyer of the Samuels Building. ‘Blood, Bugs & Bodies’ explains what pathology is and describes some of the main disciplines. The display was originally designed and produced by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia who has generously donated them to the Museum. They serve as a great introduction to our collection for visitors and I encourage you to have a look for yourself when you next walk past the Samuels Building!
Discovery Sessions Launch- 4 June 2007
Discovery Sessions are a new initiative at the Museum designed to provide members of the UNSW community and general public with more opportunities to visit the Museum. Each session will consist of a brief presentation from a SoMS academic or Museum staff member and an opportunity to explore our fascinating collection. If you know people with an interest in health, science or disease then Discovery Sessions are for them! Stay tuned for more information about the launch…
Artificial Heart goes on display!
The VentrAssist Artificial Heart is at the cutting edge of biomedical technology and the Museum has recently acquired one of these fascinating devices on loan from Ventracor Ltd. The VentrAssist is particularly relevant for the thousands of Senior Science students which attend as part of our Outreach program. It also offers an interesting insight into the new treatments available for many of the heart problems on display in the Museum. Please call into the Museum if you’d like to see this amazing device!
Museum passes 5000 bookings for 2007
2007 marks ten years of the Museum’s Outreach Program and its popularity shows no signs of declining! Already this year there are 5000 students from all across NSW booked to attend our workshops which suggests that 2007 will be the most successful year yet!
New branding for the Museum
The Museum now has a new logo and brand which is designed to reflect the human element of our collection. There are two versions of the new logo; a ‘line version’ which you will see on the top right corner or our website, and a ‘block version’ which you can see on the registration form for our upcoming Teachers Professional Development Day’. The new logos and style will be used for all external communication with our visitors.
Visit our website for a preview of the new logos!
www.diseasemuseum.unsw.edu.au