Researchers from Austin Health and associated institutions and universities presented, collaborated and won their way through another successful Research Week in October 2009.
A total of 219 research posters were displayed in the Education Precinct, showing the strength of support for research at Austin Health.
Research Week began with a bang on Monday 19 October, with new event "Professors Professing" attracting a large crowd to the John Lindell Lecture Theatre.
The event, which featured recent Distinguished Scientist Award winners, Professors Rinaldo Bellomo and Ego Seeman, was as entertaining as it promised to be, with jokes, youtube videos and references to popular culture included alongside wisdom and advice for young people entering the medical research field.
The professors lived up to their reputations as skilled orators, and clearly enjoyed the opportunity to impart their wisdom. Both spoke of having a very similar motivation of wanting to share their passion for research with younger people.
Professor Seeman said that he wanted to express to young people how being a researcher is a wonderful lifestyle. “Nothing is more important than nurturing someone’s career. Nothing that we do lasts – not our discoveries – but the difference you can make to someone’s career is lasting,” he said.
Professor Bellomo agreed that he enjoyed mentoring young people “They become like family and you really feel like you have to look after them,” he said.
The John Lindell Lecture Theatre was close to capacity for both Wednesday’s Austin LifeSciences Symposium and Thursday’s plenary session.
Plenary speaker Professor Fred Mendelsohn spoke to a packed and attentive lecture theatre about the plastic brain - specifically the implications of neural plasticity for development, memory, recovery and rehabilitation.
Women scooped this year’s Research Week awards, with the Distinguished Scientist Award presented to a female researcher, Professor Louise Burrell, for the first year ever, and the finalists of the AHMRF Young Investigator Award were all women.
Prof Burrell accepted her medal from plenary speaker Prof Fred Mendelsohn, after being nominated for her contribution to Austin Health’s research culture by Director of Cardiology, A/Prof Omar Farouque. Prof Burrell is a nationally and internationally-recognised researcher. She has received $12.8 million in grant funding since 1994 from funding bodies that include the National Health and Medical Research Counciland Heart Foundation, written more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, co-authored 16 book chapters and importantly, fostered the careers of many young scientists and physicians. Congratulations Professor Burrell!
Researchers from Mercy Health participated in Research Week for the first time. AHMRF Young Investigator Award finalist Ms Jan Heng is a PhD student from The University of Melbourne based at the Mercy Perinatal Research Centre. Ms Heng also won one of the two Prizes for Scientific Research for her research into predicting spontaneous preterm labour.
Congratulations to all Austin LifeSciences Research Week award winners from 2009.
Research Week finished on Friday 23 October with the RJ Pierce Symposium, honouring the contribution to Respiratory and Sleep Medicine by the late Professor Rob Pierce.
Prof Michael Christie, Charles Darwin University, spoke of his work with Rob Pierce preparing multi-media resources for interpreting with Aboriginal patients. Prof Christie challenged some aspects of the traditional doctor patient paradigm encourging the audience to work collaboratively with patients.
Dr Christopher Worsnop spoke of his work with Prof Pierce in eludicating aspects of Upper airway physiology, and Dr Mark Howard with Mr Bill Noonan (OAM) spoke of their work with Rob Pierce in the VRSS study "Healthbreak - Improving Sleep Health and Safety in the Transport Industry.
