The Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI; Research Director: Maria Makrides) is a not for profit medical research institute at the forefront of nutrition research and is internationally recognised for research in improving health outcomes of mothers and babies through large scale nutrition intervention studies. WCHRI works closely with other institutions locally and internationally, with a particular focus on the first 1000 days of life which the WHO has identified as being a critical window of opportunity to ensure a healthy start and long term health.

One local partnership formed with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital (WCH) and the Flinders Medical Centre (FMC), is called Child Nutrition Research Centre (CNRC), which was established to recognise the commitment to improving the health of women and children through quality research.

The picture features staff involved in the research conducted by the CNRC at both FMC and WCH.

The majority of research at the CNRC is funded by the NHMRC and currently the largest ongoing study is the NHMRC-funded ORIP (Omega-3 fats to Reduce the Incidence of Prematurity) study which is looking to recruit 5500 pregnant women under 20 weeks of gestation to investigate whether taking a fish oil rich in the omega 3 fat, Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), during pregnancy will help prevent very premature delivery.

From December 2012, all tobacco products in Australia were required by law to be sold in drab brown standardized packaging with large warnings labels.  This world-first public health initiative was designed to eliminate the remaining form of glamorization and promotion of tobacco in Australia – the packet itself.

The introduction of plain packaging on tobacco products is working, according to the first comprehensive evaluation of the legislation.

Published in Tobacco Control, a special supplement of 14 separate studies showed that the legislation had gone beyond expectations and delivered on its aims.

Key findings of the report include:

• Plain packaging has reduced the appeal of packs, particularly with adolescents and young adults.
• The legislation has not increased the consumption of illicit “cheap white” cigarettes.
• Plain packaging has encouraged smokers to think about and attempt to quit.

SAHMRI’s Population Health Research Group Director, Dr Caroline Miller, was one of a small expert team providing advice to the Australian Government throughout the design, implementation and evaluation phases. SAHMRI also undertook elements of the evaluation. Caroline said: “These results should give confidence to countries considering plain packaging, that plain packs not only reduce appeal of tobacco products and increase the effectiveness of health warnings, but also diminish the tobacco industry's ability to use packs to mislead consumers about the harms of smoking."

Since the publication of the findings, Ireland has passed plain packaging legislation and the UK has passed its legislation and is preparing associated regulations. New Zealand, France and Singapore have announced their intentions to regulate.

Wardliparingga Aboriginal Health Unit and the Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children theme would like to thank all of those who participated on the day.  The Steering Group for the workshop were pleased with the number of people who attended the workshop and the diversity of the participants and presentations.  Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal representatives from all sectors of government, non-government organisations, community, policy makers and more contributed on the day.

The workshop was facilitated by Alex Brown, Aboriginal Research Theme Leader, SAHMRI,  Maria Makrides, Healthy Mothers, Babies & Children Theme Leader, SAHMRI and Donna Weetra, Senior Project Officer, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. The presenters were: Rosie King (Aboriginal Health Council of SA) – Next Steps for Aboriginal Health Research, Cathy Leane (Women’s and Children’s Health Network) and Donna Weetra (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) – Aboriginal Families Study,  Sonia Waters (Anglicare) – Out of home care and Suzy Bryce (Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council) - Nutrition on the APY Lands.

Some of the feedback included: “great conversations”, “great topics for discussion”, “interesting and motivating” and “a great forum for networking”.  The workshop was about:

• listening to community
• taking time to discuss how researchers, policy makers, organisations and communities can work together to set research priorities, and
• facilitating discussion about how research about Aboriginal babies, children and families should go forward in South Australia.

We are working on a summary to send to workshop participants, and planning to hold a second workshop in November to continue discussions about health priorities, provide opportunities to network and assist in the future planning of research in South Australia.  Over the next few months, the Steering Group will also be spending some time on strategic planning, and ‘getting our house in order’.

SAHMRI hosted the ASMR public event, Dinner with a Scientist on Thursday 4th June. This public outreach event is held each year during science week with the aim of engaging the local community and promoting science in the public arena. This was certainly achieved this year with a ‘sold out’ event where guests enjoyed tours of the SAHMRI building and a tapas style dinner. During dinner guests were enlightened by our three experts in nutrition, Professor Maria Makrides, Dr Evangeline Mantzioris and Ms Pennie Taylor who spoke about myths surrounding nutrition. The evening concluded with a panel question and answer session which could have continued well into the night. It was a highly enjoyable evening with lots of good feedback, thank you to all involved.

The following staff from the Cancer Theme were involved in the recent ASMR events:

Ben Leow – selected poster presentation at ASMR                                             The T315I Bcr-Abl mutation in CML and ALL: A mere case of altered drug binding?

Kartini Asari – selected oral presentation ASMR
Investigating Drug Sensitivity and Modes of Therapeutic Resistance in High-Risk Philadelphia-chromosome-like Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (Ph-Like ALL)

Jackie Wang – selected oral presentation ASMR
Role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-gamma in the Regulation of Functional OCT-1 Activity in BCR-ABL1+ Cells

Liu Lu – selected oral presentation ASMR
Modelling ponatinib resistance in BCR-ABL1+ cell lines: 

On Tuesday 9 June 2015, the Women in Science Networking Series held a third event, ‘Developing a Research Competitive Curriculum Vitae’, hosted by Flinders University at the new Tonsley Precinct. There was a fantastic turnout for 125-130 people braving a clod wintery evening.  Three excellent speakers presented on the night.

The first speaker was Professor Deborah White, Deputy Theme Leader, Director of Cancer Research and Principal Research Fellow within the Cancer theme at SAHMRI, and member of the NHMRC Women in Health Science Working Committee. Deb gave a summary of the current status of NHMRC discussions to ensure women are supported to remain in health and medical research. She also gave insights into the national landscape of women in science.

The next speaker was Professor Justine Smith who specialises in medical biotechnology, ophthalmology and optometry, and is the Professor of Eye and Vision Health at Flinders University. Justine provided very useful strategies for competitive grant success and shared tips about how to build and present a research focussed curriculum vitae.

The last speaker was Associate Professor Briony Forbes who has held postdoctoral positions in the Discipline of Biochemistry and at the CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition, and is currently Associate Professor of Medical Biochemistry at Flinders University. Briony spoke about constructing a competitive grant application, and how to formulate an appropriate rebuttal.

Presentations were followed by a panel discussion, including the three speakers along with Prof Maria Makrides (SAHMRI), Prof Keryn Williams (Flinders University), Prof Pat Buckley (UniSA) and Prof Deb Turnbull (University of Adelaide) with plenty of opportunity for questions. Informal networking was then enjoyed over light refreshments in the foyer afterwards. The feedback from the event has been very positive and the steering committee will be distributing a survey to gain feedback and suggestions for topics for the next event to be held later this year.

Information regarding grants will be provided in the next edition of the newsletter.

Pettigrew S, Jongenelis M, Quester P, Chapman K, Miller C. Dimensions of parents’ attitudes to unhealthy foods and beverages. Food Quality and Preference. E Pub 4 May 2015.

Pettigrew S, Chapman K, Jongelis M, Miller C. Factors influencing the frequency of children’s consumption of soft drinks. Appetite. E Pub May 2015.

Zacher M, Bayly M, Brennan E, Dono J, Miller C, Durkin S, Scollo M, Wakefield M. Personal pack display and active smoking at outdoor café strips: Assessing the impact of plain packaging one year post-implementation. Tobacco Control. EPub 19 March 2015.

Miller C, Ettridge K, Wakefield M et al. Responses of cigar and cigarillo smokers to the Australian plain packaging policy - a qualitative study and online survey. Tobacco Control supplement. E Pub 19 March 2015

Makrides M, Kleinman RE.  The Long and Short of It: Long Chain Fatty Acids and long Term Outcomes for Premature Infants.  Pediatrics 2015 ;135:1128-1129.

Zhou SJ, Skeaff M, Gibson RA, Makrides M.  Vitamin D status and its predictors among preschool children in Adelaide.   J Paediatr Child Health 2015:51:614-619.

Mikocka-Walus A, Bampton P, Hetzel D, Hughes P, Esterman A, Andrews JM. Cognitive-behavioural therapy has no effect on disease activity but improves quality of life in subgroups of patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a pilot randomised controlled trial. BMC Gastroenterol. 2015 May 2;15:54. doi: 10.1186/s12876-015-0278-2.

Applications are now open for the following:

Practitioner Fellowships
National Infrastructure Grants
Breast Cancer Research Leadership Fellowship
Pilot Study Grants
Innovator Grants (previously Novel Concept Awards)
Accelerator (Translational) Research Grants

Further information is available from the website.

Applications are now open for the following:

Leanne Stafford Award 2016
Ken Muirden Overseas Training Fellowship for 2016/17
Project Grants & Grants in Aid 2016

Further information is available from the website.

Applications are now open for the following:

Postdoctoral Fellowships 2015
Advanced Postdoctoral Fellowship
Career Development Awards
Early-Career Patient-Oriented Diabetes Research Awards 2015

Further information is available from the website.

Applications are now open for the following:

Brian D. Novis Senior Research Award 2016
Brian D. Novis Junior Research Award 2016

Further information is available from the website.

Applications are now open for the following:

Therapeutic Pipeline Program 2015 (Round 2)
Target Advancement Program 2015 (Round 2)
Improved Biomarkers and Clinical Outcome Measures 2015

Further information is available from the website.

Applications are now open for the following:

Project Grants
Proteomics Incubator Grant 2015 (Round 2)
Incubator Grants 2015 (Round 2)

Further information is available from the website.

Targeted and Urgent Call for Research – Preventing Obesity in 18 to 24 year olds

It is recommended that prospective applicants read the call-specific Funding Rules in the first instance to ascertain if their research proposal would fit the scope, aims and objectives of the call.

Further information is available from the website.

Phd Scholarships

Further information is available from the website.

Location: Adelaide, National Wine Centre

Date: 7th August, 8:30am - 1:30pm

To register for this event, pleae visit the website.

AIR-11 will be held from the 7th-8th August at Lyndoch Hill, Lyndoch.

Invited national speaker: Prof Carola Vinuesa, Australian National University
Local speaker: Dr Iain Comerford, University of Adelaide.

AIR is a terrific forum where PhD students, Honours students, Research Assistants and Early Career Researchers can convene, present their work and network with the local Immunology community.

For further information, please contact Cara Fraser.

Location: Adelaide Convention Centre

Dates: 9-11 September 2015

To register, please visit the website.
 

Location: Adelaide

Dates: Wednesday 28 October, 2015 

To register for the event please visit the website. 

Location: Stamford Plaza, Adelaide

Dates: 15th-18th November 

To register for the event, please visit the website.

Location: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

Dates: Monday 7 December to Wednesday 9 December 2015

Further information available on the website.

Further information is will be provided in the next edition of the newsletter.

Committee deadlines:

SA Health Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 20th July

RAH Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 6th July or 10th August

QEH Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 8 July prelim review or final submission 15th July

WCH Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: “Therapeutic Substances” 30th July – “other Applications” 8 July

Southern Adelaide Clinical Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 3 July or 17 July

University of Adelaide HREC
Proposals due: 28 July

University of South Australia HREC
Proposals due: 7 July

Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee HREC
Proposals due: 27 July

Aboriginal Health Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 23 July

Applications and any requested reports must be received at least 14 days prior to a meeting to be considered at that meeting

SUBMISSION DATE                   MEETING DATE

16th July                                         30th July                                        

3rd September                               17th September

8th October                                     22nd October                                 

19th November                              3rd December

Scheduled Committee Meetings for 2015

Thursday, 1 October

Thursday, 3 December

Visit the website for further information.

Further information is will be provided in the next edition of the newsletter.

Further information is will be provided in the next edition of the newsletter.

Do you have an interest in consumer and community participation in health and medical research?

SAHMRI in partnership with Health Consumer Alliance SA are seeking interested people to join the newly established SAHMRI Consumer and Community Engagement Committee.

The role of the committee is to drive the implementation of SAHMRI's Consumer and Community Engagement Framework, developed in partnership with Health Consumer Alliance SA.

Membership of the committee will consist of consumers, community organisation representatives and health and medical researchers across all of SAHMRI themes and groups….sound like you?

Please email Katrina Hanna for further details and to register your interest.