Members of the Wardliparingga team: Katharine McBride, Kathy Mott, Karla Canuto, Stephen Harfield

The disparity in health status between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people is still significant, not just the difference in life expectancy, but in terms of experiences of heart and kidney disease, diabetes, cancer and depression. The Wardliparingga goal is to improve the health of Aboriginal people in South Australia through a better understanding of health status and how services are provided.

The Wardliparingga team leads the program of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research within SAHMRI. Professor Alex brown leads the group which has been developed since January 2013. The latest staff count for the team sits at 41 people, all of who have been employed since mid 2012, largely through grants and external funding.

Wardliparingga is a Kaurna term. Its meaning is ‘house river place’, and is also the name for the Milky Way reflected in the River Torrens, alongside of which SAHMRI is located.

Current activities focus on developing models of care and wellbeing, standards of care, better monitoring systems, trialling interventions to reduce heart disease and redesigning health care services and systems to better meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Current work of the team includes:

• Professor Alex Brown won the prestigious Viertel Fellowship in late 2012 for five years to support his program of work in cardiovascular disease and depression in Aboriginal people, especially men (ENHANCED Project)
• APHCRI funds for the Centre of Excellence in Indigenous Primary Care Intervention Research in Chronic Disease to continue the work of the Kanyini Vascular Collaboration and the development of a well-being model and to conduct master classes in research methods
•   New funds from NHMRC to establish a Centre for Research Excellence in synthesis and translation of evidence for the management and treatment of chronic disease in Indigenous populations (CREATE) with NACCHO and University of Adelaide/JBI
•   Fred Hollows Foundation funding to support involvement in the economic evaluation of the telehealth eye and associated medical services network (TEAMSNet)
• NHMRC funds to support involvement in a Centre for Excellence to reduce inequality in heart disease through a project operated by Baker IDI
• NHMRC funds to conduct a trial of using fish oil supplements to prevent further cardiac events for Aboriginal people who have already had a heart attack or other heart event
• A Partnership Grant (NHMRC) to develop a new cancer monitoring and surveillance system to improve cancer treatments and outcomes for Aboriginal people in SA (CanDAD). This is a major project with partners including University of SA, SA Health, Cancer Council SA, AHCSA and Cancer Services SA.
• SA Health funds to support diabetes and cardiovascular disease strategies for Aboriginal people in SA
• Verizon Foundation (US) support for a rheumatic heart disease childhood screening project

Maria Makrides was co-editor of one of the most widely sold Pediatric Nutrition text books in the world.  This book has translations in Chinese, Spanish and Russian.

Pediatric Nutrition in Practice, 2nd revised edition.  Koletzko B (ed); Bhatia J, Bhutta ZA, Cooper P, Makrides M, Uauy R, Wang W (co-eds).  World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics 2015, Vol 113, Karger Publishing, Switzerland.

The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) is committed to conducting and supporting methodologically and ethically sound research that adheres to, and is conducted in accordance with, ethical principles, guidelines for responsible research conduct, legislation and regulations.

Core components of proper research conduct, as outlined by the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2007), are sound research management and research governance.

Responsibility for ensuring research governance requirements are met falls principally to the institution that hosts the research and the researchers who conduct health and medical research.

To address this, SAHMRI has developed a Research Governance Framework for all research involving human participants to ensure compliance with these requirements.

This Research Governance Framework is intended to provide guidance to researchers, both those employed by SAHMRI and external researchers seeking access to the SAHMRI site, data and/or staff, of SAHMRI’s research governance requirements.

SCOPE OF THE FRAMEWORK
The SAHMRI Research Governance Framework applies to researchers involved in the conduct of HREC approved health and medical research involving humans that:

• Is conducted on the SAHMRI site (i.e. the North Terrace Building) and includes the clinical rooms on Level 4; and/or
• Involves the use of samples/data/records or other material held and managed by SAHMRI.

The Framework applies equally to employees of SAHMRI and external researchers who are undertaking research at the SAHMRI site.

This Framework does not apply to research undertaken by SAHMRI staff at external institutions e.g. public health organisation. Local policies will apply at these institutions and must be adhered to at all times.

Site Specific Assessment (SSA) Authorisation
The purpose of the SSA is to provide information to SAHMRI about the research being conducted on its site, with its data/records/samples and its staff. This information then allows the Executive Director of SAHMRI, or delegate, to make an informed decision as to whether the research project should be undertaken at the SAHMRI site.

It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to complete and submit the SSA to the Research Governance Officer at SAHMRI.

A copy of the Site Specific Assessment Form can be requested from the Research Governance Officer via email at researchgovernance@sahmri.com  or via phone (08) 8128 4110.

Roya Heidari, who is an Honours student at the Lysosomal Diseases Research Unit (LDRU), received the Flinders University: Queenie Gibbins Scholarship in Biotechnology. The scholarship of $2,000 goes towards funding a student in emerging areas of scientific study.

Recently published papers:

Condo D, Makrides M, Skeaff S, Zhou SJ.  Development and validation of an iodine specific food frequency questionnaire to estimate iodine intake in pregnant women.  Brit J Nutr 2015;113:944-952.

Netting M, Donato A, Makrides M, Gold M, Quinn P, Penttila I.  Allergenicity of Pasteurized Whole Raw Hen’s Egg compared with Fresh Whole Raw Hen’s Egg. Pediatr Allergy Immunol  2015;26:234-238.

Malek L, Makrides M.  2.8 Nutrition in pregnancy and Lactation.  In: Pediatric Nutrition in Practice; World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics: Basel, Karger, 2015, vol 133, pp 127-133.  [DOI: 10.1159/000367872]

Cakouros D, Isenmann S, Hemming SE, Menicanin D, Camp E, Zannetinno AC, Gronthos S. Novel Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factor Hes4 Antagonizes the Function of Twist-1 to Regulate Lineage Commitment of Bone Marrow Stromal/Stem Cells. Stem Cells Dev. 2015 Feb 25. [Epub ahead of print].

Watkins, DB, Hughes TP and White DL. OCT1 and imatinib transport in CML: is it clinically relevant? Accepted for publication Leukemia May 2015.

Asfaha S, Hayakawa Y, Muley A, Stokes S, Graham TA, Ericksen R, Westphalen, CB, von Burstin J, Mastracci TL, Worthley DL, Guha C, Quante M, Rustgi AK, Wang TC. Lgr5(-)/Krt19(+) cells are radioresistant cancer initiating stem cells in the colon and intestine. Cell Stem Cell. In press.

Wong CX, Lee SW, Gan SW, Mahajan R, Rangnekar G, Pathak RK, Twomey D, Schultz C, Ganesan AN, Brooks AG, Roberts-Thomson KC, Brown A, Lau DH, Sanders P. Underuse and Overuse of Anticoagulation for Atrial Fibrillation: A Study in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Int J Cardiol. 2015. Epub March 04, 2015. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.03.064

Askew D, Brown A, Rogers L, Egert S, Hayman N, Cass A. Creating Safety to Explore: Strengthening Innovation in an Australian Indigenous Primary Health Care Setting Using Developmental Evaluation.

Meyer SB, Booth S, Gray J, Hakendorf P, McNaughton D, Mwanri L, Thompson C, Ward PR. Quantitative analysis of bariatric procedure trends 2001–13 in South Australia: implications for equity in access and public healthcare expenditure. Australian Health Review. 2015;39(1):63.

Brown A, Jennings GLR. Response to Letter to the Editor: Essential Service Standards for Equitable National Cardiovascular Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Heart Lung Circ. Epub March 27, 2015. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2015.03.012

Brosnan MJ, Kumar S, La Gerche A, Brown A, Stewart S, Kalman JM, Prior DL. Early repolarization patterns associated with increased arrhythmic risk are common in young non-Caucasian Australian males and not influenced by athletic status. Heart Rhythm. 2015
doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2015.03.060

Davy C, Bleasel J, Liu H, Tchan M, Ponniah S, Brown A. Effectiveness of chronic care models: opportunities for improving healthcare practice and health outcomes: a systematic review. BMC Health Serv Res. May 10;15(1):194.

The Young Investigator Awards offer career and project support for young (generally 35 and younger) proven investigators who have achieved junior faculty positions and are committing their lives to the field of prostate cancer.

Further information is available on the website.

Applications are now open for the 2015 round of grants for research commencing in 2016. The Foundation invites applicants across a range of project types, sizes and duration.

Further information is available from the website.

Applications are currently open for the following:

• Target Validation Pilot Awards
• Target Optimization Awards
• Priority Target Awards

Further information is available from the website.

The Pilot Study grant supports projects that break new ground in the application of technology/methodology relevant to breast cancer. The scheme will provide funding to obtain preliminary data that will demonstrate the feasibility regarding methodology (laboratory technique, trial design, research instrument or similar aspects of research technique) and effect sizes. The project will be a small-scale version of a larger study, conducted to test the feasibility of all components of the study.

Further information is availble from the website.

Innovator Grants support projects that challenge existing paradigms or break new theoretical ground. This grant provides investigators with the opportunity to pursue serendipitous observations and encourages the development of innovative and possibly high-risk avenues of investigation.

Further information is available from the website.

Further information will be provided in a future bulletin.

Each year during ASMR Medical Research Week® public outreach events are held to engage the local community and promote science in the public arena. This year our event “Dinner with a Scientist” will be held at SAHMRI.

The aim of this event is to engage and inform the community in relaxed setting where they can engage on a one to one basis with a scientist. The theme of this year’s Dinner with a Scientist is, “De-bunking the Myths of Nutrition”. We are pleased to have the support of three experts in the field of nutrition who will each give a presentation during the dinner; keynote speaker Professor Maria Makrides, theme leader of the SAHMRI Health Mothers Babies and Children (HMB&C) and Director of the Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI), Dr Evangeline Mantzioris, Lecturer in Nutrition & Food Sciences, University of South Australia and Ms Pennie Taylor, Senior Research Dietitian, Food and Nutrition Flagship, CSIRO. A scientist with a background in nutrition will also be seated at each table to engage with fellow diners. The evening will conclude with a Q&A panel discussion with our three speakers, chaired by ASMR past president Dr Roger Yazbeck.

Event:                   ASMR “Dinner with a Scientist”
Date:                    Thursday 4th June 2015
Time:                    6:00 – 9.00 pm
Location:             SAHMRI Auditorium, North Terrace, Adelaide

Tickets are $30 per head and include a two course tapas style meal with BYO beverages, book online .

SACS is developing a statewide framework, implementation plan and evaluation plan for cancer survivorship care and they are seeking your input.

When: 0900 – 1600
Friday 12th June 2015
Venue: Cancer Council SA

Please register your interest in the stakeholder workshop by email or phone: 8222 0319

Date: Thursday 18th June 

Venue: SAHMRI Auditorium 

For further information please visit the website.

Dates: 24 - 26 June 2015

Location: Macquarie University

For further enquries, please email the organising committee.

Dates: 16 - 18 November

Location: Melbourne,

For further information, please visit the website.

On October 6th, The GI Cancer Biology Group has coordinated a Symposium on Colorectal Cancer Science in the main auditorium at SAHMRI.

Joining Dr Worthley will be:

• Dr Paul Lochhead, Harvard (gastroenterologist who has published multiple papers on colorectal cancer in the New England Journal)
• Dr Simon Leedham, Oxford (gastroenterologist with senior author papers on colorectal cancer in Nature Genetics and Nature Medicine)
• Dr Sam Asfaha, Assistant Professor University of Western Ontario (gastroenterologist, recent paper in Cell Stem Cell on colorectal cancer stem cells)

In addition, Australian experts from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, SAHMRI, the University of Adelaide and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute will be presenting.

The proposed dates for the SAHMRI Student networking events for this year are –29 May, 31 July, 25 September, and 27 November (last Friday of every second month) at 3.30 pm.

The Australian Society for Medical Research is holding a Scientific Networking Event as part of its Medical Research Week activities. A/Prof Lisa Butler from the Cancer Theme is an invited speaker along with Prof Mark Hutchinson and A/Prof Natasha Harvey.

Date: June 2, 6:30-9 pm

Venue: SAHMRI Auditorium.

SA Health Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 22nd June

RAH Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 8th June

QEH Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 17th June

WCH Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 10th June

Southern Adelaide Clinical Human Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 29th May and 12th June

University of Adelaide HREC
Proposals due: 9th June

University of South Australia HREC
Proposals due: 9th June

Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 1st June

Aboriginal Health Research Ethics Committee
Proposals due: 18th June

SUBMISSION DATE             MEETING DATE

11th June                                        25th June

16th July                                         30th July                                        

3rd September                               17th September

8th October                                     22nd October                                 

19th November                              3rd December

Further information is available on the SAHMRI website.

Scheduled Committee Meetings for 2015

Thursday, 4 June

Thursday, 6 August

Thursday, 1 October

Thursday, 3 December

Further information is available on the SAHMRI website.

Bioresources Inductions – Fortnightly on Mondays at 3pm

Emus database training – Fortnightly on Tuesdays at 2pm

Techniques training  – Fortnightly on Wednesday at 3pm 

Techniques– Injections by various routes, and Animal Handling courses – Fortnightly – Thursday at 2pm

Animal Ethics talk – Wednesday 27th May at 11.30 in Boardroom Level 8.

These courses are ongoing, and booking can be made 
Through PPMS or emailing facility staff.
 

An update will be provided in a future newsletter.

Provide your feedback on NHMRC's new clinical trials initiative ‘Clinical Trials Ready’

NHMRC has developed an initiative to officially recognise clinical trial sites that are ‘ready, willing and able’ to carry out high quality clinical trials in a timely, transparent and efficient manner. Submissions to the consultation process close 5pm AEST 12 June. 

Furthe information is available on the website.