UQ Centre for Clinical Research 2013 Annual
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UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND CENTRE FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH 1 4 30 36 MESSAGE FROM COMMUNITY CLINICAL the Centre Director Impact Impact 6 10 46 50 HIGHLIGHTS AWARDS COMMUNITY APPENDICES of 2013 of 2013 Engagement 16 24 82 GLOBAL TRANSLATIONAL 2013 SPONSORS Impact Impact & Supporters 2 3 Message from the CENTRE DIRECTOR Professor Murray Mitchell I am very proud to present this report on This will accelerate APCN’s program of Professor Peter Silburn AM was appointed what has been another year of success research into computational language a Member of the Order of Australia in the for UQCCR. analyses, both for people with Parkinson’s 2013 Australia Day Honours, in recognition and Alzheimer’s disease. of his ‘significant service to medicine as a We have built upon solid foundations neurologist, particularly in the treatment of to firmly position the Centre as a major Disseminating the new knowledge created neurodegenerative diseases.’ contributor to the vibrancy of UQ’s at UQCCR is also critical to our success. 1 Herston Campus, a major translational Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Bradley In 2013, UQCCR produced 413 hub and clinical landmark. And we have Partridge was named one of 11 Queensland publications, supported 143 Research accomplished this with the support and Tall Poppy Award winners for 2013 by the Higher Degree and Honours students and energy of our many collaborations and Australian Institute of Policy and Science. graduated another 26 students. cooperative ventures. His research focuses on the use of We can be very proud of the calibre of ‘smart drugs’, said to be able to enhance This year our Annual Report focuses on our students, as demonstrated by the intelligence, memory or attention spans. ‘The Power of Partnerships’ and highlights success of ascending research stars just some of the impact that UQCCR Within UQCCR we formally recognised like Hosam Zowawi, Lisa Byrom, Carlos is achieving with partners throughout the efforts of six outstanding researchers Salomon, and Ben Rogers (read why in the Queensland, Australia and the world. at the UQCCR Shimadzu Awards night: Highlights on page 9). Thank you to all our Dr Hanna Sidjabat, Dr Peter Simpson, Dr Issues arising in Health are often students for your contribution in 2013 to Adrian Carter, Dr Nadeeka Dissanayaka, multifaceted and call for a team of clinicians UQCCR’s success. Stephanie Miller and Hassendrini Peiris. or scientists to put their heads together and The Herston Imaging Research Facility solve. Not only from the one organisation, Finally, I would like to acknowledge and (HIRF), on track to open in September but also from various Centres, Institutes thank personally the entire UQCCR 2014, is strengthening the ties between UQ, or Universities, and across more than staff – research, clinical, academic and RBWH, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research one discipline. professional – for their many ‘quiet’ Institute, and QUT. The HIRF will create more achievements and their unswerving Individually, we have the capability to make opportunities for UQCCR patients to become support during a tough year of significant a big difference, but collectively we have the our partners in the research transforming changes for UQ, including UQCCR. power to really transform lives. Funding from clinical care. You can read more about this the community, government and industry exciting development on page 38. Everyone has shown deep commitment sectors makes this possible. For example: by handling the challenges and additional We congratulate the Centre for Clinical workload with the same quality and Professors Paul Colditz and Boualem Diagnostics (CCD) team on becoming dedication as previous years. Boashash received $1 million from the NATA-accredited. This outcome is the Qatar National Research Fund for their culmination of two years’ tremendous The pages of this report tell the stories of project, “Localisation of EEG Abnormalities effort and enters the CCD onto a very our people: the teams and their leaders for Improving Brain Monitoring of Newborn short list of accredited research facilities in on the quest for changing lives through Babies at Risk of Brain Injury using a Australia. In fact, the CCD is the only 100 patient-orientated research. It is an album multichannel time-frequency signal percent pure research facility accredited of mere snapshots, and I hope the stories processing approach”. in Australia, affording researchers greater spark your curiosity and inspire your belief confidence in their results, knowing that the in a better world. Funding of $28 million over seven years was technical processes meet world-recognised approved for the ARC Centre of Excellence Thank you for your continued interest, standards. Just how valuable this service for the Dynamics of Language – an support and confidence in UQCCR to can be is described on page 28. initiative led by Professor Nicholas Evans at achieve it. Australian National University, with Professor Congratulations are also extended to UQCCR Helen Chenery, Director of the Asia-Pacific individual staff members whose efforts have Centre for Neuromodulation (APCN) been celebrated at the highest levels. significantly involved as one of the project’s Chief Investigators. 4 5 5 NATA ACCREDITATION UQCCR SHIMADZU AWARDS NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS of 2013 MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA 2 FUNDING SUCCESS TALL POPPY AWARD HOT PUBLICATIONS STUDENT SUCCESS 6 7 Hosam M. Zowawi presenting at the i2 Institute’s Annual Conference in Saudi Arabia Student Success An inventive diagnostic tool that can rapidly Mass spectrometry equipment at the NATA Professor Helen Chenery, Director of the Professor Sunil Lakhani and Dr Chanel Smart accredited Centre for Clinical Diagnostics Asia-Pacific Centre for Neuromodulation profile antibiotic resistant bacteria was created in 2013 by PhD student Hosam Zowawi (Paterson group). The invention Hot Publications NATA Accreditation Funding Success of this tool determined Mr Zowawi’s UQCCR researchers had several selection to participate in the i2 Institute The Centre for Clinical Diagnostics Professor Helen Chenery, Director of the prestigious publications during 2013. for Imagination and Ingenuity Fellowship (CCD) received formal accreditation Asia-Pacific Centre for Neuromodulation Professor Sunil Lakhani’s study ‘Multiple program. On completion of the training from the National Association of Testing (APCN) at UQCCR, is a Chief Investigator independent variants at the TERT locus program, Mr Zowawi presented his Authorities (NATA) in 2013. This outcome for the new Centre of Excellence for the are associated with telomere length Stephanie Miller receiving the Siemens Dr Bradley Partridge (left) with The Hon. Ian diagnostic tool at the i2 Institute’s Annual Outstanding Student Award is the culmination of two years’ work by Walker MP, Minister for Science, Information Dynamics of Language. In 2013 the ARC and risks of breast and ovarian cancer’ Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. a dedicated team at UQCCR and enters Technology, Innovation and the Arts announced it would fully fund this project, was published in Nature Genetics and CCD onto a very short list of accredited awarding $28M over seven years. Mr Zowawi has also been shortlisted for the ‘Signatures of mutational processes in UQCCR Shimadzu Awards Night research facilities in Australia. prestigious Rolex Award for Enterprise as a Tall Poppy Award Led by Professor Nicholas Evans at ANU, human cancer’ appeared in Nature. The UQCCR Shimadzu Awards Night The CCD is the only 100 percent pure the new Centre of Excellence will accelerate Young Laureate and travelled to Delhi, India Dr Bradley Partridge, Postdoctoral Research Professor David Paterson published ‘Clinical was held on Friday 18 November 2013 at research facility accredited in Australia, APCN’s research into computational for an interview at the end of 2013. Five Fellow at UQCCR, was 1 of 11 Queensland epidemiology of the global expansion of Customs House in Brisbane. The cocktail and gives researchers the assurance that language analyses for people with award recipients will be announced late in Tall Poppy Award winners for 2013. Dr Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemases’ event, which could not have gone ahead their technical processes meet world- Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. 2014 during an awards ceremony. Partridge’s research focuses on the use of in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. without our major supporter Shimadzu, recognised standards (read more page 28). Lisa Byrom (MPhil student, Khosrotehrani ‘smart drugs’, which are said to be able to Numerous prominent publications saw six outstanding UQCCR researchers group) won the best clinical poster award enhance intelligence, memory or attention appeared in PLOS ONE, including receive various awards in recognition of their Member of the Order of Australia at the Global Controversies and Advances spans (read more page 13). ‘Hypoxia-induced changes in the bioactivity achievements. Guest speaker, Dr Virginia in Skin Cancer meeting in Brisbane for her UQCCR researcher Professor Peter Silburn of cytotrophoblast-derived exosomes’ from Barbour (Editorial Director for PLOS) gave poster titled “the influence of pregnancy on was appointed a Member of the Order of a team of UQCCR researchers including an inspiring presentation titled ‘The power prognosis of melanoma: a systematic review”. to change publishing is in your hands’. Australia (AM) in the 2013 Australia Day Professors Murray Mitchell and Greg Rice. Honours. The world-leading neurologist Dr Carlos