2021 VICTORIAN SYMPOSIUM Life as a Clinician-Scientist Saturday 31 July Monash University About the Academy The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences is the impartial, authoritative, cross-sector voice of health and medical science in Australia. We are an independent, interdisciplinary body of 425 Fellows – elected by their peers for their distinguished achievements and exceptional contributions to health and medical science in Australia. Collectively, they are a representative and independent voice, through which we engage with the community, industry and governments. The Academy is uniquely positioned to convene cross-sector stakeholders from across Australia to address the most pressing health challenges facing society. We focus on the development of future generations of health and medical researchers, on providing independent advice to government and others on issues relating to evidence based medical practice and medical researchers, and on providing a forum for discussion on progress in medical research with an emphasis on translation of research into practice. The Academy is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and in endorsed as a deductible gift recipient. www.aahms.org @MedSciAcademy @AAHMS_Health Welcome to Life as a Clinician-Scientist Today we welcome you to showcase Life as a Clinician-Scientist. Our speakers will share their unique journeys that have led to a rich and rewarding career, filled with challenge and discovery. Why consider life as a clinician-scientist? Clinician-scientists have a unique and irreplaceable set of skills, enabling them to marry key clinical questions with insights into human biology. Medicine integrated with science allows you to take clinical observations and curiosities from the bedside, to answer deeper scientific questions, and translate these to have far reaching impact on improving patients’ lives. This diverse and exciting career involves collaboration with multidisciplinary teams of scientists and clinicians, in Australia and around the world. While medical research is challenging, with negative outcomes par for the course, such a career promises unlimited opportunities to create your own niche and pursue your passions. The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences was established in 2014 to provide an impartial and authoritative voice for health, informed by the highest quality evidence and expert advice from the best and brightest in health and medical research. The Academy’s mission is also to grow and mentor Australia’s future generations of clinician-scientists and today’s symposium is aiming to do just that. We are honoured that such a group of consummate clinician-scientists has generously agreed to share their wisdom and expertise. We are also very grateful to our event sponsors for helping to facilitate this symposium highlighting these fascinating careers. We encourage you to join the twitter conversation by tagging the @AAHMS_Health handle. We hope the AAHMS Victorian symposium, Life as a Clinician-Scientist: The Best of Both Worlds, inspires you to consider becoming a clinician-scientist in the years ahead. Professor Ingrid Scheffer President, AAHMS Dr Alanna Rottler Physician Trainee Co-convenors of the 6th Victorian LACS symposium Thank you to our sponsors: 2021 VICTORIAN CLINICIAN-SCIENTIST SYMPOSIUM Image of AAHMS President, Ingrid Scheffer, who is symposium chair. “You have three careers in a day – a doctor, a scientist and a teacher” Laureate Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO FRS FAA FAHMS President, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Chair of Paediatric Neurology Research, The University of Melbourne and Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health 4 Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences 2021 VICTORIAN CLINICIAN-SCIENTIST SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM SATURDAY 31 JULY 2021 8.30 am Registration SESSION 1 WHERE MEDICINE MEETS SCIENCE - WHAT IS A CLINICIAN-SCIENTIST? Chaired by Professor Christina Mitchell AO FAHMS, Dean, Monash University 9.00 am Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO FAHMS Welcome President, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences 9.10 am Keynote How to never be bored Professor Kathryn North AC FAHMS Director, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Paediatric neurologist 9.50 am Keynote The life of a surgeon-scientist Professor Stephen O’Leary FAHMS ENT surgeon, University of Melbourne 10.30 AM Morning tea SESSION 2 THE HOW, THE WHAT AND THE WHY OF RESEARCH Chaired by Dr Alanna Rottler 11:00 AM Professor Rachelle Buchbinder AO FAHMS A career built on serendipity not planning Rheumatologist, Monash University & Cabrini Health 11:30 AM Professor Alex Hewitt A tale of two cities Ophthalmologist, University of Tasmania 12.00 PM Professor Eric Morand MBBS FRACP I wonder what I’ll be when I grow up? Head, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University 12:30 PM Lunch SESSION 3 LESSONS IN SCIENCE AND RESEARCH Chaired by Professor Flavia Cicuttini AM FAHMS 1:45 PM Associate Professor Margie Danchin The golden ticket to COVID vaccine uptake Paediatrician, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and herd immunity 2:15 PM Professor Allen Cheng Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Infectious diseases physician, Monash University 2:45 PM Associate Professor Piero Perucca The journey of an early career researcher: Neurologist, University of Melbourne & Austin Health trials, tribulations, and jubilations 3:15 PM Afternoon tea SESSION 4 PANEL DISCUSSION - CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY Chaired by Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO FAHMS 3:45 PM Mr Dan Croagh Hepatobillary surgeon Dr Jessica Howell Gastroenterologist Associate Professor Jake Shortt Dr Penelope Bryant Infectious diseases Haematologist 5:00 PM Event close Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences 5 2021 VICTORIAN CLINICIAN-SCIENTIST SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS Professor Christina Mitchell AO FAHMS Professor Christina Mitchell is a physician scientist who has made major contributions to the field of intracellular signalling and haematology. Her work has concentrated on the regulation of phosphoinositide signalling by the inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatases. She has taught the molecular basis of human diseases and haematology to science, biomedical and medical students at Monash University and has played a major role in research leadership, building research teams, and infrastructure. She is currently Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences Monash University. The major research direction of her group is to characterise the metabolic pathways that regulate phosphoinositide signalling in human cancer. Her group was among the first to purify and clone the 5-phosphatases and to delineate the substrates for these important enzymes in cancer. Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO FAHMS Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO is a physician-scientist whose work as a paediatric neurologist and epileptologist at the University of Melbourne and Florey Institute has led the field of epilepsy genetics over more than 20 years, in collaboration with Professor Samuel Berkovic and molecular geneticists. This resulted in identification of the first epilepsy gene and many more genes subsequently. Professor Scheffer has described many novel epilepsy syndromes and performed genotype–phenotype correlation. She recently played a key role in the first major reclassification of the epilepsies in two decades as Chair of the International League Against Epilepsy Commission for Classification and Terminology. She obtained her medical degree from Monash University and her PhD from the University of Melbourne for which she received the Chancellor’s Award. She trained in paediatrics at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, paediatric neurology at The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, London UK, and epileptology at the Austin Hospital. In her PhD on the genetics of the epilepsies, she described four novel epilepsy syndromes which served as the basis for gene discovery. She has received many awards: 2007 American Epilepsy Society Clinical Research Recognition Award, 2009 RACP Eric Susman Prize, 2013 GSK Award for Research Excellence, ILAE Ambassador for Epilepsy Award, 2013 Australian Neuroscience Medallion, 2013 Emil Becker Prize for child neurology and the L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Laureate for the Asia-Pacific region for 2012. In 2014, she was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences. She was awarded the Order of Australia in 2014 for “distinguished service to medicine in the field of paediatric neurology as a clinician, academic and mentor, and to research into the identification of epilepsy syndromes and genes.” Together with Professor Sam Berkovic, she was awarded the 2014 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. 6 Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences 2021 VICTORIAN CLINICIAN-SCIENTIST SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS Professor Kathryn North AC FAHMS Professor Kathryn North AC is Director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the David Danks Professor of Child Health Research at the University of Melbourne. Professor North is trained as a paediatric physician, neurologist and clinical geneticist and was awarded a doctorate for research in neurogenetics. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Harvard Genetics Program. Professor North is a national and global leader in genomic medicine. She leads Australian Genomics, an NHMRC-funded national network of 80 institutions around Australia, with the goal of developing evidence and practical strategies to embed genomic medicine in the Australian health