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Science In Public

Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations

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Case Study: New rotavirus vaccine enters manufacturing

Bio Farma, Indonesia’s national vaccine company, is completing a phase 1 trial of a new rotavirus vaccine invented in Melbourne and has started pilot manufacture of the vaccine. Licencing trials are next, followed hopefully by release of the new vaccine in 2021.

The project is the culmination of a 42-year partnership between Melbourne and Gadjah Mada University which started after Ruth Bishop and colleagues found a virus, now known as rotavirus, in babies at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. They showed it was the cause of an acute gastroenteritis that was hospitalising 10,000 Australian children every year and killing more than half a million children worldwide. [Read more…] about Case Study: New rotavirus vaccine enters manufacturing

Case Study: TB in adolescents: Melbourne Children’s Global Health guides new WHO roadmap

In 2017, almost one million children fell ill and over 200,000 children under 15 died of tuberculosis, according to the latest WHO Roadmap. The report also identifies a previously underreported challenge, TB in adolescents.

University of Melbourne researcher Ms Kathryn Snow has estimated that about 1.8 million young people develop TB every year comprising [Read more…] about Case Study: TB in adolescents: Melbourne Children’s Global Health guides new WHO roadmap

Melbourne paediatrician wins 2018 CSL Florey Next Generation Award

Oxygen halves child pneumonia deaths

A Melbourne student researcher and doctor has helped Nigerian hospitals halve the number of children dying from pneumonia—just by improving training and access to oxygen.

Dr Hamish Graham has been awarded with the inaugural $20,000 CSL Florey Next Generation Award for top PhD candidate in health and biomedical sciences. [Read more…] about Melbourne paediatrician wins 2018 CSL Florey Next Generation Award

2018 CSL Florey Next Generation Award finalists

Canberra, Hobart and Melbourne young health and medical researchers vie for $20,000 top PhD student award

  • Eradicating gut worms: a path out of poverty
  • Oxygen halves child pneumonia deaths
  • Smart blood pressure measurement to cut heart risk

Scientists available for interviews

Media contacts: Tanya Ha, tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au, 0404 083 863;
Niall Byrne, niall@scienceinpublic.com.au, 0417 131 977, (03) 9398 1416

[Read more…] about 2018 CSL Florey Next Generation Award finalists

Eradicating gut worms: a path out of poverty

Naomi Clarke, Australian National University

Hundreds of millions of children worldwide are infected with intestinal worms, which can stunt their growth and trap them in a cycle of poverty. Naomi Clarke has shown more can be done to reduce these worm infections worldwide.

Global efforts to control intestinal worms are reducing infection rates. Naomi’s research demonstrates that more can be done—simple changes to program guidelines could benefit millions of children and their communities. [Read more…] about Eradicating gut worms: a path out of poverty

Oxygen monitoring halves child pneumonia deaths

Hamish Graham, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, University of Melbourne

Targeted oxygen therapy could save the lives of thousands of children. Melbourne researcher Hamish Graham says the key is identifying the children who need it most. He found that providing Nigerian hospitals with equipment and training to measure blood oxygen levels has halved the number of children dying from pneumonia.

Hamish, a paediatrician who has worked in Sudan and Nigeria, is now working to make oxygen—a treatment we take for granted in Australia—available to every child who needs it.  [Read more…] about Oxygen monitoring halves child pneumonia deaths

Smart blood pressure measurement to cut heart risk

Dean Picone, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania

Heart disease is the world’s biggest killer, and high blood pressure is the number one warning sign. Dean Picone is developing a smarter way to measure blood pressure, to save lives and prevent unnecessary treatment.

“We’ve been measuring blood pressure the same way for more than 100 years,” Dean says. He thinks modern technology can do better than the standard inflatable cuff method.  [Read more…] about Smart blood pressure measurement to cut heart risk

Newborn babies offer clues for healing hearts

For a few short days after birth, the heart can regenerate damaged tissue. Enzo Porrello wants to understand why this ability turns off, so that he and colleagues can switch it back on to heal broken hearts.

Understanding regeneration could lead to new treatments for different types of heart disease, the world’s biggest killer, from birth defects to heart attacks late in life. [Read more…] about Newborn babies offer clues for healing hearts