Interview: Brain research resonates for BRI scientist
23 October, 2002 by Melissa TrudingerTucked away in the corner of the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre campus in Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg is the Brain Research Institute (BRI), devoted to research into epilepsy and other neural disorders, as well as the function of the healthy brain.
Nobel Laureates to speak at cancer conference
18 October, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillThe 2003 Lorne Protein and Cancer Conferences have snared two of the biggest names in medical research as guest speakers next February: 2002 Nobel Laureates Prof Sir Sidney Brenner and Prof Robert Horovitz.
Children's cancer targeted by ARC grant
18 October, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillThe survival rate of children with childhood cancers has increased spectacularly since the early 1960s, from a bleak 10 per cent to around 75 per cent today. One notable exception to the trend is neuroblastoma, with a survival rate below 50 per cent.
Mouse models feature: The quest for an epileptic mouse
11 October, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillAs you read these words, charged sodium, potassium and calcium atoms are streaming through tiny pores in the membranes of billions of nerve cells in your brain, generating the seething electrical activity that underlies conscious thought.
New chip finds the 'Factor X' in AIDS
08 October, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillIf you wanted to show off the power of a new tool for identifying potentially therapeutic proteins, you couldn't do better than running a routine demonstration and chancing upon a long-sought Factor X that wards off AIDS. It happened this year to US-based company Ciphergen Biosystems, which has developed a new protein-hunting technology called ProteinChip.
Source solution for 'hamburger disease'
03 October, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillPrefer your hamburger rare? Big beef-eating countries have been experiencing an epidemic of 'hamburger disease' in recent years, caused by pathogenic strains of the gut microbe E. coli that originate in animals.
Aussie kidney researchers boosted by NIH grant
01 October, 2002 by Pete YoungAn all-Australian group of researchers embracing some of the country's leading stem cell workers has won an a $4.2 million grant from the US National Institutes of Health to spearhead research into kidney disease.
New ovarian cancer test developed
26 September, 2002 by Claire DobleAn improved test for ovarian cancer has been developed by Melbourne researchers. The team from Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research and Monash University's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has developed a test that, in conjunction with the standard test, can detect 90-95 per cent of cancers.
Melbourne Uni teams up with US company for Alzheimer's drugs
26 September, 2002 by Melissa TrudingerLooking to develop new methods to test Alzhiemer's drugs, US-based company Axonyx has signed an agreement with University of Melbourne's Dr David Small.
Melbourne researchers uncover new diabetes syndrome
26 September, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillA Melbourne University study has thrown new light on a dangerous complication of insulin-dependent diabetes called hypoglycaemic unawareness, which can cause diabetics to lapse into an insulin-induced coma.
Virus find reinforces Biotron's 'exit strategy'
24 September, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillDirectors of Canberra-based HIV drug-therapeutic company Biotron have announced that the company's researchers have confirmed that two Australian native viruses -- Ross River Virus, the agent of epidemic polyarthritis, and its cousin, Barmah Forest Virus -- possess genes for ion channels.
Researchers get clear picture of cancer growth factor
20 September, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillThe crystal ball has cleared, and a Melbourne research team has seen one of the shapes of the future in cancer research, after solving the elusive structure of a receptor for a growth factor involved in many common cancers.
Researchers assessing AustCancer Phase II vaccine trial
19 September, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillPerth-based cancer therapeutics company Australian Cancer Technology announced today that researchers at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney have begun analysing results from the first group of patients in its Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial of its Pentrix vaccine for common cancers.
Two-for-one gastric research result - plus a bonus
13 September, 2002 by Graeme O'NeillTake one gene, introduce two different mutations, and reproduce the symptoms of two major diseases of the digestive tract: gastric cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. And in addition to that two-for-one result, Assoc Prof Andy Giraud of Melbourne University (Western Hospital) and Dr Matthias Ernst of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have convicted a suspect gene that their US and Japanese peers had previously exonerated.
Panbio finds R&D leader in its own backyard
05 September, 2002 by Pete YoungMedical diagnostics company Panbio has headhunted Prof Stuart Hazell, dean of the University of Southern Queensland's science faculty, as its vice-president for R&D.
