What's On at UWA

The Seminar: We have previously reported that treatment with magnesium following global and focal cerebral ischaemia does not reduce brain damage in normothermic rats (1, 2). However we have shown that mild hypothermia (35°C) combined with magnesium is more effective than either treatment used alone following global and focal ischaemia (3). Treatment is effective when commenced 2 hours post global ischaemia and when commenced 2 or 4, but not 6 hours post-permanent focal ischaemia (4). We are currently further defining therapeutic windows following global ischaemia and transient focal ischaemia.

The Speaker: Bruno Meloni obtained his Bachelor of Science degree at Curtin University in 1985 and his PhD degree at Murdoch University in 1993. In 1996, he started a second Postdoctoral position with the newly formed Stroke Research Group, situated at the ANRI and headed by Clinical Professor Neville Knuckey. A/Prof Meloni was responsible for setting up the molecular biology, in vitro cultivation and animal surgery laboratories and has played a major role in overseeing its direction over the last 15 years. A/Prof Meloni's research has focussed on identifying neuroprotective proteins for the development of potential treatments for ischaemic brain injury and assessing the effectiveness of mild hypothermia and magnesium as a neuroprotective therapy following cerebral ischaemia. To this end, his talk will focus on experimental work performed by the Stroke Research Group over the last several years characterising the efficacy of mild hypothermia and magnesium in stroke and global cerebral ischaemia rat models.

Currently at University of Queensland, Dr Mylne will speak about his past, current and future plans for his Fellowship at UWA. Welcome Dr Mylne! "At UWA I intend to focus on three areas; 1) study the various genetic ‘innovations’ that create these ultra-stable peptides, 2) hone in on the in vivo biochemical process that produce such biomedically relevant peptides; and 3) develop a new biological system to discover the elusive biochemical targets of important anti-malarials drugs." DETAILED CV AVAILABLE !!! email [email protected]

CBSM aims to promote biological science in Western Australia by encouraging the interaction of scientists, students and industry representatives from all aspects of life science.

The meeting is designed to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and expertise to keep the life sciences in WA at the cutting edge. This annual meeting includes plenary presentations by national and international scientists and in 2012 will incorporate concurrent specialist symposia each with its own keynote speaker and session of local senior scientists.

CBSM is also geared toward students and the development of students among their peers. Several sessions are set aside for student presentations and for many it represents their first chance to present their work in a conference setting. These honours and post-graduate students work in universities, research institutes, and industry around Western Australia. In this way CBSM offers a unique “snapshot” of what is happening in local biological science and now attracts 250-300 delegates every year, with nearly 40 oral presentations, over 70 scientific posters and 30 trade booths. Check out the program at www.cbsmwa.org.au/program.

So where will you be on Friday the 24th of August? Join us at the University Club, The University of Western Australia for CBSM 2012!

www.cbsmwa.org.au - [email protected]

This workshop is recommended to anyone who is currently using or is thinking of using FlowJo for flow cytometry data analysis. The sessions will be very informative and you will pick up some new tricks! Sessions include: 10.00 am Basic Functionality, Groups Layouts, Tables, Batching, and 11.00am Compensation, Transforms, Advanced Analysis Platforms

The Seminar: The cellular and molecular biology of airway smooth muscle (ASM) is typically studied with single-cell cultures grown on solid, thus extremely stiff, 2D substrates. However cells in vivo exist as part of complex 3D structures and experience a much softer mechanical environment. It is well established in other cell types that altering substrate stiffness or growing cells in 3D exerts potent effects on phenotype and function. These factors may be especially relevant to the study of ASM function in asthma, a disease characterized by structural remodeling of the airway wall and a stiffer microenvironment experienced by ASM.

In this seminar, two key research projects will be presented to demonstrate the importance of the mechanical environment on in vitro ASM function: 1) use of a polyacrylamide hydrogel model used to alter substrate stiffness, and 2) the development and characterisation of a physiologically relevant 3D ‘microtissue’ culture model that allows for in vitro contractile force measurement, and shows great promise to simulate the biomechanical changes associated with asthma.

The Speaker: Adrian West’s scientific career was born and raised at the University of Western Australia. He undertook his BSc, Honours and PhD in the Department of Physiology where he studied the molecular mechanisms of intestinal haem iron absorption under Dr Phillip Oates. A lucky opportunity allowed Adrian to switch fields for his first postdoc to work in Prof Howard Mitchell’s respiratory physiology laboratory. During this time, he studied the effects of dynamic mechanical strain on acute regulation of airway smooth muscle (ASM) force and developed an interest in bridging the gap between whole-organ and cell-level mechanical properties.

Realising that engineers get to play with the coolest toys, Adrian moved to Dalhousie University in Canada for his second postdoc to work with an upcoming biomedical engineer, Dr Geoffrey Maksym. In this current position he is using novel cell culture and tissue engineering techniques to study how chronic changes in the biomechanical environment regulate ASM dysfunction, and how this may contribute to the pathogenesis of asthma.

SIFE is a global network of university teams competing in over 40 countries, creating change in the lives of others through the positive power of business.

Being the 2012 National Australian Champions, SIFE UWA will be travelling to Washington D.C in September to represent Australia at the SIFE World Cup. SIFE UWA has projects in areas including financial literacy, environmental sustainability and economic development whilst simultaneously impacting communities across Australia and beyond.

Want to help make a difference and gain invaluable business experience?? SIFE UWA is looking for talented, switched-on students from a range of disciplines to help us make a difference.

If you are interested in getting involved, we would like to invite you to the SIFE UWA Information Session WHEN: 1pm, Tuesday 28th of August, 2012 WHERE: Law Lecture Room 1, G.31

For more information – please contact [email protected]

Phosphorus - a non-renewable resource - is a key element in food production and maintaining sustainable ecosystems. Predictions suggest global P fertiliser production may peak around 2030’s and will be one third of that peak level by the end of the 21st century. This will have a major impact on agriculture, especially heavily fertilised low P sandy soils of Western Australia.

This workshop is a “hands-on” computing exercise and is scheduled to be conducted in the Pharmacology Computing Laboratory (room G17, M block QEII). Class size is strictly limited to 40 participants. Until 5 pm Monday 27th August, priority will be given to those with a current CMCA registration after which participation will be open to all on a “first in” basis. The workshop is free to attend but registration is essential. Please contact CMCA admin ([email protected]) to register. Also note, if you register and then fail to attend the workshop, a $50 non-attendance fee may be levied.

This workshop is a “hands-on” computing exercise and is scheduled to be conducted in the Pharmacology Computing Laboratory (room G17, M block QEII). Class size is strictly limited to 40 participants. Until 5 pm Monday 27th August, priority will be given to those with a current CMCA registration after which participation will be open to all on a “first in” basis. The workshop is free to attend but registration is essential. Please contact CMCA admin ([email protected]) to register. Also note, if you register and then fail to attend the workshop, a $50 non-attendance fee may be levied.

The Speaker: Dr Albertine graduated magna cum laude in biology from Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1975. He graduated with a doctoral degree in human anatomy from Loyola University of Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, in 1979. He received postdoctoral training at the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco (1980-83).

He held faculty appointments at the University of South Florida, the University of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson University before joining the faculty at the University of Utah, in 1993. The same year he established the Pediatric Fellowship Core Curriculum and continues to lead this training program for all first-year fellows in pediatrics.

Dr Albertine’s research topic is acute and chronic lung disease, with emphasis on neonatal chronic lung disease. His research group created the preterm lamb model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). BPD is the second most prominent pediatric disease in the United States, eclipsed only by pediatric asthma. His large-animal, physiological model is the only such model of BPD. His laboratory has been supported by NIH grants for over 30 years.

He has authored almost 150 peer-reviewed papers and nearly 100 non-peer-reviewed papers, editorials, chapters, and textbooks. He is a reviewer for more than two dozen basic science or clinical journals and is Editor-in-Chief of The Anatomical Record, the flagship journal of the American Association of Anatomists.

Dr Albertine also participates in the Federation of Pediatric Organizations (FOPO), as a member of the Child Health Working Group. The charge of this group is to provide national guidance on approaches to attract physicians-in-training to become academic pediatricians (pediatric scientists).

The Seminar: The field of tissue engineering has seen significant advances in materials and cell biology research over the last twenty years, but most development has been through ‘in vitro’ technologies. Translation of these methods to the clinic will require ‘in vivo’ methods to be advanced and this talk will consider recent progress in two applications: engineering beating heart muscle from stem cells and tissue engineering for rapid repair of tympanic membrane perforations.

The Speaker: Rod Dilley is Head of Molecular and Cellular Otolaryngology at Ear Science Institute Australia and Adjunct Associate Professor in School of Surgery at UWA. In 1986 he completed his PhD in Department of Anatomy and Human Biology at UWA on vascular biology of vein graft arterialisation, with John McGeachie as supervisor. Rod did postdoctoral research training at University of Washington in Seattle USA then at Baker Institute in Melbourne, working on cardiovascular growth in hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis. Since then his research on cardiovascular disease has come to include tissue engineering and applications for adult stem cells. At Melbourne University since 2004 he was Head of the Cardiac Tissue Engineering group at O’Brien Institute and Principal Scientist for the biotechnology company Australian Tissue Engineering Centre. In 2011 he returned to Perth where his new position also takes in regeneration and tissue engineering in the ear.

Research tissue poses a number of issues when it comes to immunohistochemistry. The tissue may be human or non-human in origin, but either way care needs to be taken to obtain robust and reproducible IHC results. During this seminar Jane will try to give you some of the information that you need to make your life easier when you’re dealing with research samples and also some of the tricks that she has learnt during her time as a lab manager of a multi-user research histology lab.

How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? How do flowers know when to show their pretty colours? Can plants actually hear the chatter of the neighbourhood? This seminar is a window open onto the realm of plants, one hour detour into the history of how we perceive them, what we know about them but most importantly, how plants themselves perceive and sense their world. Dr Gagliano completed a PhD in marine ecology at James Cook University in 2007 and was then awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship at Australian Institute of Marine Science, where she studied the physiological effects of climate change on coral reef fishes. In November 2009, she joined the Centre for Evolutionary Biology (CEB) at The University of Western Australia, where she is currently a postdoctoral research fellow. While continuing her work on marine life. She has since stretched the boundary of her scientific thought and ecological research into new directions, including the behavioural ecology of plants.

Prof Charitha Pattiaratchi (UWA) WAIMOS Infrastructure in the Kimberley

West Australian Integrated Marine Observation System (WAIMOS) is a node of the Integrated Marine Observation System (IMOS) and with recent co-investment from the WA State Government, extended its deployment of infrastructure to the northern waters of Western Australia, including the Kimberley region. In this presentation, the current status of the instrumentation deployed and example data highlights will be presented. The IMOS infrastructure located in these regions includes continental shelf moorings (ADCP, thermistor and water quality loggers) and ocean glider transects for subsurface water properties; passive acoustic sensors for whale monitoring; AUV transects for benthic monitoring and, remotely sensed data products (SST and ocean colour). In the north-west the infrastructure is designed to monitor the influence of north-west shelf region on Leeuwin Current dynamics and the local continental shelf processes. Examples of different processes, identified using the data streams from the Kimberley region will be presented.

Mr Clay Bryce (WA Museum) The WA Museum Woodside Collection Projects (Kimberley): 2008-2015

The WA Museum has been accumulating data on Kimberley marine fauna since 1976. In 2008 the Museum’s Department of Aquatic Zoology decided to ascertain the current state of the region’s marine biodiversity knowledge. With help from Woodside Energy, it embarked on an ambitious program to mine Kimberley marine faunal data from Australian museums, as well as floral records from the WA Herbarium. This resulted in over 60,000 records equating to over 6000 marine species. Augmenting this historical approach is a series of contemporary rapid assessment surveys (2009 – 2014), from Cape Leveque to the WA/NT border, examining 8 faunal taxa and the marine flora. This talk will provide an overview of these marine biodiversity programs.

The past ten years have seen considerable shifts in the patterns of land use and land management practices in the UK, driven mainly by changes in the European Union Common Agricultural Policy, climate change policy in the UK, and wider economic and world food price issues. As the drivers for change continue to evolve and changes will continue to occur, the need to resolve potential conflicts and offer options for future land use becomes increasingly important. Prof Milne’s lecture explores how the future of pastoral agriculture may develop under different policy scenarios to meet (competing) societal demands.

All welcome to attend the School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine 2012 Seminar Series (RPH). On a weekly basis we have local/guest speakers presenting to a wide audience typically in the fields of immunology, molecular biology and cancer related research. This week we are privileged to have a student presentation. Alison Louw, University of Western Australia presenting her final PhD Seminar on "PhD Final: The functional characterisation of human RMND5 proteins in normal physiology and prostate cancer". The event is sponsored by Life Technologies and light refreshments are provided. For further inquiries please contact using the provided email. Look forward to seeing you there!

The Seminar: In supporting the hypothesis that the skeleton found at Liang Bua on the Island of Flores is an adult of a new species, the main proponent asserts that one alternative hypothesis, that it may represent the skeleton of an adult endemic cretin, is wrong. His reasoning is that the Liang Bua remains do not exhibit the various features of endemic cretinism. Is he correct? A story of ‘smoking guns’!

The Speaker: No CV can be short when the speaker has been in research for 60 years! He has published 10 papers in Nature and Science – but over 60 years that is not a great record! Further, his CV includes a number of controversies: on Australopithecines, Sexual Dimorphisms, Out-of-Africa, Brain Evolution, Bone Biomechanics, Osteoporosis, Vitamin B12 Deficiency. Is this presentation another? Is he wrong again? Not an admission that he was wrong before!

The Symposium of WA Neuroscience 2012 will be held in conjunction with the Neurotrauma Research Program of Western Australia on the 27th of September, 2012. The Symposium will showcase research presentations by Honours and PhD students as well as early career researchers, who will compete for cash prizes. The Symposium will run from 1 to 5 pm in lecture theatre G33 of the MCS (Bayliss) Building, followed by a Sundowner. Registration is free and open to staff, students and the general public, but requested for catering purposes: please email [email protected].

The Seminar: Obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are major health problems in Australia. All are characterised by an initial accumulation of lipids which, along with the contribution of confounding factors, such as iron, can lead to organ dysfunction and death. In the presence of existing fat deposits, iron has been linked to progression of NAFLD, via the production of free radicals. Recently we have shown that iron may be involved in the initial lipid accumulation by stimulating production of cholesterol in the liver. Importantly, this cholesterol may accumulate in the mitochondria; mitochondrial cholesterol accumulation has been associated with NAFLD. These data are consistent with an increase in total hepatic lipid burden and a role for iron in the early stages of fatty liver disease

The Speaker: Ross completed his PhD in Physiology at UWA in 1997 studying non-transferrin bound iron uptake in the liver. He retained his interest in metal metabolism following his move to London in 1998, working at the University of London where he studied the synthesis of vitamin B12 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the pathogen which causes many lung infections in cyctic fibrosis patients. In 2004, he returned to Western Australia to work in the School of Medicine & Pharmacology, UWA, continuing his work on iron in the liver, focussing on the role of transferrin receptor 2 in iron uptake and how mutations in this protein cause a rare form of the iron-loading disorder, haemochromatosis. This work led to identification of a role for iron in the biosynthesis of cholesterol, implicating iron as a factor in liver disease and obesity. In 2011, he moved to Curtin University where he is continuing his research into liver iron and its effects on other metabolic processes.

The reproductive biology of social insects, being the social bees, ants, wasps and termites is truly spectacular, as a number of characteristics reported are either absent or very rare in other species. For example, social insect queens are the world’s record holder for long-term sperm storage and some of them are capable to keep sperm alive for several decades. Furthermore males deliver an ejaculate to the female's sexual tract that consists of sperm and seminal fluid, the latter being also used as weaponry against competing males and to manipulate female reproductive behaviour. However the molecular details of sperm storage, long-term fertility or the chemical warfare between the sexes remain unknown. I provide an overview of ongoing research conducted at the University of Western Australia that uses state of the art molecular technologies as well as field based experiments to unveil some of the secrets of social insect reproduction.

Boris Baer, born in 1969 is an Evolutionary Biologist. He studied Biology at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. After fieldwork on primates in South America (French Guyana) he performed a PhD 1997-2000 at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (ETH) in Zurich. He then moved as a Postdoctoral Fellow (2001-2004) to the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and was invited as a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (Germany). He received a Queen Elizabeth II fellowship and a ARC Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council, which allowed him to continue his research at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Since 2007 he is also an external collaborator of the Centre for Social Evolution based at Copenhagen University. Since 2008, he coordinates a newly initiated honeybee research group at the University of Western Australia, known as CIBER (The Centre for Integrative Bee Research, see www.ciber.science.uwa.edu.au). The main scientific interest of Boris Baer is the study of sexual reproduction in social insects, especially the way evolution has shaped some of these spectacular mating systems. He uses several social insect models systems for his work such as bumblebees, honeybees and leaf cuttings ants.