What's On at UWA

Lung diseases affect one in five people worldwide. They carry a high mortality and have a devastating effect on a normally active lifestyle. Australians, like most people in developed countries, are experiencing an increased incidence of many lung diseases including asthma and smoking related diseases. Most of these diseases are treated inadequately and cannot currently be cured. The lungs are also damaged by exposure to inhaled agents such as asbestos and nanoparticles in the atmosphere. This is a major concern for public health in Western Australia with the incidence of asbestosis and mesothelioma set to peak over the next decade.

Professor Laurent is a leading researcher into the basic mechanisms of lung diseases and will discuss key recent advances in the field of lung research. This will include mechanisms of common lung diseases such as asthma and smoking related diseases as well as rarer diseases such as asbestosis.

This is a free public lecture, no RSVP required.

Professor Laurent is an alumni of the University of Western Australia. He is currently the Director of the Centre for Respiratory Research at University College London and leads a team of scientists and physicians conducting research into basic aspects of lung inflammation and repair.

Tuesday Seminars at the School of Population health are held every week. Students and staff are given the opportunity to showcase current research activities and hear from visiting speakers.

Dr Lynch is visiting the School of Population Health to discuss the 2011 State Health Research Advisory Council (SHRAC) grant round.

All are welcome to attend.

Mr Jamie Wood is a respiratory physiotherapist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, working with people with cystic fi brosis (CF) and non-CF bronchiectasis. Mr Wood was recently awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to study physiotherapy for people with CF and bronchiectasis in the United Kingdom and Europe. Upon returning, he has implemented new knowledge and skills into his work at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and plans to translate some of this to assist people with lung disease in remote communities in the Kimberley.

Join researchers from across Australia and China for this fascinating insight into the importance of cell signalling and translational medicine. The four sessions, Novel Therapies and Genomic Information; Tissue Engineering and Bio-therapeutics; Molecular Targets for Metabolic and Degenerative Diseases; Cell Signalling and Translational Medicine, all feature local and international guest speakers.

The seminar will start with Anne McKenzie’s take on what is new in consumer and community participation in research at the School of Population Health and her perspectives on moving forward with the results of the consumer and community participation audit. Hayley Haines has recently joined us from the UK and will share with us some of her experiences from her first 100 days in Australia. The seminar will then continue with the world premier launch of the fabulous, free, fantastic, fun, fact sheet series! That’s right! Professor Matthew Knuiman will launch the Consumer and Community Participation in Health and Medical Research Fact Sheet Series.

Professor Stratton’s is the 2011 Healthway Visiting Fellow and his areas of health promotion expertise are centred around physical activity, fitness and overweight/obesity in children and young people. His work on physical activity during school recess time is recognised as one of the most effective interventions that has used an environmental change stimulus to increase children’s physical activity and the work is now influencing public health policy across the world. Stratton is an associate editor of both the Archives of Exercise in Health and Disease, and the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport. Professor Stratton chaired the NICE Group (www.nice.org.uk) that published guidance on physical activity in children and young people, was a member of the Department of Health Expert Group on Sedentary Behaviour, and is currently a member of the UK editorial group that is charged with writing the physical activity recommendations for the UK. Professor Stratton has led 17 PhD projects and he has attracted over £2million for research over the past 5 years.

2011 ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING REGISTRATION STILL OPEN

The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences will be hosting an evening for all applicants interested in the Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) course. Year 12 students as well as university students and graduates are encouraged to attend. Parents and teachers welcome. Booking not required.

Bob Muir’s career as chemometrician; part analytical chemist, part statistician has spanned over 16 years. He is the Senior Chemist and Research Officer for ChemCentre, Perth. Previously Bob worked for DSTO, part of the Australian Department of Defence and prior to that the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, UK. Bob obtained a BSc (Hons) degree in Chemistry in 1995 followed by a PhD in 2000. Arrive at 12noon for a light lunch, session starts at 12.30pm.

A/Professor Peter Richmond is a General Paediatrician & Paediatric Immunologist at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children and the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at UWA. A/Professor Richmond is also the director of the Vaccine Trials Group, a multidisciplinary research group whose aim is to provide a coordinated approach to the development, delivery, assessment and promotion of vaccines in our community. This includes clinical trials of paediatric and adults vaccines in WA and Papua New Guinea.

A symposium on ear and hearing research, held in conjunction with the Raine Lecture to be given by Prof De Wet Swanepoel, the Raine Visiting Professor at the Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery, for 2011. De Wet Swanepoel, University of Pretoria, has extensive experience in paediatric audiology and in telehealth. He is involved in a number of international tele-audiology projects, successfully establishing services to many underdeveloped areas, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa. A series of presentations are on the programme, covering telehealth, audiology, basic science research, tissue engineering, tinnitus, epidemiology, and awareness programmes on the dangers of noise exposure. The symposium is open to anyone interested in the clinical and research aspects of hearing. There will be plenty of opportunity to explore collaborative research projects. Places are limited. The registration form is available on the Symposium website.

Aboriginal Health begins with an examination of the impact of historical events on the health of present day Aboriginal communities.

The implications of the intercultural influences of Europeans on Indigenous populations are drawn.

Unit outline In this five-day unit, students are given an overview of Aboriginal lifestyle, focussing on traditional and environmental responsibilities and the social practices of indigenous communities during pre- and post- colonial times.

The post-colonial section of the unit examines more than 200 years of policies, programs and prejudice through videos, personal perspectives, group discussions and relevant speakers. These are described within the frameworks of inequality and marginalised groups.

The section on contemporary Aboriginal health covers specific health concerns today, using mental health as an example of special health services, including the impact of dispossession, separation, substance abuse, and fragmentation of families.

Comparing and contrasting the health of other Indigenous international peoples gives students an understanding of the demands upon these groups to choose either to adapt to a western lifestyle or to suffer the consequences of ill health and dispossession.

Using the personal perspective, the unit aims to expose students to Aboriginal ways of communication and cultural protocols. Students are given the opportunity to discuss aspects of traditional lifestyle, environmental influences, relationships, family structure, lore, roles and responsibilities with lecturers, guest speakers and peers.

In preparation for the teaching period, you will be sent pre-reading on 24 June 2011.

Please note: This unit will be run over two consecutive weekends - Friday 8th, Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th July plus Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th July.

Note too that this is a full unit requring enrolment and fees. For further details please visit our website.

We are seeking volunteers for a study investigating ways to improve the health and well being of dog owners and their dogs. If you own a dog, but do not walk it very often we would like you to hear from you.

Participation in this study will involve attending a 1-2 hour discussion with about 10 other dog owners about the barriers and incentives for walking your dog. The discussion groups will run on: Friday 8th July 2011 (12.00-13.30) & Monday 11th- Thursday 14th July 2011 (12.00-13.30 and 16.00-1730)

You only need to attend one session.

Participants will be offered $20 cash or the equivalent in pet supplies as a token of appreciation for participation.

We would appreciate if you could forward this to interested family and friends.

If you would like to participate in this study or find out more about it, please contact the Project Coordinator:

Mr Martin Hopkins [email protected] 0423 977 594

Centre for the Built Environment and Health (M707) School of Population Health

The University of Western Australia

After 25 years of research Prof Commbe has an international reputation on the structure and function of a class of carbohydrates: GlycosAminoGlycans (GAGs). The biological activities of GAGs indicated that they may have important roles in a number of diseases and in recent years Prof Coombe’s research has concentrated on the respiratory, inflammatory diseases of asthma and allergic rhinitis in this regard.

It appears that the genetic programming of humans and other complex organisms has been fundamentally misunderstood for the past 50 years, because of the assumption that most genetic information is transacted by proteins. The human genome contains about 20,000 conventional protein-coding genes, surprisingly about the same number and with largely similar functions as those in tiny worms that have only 1000 cells. On the other hand, the extent of non-protein-coding DNA, traditionally thought to be junk, increases with increasing complexity, reaching over 98.8 percent in humans. Moreover, it is now evident that these non-coding sequences are transcribed in a dynamic manner, to produce tens, if not hundreds of thousands of noncoding RNAs, and that most complex genetic phenomena are RNA-directed, which suggests that there exists a vast hidden layer of regulatory RNAs that control human development and brain function. We have recently demonstrated that the majority of long noncoding RNAs are expressed in precise cellular and subcellular locations in the brain, that a subset of noncoding RNAs are dynamically regulated during the differentiation of embryonal stem cells, neural stem cells, immune cells and muscle, as well as in cancer, and that some of these RNAs are essential components of subnuclear structures or complexed with particular types of activated chromatin. We have also identified new classes of tiny RNAs associated with transcription start sites and splice sites, and shown that protein-coding sequences are preferentially located in nucleosomes, which provides a platform for epigenetic control of gene expression and transcript structure. We have also found that conventional protein-coding mRNAs can also be processed to produce regulatory RNAs, and that RNA is the plastic substrate for epigenome-environment interactions. The outcomes of our research will be to expand our understanding of human evolution, development, brain function and disease.

Dr Lee is an Associate Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. She is also a Senior Consultant at the National University Hospital. Dr Lee has an active interest in lung cancer, pleural disease, obstructive airway disease, bronchoscopy and pleuroscopy. She is the current President of Singapore Thoracic Society, and serves on international scientific committees in lung cancer and bronchology, as well as American College of Chest Physician Steering Committees.

Do you own a dog and would like to walk it more often? Volunteers Needed

We are seeking volunteers for a study investigating ways to improve the health and well-being of dog owners and their dogs. If you own a dog, and would like to walk it more often we would like you to hear from you.

Participation in this study will involve attending a 1-2 hour discussion with about 10 other dog owners about the barriers and incentives for walking your dog. The discussion groups will run on: Wednesday 3rd August 2011 –Friday 5th August 2011(12.00-13.30 and 16.00-1730) & Monday 8th August 2011 (12.00-13.30 and 16.00-1730)

You only need to attend one session.

Participants will be offered $20 cash or the equivalent in pet supplies as a token of appreciation for participation.

We would appreciate if you could forward this to interested family and friends.

If you would like to participate in this study or find out more about it, please contact the Project Coordinator:

Mr Martin Hopkins [email protected] 0423 977 594

Centre for the Built Environment and Health (M707) School of Population Health

The University of Western Australia Human Ethics Ref No: RA/4/1/4800

Presentation from Stay on Your Feet WA on the 9 steps that you can take to reduce your falls risk. 1 in 4 people over 60 will fall each year which can lead to injury and significant physical limitation. Being active and independent is a key to being able to enjoy our lives at any age. Come along to learn the steps to staying on your feet at any age! Following the seminar the UWA Health & Rehabilitation Clinic will be holding an open day where you can ask staff about all aspects of exercise and how it can work for you.