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Today's date is Thursday, March 28, 2024
School of Molecular Sciences
 February 2012
Monday 06
18:00 - PUBLIC TALK - No more needles � Nanopatch technology for a healthier world More Information
The dynamic inventor of the vaccine Nanopatch, Prof. Mark Kendall, will talk about the development and enormous potential of this revolutionary technology for vaccine delivery. You can also explore the Incredible Inner Space exhibition, which includes an amazing microscope image of the Nanopatch.

The Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility is proud to present this public lecture and exhibition as part of the joint Australian Conference on Microscopy & Microanalysis, Asia-Pacific Microscopy Conference and the 2012 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

Where: the Riverview Lecture Room at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre When: 6.00–7.30pm 6th Feb 2012.

It is free and booking is not required
Thursday 09
13:00 - VISITING SPEAKER - Scientific & Business Potentials in Exploring Marine Microbial Life : ABSTRACT AVAILABLE More Information
Professor Duarte is Director of the Oceans Institute at The University of Western Australia and Research Professor with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA) in Mallorca, Spain. His research focuses on understanding the effects of global change in aquatic ecosystems, both marine and freshwater. He has conducted research across Europe, South-East Asia, Cuba, México, USA, Australia, the Amazonia, the Arctic, the Southern Ocean, and the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, spanning most of the marine ecosystem types, from near-shore to the deep sea.
Monday 20
9:00 - COURSE - Introductory Statistics : A short course Website | More Information
The course is designed for people with little or no knowledge of statistics. It will be spread over three days covering material ranging from means and standard deviations to simple linear regression, and basic ANOVA. Some basic categorical data analysis will be included with the emphasis throughout being placed on applications rather than theory. The statistical package SPSS will be used to illustrate ideas demonstrated, however this course is aimed at enabling an understanding of basic statistics.

Registration is available online http://scg.maths.uwa.edu.au/?id=347 .
Wednesday 22
12:00 - VISITING SPEAKER - Processing of miRNA precursors More Information
Nina V. Fedoroff received her PhD in Molecular Biology from the Rockefeller University, and has served on the faculties of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Johns Hopkins University and the Pennsylvania State University, where she was the Director of the Biotechnology Institute and the founding Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. Fedoroff has published two books and more than 140 papers in scientific journals. She is a member of several academies, including the US National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among her awards is a 2006 National Medal of Science, the highest honor awarded to US scientists. Fedoroff served as the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State and to the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2007 to 2010. She is an Evan Pugh Professor at Penn State, a member of the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute and Distinguished Professor of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. She is also President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Monday 27
16:00 - VISITING SPEAKER - Molecular Basis of the Antifungal Activity of a Plant Defensin : JOINT PRESENTATION: ARC CoE PEB / UWA School of Plant Biology More Information
Professor Anderson's current work is focussed on defence molecules produced by plants for protection against insect pests and pathogens.. More Info Available
Tuesday 28
17:00 - SEMINAR - Australian Society for Microbiology: Novel community acquired MRSA and the future control of MRSA More Information
The Australian Society for Microbiology and the Australian Society for Antimicrobials are pleased to support a visit by Dr Robert Skov. Dr Robert Skov is the Head of the Danish National reference laboratory for Staphylococci and is a physician specialising in Clinical Microbiology. His research has focused on antibiotic resistance and epidemiology of Staphylococci. He will give a talk on methicillan-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and how this impacts on clinical practise. The general public and students are welcome to attend.The meeting will be accompanied by food and drinks. No RSVP required. NOTE: Parking is free after 5pm at the Medical and Dentistry Library which is adjacent to the venue.

 March 2012
Tuesday 06
13:00 - SEMINAR - Metabolic regulation of insulin secretion and the impact of exercise : School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology Seminar Series Website | More Information
The Seminar: A large body of work has been produced in the laboratory of Prof. Newsholme detailing the importance of amino acids to insulin secretion. While long-term exposure to high glucose induces oxidative stress in beta cells, conflicting results have been published regarding the impact of ROS on acute glucose exposure and their role in GSIS. Although beta cells are considered to be particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage, as they express relatively low levels of some peroxide-metabolizing enzymes such as catalase and glutathione peroxidase, other less known glutathione-based antioxidant systems are expressed in beta cells at higher levels. Specific interactions between RNS and ROS may be the cause of the vulnerability of pancreatic beta-cells to oxidative damage. While this presentation will provide background information as to the importance of metabolic integration of nutritional and endocrine signals in the beta cell for insulin secretion, the emerging role of amino acid availability for glutathione synthesis and for the maintenance of beta cell function and viability during periods of metabolic disturbance will be described.

The Speaker: Prof. Philip Newsholme was educated at the University of Birmingham and University of Oxford, UK. He then was involved in Postdoctoral training at the Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Davis, CA, USA and Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK under the supervision of Prof Donal Walsh and Prof Nick Hales, respectively. Philip Newsholme moved to University College Dublin, Ireland in 1993 to take up a lectureship in Biochemistry and where he set up a research team investigating nutrient, endocrine and immune regulation of insulin secretion and also metabolic adaptions to exercise in healthy and diabetic individuals. This area of research is critical to understanding the pathophysiology of Type-2 diabetes. Philip was promoted to the position of Associate Professor of Metabolic Science in 2007 and was appointed to the Position of Head of Biochemistry in UCD Dublin in September 2008. Philip Newsholme moved to take up the position of Professor and Head of School, Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth WA, in September 2011. He also collaborates with colleagues in industry via Food for Health Ireland (FHI) and also collaborates with scientists in AstraZeneca (Manchester, UK). Prof. Newsholme is hoping to develop collaborations with companies in Australia, working in the areas of metabolic health and nutrition.
Friday 09
16:00 - SEMINAR - PaLM Seminar Series (RPH) 2012 - Professor Arunasalam Dharmarajan : Seminar presentation More Information
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 Professor Arunasalam Dharmarajan from the School of Anatomy and Human Biology, UWA present on "“Secreted Frizzled Related Protein 4 (sFRP4), Wnt signalling and Angiogenesis”. Series are sponsored by Life Technologies and light refreshments are provided. For further inquiries please contact using the provided email. Look forward to seeing you there!
Tuesday 13
13:00 - SEMINAR - Tissue Engineered Muscle Actuators as evocative cultural objects : School of Anatomy, Physiology & Human Biology Seminar Series Website | More Information
The Speakers: Chris Salter is an artist, Director of the Hexagram Concordia Centre for Research-Creation in Media Arts and Technology at Concordia University in Montreal and Associate Professor for Design + Computation Arts at Concordia. He studied philosophy and economics at Emory University and completed a PhD in theatre (directing and dramatic criticism) with a concentration in computer music at Stanford University. After collaborating with Peter Sellars and William Forsythe/Ballett Frankfurt, he co-founded and directed the art and research organization Sponge (1997-2003). His solo and collaborative work has been seen all over the world at such venues as the Venice Architecture Biennale, the National Art Museum of China, Ars Electronica, Meta.Morf in Norway, PACT Zollverein, Todays Art, Villette Numerique, EMPAC, Transmediale, EXIT Festival, Place des Arts, Elektra, Shanghai Dance Festival, V2_, among many others. He is the author of Entangled: Technology and the Transformation of Performance (MIT Press, 2010) and is currently working on a followup tentatively entitled Alien Agency: Performances of the Nonhuman, also for MIT Press.

Ionat Zurr is an artist and a researcher at SymbioticA – The Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts, School of Anatomy and Human Biology, the University of Western Australia. Ionat together with Oron Catts formed the internationally renowned Tissue Culture and Art Project. She has been an artist in residence in the School of Anatomy and Human Biology since 1996 and was central to the establishment of SymbioticA in 2000. Ionat is considered a pioneer in the field of biological arts and her research been published widely, exhibited internationally and her artwork has been collected by MoMA New York. Ionat is this year recipient of the ARC DECRA award; she has been a fellow in the InStem Institute, NCBS, Bangalore (2010) and a visiting scholar at The Experimental Art Centre, Stanford University (2007) and The Tissue Engineering & Organ Fabrication Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (2000-2001). She exhibited in places such as the MoMA NY, Mori Museum Tokyo, Ars Electronica, Linz, GOMA Brisbane and more.
Thursday 15
16:00 - VISITING SPEAKER - Phosphite - a potent 'fungicide' .. but why? : PLS NOTE CHANGE OF TIME! Prev 1pm, now 4pm. More Information
Phosphorus (P) is essential for plant growth, but often has a low availability due to a low solution P pool and sorption to soil minerals. ABSTRACT AVAILABLE.
Friday 23
16:00 - SEMINAR - PaLM Seminar Series (RPH) 2012 - Professor Keertan Dheda : Seminar presentation More Information
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 Professor Keertan Dheda a visiting speaker from the Lung institute and department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, present on "Immunology of tuberculosis: from bench to bedside". Event is sponsored by Gilead and light refreshments are provided. For further inquiries please contact using the provided email. Look forward to seeing you there!
Tuesday 27
13:00 - SEMINAR - Deep breathing and obstructive lung disease : School of Anatomy, Physiology & Human Biology Seminar Series Website | More Information
The Seminar: Deep inspiration (DI) produces a pronounced bronchodilator response in healthy humans but this response is impaired in obstructive lung diseases including both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). How stretch of bronchi causes bronchodilation is still unclear although oscillatory stretch of isolated airway smooth muscle (ASM) reduces force production, suggesting that DI in vivo may directly inhibit ASM contraction. Loss of the response in disease could be due to a fundamental change in the ASM or a change in the loads applied to the muscle. For example reduced airway compliance in disease could impair the response to DI by limiting the stretch of smooth muscle, while loss of parenchymal attachments in COPD may prevent the loads from lung inflation being transmitted to the airway.

The Speaker: Peter completed his PhD in 1997 at the University of Western Australia working on developmental changes in bronchial compliance and airway responsiveness using isolated bronchial segments. After working at Queen’s University in Canada for four years on quantitative bronchoscopy and calcium sensitisation of airway smooth muscle he returned to Perth in 2002 as an academic staff member in the then Department of Physiology. His current research interests focus on the bronchodilator effects of deep inspiration (DI) where by taking a deep breath in causes bronchodilation in healthy people a response that fails or is impaired in both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He has a productive collaboration with clinical colleges at the Queen Elisabeth II Medical Centre allowing him to obtain human lung samples from patients who are undergoing lung resection to treat lung cancer. He is also an associate editor for the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology.


13:00 - STUDENT EVENT - Exploring Finance Careers : The presentation will feature students who have worked in a number of different industries including Investment Banking, Private Equity, Management Consulting, and Accounting. Website | More Information
FAWA’s junior seminars are a great opportunity to discover whether finance is the right fit for you. Learn more about what units and majors will maximise your chances of success in breaking into finance. The presentation will feature students who have worked in a number of different industries including Investment Banking, Private Equity, Management Consulting, and Accounting.
Friday 30
16:00 - SEMINAR - PaLM Seminar Series (RPH) 2012 - Professor Ruth Ganss: Seminar presentation More Information
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 Professor Ruth Ganss a local speaker from the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, present on "Reversing Angiogenesis: Molecular Mechanisms and Implications for Therapy". 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!

 April 2012
Tuesday 03
13:00 - SEMINAR - New paradigms for teaching "Histology" and other image-intensive courses : School of Anatomy, Physiology & Human Biology Website | More Information
The Seminar: A summary of activities completed during the presenter’s 2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Fellowship (ALTC) and proposed activities of a 2011 ALTC Project Grant will be provided. The presentation will demonstrate a combination of technologies (including the Moodle software package) that can present (securely and guaranteed 24/7 access) educational environments (both real and simulated) in which the various components enhance each other and effect significant benefits for student learning. These technologies can solve many emerging issues threatening effective teaching and learning of university curricula with significant laboratory practical requirements. The example used in this presentation will be innovative strategies for teaching and learning human “Histology” – the microscopic structure of cells, tissues and organs. But, these strategies, and the learning management systems, can be adopted for delivering course content for many other image intensive disciplines within university curricula and those requiring significant laboratory practical classes. A proper understanding of what various pedagogies and technologies could and could not offer in the context of general and specific educational goals is emphasized in order to promote their benefits, outline challenges they pose, and prudently avoid pitfalls. Most importantly, this presentation will demonstrate creative approaches enhancing the acquisition and delivery of the highest quality teaching resources to students worldwide and not just confined to our students locally.

The Speaker: Professor Geoffrey Meyer completed his PhD in the School of Anatomy and Human Biology, at the University of Western Australia. He has received a number of teaching awards including a UWA Excellence in Innovation in Teaching Award, an International Excellence in Innovation in Teaching, Learning and Technology Award and was a 1999 Australian University Teaching Award Winner. In 2006 he received a University of WA Teaching Fellowship and in 2008 was the Vice Chancellor’s Invitational Lecturer for “Teaching Month 2008”. Professor Meyer was awarded a prestigious ALTC (Australian Learning and Teaching Council) Fellowship in 2009 and is currently the Project Leader on an 2011 ALTC Project Grant. Geoff Meyer’s research activities focuses on developing innovative, computer-aided, learning and teaching tools. He is the creator of the award-winning web-based, “Meyer’s Histology – Online Interactive Atlas” and “Meyer’s Histology - Learning and Teaching Resources” an innovative learning management platform that enables histology teachers to add/share their own content and customise the resource to suit the specific curricula for his/her cohorts of students. More recently, Professor Meyer has been creating more dynamic learning tools (advanced 3D graphics and animations) to facilitate better instruction of structure-function relationships.
Wednesday 11
9:00 - COURSE - Introduction to Statistics using MS Excel : A Short Course Website | More Information
The aim of this course is to give the participants an introduction to the facilities available in MS Excel from a statistical point of view. As well as an introduction to Excel, spreadsheet functions and graphics, we concentrate on performing basic statistical methods, producing charts and tables, and discuss the limitations of Excel when it comes to more complex statistical analysis.
Friday 13
9:00 - COURSE - Semiparametric Regression : A Short Course Website | More Information
Semiparametric regression is concerned with the exible incorporation of nonlinear functional relationships in regression analyses. Assuming only a basic familiarity with ordinary regression, this short-course explains the techniques and bene ts of semiparametric regression in a concise and modular fashion. Spline functions, linear mixed models and Bayesian hierarchical models are shown to play an important role in semiparametric regression. There will be a strong emphasis on implementation in R and BUGS.

Registration for the course is available online at http://scg.maths.uwa.edu.au/?id=347

16:00 - SEMINAR - PaLM Seminar Series (RPH) 2012 - Abbie Creamer and Dr Jacky Bentel : Seminar presentation : Seminar presentation More Information
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 2 presenters, Abbie Creamer (Honours Student) from Murdoch University present her proposal presentation on 'ETS1 Modification of the Hormone Responsiveness of Breast Cancer' and Dr Jacky Bentel from Anatomical Pathology (Royal Perth Hospital) present on 'Harry Potter and the 2012 AACR Advances in Prostate Cancer Research Conference'. Series are sponsored by Life Technologies and light refreshments are provided. For further inquiries please contact using the provided email. Look forward to seeing you there!
Wednesday 18
13:20 - Forum - Bioenergy Forum : The Energy and Minerals Institute along with the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry are pleased to invite you to The University of Western Australia’s Bioenergy Forum Website | More Information


Microalgae Energy Farms for Low Cost Biodiesel Production Presented by Dr Peer Schenk

ABSTRACT: From start to finish, biodiesel production from microalgae requires optimisation of all steps towards cost effectiveness and energy efficiency, as current limitations exist mainly in the industrial feasibility of microalgae systems. Our team is developing improved non-GM Australian microalgae strains, as well as low cost algae cultivation and harvesting systems to provide a cost & energy effective biodiesel production module. This module utilises microalgae's potential as zero-waste biorefineries, producing not only bioenergy, but also protein-rich animal feedstock and high-value products such as Omega-3 fatty acids. Our research group maintains a growing collection of marine and freshwater microalgae from Queensland, whereby high lipid yielding strains are screened and selected for improvement. We use adaptive evolution methods incorporating mutagenesis and high throughput selection for high-lipid yielding strains. These are then used in especially engineered "Split-System" cultivation units that incorporate both, a low cost photobioreactor (PBR) coupled with several extensive raceway ponds. In the PBR, optimal culture conditions are maintained with daily culture harvested into the raceway ponds to stimulate lipid biosynthesis. Several harvesting and lipid extraction.

Autotrophic Production of Algal Biofuel: What is the best technology line-up Presented by Dr Skye Thomas-Hall

ABSTRACT: Microalgae have the potential to produce 10-20 times more biofuel feedstock per unit area than any terrestrial bioenergy crop. However for this to be economically viable, three important technology stages need to come together: i) cultivation of high lipid species must be relatively contamination free and highly productive (ideally AFDW in excess of 30 g m-2 d-1); ii) the biomass needs to be harvested quickly using energy efficient technology; and iii) the harvested algae should be processed into stable products before value is lost. Cellana LLC was formed in 2008 with the primary aim of developing the technology pathway to make algal biofuels economically viable. Cellana’s 2.5ha Kona Demonstration Facility (KDF) is located on the Big Island of Hawaii and has been producing high quality algal biomass since 2009. The production can be tailored to customer needs for different fractions of the algal biomass, including lipids for biodiesel, protein for animal feed, essential fatty acids (i.e. EPA, DHA) and accessory pigments (e.g. lutein, ß-carotene, lycopene etc) for the nutrition and cosmetic industries. Cellana’s KDF is primarily a research facility, designed to test many algal species simultaneously (up to 12) in realistic outdoor conditions. The large scale hybrid system can grow 2 species simultaneously and has excellent flexibility that enables cultivation conditions to be optimized for each individual strain. The facility is also set up to test a variety of harvesting and dewatering techniques on each species grown at demonstrations scale (up to 780,000 L). Presented is an overview of strain selection at small scale (lab <1 L) and mid scale (outdoor 200 L). Growth parameters that can be altered for optimizing cultivation at mid scale and large scale (60,000 – 130,000 L). The majority of the presentation is on harvesting and processing techniques used by Cellana and in the wider algae industry, focusing on cost versus efficiency of methods trialed at Cellana’s Kona Demonstration Facility (KDF). Best handling and storage practices are also presented along with data analysis specifically focusing on lipid quality.
Thursday 19
16:00 - VISITING SPEAKER - A universal code for RNA-protein recognition : PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE !!! Previously 1pm, now 4pm. More Information
RNA-protein complexes play essential roles in the regulation of gene expression, by orchestrating the basic growth and maintenance of the cell as well as the complex developmental programs of multicellular eukaryotes. The modes by which proteins bind RNA are diverse and often difficult to predict, limiting our ability to engineer RNA-binding proteins for practical applications. Engineering RNA-binding proteins is attractive because they could be fused to any desired effector domain, enabling selective binding of a specific RNA target to investigate or manipulate any aspect of its metabolism. We have used directed evolution to expand the recognition of Pumilio and FBF homology (PUF) repeats beyond adenine, guanine and uracil and evolved them to specifically bind cytosine. These repeat sequences can be used to create PUF domains capable of binding RNA targets of diverse sequence and structure enabling many potential biological and medical applications.

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