Newsletter - Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Newsletter
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Issue 33: April 2013
NEWS AND EVENTS
Our Latest PhD Graduates
Khalid Mahmood
Thesis: Computational algorithms for comparative genomics.
Supervisor: James Whisstock
Cecilia Isabel Naranjo Golborne
Thesis: The role of palmitoylation in regulating the development of
the embryo and the epidermis.
Supervisor: Ian Smyth
Sonia Teoh
Thesis: Localisation and function of mammary serine protease
inhibitor (maspin).
Supervisor: Phil Bird
Differences (and similarities) between the
POTRA domain of TamA and BamA
Courtesy: Matt Belousoff (Lithgow Lab) and Steve Heady
Upcoming Seminar
Dr Stephanie Gras (Rossjohn Lab):
“The world of TCRs”
Wednesday May 29th
4 pm
Lecture Theatre M2 (Building 13)
Followed by refreshments in 77 foyer.
LATEST MEMBERS OF STAFF
Lab Head
Staff Member
Position
Travis Beddoe
Mai Tran
RF
Peter Boag
Vaiderky Annalingam
Affiliate
Steven Clavant
Gareth Chadwick
Affiliate
Fasseli Coulibaly
Shilpa Johnson
Casual TA
Fasseli Coulibaly
Chan-sien Lay
RA
Roger Daly
Brock Conley
Scientific Officer
Roger Daly
Rachel Lee
RF
Roger Daly
Ling Liu
RF
Terry Kwok-Schuelein
Mojgan Torabi
OT
Trevor Lithgow
Victoria Hewitt
Casual RA
Thomas Naderer
Samih Ladkani
Affiliate
Anthony Purcell
Laura Dagley
Casual
Jamie Rossjohn
Tracy Josephs
RF
Jamie Rossjohn
Phillip Pymm
RF
Jamie Rossjohn
Kwok Wun
RF
Tony Tiganis
Tariq Butt
Visitor
Tony Tiganis
Manuel Rojo
RF
Tony Tiganis
Faruk Sacirbegovic
RF
www.med.monash.edu.au/biochem
Environmental Sustainability At Monash
Anyone concerned with any environmental issues should contact Shani Keleher (shani.keleher@monash.edu)
or visit The Office of Environmental Sustainability (TOES) http://www.fsd.monash.edu.au/environmental-sustainability
2013 Monash University Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition
Register now for the 2013 Three Minute Thesis competition!
The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences invites you to register for the Monash faculty rounds of the 3MT competition.
Registrations are currently open and close midnight on 24 May 2013.
About the 3MT
Can you condense years of complex research into a three minute presentation that is interesting for a general audience?
That’s the challenge that awaits graduate research candidates entering the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which is being held at
every Australian university and universities in New Zealand, Asia and the South Pacific.
The 3 minute thesis competition involves presenting a compelling speech using only one PowerPoint slide (no slide transitions permitted)
on your thesis topic to an intelligent but non-specialist audience in just 3 minutes. The competition is an opportunity to:
• Develop academic and research communication skills
• Share the importance and potential impact of your research
• Learn about research happening at Monash
Entrants first compete at the faculty round, and winners will be selected to compete at the Monash 3MT final. The Monash 3MT finalist will
then be invited to represent Monash University at the transnational final, which will be held at the University of Western Sydney.
Central prizes include:
• First place: $1000 plus the opportunity to represent Monash University at the transnational 2013 3MT final at the University of Western
Sydney
• Second place: $500
• Third place: $250
Please visit the Monash 3MT page for further information.
http://intranet.monash.edu.au/migr/seminars/events/3-minute-thesis/
Biochem Success in the 2012 3MT Competition
Winner 2:
Michael Kraakman (Dept of Biochemistry) “Russell Crowe and Lego Man. An unbeatable recipe for
conveying complex biological phenomena to lay audiences”. Michael also won the faculty competition.
Runner up:
Adam Shahine (Dept of Biochemistry) -“Severing the supply route between mycobacteria and host
macrophages”.
Photo L to R: Adam Shahine, Michael Kraakman with Winner 1, Jessica Van Gent (Dept of Anatomy)
QUICK OVERVIEW OF WHAT TO DO WHEN AN EMERGENCY ARISES:
1. Remain CALM…
2. Yell out for a First Aider (don’t go looking for one yourself, get someone else to go looking)
3. First Aiders: Read MSDS before treating any chemical injury
4. First Aiders: Call Med Centre if necessary ext. 53175
5. First Aiders: Call the Safety Officer and/or Safety Representative as soon as possible
Newsletter: April 2013, Issue 33
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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STUDENT SOCIETY
POSTGRADUATE MATTERS
Faculty Research Supervisor
Accreditation Workshops (Level 1)
- Online Registration Now Open
The accreditation program is split into 2
workshops for prospective supervisors
(Monash staff members only) from all
departments within the Faculty of Medicine,
Nursing & Health Sciences.
Necessary Outlets for Tertiary Doctoral Research Students
NOTDRS have welcomed new post-graduate students to the department with
vigour holding a special Beer Club in their honour. NOTDRS Beer Club has thrown
together many people from the department. Most recently, we were delighted to
have Roger Daly join us for a beer and a chat. We look forward to many more
successful events in the future; standby for laser tag or bare foot bowls. Attendance to both workshops is required. Workshop 1 Tuesday 11th June
Are you interested in being involved in NOTDRS? Why not get in touch
with Giuseppe (Giuseppe.lucarelli@monash.edu) and join in the fun?
Workshop 2 Tuesday 18th June
Registrations from 9.20am, with each
workshop concluding around 12.45pm To find out more about NOTDRS please visit:
http://www.med.monash.edu.au/biochem/student-society.html
Venue
Or find us on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?id=695417331&gv=12#/group.
php?gid=86877543416
Auditorium,
Japanese
Studies
Centre, Building 54, Clayton Campus
(Opposite Faculty of Medicine Building 64)
To apply for a place at the workshops,
please register online: http://intranet.monash.edu.au/migr/
seminars/bookings/medicine/index.php
*Registrations close Friday 7th June
OHS MATTERS
Queries: please contact Phyllis Di
Palma
(Research
Degrees
Office,
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health
Sciences) on ext 20047 or email Phyllis.DiPalma@monash.edu The updated New 2013 Safety Manuals are ready and can be collected from just
outside the Biochem Imaging facility 76G58. Old ones should be replaced with the
new version asap and show in every lab area/room.
Applications for the Mid-Year Round
of postgraduate scholarships closes
May 31:
http://www.monash.edu.au/migr/
apply/application/guide/index.html
Contact Mibel with any questions:
mibel.aguilar@monash.edu
Link to MBio e-bulletin:
http://www.med.monash.edu.au/
mbio-gradschool/e-bulletin.html
All queries on Postgraduate matters:
Please contact Prof Mibel Aguilar
mibel.aguilar@monash.edu
Newsletter: April 2013, Issue 33
Computational Systems Biology
Presentation by Professor Thomas Rattei
Head of the Department for Computational Systems Biology
University of Vienna
2pm - 3pm, Thursday 16th May
Bld 76 Rooms 204/205
Professor Rattei’s work is mostly focused
bacterial work
pathogen
Professoron Rattei’s
is genomics,
pathogen-host interactions asmostly
well as structuring
the
protein
focused on bacterial space.
pathogen genomics, pathogenBacterial proteinhost
secretion
- key factoras
in host-pathogen
interactions
interactions
well as
Protein secretionstructuring
is a key virulence
mechanism
the protein
space. of pathogenic and
symbiotic bacteria. Thereby proteins can be transported from the
bacterial cytosol directly into the eukaryotic host cell. This makes
the investigation of segregated proteins (“effectors”) crucial for
understanding the molecular bacterium-host interactions. Eased uptake
of the pathogen, manipulation of the immune response and preventing
apoptosis of the infected host cell are examples of the complex effects
Page 3
Department of Biochemistry and that
Molecular
Biology
are triggered
by secreted bacterial proteins. Our group is developing
novel computational methods addressing three major research questions
DEPARTMENT’S PUBLICATIONS JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013
1.
Ambaye, N.D., M.J. Gunzburg, R.C. Lim, J.T. Price, M.C. Wilce, and J.A. Wilce, The discovery of phenylbenzamide
derivatives as Grb7-based antitumor agents. ChemMedChem, 2013. 8(2): p. 280-288
2.
Anderson, W. and I.R. Mackay, Fashioning the Immunological Self: The Biological Individuality of F. Macfarlane Burnet.
J Hist Biol, 2013. E-pub: p. 1-29
3.
Andrews, D.A., M. Xie, V. Hughes, M.C. Wilce, and A. Roujeinikova, Design, purification and characterization of
a soluble variant of the integral membrane protein MotB for structural studies. J R Soc Interface, 2013. 10(79): p.
20120717.1-10
4.
Beckham, S.A., J. Brouwer, A. Roth, D. Wang, A.J. Sadler, M. John, K. Jahn-Hofmann, B.R. Williams, J.A. Wilce, and
M.C. Wilce, Conformational rearrangements of RIG-I receptor on formation of a multiprotein:dsRNA assembly. Nucleic
Acids Res, 2013. 41(5): p. 3436-3445
5.
Brown, K.A., N.U. Samarajeewa, and E.R. Simpson, REVIEW: Endocrine-related cancers and the role of AMPK. Mol Cell
Endocrinol, 2013. 366(1): p. 170-179
6.
Buszard, B.J., T.K. Johnson, T.C. Meng, R. Burke, C.G. Warr, and T. Tiganis, The Nucleus- and Endoplasmic ReticulumTargeted Forms of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 61F Regulate Drosophila Growth, Life Span, and Fecundity. Mol Cell
Biol, 2013. 33(7): p. 1345-1356
7.
Carey, K.T., K.H. Tan, J. Ng, D.R. Liddicoat, D.I. Godfrey, and T.J. Cole, Nfil3 Is a Glucocorticoid-Regulated Gene Required
for Glucocorticoid-Induced Apoptosis in Male Murine T Cells. Endocrinology, 2013. E-pub: p. 1-13
8.
Caruana, G., P.G. Farlie, A.H. Hart, S. Bagheri-Fam, M.J. Wallace, M.S. Dobbie, C.T. Gordon, K.A. Miller, B. Whittle,
H.E. Abud, R.M. Arkell, T.J. Cole, V.R. Harley, I.M. Smyth, and J.F. Bertram, Genome-Wide ENU Mutagenesis in
Combination with High Density SNP Analysis and Exome Sequencing Provides Rapid Identification of Novel Mouse
Models of Developmental Disease. PLoS One, 2013. 8(3): p. e55429.1-13
9.
Croft, N.P., S.A. Smith, Y.C. Wong, C.T. Tan, N.L. Dudek, I.E. Flesch, L.C. Lin, D.C. Tscharke, and A.W. Purcell, Kinetics of
Antigen Expression and Epitope Presentation during Virus Infection. PLoS Pathog, 2013. 9(1): p. e1003129.1-13
CONTACT US:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Monash University, Ground Floor, Building 77, Wellington Road, Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
Website: www.med.monash.edu.au/biochem
Tel: +61 3 990 29400
Fax: +61 3 990 29500
Content and Layout:
Yvonne.Dooley@monash.edu
Newsletter: April 2013, Issue 33
Photography: MNHS Multimedia Services
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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