News Archive 2008
Garvan immunology students win main prizes at ASI conference
19 Dec 2008
For the second year in a row, a PhD student from Garvan has won the very prestigious New Investigator Award at the annual Australasian Society for Immunology (ASI) conference, held last week in Canberra. The 2008 winner is Alexis Vogelzang.
PhD student Sue Lynn Lau dances her way to Chicago
MEDIA RELEASE:
24 Nov 2008
It was announced on Friday that Garvan endocrinologist and PhD student, Dr Sue Lynn Lau, had won the Graduate Student category of the AAAS Science “Dance your PhD” contest. Her winning entry is on YouTube and interprets her PhD, The role of vitamin D in beta-cell function.
Why women should eat less, move more and consider wearing transdermal patches during menopause
MEDIA RELEASE:
24 Nov 2008
Weight and appetite experts from around the world met at a conference in Bangkok earlier this year to discuss sex differences in obesity. One line of discussion looked at factors leading to women’s weight gain during menopause, and how it might be avoided.
Why HIV treatment makes people so susceptible to heart disease and diabetes
MEDIA RELEASE:
17 Nov 2008
Clinicians have known for some time that people treated for HIV also become much more susceptible to diabetes and heart disease. A study by scientists at Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research has now shown some of the reasons why – enabling better patient management and monitoring.
Completely novel action of insulin unveiled
MEDIA RELEASE:
05 Nov 2008
Freddy Yip, a Garvan PhD student, has found a significant missing link in our knowledge about insulin and how it helps cells absorb glucose. Freddy's finding reveals an important molecular mechanism activated by insulin.
Immunology in the very blood of Castle Harlan award winner
31 Oct 2008
Helen McGuire has received the $10,000 USD Castle Harlan award for being the most outstanding early career PhD student at the Garvan Institute in 2008. Castle Harlan is a distinguished and philanthropic US-based private equity firm that wishes to support the kind of medical research being undertaken at Garvan.
Scripps cancer findings good news for Garvan immunologist
22 Oct 2008
While a member of the research faculty at California's Scripps Research Institute, Garvan's Professor Jonathan Sprent collaborated with Professor Charles Surh to develop a novel complex designed to rev up the immune system to fight cancer. Scripps researchers, including Surh, have now tested the complex in mice for cancer treatment and found it to be effective.
Garvan and St Vincent’s to Build $100 million Australian Cancer Centre
MEDIA RELEASE:
22 Oct 2008
The Garvan Institute of Medical Research and St Vincents & Mater Health Sydney will today announce plans to jointly establish a new $100 million Cancer Centre within the St Vincent’s Research Precinct. The Garvan St Vincent’s Campus Cancer Centre (GSVCCC) will integrate internationally acclaimed cancer research with best practice cancer services, enabling research findings to move quickly into patient care.
Young Garvan hosts its final free forum for 2008 - and what a night!
16 Oct 2008
Young Garvan hosts its third and final free forum for 2008 - Are we out of control? Stress, drugs, and mental health.
Research fellowship announced to investigate the missing link for diabetes
MEDIA RELEASE:
15 Oct 2008
Garvan researcher Dr Alexander Viardot, a specialist in endocrinology and internal medicine, has been appointed to the GlaxoSmithKline Don Chisholm Diabetes Research Fellowship following a global search. The position is dedicated to vital research into the causes of Type 2 diabetes.
Importance of sex-specific testing shown in anxiety study
MEDIA RELEASE:
15 Oct 2008
A Garvan scientist has flagged an important truth for the medical research community. Like their human counterparts, male and female mice are not only different, their respective genetic responses can often be the reverse of what you'd expect from pharmacological results. This has important ramifications for laboratory and clinical testing.
Calculating how breast cancers will respond to tamoxifen
MEDIA RELEASE:
08 Sep 2008
A discovery by Garvan scientists should help clinicians decide which women with breast cancer will make good candidates for anti-oestrogen therapies, such as tamoxifen, and which will not.
Three Garvan PhD students awarded Merck Sharp and Dohme scholarship
01 Sep 2008
Three outstanding Garvan PhD students are the joint recipients of Merck Sharp and Dohme’s 2008 Educational Scholarship, a sum of money awarded to a medical graduate undertaking a PhD at Garvan in bone or diabetes research.
New Australian Epigenome Alliance moves towards a Brave New World
MEDIA RELEASE:
22 Aug 2008
In the same week as the Australian Epigenome Alliance formed, Alliance member and Garvan epigenetics expert, Professor Susan Clark, was the Australian contributor to a Nature article about the global taskforce taking shape for the human epigenome project. According to Professor Clark, "we have the words, and now we need the syntax or grammar to make sense of them."
Where Science Meets Art
MEDIA RELEASE:
22 Aug 2008
Researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research are used to challenges. So when invited to fuse their research with art and compete in Garvan’s in-house Science as Art project they were more than up to the challenge – and the results are surprising.
First step towards switching off breast cancer and leukaemia
MEDIA RELEASE:
08 Aug 2008
Garvan scientists have identified a way to ‘switch off’ a molecule, a key player in the molecular processes that trigger breast cancer and certain forms of leukaemia. The molecule, known as Gab2, operates downstream of a major breast cancer oncogene, HER2, the target of the drug Herceptin.
Research agreement to reveal secret lives of cells
MEDIA RELEASE:
06 Aug 2008
Garvan and CSIRO have signed a three-year collaboration agreement to investigate important cellular processes, including those impaired by diseases such as diabetes. They will be using a new computer vision system they developed jointly to watch intricate cellular processes in real time.
How molecules out of balance lead to human multiple myeloma and other cancers
MEDIA RELEASE:
29 Jul 2008
An international team of scientists, from Garvan, Harvard Medical School and the Max Planck Institute in Germany, has identified processes that are heavily implicated in human multiple myeloma and other B cell cancers, moving us closer to developing quick tests and readouts that could help in the tailored treatment of patients.
Glimpse the future of medical research at Garvan Open Day
MEDIA RELEASE:
18 Jul 2008
Garvan will open its doors on Sunday 17th August from 10am to 1pm for Open Day, giving the public the opportunity to meet and talk with leading scientists and learn about the future of science and medicine from some of the sharpest minds in Australia.
Potential to prevent loss of insulin in Type 2 diabetes
MEDIA RELEASE:
14 Jul 2008
Until now, it was thought that the processes leading to the death of insulin-secreting pancreatic cells were similar in both types of diabetes. Scientists at Garvan have now shown that the process is quite different in the two diseases. They have also identified a promising therapeutic target for people with Type 2 diabetes
Finding suggests novel ways to boost vaccination or natural defences
MEDIA RELEASE:
07 Jul 2008
Our bodies rely on the production of potent, or 'high affinity', antibodies to fight infection. The process is very complex, yet Garvan scientists have discovered that it hinges on a single molecule, a growth factor, without which it cannot function. This suggest ways to strengthen the body's natural defences.
Finding that could shed light on "golden staph", candida and allergies
MEDIA RELEASE:
01 Jul 2008
Recent scientific findings explain why people with Hyper IgE Syndrome, or ‘Job’s Syndrome’, are unusually susceptible to certain common infections. By revealing the exact molecular mechanisms involved, they also give us clues as to why some ‘healthy’ people are more prone to these infections than others, and suggest potential treatments.
Silencing of molecular 'conversation' may help curb severe allergies
MEDIA RELEASE:
30 Jun 2008
Scientists in Sydney have identified a process, a synergistic encounter between two molecules, that may account for the extreme allergic reactions some people experience. By silencing at least one of these molecules, it may be possible to treat allergies.
Are the benefits of growth hormone in the athlete's mind?
25 Jun 2008
A new study undertaken by scientists in Garvan's Pituitary Research Unit demonstrates the 'placebo effect' in sport. If athletes believe they are using a performance-enhancing drug, they may think their performance improves, and in some it can, even if they are actually taking a dummy drug.
Garvan cancer researcher wins Premier's Award
18 Jun 2008
Garvan researcher Rebecca Hinshelwood received the highly coveted $10,000 Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Research Scholar at a gala ceremony last month. The award, from the Cancer Institute of NSW, is a form of educational scholarship.
Study shows that prostate cancer increases the risk of bone fracture
MEDIA RELEASE:
14 May 2008
As unlikely as it sounds, scientists at Garvan have shown that there is a link between prostate cancer and a higher risk of bone fracture. Their study suggests that men with prostate cancer face a 50% higher risk of fracture, which increases to nearly 100% if they are receiving androgen deprivation therapy for their prostate cancer.
Genotyping takes us closer to an osteoporosis fingerprint
MEDIA RELEASE:
30 Apr 2008
Garvan collaborated with the Icelandic genetics company, deCode, in an extensive multi-nation genome-wide search to find the genes linked to osteoporosis and fracture. Five regions of interest have been identified that appear to warrant further scientific investigation.
Targeting aggressive breast cancers by putting them to sleep
MEDIA RELEASE:
25 Mar 2008
Dr Alex Swarbrick, head of Garvan's Tumour Progression Research Group, has published findings that Id1, a gene produced by the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, can control breast cancer growth. He has shown that by 'switching off' the Id1 gene, it is possible to induce a state of 'senescence', or permanent sleep, within a tumour, preventing it from growing or spreading.
A tonne of bitter melon produces sweet results for diabetes
MEDIA RELEASE:
22 Mar 2008
Teams from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica pulped roughly a tonne of fresh bitter melon and extracted four very promising bioactive components that explain why it is has been used in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years. It now promises to be an effective treatment for Type 2 diabetes.
Low levels of PYY hormone a very early indicator of Type 2 diabetes
MEDIA RELEASE:
10 Mar 2008
Garvan scientists have published findings showing that low levels of the hormone PYY could be used as a predictor for the development of Type 2 diabetes. Clinical studies have shown that people with a family history of Type 2 diabetes, but not yet showing signs of insulin resistance themselves, produce lower levels of PYY after eating, a very early sign of pre-diabetes.
Web-based tool to predict risk of bone fracture
MEDIA RELEASE:
06 Mar 2008
Scientists from Garvan have developed a fracture risk calculator using data, accumulated over 17 years, from the internationally recognised Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study. A paper describing the tool and its methodology was published today in the prestigious international journal, Osteoporosis International.
B cell mutations that may cause cancers and autoimmune diseases
MEDIA RELEASE:
29 Feb 2008
To remain healthy, we must maintain exactly the right number of B cells, the white blood cells that produce antibodies. Scientists at Garvan have identified the factors critical to maintaining this important balance within our immune systems. When the balance fails, we become prone to developing certain cancers or autoimmune diseases.
Garvan scientist wins Academy of Science Award
21 Jan 2008
Dr Vanessa Hayes, Head of Garvan's Cancer Genetics Group, has been honoured by the Australian Academy of Science with the inaugural Ruth Stephens Gani Medal for her work in human genetics. The Medal is one of only seven early-career awards issued by the Academy this year to scientists across Australia who are under the age of forty.
Low testosterone in men doubles their risk of bone fracture
MEDIA RELEASE:
15 Jan 2008
Garvan researchers have shown that low levels of testosterone in men double their risk of bone fracture, all other risk factors being equal. This is a significant finding given that 30% of the 110,000 osteoporotic fractures experienced in Australia each year occur in men. It is likely that the findings will have implications for clinical practice, possibly including testosterone supplementation.
Natural gut hormones may provide a treatment for obesity
MEDIA RELEASE:
08 Jan 2008
Garvan researchers have shown that a hormone released naturally from the gut could be used to treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes. After a meal, the hormone peptide YY (PYY) is released from the gut and acts on the brain, contributing to a feeling of satiety. Researchers foresee the use of this hormone as a weight loss medication.
