NRF Annual Report 2009
NRF Chair of Neurosurgical Research
Research Report
The Neurosurgical Research program continues to expand with a number of new research students, postdoctoral fellows and projects commencing in the 2008/2009 year. Our congratulations go to Emma Thornton who completed her research studies and was awarded a PhD. Emma’s studies on Parkinson’s Disease have identified novel pathways for disease progression and hold promise for some potentially novel therapeutic options for treatment. The University has patented Emma’s findings and is seeking a biotechnology partner to commercialize the work. Fortunately for the lab, Dr Thornton has agreed to continue her work in our laboratory and has accepted a postdoctoral position overseeing the Parkinson’s Disease research program. It is the retention of these fine young researchers that will reinforce the neurosurgical research strengths at the University of Adelaide.
Another postdoctoral fellow who has recently joined the lab is Dr Jenna Ziebell from Monash University. Trained by A/Prof. Cristina Morganti-Kossmann, Jenna brings a wealth of brain injury research expertise to the group and will pursue novel interference-based approaches to the treatment of traumatic brain injury. This is an exciting new area that holds a lot of promise for treatment of various neurosurgical conditions, and we look forward to Jenna’s results over the next few years.
Ms Kate Lewis completed her honours studies on mechanisms associated with brain tumour invasion and was awarded a 1st class honours degree for her efforts. She has decided to continue research in this area and will pursue a PhD within the laboratory over the next three years under the joint supervision of the Chair of Neurosurgical Research and A/Prof. Mounir Ghabriel. After a years break, Ms Elizabeth Harford-Wright rejoins the lab to commence her PhD studies, focussing on brain metastases and development of tumour associated brain swelling, while Ms Anna Leonard returns to pursue PhD studies investigating the role of neuropeptides in spinal cord injury. Anna’s work nicely complements the spinal cord injury work that Rowena Newcombe has been pursuing over the last few years as part of her PhD studies. Three new students have also joined the team to pursue some exciting new projects. Dr Damian Amato, a neurosurgical trainee, is pursuing his Masters in Clinical Science degree by developing more appropriate models to study traumatic brain swelling. This research is being done under the close supervision of Dr Stephen Helps. Ms Lauren Giorgio is studying the role of substance P in neurogenesis as part of her honours degree, while Mr Mark Hassall has taken a year out from his medical training to pursue a Bachelor of Medical Sciences honours degree by studying mechanisms associated with involuntary motor movements in Parkinson’s Disease. Mark will largely be working with Dr Emma Thornton.
It is clear that the laboratory continues to attract outstanding students to pursue research into acute and chronic brain injury. We have also increased our research effort in spinal cord injury thanks to the increased funding being received through our collaboration with the Neil Sachse Foundation. Finally, the decision of the NRF to direct funds to neurosurgical trainees pursuing research projects will further increase the breadth of research in the laboratory, and increase the capacity for clinical research projects. The NRF facilitates this by organizing regular meetings with the clinical neurosurgical community, thus increasing the potential for research collaborations across Adelaide. These actions have increased the research productivity to a point where we have outgrown our current space and will be seeking larger facilities capable of supporting the extraordinary growth that we have experienced in the last 3 years.
In terms of research outputs, Professor Vink and his team have continued to publish their results in international journals, and have continued to present their work at national and international conferences including the Movement Disorders Conference in Paris, the Australian Neuroscience Society in Canberra, and the upcoming Neurosurgical Society of Australasia meeting in Alice Springs where Professor Vink has been asked to present the prestigious Jamieson Memorial lecture.
Dr Emma Thornton was awarded a travel fellowship to the Parkinson’s Disease Congress held in Paris where she presented her PhD findings on Parkinson’s Disease. Finally, a number of team members including Naomi Cook, Frances Corrigan, Levon Gabrielian, Rowena Newcombe and Jenna Zeibell will be attending the International Neurotrauma Symposium in Santa Barbara in the USA to present their research, many of them having been awarded travel fellowships to attend. Our presence at these meetings will continue to build on the international reputation that has been established in neurosurgical research at the University of Adelaide.
Research is an expensive exercise, and while federal granting agencies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council do support some of our projects, a number of the student projects can only be undertaken with the continued support of the NRF. In this respect the NRF is critical for the continued research success of the laboratory. I sincerely thank the NRF and their donors for this support. With your continued support, we will train more outstanding young scientists to produce research outcomes of benefit to all neurosurgical patients.
Robert Vink
Professor of Neurosurgical Research
University of Adelaide
