Affiliated institutes
Below are listed the interests and opportunities for research available at
affiliated institutes/centres, which have connections with the Faculty of
Medicine. Although students may undertake their research at an affiliated
institute/centre, they can only be enrolled at Monash University through a
department or an accredited academic unit of the faculty. Such students will be
required to meet all the requirements and obligations of the designated
department. In addition, all aspects of their candidature and scholarships will
comply with Monash University regulations.
Director:
Professor J W Funder
Location: Commercial Road, Prahran
Postal address: PO Box 348, Prahran 3181
Telephone: (03) 9522 4333
- + Alfred and Baker Medical Unit Therapy of hypertension and
atherosclerosis; exercise in cardiovascular disease; heart failure
pathophysiology and treatment; human vascular biology; cardiovascular responses
to stress; new methods of cardiovascular risk assessment and reduction;
clinical pharmacology of new cardiovascular drugs.
- + Cardiac Surgical Research Unit Biology of ageing - relevance
to cardiac surgery; enhancing myocardial metabolism; clinical projects with
cardiac surgery and transplant units.
- + Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory Clinical and laboratory
nutrition; studies linked to effects of diets on cardiovascular physiology and
metabolism.
- + Cell Biology Laboratory Vascular effects of TGF-b and the
FGFs and molecular mechanisms; blood vessel development, growth remodelling and
vascular hypertrophy in hypertension; novel vascular therapies; molecular cell
biology of human atherosclerotic lesions.
- + Cell Biology - Diabetes Laboratory Mechanisms by which
diabetic stimuli signal pathological responses in blood vessels and cultured
cells; ion transport mechanisms in vascular cells; role of Na+/H+ exchanger in
vascular cell growth; cell stress as a stimulus for growth factor/hormone
release and cell proliferation.
- + Cell Biology - Morphology Laboratory Regulation of vascular
smooth muscle growth in hypertension and injury; transcription factor
activation in resistance vessels; cardiac fibrosis; protein kinase C regulation
of smooth muscle cell growth in genetic hypertension.
- + Cellular Biochemistry Laboratory Phosphatidylinositol (PI)
turnover in the heart in health and disease, especially changes occurring under
conditions of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion.
- + Experimental Cardiology Laboratory Mechanisms of
noradrenaline release during acute cardiac ischaemia; local modulation of
neurotransmitter release during cardiac failure; role of the PI turnover in
ischaemic arrhythmias - new therapeutic strategies. Cardiac transgenic models
in arrhythmias and cardiac failure.
- + Hormones and the Vasculature Laboratory Effects of male and
female sex hormones on the cardiovascular system and vasculature;
cardiovascular implications of menopause; cardiovascular changes during the
menstrual cycle; cardiovascular actions of phytoestrogens.
- + Human Neurotransmitter Laboratory Human stress responses,
neurobiology of panic disorder, radiotracer studies of sympathetic nervous
system function; human brain neurotranmitters; thermogenesis and obesity.
- + Lipoprotein and Atherosclerosis HDL receptor and protection
against premature heart disease; interaction between HDL, cell receptors,
signalling events and cholesterol mobilisation.
- + Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory Molecular biology of ATII
receptors, structure/function relationships, mechanism of internalisation,
receptor phosphorylation and of aldosterone and cortisol; screening for
variation in genes that regulate blood pressure in hypertension syndromes.
- + Molecular Genetics Laboratory Investigation of genetic
determinants in human hypertension. Pathophysiology of glucocorticoid action in
glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor knockout mice; production of an
11bHSD2 knockout mouse.
- + Molecular Hypertension Laboratory 11b cortisol metabolism by
hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) isoforms in disease; tissue-specific
regulation of 11bHSD gene expression; structural analysis of the 11bHSD2 gene;
analysis of 11bHSD gene in hypertension; expression cloning of new 11bHSD
enzymes.
- + Molecular Physiology Laboratory Steroid receptors;
aldosterone action; ACTH/b-endorphin in anterior pituitary, AtT20 cells,
isolated neurointermediate lobe; proto-oncogenes and the pituitary response to
stress hormones; cardiac fibrosis, salt and aldosterone; neurobiology of
mineralocorticoid receptors in the CNS.
- + Molecular Signalling Laboratory Structure-function studies of
the GTP-binding protein dynamin in endocytosis; molecular regulation of
telomerase activity in cancer; Stress-sensitive protein kinases in heart and
neuroendocrine cells.
- + Neuropharmacology Laboratory CNS monoamine neurotransmitters
noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine; CNS renin-angiotensin system and
endothelin in cardiovascular regulation; central anti-hypertensive drugs;
hypertension-induced changes in circulatory control.
- + Peptide Biology Laboratory Hypothalamic and pituitary
peptides; post-translational processing, stress and steroid excess;
interactions between neuroendocrine and cardiovascular-derived peptides in the
hypothalamo-pituitary axis; metalloendopeptidases; novel C-terminally amidated
cardiac hormones.
- + Vascular Biology Laboratory vWF structure and function; roles
of the cell adhesion molecule GMP-140 the neutrophil inflammatory responses and
haematopoiesis; roles of the membrane glycoprotein PECAM-1 in cell adhesion and
function; in vitro and in vivo models of thrombosis, inflammation and
angiogenesis.
Director:
Professor J Mills
Location: Yarra Bend Road, Fairfield
Postal address: PO Box 254, Fairfield 3078
Telephone: (03) 9282 2123
- + Hepatitis A virus Studies of virus replication strategies;
development of high-replicative capacity variants; studies of virus binding and
entry to cells.
- + Hepatitis B virus Structure of the DNA replicative
intermediate, and mechanisms of transcriptional control; pathogenesis and
treatment of hepatitis B in ducks.
- + Hepatitis E virus Development of new diagnostic tests and
vaccines.
- + HIV Numerous projects, including genetics of drug resistance;
control of transcription by cellular factors; mRNA splicing mechanisms and
significance; mechanism of cell killing; replication strategies in stationary
cells (including T-cells and monocyte-macrophages); mechanism of action of
ancillary proteins; immune response to HIV infection; control of reverse
transcription; transcription and translation in monocyte-macrophages; studies
on assembly and maturation of HIV; biology of HIV infection of macrophages;
interactions between other viruses and HIV; and development of attenuated
variants of HIV.
- + Respiratory syncytial virus Studies of the cell receptor for
human and animal RSVs, and structural, functional and chemical studies of the
attachment protein (G protein) of RSV. Development of a genetic system for
in vitro mutagenesis of RSV cDNA.
- + Rubella virus Morphogenesis and replication strategies of
rubella virus; mechanism of mitochondrial injury by rubella virus.
Director:
Professor D Copolov
Location: Cnr Oak Street and Poplar Road, Parkville
Postal address: Locked Bag 11, Parkville 3052
Telephone: (03) 9388 1633
Research at the institute focuses on schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.
- + Alzheimer's Disease research group The role of amyloid
precursor protein in Alzheimer's disease; the role of metal ions (specifically
zinc) in dementia.
- + Biostatistics and psychometrics Latent trait and class
modelling of psychiatric symptoms and disorders; development and assessment of
psychological tests; covariance structure analysis; computationally intensive
statistics.
- + Brain dynamics The use of multi-channel EEG measures in
detecting functional abnormality in schizophrenia; computer simulation of
cortical activity.
- + Cell biology Neuronal development, neurotransmitters and
schizophrenia.
- + Cognitive neuropsychiatry Neuropsychological deficits in
schizophrenia; structural and functional imaging studies; the association of
olfactory deficits with psychotic symptoms. The neuropsychological,
neuroimaging and audiological investigation of auditory hallucinations.
- + Genetics Twin and family studies; children of psychotic
parents.
- + Neurochemistry Pharmacological, biochemical and molecular
studies aimed at identifying changes in brain tissue and blood from
schizophrenic subjects; studies of neurochemical changes that occur in response
to neuroleptic drug treatment.
- + Neurophysiology and neurovisual research Neurophysiological
investigations of ocular motor and attentional function in Alzheimer's disease,
the AIDS dementia complex and schizophrenia; brain mapping of ocular motor and
attentional functions using evoked potentials and PET.
- + Psychopharmacology and clinical neuroendocrinology Evaluation
of new antipsychotic drugs; the role of sex hormones in patients with
psychoses; studies of psychopathology related to post-mortem brain chemistry.
Director:
Professor H G Burger
Location: Level 4, Block E, Monash Medical Centre, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton
Postal address: PO Box 5152, Clayton 3168
Telephone: (03) 9550 4372
- + Research in conjunction with Department of Medicine, Monash
Medical Centre Molecular endocrinology; steroid hormone action including
resistance syndromes; intestinal biology including studies on the molecular
basis of intestinal adaptation; molecular oncology.
- + Research in conjunction with Department of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology Studies on reproductive endocrinology, and reproductive
hormones, in the male and female; studies on the biology of the uterus,
particularly during menstruation and implantation; ovarian cancer
endocrinology; studies of the molecular endocrinology of pregnancy and
parturition; endocrine aspects of breast cancer; infertility, menopause,
osteoporo/sis, hormone replacement therapy, reproductive biology.
- + Research in conjunction with Department of Pharmacology The
autonomic nervous system and cardiovascular control; signal transduction
processes in cardiac and vascular smooth muscle, receptors involved in
modulation of transmitter release in the central nervous system; hormonal
regulation of the cardiovascular system.
- + Research in conjunction with Department of Physiology
Neuroendocrinology and endocrinology including studies relevant to nutrition,
reproduction, growth, lactation, cancer and stress. Work is carried out using
sophisticated in vivo and in vitro models and molecular and single cell
techniques.