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Women in Biomedicine

New Seminar Series Launch Wednesday 18 November 2020

The talents of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are vital to the future of Australia’s health and economy. Yet it is no secret that women are poorly represented in the STEM workforce and earn less than their male counterparts. Women makeup approximately half of junior academics in STEM, but only around one-fifth of senior professors.

The Convergence Science Network is launching a new event series, Women in Biomedicine, to showcase and celebrate the success of women in biomedicine who are shaping the future of healthcare. We are delighted to launch the series with Associate Professor Mirana Ramialison and Dr Jennifer Zenker of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University. Our women researchers will share their research in a pre-recorded video, to be followed by a live webinar where they will discuss their experiences, the challenges confronting women scientists and provide an insight into the world of biomedicine to inspire the next generation of scientists.

The webinar with Mirana and Jennifer will be held on Wednesday, 18 November at 12.30 pm AEDT. View Mirana’s and Jennifer’s video below to learn about their research.

More information about them and where to register to attend the webinar is available here.

The webinar will be moderated by Catriona Nguyen-Roberston, a Science Communication Officer at the Convergence Science Network.

We invite you to join this event as we acknowledge the role played by women in progressing biomedical science and to be inspired by the journey our women have followed and challenges they have overcome as they share their experience for the next generation of women scientists. You will be able to put your questions to Mirana and Jennifer in writing or by “raising your hand” to be seen and heard.

We can’t wait to launch this important series and we look forward to welcoming you on the 18th November.

OUR SPEAKERS

Dr Jennifer Zenker, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute

A look behind the scenes of a cell transforming into a new life

The astonishing transformation of the embryo from a soccer ball-like structure into a newborn with four limbs, a face and a bumping heart is one of the most incredible but also most enigmatic processes of our lives. Pluripotent stem cells are the only cells which can transform themselves into any kind of specialised cell. These incredible smart cells are the ancestors of every human being, animal and plant. The Zenker Lab aims to unravel the secrets on the inner structural aspects of pluripotency using cutting-edge imaging technologies of the living mouse embryo and to repurpose those same principles for the application of induced pluripotent stem cells in regenerative medicine.

How to build a smart cell? Similar to cities, transport can make a critical difference. Inside a cell, organelles and proteins are usually not randomly distributed but assigned to regions where they are needed. The cell utilises a network of filament-like structures, the microtubule cytoskeleton, as a road map to localise organelles. Based on our discoveries of an unprecedented organisation of the microtubule cytoskeleton in the early mouse embryo, the Zenker Lab is investigating how the layout of the embryonic roadmap will ultimately determine the movement, positioning and interactions of the organelles in pluripotent stem cells.

Bio:

Dr. Jennifer Zenker is the head of the Zenker lab at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI, Monash University). She is an emerging leader in the field of cellular architecture of pluripotent stem cells who is applying cutting-edge imaging approaches on the living mouse embryo. Her capacity to conduct high quality, innovative research is evident in her impactful publication record.

Dr. Zenker obtained her PhD (2012) in Neurobiology, identifying novel cellular mechanisms underlying diabetic peripheral neuropathy including ion channel mis-localisation and mitochondrial defects, using various mouse models (first author papers in Journal of Neuroscience (2012), Glia (2014) and a review in Trends in Neurosciences (2013)). During her Postdoctoral studies, Dr. Zenker specialised on live imaging of the early mouse embryo which led to a number of seminal discoveries, including first author papers in Science (2017), Cell (2018) and Nature Protocols (2017), plus two reviews in Develpomental Cell (2018) and Current Opinion in Cell Biology (2017). She was awarded three international postdoctoral fellowships, from the prestigious Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP), the German and Swiss National Science Foundation (DFG and SNF).

In November 2018, Dr. Zenker embarked on a career as an independent group leader at ARMI. In 2019, she was awarded the highly competitive Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Azrieli Scholarship as a real mark of her distinction and scientific excellence. Her interdisciplinary approach to study the living mouse embryo has significantly advanced our knowledge how the microtubule cytoskeleton is required for pluripotency and cell fate allocation. With her extensive expertise in innovative live imaging, molecular manipulations, drug treatments and advanced quantitative single-cell imaging, she is in a unique position to unravel the fundamental cell biological principles of pluripotent stem cells.

Associate Professor Mirana Ramialison, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute

The secret life of junk DNA

The publication of the first draft sequence of the human genome revealed several surprises including the discovery that genes compose only 2% of our genome. To date, the remainder 98% of the human genome, that does not contain genes and often referred to as “junk DNA”, has revealed to be of extreme importance in regulating the expression of genes. Here I discuss the scientific journey to understand more about our “junk DNA”.

Bio:

Associate Professor Ramialison received her Engineering degree from the University of Luminy, France, after which she worked as a programmer at the ERATO differentiation project in Kyoto. After obtaining her PhD in Developmental Genomics from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, she joined the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney as an EMBO and HFSP Post-Doctoral Fellow. With an NHMRC/Heart Foundation Career Development Fellow, she relocated to Melbourne here she currently leads the Systems Developmental Biology Laboratory at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute and the Transcriptomics and Bioinformatics Laboratory at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

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Transforming Mental Health - The Barwon Region Experience

We look to the sciences to tackle big problems, sometimes referred to as grand challenges. These big problems are complex to understand, involve many factors and invariably involve many participants to address. Mental illness is without question one of the grand challenges facing humankind. It is largely invisible, silent and devastating for individuals, families, friends and communities.

“There has been some progress, but stigma, discrimination and prejudice remain pervasive influences on the lives of people living with mental illness. As a community, we have struggled to understand mental illness and the varying ways people experience it. Some might say we have lacked the empathy to support people who are struggling.”

Interim Report, Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, November 2019, p.1

Whilst the challenges of dealing with mental illness in Australia is daunting, the Barwon community is taking on this challenge with optimism and innovation.

CHIME (The Change to Improve Mental Health Centre of Excellence) is an exciting new partnership between Barwon Health and Deakin University that draws together the people affected by mental health issues, researchers and clinicians in the co-design and co-production of new models of care. CHIME will transform the delivery of mental health care in the Barwon region and develop a world-leading mental health care system, that can be shared across Victoria and beyond.

The Convergence Science Network is proud to partner with Barwon Health and Deakin University to discuss these positive stories about how approaches to mental health are being transformed in the regional community of Geelong and its environs. An outstanding panel of people with lived experience, community members, policy experts, mental health care providers, and researchers will converge to share new ideas and initiatives and to hear from those being impacted. Please join us.

Panel members

Dr Ruth Vine, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Mental Health, Commonwealth Department of Health

Mr Tony McManus, Development Manager – Geelong Community Foundation, National Ambassador for Beyondblue and Community Ambassador for RU OK?

Prof Michael Berk, Alfred Deakin Professor of Psychiatry and Director - Institute for Innovation in Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT), Deakin University

Dr James McLure, Senior Peer Support Worker, Barwon Health

Prof Steven Moylan, Clinical Director, Mental Health, Drugs and Alcohol Services, Barwon Health

Dr Simon Strafrace, Chief Advisor, Mental Health Reform Victoria

Ms Christine Morgan, CEO, Mental Health Commission

Opening remarks will be delivered by Ms Frances Diver, CEO, Barwon Health with closing remarks delivered by Professor Julie Owens, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Deakin University. The event will be moderated by Ms Renae Carolin, Interim Director – CHIME (Change to Improve Mental Health), Barwon Health and Deakin University.

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conversci · 4 years

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Trust me, I’m a scientist: COVID19 and public attitudes to science

Trust underpins relationships between people and their views on institutions. Trust is critical for a healthy, functioning society. It is the glue that allows people and institutions to share and collaborate and to advance human progress. Surveys and polls on the issue of trust indicate that Australians place a high level of trust in science and medical professionals.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought biomedical scientists and medical professionals into prominent public view more than any other time in living memory. The public, governments, businesses and medical institutions look to medical professionals to inform them about the nature of the disease and how to keep people and communities safe. This episode has raised the critical issue of people’s trust of science and scientists.

Biomedical scientists are actively generating new knowledge, ideas and solutions to treat disease. Examples of important advances include genetic editing of DNA and gene therapies, the growing application of Artificial Intelligence, new nanotechnology-based cancer therapeutics, the 3D printing of human organs, the development of brain-machine implants and other medical devices, just to name a few. Continued public trust in science will be important if this research will contribute to improving the health of individuals.

We have assembled a leading panel to explore the important public issue of trust for the biomedical sciences and what impact, if any, the COVID-19 pandemic may have on this relationship:

Professor Grant McArthur, Executive Director, Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre

Ms Kylie Walker, CEO, Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering

Ms Anna Evangeli, Deputy Editor, Health+Medicine, The Conversation

Professor Robert Sparrow, Philosophy Program, Monash University

This event will also streamed live on the Convergence Science Network Facebook site.

OUR SPEAKERS

Professor Grant McArthur MB BS (Hons) Ph.D. FRACP FAHMS

Professor Grant McArthur is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and holds a Ph.D. in Medical Biology. He is the Executive Director of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre; inaugural Lorenzo Galli Chair of Melanoma and Skin Cancers at the University of Melbourne and is a Senior Principal Research Fellow (NHMRC). He is also Head of the Molecular Oncology Laboratory and a Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Professor McArthur was the inaugural winner of the Translational Research Award of the Foundation Nelia et Amadeo Barletta, has held the Sir Edward Dunlop Clinical Cancer Research Fellowship of the Cancer Council of Victoria, was awarded the inaugural Martin Lackmann medal for translational research, received the Medical Oncology Group of Australia’s Novartis Oncology Cancer Achievement Award and has been the recipient of the prestigious Tom Reeve Award from the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia.

He has been a national and international study co-chair of a number of clinical trials of targeted therapies. His research interests include discovery of novel drug targets in cancer, targeting oncogenes, immunological effect of targeted therapies, clinical trials of targeted therapeutics, personalised medicine, melanoma, cell cycle control, metabolism and protein synthesis in cancer.

Ms Kylie Walker

Kylie is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, where she has a mandate to lead crucial national conversations and strategy towards a thriving, healthy and connected Australia supported by technology.

She specialises in connecting technologists, engineers and scientists with governments, business, media and society – skills built over many years in senior federal communication and advocacy roles in the science, technology and health sectors.

As the immediate past CEO of Science & Technology Australia, Kylie led campaigns to increase investment in Australian research and development, and created the acclaimed Superstars of STEM program, championing Australian women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Kylie is also Chair of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO and a visiting Fellow at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science. In 2019, she was named in the 100 Women of Influence list by the Australian Financial Review, for her work on improving equity, diversity and inclusion in STEM.

Professor Robert Sparrow BA (Hons) (Melb.), PhD (A.N.U.)

Rob Sparrow is a Professor in the Philosophy Program, and a Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, at Monash University, where he works on ethical issues raised by new technologies. He has published on topics as diverse as the ethics of military robotics, the moral status of AIs, human enhancement, stem cells, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, xenotransplantation, and migration. He is a co-chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Robot Ethics and was one of the founding members of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control.

Ms Anna Evangeli

Anna Evangeli is Deputy Editor, Health + Medicine, The Conversation. She has been a health and science journalist for 30 years, and is also an experienced workshop presenter and educator. Before The Conversation, she edited science news at the ABC, and taught journalism, media ethics and law, and professional practice at two universities.

Anna has an MA in journalism from UTS and a BSc (Hons) in biochemistry (University of Kent). She is also an award-winning blogger and travel writer.

In her spare time, Anna designs buildings, which she sees as another way of communicating complex, technical ideas, in a creative way, to a variety of audiences.

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People Conducting Research - Mark Wickham

Dr Mark Wickham has always been excited about science. Following a successful career in scientific research, he made the leap from academia to industry to be a Patent and Trade Marks Attorney at Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick Intellectual Property.

At the beginning of his secondary education, Mark’s teacher encouraged his passion for science. Unsure of which field of science to go into, Mark completed a Bachelor of Science at The University of Melbourne. He took the recommended subjects for becoming a psychologist but thinking of the years of training deterred him from that ambition. Instead, he fell in love with genetics, which had been one of the recommended subjects. He gave up his summers to undertake research projects, one at the John Curtin School of Medical Research and another at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in the lab he would complete his Honours research year in. These summers spent researching sealed the deal for Mark: he was going to become a biomedical researcher.

As is important for a budding researcher, Mark “clicked” with his Honours supervisor, Professor Alan Cowman. He investigated how the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, takes over and thrives in human red blood cells. The parasite invades red blood cells to evade the immune system and remodels them for their own use. As part of this, the parasite induces the production of adhesive molecules that make red blood cells become “sticky” and adhere to the lining of blood vessels. Mark searched for genes that contributed to this process.

He stayed on in the lab for his doctoral studies following a related project. ‘By that stage, I was hooked,’ Mark says.

When the parasite first enters a red blood cell, it is contained within a vacuole, meaning that is is enclosed in a membrane. To remodel the cell, it needs to somehow export trafficking machinery through that membrane to get into the cell itself. Approximately 300 parasite proteins are exported into the red blood cell with this machinery. Some, such as the adhesive proteins Mark studied in Honours, also have to navigate through the red blood cell, and then traverse the cell membrane to get to the outer surface. He studied these processes by tagging proteins with a fluorescent marker, green fluorescent protein (GFP), and watched it happen in real-time by tracking the fluorescent proteins under a microscope.

Mark felt that the next logical step after his PhD was to be a postdoctoral researcher. He was awarded a prestigious CJ Martin Fellowship to conduct research at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia in Canada with Professor Brett Finlay. There, Mark switched from plasmodia to bacteria, asking a similar question of how they export proteins from within a vacuole to take over an infected host cell. To this end, the bacteria he studied use a syringe-like needle to pump proteins out, called a type III secretion system. Mark tried to tag proteins with a fluorescent tag for 18 months before he realised that it wasn’t going to work. He ‘felt the floor drop out from underneath him’. But fortunately, he was able to work on other projects with his colleagues.

Mark enjoyed his time in Canada and ‘worked like a demon’ but had to return to Australia to complete the second leg of his CJ Martin Fellowship. By this time, he had accumulated 33 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and secured ample research funding, but returning to Professor Cowman’s Lab at WEHI – with the same people, the same pub haunts, and the same jokes – he wondered whether he could continue for the next 35 years. With the pressure of knowing he would have to become responsible for students and research assistants, and with the disappointing result of his initial project in Canada, he realised that it would be a ‘tough existence’.

During this time of concern, Mark happened to chat to a Patent Attorney at a BBQ who told him of a position open at Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick. Mark jumped at the chance to change career. While the job vacancy had in fact closed the day before the BBQ, he still applied, was interviewed and offered another position. Mark then realised that, while he had been solely focused on learning subject matter of his research studies, he had gained many skills along the way that were broadly applicable to many types of jobs.

‘When changing careers, you have to be willing to go back to the bottom of the heap.’ After becoming an accomplished postdoctoral researcher, Mark started out again as trainee. But after 13 years, during which time he completed a Masters of Commercial Law, he worked his way back up the ladder is now a Partner at the firm. As a Patent Attorney, he works with inventors in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, health and medical device industries. He advises them whether their ideas are patentable, and then will help them with the preparation and prosecution of their patent applications in Australia and internationally so that their intellectual property is protected.

Mark exchanged the ‘highs and lows of science to an evenness’ as he is not so invested in a single research project. He also has a better work-life balance, allowing him to spend time with his two sons. While not an easy feat, Mark has shown that successful research scientists can jump from academia to industry, and excel in another field.

Catriona Nguyen-Robertson | Science Communication Officer

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From the Archives - Systems Biology

(From the Archives is a series showcasing important talks by Australian and international researchers in the biomedical sciences hosted by the Convergence Science Network.)

Event Date: March 2012

The World Economic Forum published their list of top ten emerging technologies with the potential to make significant economic benefits and increase quality of life. Systems biology and computational modelling came in at number 5.

Systems biology aims relate genotype to phenotype – how heritable information at the DNA level is translated into a trait, especially with respect to disease. It is an integrative discipline that links the interactive network of genes, proteins, and biochemical reactions within cells. Currently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are used to interrogate every gene in the genome to determine which genes are related to certain diseases. This has promise but only explains a small fraction of contributions to disease – it is the entire network that affects health and disease, not individual genes alone.

Professor Edmund Crampin has created an inter-disciplinary team at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute to connect genotype and phenotype. [Professor Crampin was appointed a professor at the University of Melbourne in 2013.] His own training was in physics and mathematics, and he now works with engineers and data scientists to provide unique insights into biology. His team uses mathematical and computer modelling to investigate the processes that regulate cell function and the mechanisms underlying complex human diseases. By using computational models to map the changes at the DNA level to measurable differences in phenotype, we can better understand the aetiology of disease as well as how pharmaceutical compounds may interact with cellular systems to provide a therapeutic effect.

Crampin has a particular interest in heart disease and investigating how heart cells communicate with each other. Cellular calcium ions (Ca2+) is a messenger used by cardiac cells with two functions: it responds to electrical signals by triggering the myosin filaments in muscle cells to contract, creating heart beats, and it also acts a messenger in a series of events to deliver messages to DNA in the nucleus to switch genes on and off, regulating growth of the cell. Crampin wondered how calcium could do these both at once independently of each other.

Using a mathematical model of calcium influx into the cell, Crampin realised that the calcium signals for gene regulation and muscle contraction were of different magnitude. This allowed the two simultaneous cellular pathways to occur in the same space – as one would be regarded as background noise for the other. At the same time, a research group in Cambridge proposed a different view based on lab-based experiments: that there was spatial separation of the different calcium signals. Crampin’s group subsequently collaborated with the Cambridge group and together, they developed a model including the cell architecture from microscopy images of the cells. This new model confirmed that as well as a difference in magnitude, calcium is kept in different cellular compartments for the two different pathways.

Crampin is also looking for cancer prognostic markers, such as genes that contribute to the growth and survival of tumour cells. He randomly knocked out genes in cancer cells to determine how the cell responded to each individual mutation. From this, he realised that there were “hub genes” that were connected to and influenced many other genes that support tumour growth (i.e. they feed into regulatory gene networks). He then screened patients for these “hub genes” and noticed that when they were less active, patients survived longer, but when they were more active, patients had a poorer prognosis. This is merely one example of the power of systems biology, combining experimental data and computational modelling to help identify genes and cellular networks that may be useful in clinical outcomes.

Crampin also warned of the dangers of looking at data drawn from multiple cell types to make over-arching conclusions. For example, in searching for pathways that contribute to melanoma, he compared an established network of genes and proteins based on previous studies of different cell types, to a network he created by studying cells in the epidermis of the skin and arrived at different results. Network data collected “out of context” of a specific tissue or cell lineage may not provide as accurate information on biological processes taking place in real tissues and organs. Therefore, it is important to explore cellular networks and pathways in the same cell type you want answers for.

In Crampin’s opinion, there is trifactor to consider: that mechanistic modelling of biology is important, that tissue context is important, and that a network of mathematical data can come together to answer biological questions. Systems biology will have a great impact in both discovery science and translational research.

Catriona Nguyen-Robertson | Science Communication Officer

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People Conducting Research - David Collins

Dr David Collins loves building and making things with his hands. His office at The University of Melbourne contains multiple feats of his engineering work: from the miniature microfluidic devices that allow him to manipulate cells and particles, to a bike that he built and uses to cycle around Victoria. The microscale systems he designs can be used in numerous environmental and therapeutic applications, such as environmental sensing, disease diagnosis, and tissue engineering.

Microfluidics is the science of precisely manipulating and controlling fluids at a small scale - in channels that are only tens to hundreds of micrometres wide. The discipline has grown exponentially due to its ability to decrease sample and reagent consumption, shorten experiment times, and reduce overall running costs. Microfluidic devices have therefore been adopted into a variety of research, industrial and therapeutic applications.

Wanting to make a direct and tangible difference to the way the world works, David wanted to be at the intersection of engineering, science and research. The invention and development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and biomedical devices can help the lives of millions of people. ‘If you want to have an outsized impact on the world, research is the best way to leverage your individual effort,’ says David.

After growing up making RC (Radio Controlled) planes and a foosball table from scratch, it was natural for David to study a Bachelor of Engineering. Following some time at the University of Michigan and the University of Maine, David then moved to Melbourne to complete a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Melbourne. Switching gears slightly, he completed a PhD in mechanical engineering at Monash University, investigating the manipulation of microfluidic systems using surface acoustic waves (SAW).

At the time, SAW technology was opening a new frontier in microfluidics. SAWs are acoustic waves that propagate along the surface on a material – the equivalent of nanometre-order earthquake waves moving along a surface of a substrate. As the waves cause undulations along the substrate surface, energy is transferred to a fluid above the substrate. The waves are guided by a series of channels that can precisely manipulate microscopic particles and cells suspended in the liquid flowing over the device.

SAW technology is used in telecommunication (e.g. mobile phones), touch-sensitive screens, and biological and chemical screening. It has been applied onto “lab-on-a-chip platforms”, devices that integrate multiple laboratory functions on a single integrated circuit (a chip) to provide automation and high-throughput screening for analysis. During his PhD, David developed applications for SAW technology to build rapid diagnostic systems, for which he was awarded the Bill Melbourne Medal for Best PhD Thesis in the Faculty of Engineering.

Following his PhD, David undertook positions as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Singapore University of Technology and Design and then the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He wanted to bring his background in physics, engineering and biology together. He saw a growing need for rapid and efficient cell assays in biomedical research and industry and designed microfluidic devices to manipulate cells at a single-cell level.

At the end of 2018, David came full circle and returned to The University of Melbourne as an Australian Research Council DECRA (Discovery Early Career Research Award) Fellow in Biomedical Engineering. He continues to develop novel methods of high throughput micro-separation and organisation of cells. By combining SAW technology and microfluidics, the systems designed by David and his team enable the flow and manipulation of much smaller microparticles and nanoparticles than previously possible. This allows them to capture and manipulate individual cells and nanoparticles.

David is applying acoustofluidic systems to tissue engineering and bioprinting. Tissue organoids are collections of 100-10,000 cells that form structures that mimic the function of macro-scale organs. They are an emerging technology that use cells taken from an individual so that personalised organoids can be grown to use in research or to develop implantable tissues and/or test the response to drugs before giving them to the patient. David’ team is looking at the organisation of cells in these structures at a single-cell level – rather than looking at them as a whole – to better understand how we can manipulate the cells within organoids and make them an even more powerful tool for biomedical research and treatment of disease.

In addition to his research responsibilities, David is a teacher. At the beginning of his PhD, he spent eight months as a refugee tutor with Engineers without Borders, and now he is again teaching the engineers of the future. He is a lecturer in the Biomedical Engineering Department at The University of Melbourne and takes engineering students and postdoctoral researchers under his wing as a supervisor. He also fosters a multi-disciplinary research team that includes students from a diverse range backgrounds including engineering, physics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology. The team work together and see projects through from the design phase to the nanofabrication using techniques such as 3D printing. They frequent the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication in Clayton to build devices, which houses the largest cleanroom nano/microfabrication facility in the southern hemisphere.

David strives to develop microfluidic devices with real, medical applications. He develops systems for advanced bioprinting and uses novel micromanipulation methods to span the length scale from single cells to a macro-scale organ structure. He is at the forefront of a new technology wave that will make a great impact in biomedical research and the clinic.

Catriona Nguyen-Robertson | Science Communication Officer

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People Conducting Research: Michelle Blythe

It may surprise you to learn that science is actually a multi-faceted industry like any other and offers far more job opportunities outside the lab than in it. Although some prefer to think of academic research and industry as separate entities, in reality neither would exist without the other and they are highly interconnected. Bench side research may be where the science begins, but it is those “scientists” outside the lab that actually bring the revolutionary advancements discovered at the bench to the general public.

Michelle Blythe is a Patent and Trade Marks Attorney, holding the position of Senior Associate at Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick, one of Australia’s top tier Intellectual Property (IP) law firms with over 125 years’ experience in global IP management. Michelle specialises in protecting inventions in medical devices and instrumentation, although her expertise covers technologies across electrical and mechanical engineering, ICT and software, life sciences and physics. As a patent attorney, she is one of the bridges between research and industry, helping protect innovations as they journey from the lab to the spotlight. However, law was not where Michelle’s career journey began.

Early on as a biomedical science undergraduate, Michelle knew, as fascinating as medicine was, being a doctor just wasn’t her calling. Intrigued by research, Michelle applied to the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). This gave her a unique opportunity to work in a lab while studying and allowed her to earn some additional income as well. Having a part-time job in a relevant field during undergraduate is rare but hugely advantageous, as it cements what you are learning in class and gives it context. Although Michelle decided not to stay in the lab, the experiences and connections she gained from her time at the Ludwig Institute are still important to her today.

Driven by her aptitude for maths, Michelle took the path less travelled by most biomedical scientists, electing to take the bioengineering systems pathway throughout her undergraduate. This steered her away from an honours stream, instead leading her to pursue a Master of Biomedical Engineering. Here, Michelle could leverage some of the cell culture knowledge she gained during her time at the Ludwig Institute to drive an industry engineering project with the Bionics Institute on automated processing of histology samples. The goal of this project was to determine the numbers of viable neurons in a sample in a high-throughput way, both standardising the process and significantly reducing the time required for trained physicians and researchers to analyse samples. This got Michelle out of the lab but kept her close to the action analysing wet lab data.

During this time, Michelle also volunteered one day a week at Western Health where she was able to gain some real-world engineering experience maintaining clinical equipment. Upon graduation, this experience, as well as the contacts she had made, led to a job as a clinical engineer at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. However, at the time there was limited opportunity in the clinical engineering space and Michelle started to consider a new career path.

Coincidentally, Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick was looking for biomedical engineers for their trainee attorney program at this time. Excited by the technology aspects of the job and combining many of her skill sets, Michelle decided to take a leap and become a patent attorney. This career change involved over 3 years of on-the-job training in patent law and drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications, and further study, including completion of a Master of Intellectual Property Law. Now with more than 3 years as a registered patent attorney and over 6 years in the profession, Michelle thrives in the creative aspects of her work and enjoys being part of the innovation process from ideation to commercialisation of a new product.

While patents always cover the original use case of an invention, in order to effectively protect the IP, they also need to include other potential applications that may not have been considered before. This requires Michelle to creatively think outside of the box and draw upon her past experiences and knowledge. In fact, past experiences can be a considerable advantage as a patent attorney, particularly Michelle’s exposure to medical devices in a hospital working environment and on the lab bench. Michelle’s wide range of expertise also makes her ideally suited to work on an equally wide range of projects, helping clients with backgrounds in life sciences to engineering and physics protect their innovations.

Never wait for the perfect job, instead find value in experiences. By accepting the challenges offered by new and exciting opportunities, Michelle has been able to find a career where she can leverage her unique experiences in both science and engineering. As a patent attorney, Michelle is close to the action in a dynamic environment where problems require creative solutions. She gets to be intimately involved at every stage of the innovation process and works with clients of varying size from individuals and start-ups to large multinational organisations. As exciting as the bench side may be, the science doesn’t stop there.

Michelle’s advice to students: Don’t push away from science and never shut the door on an opportunity. Science degrees open you to a wide range of career opportunities, just be sure to consider and learn about the multitude of options outside of academic research. You never know how an experience will impact your future career, but you have to be open to opportunities when they are offered.

Cameron McKnight |Science Communication Officer

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Event Report: The Past, Present and Future of COVID-19

Event date: 16 July 2020

Panel members:

Professor Dale Godfrey, NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and Immunology Theme Leader in the University of Melbourne, Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Doherty Institute.

Professor Kanta Subbarao, virologist, physician and Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne and the Doherty Institute

Associate Professor Steven Tong, Infectious disease physician with the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service and Co-Head of the Translational and Clinical Research and Indigenous Health cross-cutting disciplines at the Doherty Institute.

Moderator:

Catriona Nguyen-Robertson, PhD Candidate at the Doherty Institute and Communications Officer with the Convergence Science Network.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a rapidly changing public health emergency. Three world-leading experts who work at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity are working at the forefront of the scientific response to this emerging novel pathogen. Their mission is to understand the virus, it’s effects on the body as well as find ways in which we can treat and prevent infection. The panel was an opportunity for the public to engage with the latest science, as well as reflect on how COVID-19 fits in context with previous viral pathogens, and the possibilities relating to our future.

How does COVID-19 compare to previous coronavirus outbreaks? Coronaviruses occur in many different species. Humans have four known coronaviruses today that circulate in the population, typically causing the common cold. How they entered the population and exactly when remains unclear, but they are thought to have existed among us for a very long time and there is a level of immunity in the community. More recent coronavirus infections such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) were different in that they were novel coronaviruses that entered into the human population from an animal species. This meant that the community didn’t have protective immunity. Luckily, there was limited transmission between person to person with these two viruses, so both were controlled with careful public health measures. What is a real gamechanger with the most recent coronavirus outbreak we are seeing with SARS-CoV-2, is the ability for the virus to efficiently spread from person to person, as well as the fact that a large proportion of people infected experience asymptomatic or very mild infections. This can also widen opportunity for the virus to spread. SARS, on the other hand, most of those infected experienced clear symptoms and could be isolated, and tracing close contacts was achievable to prevent spread. COVID-19 clearly offers extra challenges that we haven’t seen with previous coronavirus outbreaks.

How did researchers prepare and respond to the pandemic? One of the key discussions in the panel was regarding the scientific response and evaluating ways in which we were prepared for a new pandemic. Australian scientists such as Associate Professor Steven Tong and colleagues were already beginning to assemble a preparedness platform two years ago that would allow for a rapid response. They began to gradually recruit participants in order to investigate different types of emerging infectious diseases. It achieved the appropriate ethics and government approvals, and the first couple of patients that presented with COVID-19 in Melbourne hospitals were recruited into studies. Such preparations and early recruitment of patients resulted in some of the key initial scientific publications detailing the immunology and underlying immune response to the infection. The platform has now paved the way for more participants to be recruited and samples collected to understand disease progression and test currently existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat COVID-19.

How does the immune system respond to SARS-CoV-2? Although we do not have significant immunity in the population against this novel pathogen, scientists are intensely studying how our bodies respond to SARS-CoV-2. Professor Dale Godfrey, colleagues and many researchers across the globe have begun to understand which parts of the immune system are acting to defend our bodies from the infection. It’s clear that the humoral immune response plays an important role, whereby soluble proteins called antibodies are produced and bind to the virus. On top of that, our own immune cells such as T lymphocytes, natural killer cells and CD4 helper T cells have also been shown to respond to infection. Understanding how the immune system functions in different patients is going to be critical in shaping how we can treat COVID-19. This is particularly important in some severe cases where the body produces too strong an immune response. Professor Godfrey describes our immune systems as a fairly aggressive part of our bodies that can sometimes mount a vigorous attack when it sees a threat. In the case of respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, some patients experience a hostile and violent battle between the immune system and the virus. COVID-19 is an aggressive infection in itself, but our own bodies can also mount a highly aggressive response that leads to tissue damage and excessive inflammation. In these cases, the battle is not being won by the immune system, but instead, causing more harm than good. Why some individuals experience such a heightened response and others don’t is yet to be clearly understood. But work is aiming to identify which parts of the immune system need to be targeted and perhaps harnessed to mount an effective and safe response to infection.

What vaccines are currently in development? And what is needed to generate an effective one against COVID-19? Although this is a novel virus, and we do not yet have significant immunity in the population, one key way in which we can build immunity is through administration of an effective vaccine. There are currently over 140 vaccines in development for COVID-19 across the world, all at various stages, with some entering stage 3 clinical trials. One such example is a vaccine that was originally designed for tuberculosis (TB), known as the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine. This vaccine has been around for over 100 years, but interestingly, reports have shown that individuals can not only be protected from TB, but it can offer additional benefits. Studies in children have shown that those who received the BCG vaccine were less likely to die of other causes, not just TB, suggesting that there are non-specific effects. Given these observations, researchers have coined the idea of ‘trained immunity’ where some vaccines may provide benefit beyond specific immunity to the disease that they were originally designed for. Local scientists at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne are leading the way in this effort. They are interested to see if we can get some benefit from the BCG vaccine, particularly for people that are at severe risk of SARS-CoV-2. Professor Kanta Subbarao is a part of the trial where they are administering health care workers with the vaccine or a placebo to see if it may provide some protection, while we wait for a specific vaccine for COVID-19 to be developed.

But what is involved in designing a vaccine that is specific for COVID-19? And how do researchers decide what part of the virus needs to be included in order for it to be effective? The answer lies first in understanding which components of the virus are a target of the protective immune response. Previous studies in SARS and MERS showed that there were four major structural proteins that could play a role and was critical in informing early vaccine work into SARS-CoV-2. Researchers took all four of these proteins and tested them in isolation or in combination in animal models. They determined that the protein resembling a spike on the surface of the virus and what attaches to human cells is a target of the neutralising antibody response of the immune system. This early work with SARS and MERS has been a critical leg-up in our race for a COVID-19 vaccine. The data has been of great benefit, as vaccine development, clinical trials, approval, manufacturing and distribution can be a long process. In addition, the pandemic has opened the opportunity for vaccine technology to advance rapidly. Within just 6 months of the virus being identified, there are more technologies and methods being tested than any other disease, and to have some candidates reach phase 3 clinical trials in this timeframe has never been achieved previously. The pandemic has not only sparked new scientific approaches, but also a great level of collaboration and innovation.

What are the ways we achieve herd immunity in the population? With all that set aside, many ask why is it important that we get on top of a virus that only seems to severely effect a small proportion of the population? And is it really that bad if most people experience only very mild symptoms? Leading experts agree that although severe cases are a small percentage, it is still a very significant amount of people that require hospitalisation, and in serious cases, intensive care. And as we have seen, this virus has also taken lives, and continues to here in Australia and around the world. Associate Professor Steven Tong clearly emphasized that COVID-19 was not the same as even a severe flu season. He has been walking through intensive care units in our Melbourne hospitals, and was confident in saying that this virus is very different to what we have seen with influenza. In the case of flu strains, we have a large proportion of the population who have some or particular immunity to certain strains, or have gotten an annual flu vaccination, which both greatly reduces transmission. But in the case of SARS-CoV-2, we have extremely limited immunity in the community, it spreads more quickly than the flu, and no vaccine has been approved for widespread use. Given the current situation, scientists estimate that we could only achieve herd immunity in the population if between 60-70% of the population become infected. In Australia, currently only a small percentage of the population has been infected and a relatively small number of deaths compared to other countries. This has been achieved partly through public health measures such as social distancing, restricting travel and quarantine programs. However, if such measures were not put in place, the story would be very different. If 60-70% of the Australian population became infected with the virus, that could equate to roughly 15 million people, and of those, 150,000 would lose their lives. A key component that will allow us to achieve herd immunity is with an effective vaccine, and that at least 60-70% of the population receive it. Until then, other public health measures to reduce and slow the spread of the virus such as social distancing and frequent hand washing will continue to be important.

Another mystery that researchers are trying to unravel is how long immunity can last after someone has been infected. Early evidence is suggesting that those with very mild disease lose immunity more quickly than those who had very severe complications. But such a question can only be answered with time. Some viruses can cause lifelong immunity like in the case of the measles virus, but this has not been seen with coronaviruses that cause the common cold. It is still unknown where SARS-CoV-2 fits along that spectrum. Thus, as mentioned previously, herd immunity without vaccines could be a huge gamble. In addition, coronaviruses are notorious for having mechanisms that supress the immune response. But in the case of vaccines, we can be much more selective and only include components of the virus that promote an immune response. Researchers hope this selectivity can provide more robust and long-term immunity.

Research has been integral in us understanding this novel SARS-CoV-2 virus and developing ways that we can test, trace, predict and change our behaviours to minimise the spread. The recent weeks in Melbourne have been challenging, as we are facing increases in COVID-19 infections. It is clear, however, that every day we are learning more and more about this virus through the continued and dedicated work of researchers and clinicians. Our panel acknowledge that COVID-19 research has been rapidly moving, as large number of new research publications are becoming available that provide crucial pieces to the puzzle in how we can tackle this pandemic. As we continue this race for effective treatments, social distancing, good hygiene practices, getting tested if you have symptoms, and isolating when sick continue to be important behavioural measures that we can do to help prevent the spread.

Christina Gangemi | Science Communication Officer

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What attendees said about the event:

Thank you for an interesting and informative seminar, great speakers and the Q&A and poll sections were a nice addition.

Well done. We just have to work out how to do things this way.

Managed to pitch at a good level for both scientists and non-scientists; very good speakers

Really enjoyed the facts. Would love to see this as a weekly event.

Thank you to CSN for organising, and thank you to Kanta, Steven and Dale (and Catriona) for giving their time to share important findings and implications.

Thank you for a fascinating and informative webinar with excellent speakers and hosting.

I very much appreciated the fact that speakers were not kept rigidly to time. They all spoke well, and in my mind, clearly differentiated between their actual knowledge, and what they thought was likely to be to correct. I was impressed .

Brilliant to see such an ethnically and gender diverse panel of guests - this is what Australia, and Australian expertise, looks like. I was really proud and pleased

Keep these presentations coming.....PLEASE And my thanks to the presenters

Having true experts discuss COVID-19 in a manner that allowed lay people (like me) to understand the latest thinking was excellent.

#news #csnhighlights

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