QUEEN’S B’DAY HONOU TOWARDS A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

PROfeSSOR

Ranjeny Thomas, AM

For significant service to medical education and research, and to rheumatology

Uppermost in Prof. Ranjeny Thomas’ mind, as she spoke with Indian Link, was the recent loss of her youngest sister Anna Thomas, well-known Melbourne-based fashion designer. “It makes this AM honour… bittersweet,” she admitted.

Prof. Ranjeny Thomas of the University of Queensland is the Arthritis Queensland Chair of Rheumatology, Translational Research Institute, since 2013 and Diamantina Institute, since 2003. A consultant rheumatologist at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital since 1994, she was also Chief Technology Officer and Director of Dendright until last year, a biopharmaceutical company commercialising an immune tolerizing immunotherapy for rheumatoid arthritis.

“As a rheumatologist, I’ve always been fascinated by immunology, specifically autoimmune diseases in which the immune system attacks one’s own body cells,” Prof. Thomas told Indian Link.

Autoimmune diseases are a large cluster of diseases, some 80 in number, that affect a whole range of body parts including blood vessels, joints, skin and connective tissue. Multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, some forms of diabetes, psoriasis and celiac disease are all autoimmune diseases.

These disorders are tricky to diagnose because the symptoms can be disguised as other conditions or they could be conditions by themselves, yet Prof. Thomas dismisses the common understanding that ‘it often takes five different doctors over a period of 5 years before you get a diagnosis’.

“Studying the symptoms, signs, blood tests and antibodies specific to the disease, it is easy for an expert to pick up,” she reassured.

Is it true though that autoimmune diseases are on the rise?

“Yes, that’s true for some diseases such as childhood diabetes and irritable bowel diseases”, she revealed. “There are no treatments yet – but there’s promise, with ongoing research. We start in small ways, make clinical trials, continue with these with investment and money, and then come to precision therapies. In treating autoimmune disease, we are specifically trying to turn the immune system off to self-proteins so that the rest of the immune system is left to deal with (non-self proteins).”

Which brings us to COVID-19, also a disease of the immune system.

“COVID proves that we need more immunologists,” Prof. Thomas laughed.

Prof. Thomas’ father came to Australia from Kerala in 1950 to study medicine in Melbourne. He later moved to Perth where he worked as a plastic surgeon. Her mum is Australian.

She herself studied medicine in Perth, specialised in rheumatology and then took a doctorate from the US. She now works in QLD as an academic and medical professional.

Her academic role sees her training younger doctors, and supervising PhD and post-doc research in rheumatology.

“I take great enjoyment in promoting the development of young women who aspire to

Good Mental Health

Dr. Arumugam

Alagappa

Arumugam, AM

Nadu and seeing a gentleman living on the streets outside his home suffering from a mental health condition. He was intrigued by the ability of a young girl to settle the tensions faced by the gentleman, when adults struggled to understand what to do. Curious to learn more about the condition (which he later learned was Paranoid Schizophrenia) and to support those with mental illnesses, Dr. Arumugam pursued a career in this field to achieve his goal.

After studying Psychiatry at the then Madras Medical College and completing further studies in Bangalore, Dr. Arumugam was considering his first post in the profession. Given the political a career in this field,” she revealed. “I think it’s important to impart mentorship and I’m very proud that I’m able to do so.”

Acknowledging the big imbalance in STEM worldwide, she noted, “I think it’s partly a confidence thing, partly cultural, where women are told we can’t or shouldn’t do STEM and opt for softer subjects instead. In reality though, there’s no advantage in science to either sex. Instead, we need diversity. Science and technology is so often teamwork, and teamwork thrives on diverse thinking. In my own work, I’ve seen women make fantastic contributions – they have a different way of thinking, dedicated and driven.”

As one of four daughters herself, Dr Thomas was always encouraged to aspire and to achieve. All four Thomas girls have gone on to highly successful careers (49-year-old Anna Thomas’ eponymous fashion brand has high-profile clients such as politicians and television presenters.)

The Indian links remain strong in Ranjeny’s life. “I do have close ties with my father’s family in Kerala and go back from time to time.”

The Kochi-based Synthite Industries, a world leader in oleoresin extraction, is owned by an uncle.

At work, her lab attracts the best from India, including a young researcher from Manipal currently working to develop an immunotherapy vaccine.

Rajni Anand Luthra

tensions in Tamil Nadu in the late 1960s, he considered three overseas places for work and home. Choosing from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, he settled on Australia because of its open migration policy and appreciation of a multicultural society. In addition, Victoria was also on the lookout for qualified psychiatrists given the lack of local supply. After migrating in 1971, and keen to learn the culture of Australians, Dr. Arumugam accepted his first job in the country town of Traralgon. He remembers how warm the locals were and how they admired his qualification. He was keen to help long-stay patients with mental illnesses transition to a community lifestyle. “My colleagues and I were trying to shift institutional care to individualised care,” he explained to Indian Link . “We were all keen to lower the use of drugs and achieve better outcomes with nonverbal and non-synthetic forms of therapy such as music, art and dance”.

He noted, “Our patients consumed less drugs; an overall 25% reduction in utilisation to achieve the same outcomes.” During his career he rose to become President of the State Employed Psychiatrists Association.

Dr. Arumugam served at the infamous Larundel Psychiatric Hopsital, the Plenty Mental / Psychiatric Hopsital and the Heatherton Hospital and Associated