Menzies Bulletin

Bulletin #0104

Baby-saving technology wins Queen’s Award for Innovation A life-saving infant ventilator manufactured in the UK and using technology developed by the Menzies Institute and engineering scientists at the University of Tasmania has won a prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation.

The SLE6000 neonatal ventilator produced by UK-based developer SLE Ltd uses the OxyGenie closed-loop Auto-O2 software system for controlling the amount of oxygen in a baby’s blood within a narrowly prescribed range.

The SLE6000 with OxyGenie is being used in 43 countries worldwide in

The ability to breathe normally is often the biggest challenge facing premature babies, many of whom need respiratory support, including oxygen therapy for some time after birth

EVEN LOW LEVELS OF AIR POLLUTION ARE HARMFUL TO HEALTH Growing evidence outlined in a position statement from the Centre for Air pollution, energy and health Research (CAR), and led by Professor Graeme Zosky from the Menzies Institute, shows that even very low levels of air pollution are harmful to our health.

Professor Zosky said this finding has important implications for how air pollution is regulated in Australia.

In Australia, air pollution levels are regulated by the National Environmental Protection Measures (NEPMs).

These list common pollutants and set a level of exposure that States must abide by.

The problem is that these assume a safe threshold of air

pollution below which there are no health impacts.

In their latest review ‘Principles for setting air quality guidelines to protect human health in Australia’, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, Prof Zosky and colleagues looked at the pollutants under the NEPMs and showed that for the majority, health effects are seen at very low levels, well below the NEPM standard.

This suggests that in

the care of critically ill babies.

The ability to breathe normally is often the biggest challenge facing premature babies, many of whom need respiratory support, including oxygen therapy for some time after birth.

OxyGenie’s patented algorithm technology was developed over nine years by a team led by Professor Peter Dargaville, a clinical researcher at the Menzies Institute and the Tasmanian Health Service, and Dr Tim Gale, a biomedical engineer at the School of Engineering.

A commercial licence for the technology was granted to SLE Ltd in 2018.

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are for outstanding achievement by UK businesses in the categories of innovation, international trade, sustainable development, and promoting opportunity through social mobility.

contrast to the assumption on which the NEPMs are based, there is in fact no ‘safe’ level of air pollution.

This raises serious questions about firstly, the health of Australians even under the low levels of air pollution we experience, and secondly, the validity of the NEPM approach.

Prof Zosky says these findings suggest the current approach to air pollution regulation needs to change.

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Director’s message The Menzies Institute has been dedicated to life-changing medical research for almost 35 years.

One of the strengths of having this track record is constantly building on our research successes and using our experience to forge ahead in new and exciting ways.

The Annual Menzies Excellence Awards are a way for us to celebrate and share our successes

This is something I am immensely proud of as Director.

This Bulletin has two such examples of our ongoing dedication to specific research areas.

Recently, we saw a UK Queen’s Award for Innovation go to the OxyGenie –

technology that is helping to regulate the breathing of premature babies in 43 countries around the world.

We also received our first royalty payment from the Licence Agreement relating to this software.

In late May, our Multiple Sclerosis Research Flagship acknowledged World MS Day with an event that attracted MS leaders and organisations from around the country and shared our research progress with over a hundred people, many of whom live with MS.

The Annual Menzies Excellence Awards are also showcased. These awards are a way for us to celebrate and share our successes and pay tribute to the people whose commitment makes Menzies a world-class institution.

I hope you enjoy reading about these achievements.

Kind Regards,

Distinguished Professor Alison Venn Director

Menzies will be increasingly contacting our supporters via email. If you would like to provide Menzies with your current email address, please email Menzies.Advancement@utas.edu.au or phone 6226 7707 as soon as possible. Thank you.

SCHOOLS GIVE HEALTHY COOKED LUNCHES A GOOD REPORT

Healthy start: The lunches were prepared from scratch using at least 50 per cent Tasmanian produce.

Late last year, three Southern Tasmanian schools provided healthy cooked lunches to selected classes for a month, through funding provided by Healthy Tasmania.

The School Lunch Pilot was co-ordinated and implemented by the Tasmanian School Canteen Association and evaluated by Dr Kylie Smith from the Menzies Institute.

Students, parents, canteen staff and volunteers, principals, teachers and support staff gave feedback on the Pilot through interviews, discussion groups and surveys.

The lunches were prepared from scratch using at least 50 per cent Tasmanian produce, and included a main course and a side.

“Two schools reported that students were calmer and that there was an increase in attendance, particularly among students who were often absent from school,” Dr Smith said.

“The lunch program was highly valued by the school community. It gave all children

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Menzies Bulletin

the chance to have a healthy cooked lunch and to eat as much as they needed. The canteen managers were keen to continue with the cooked lunches if funding permitted.”

Findings also included students and parents appreciating the variety of the lunches and that students were able to try new, tasty, and healthy foods. School staff and parents also said children were more settled before and after lunch and after school.

Ninety-five percent of parents

Two schools reported that students were calmer and that there was an increase in attendance

said they would like a cooked lunch to be provided every day and most were willing to pay $3 to $5 a meal. Parents also spoke of enjoying the break from preparing lunches, providing families with more calmness in the mornings when getting ready for the day ahead.

Julie Dunbabin, Executive Officer, Tasmanian School Canteen Association, said providing a lunch program

ensures all children have access to tasty, nutritious food at school. Well-fed children can grow, learn, and develop social skills.

Extending funding to expand the pilot school lunch project to include more schools will enable a greater understanding of the benefits and challenges as well as the different ways it can be offered throughout Tasmanian schools.

FUNDRAISING

Heart-warming response to Winter Appeal Thank you to everyone who donated to our 2021 Winter Appeal.

It is clear that investing in a healthier future for Tasmania is a real priority for the community as the Appeal is currently up to $95,000. We led this Appeal with some powerful truths about the state of our collective health. Tasmania has an ageing population with high rates of complex, chronic conditions in an environment of limited resources. One in three Tasmanians develop some type of cancer. Twenty per cent of us suffer from two or more chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes or depression. We are seven times more likely to be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

than someone living in northern Queensland.

Our Appeal also featured the moving story of Jayne England, who at just 27 was diagnosed with MS, the incurable and often progressive neurological disorder.

Jayne has now lived with MS for 12 years and some days battles with constant pain, fatigue and insomnia meaning simple tasks can take hours and leave her exhausted.

But over those 12 years she has also watched her two children grow into teenagers, developed a successful small business, and become an active advocate for MS support services and research. Jayne is hopeful that a cure isn’t too far away but in the meantime is encouraged by the research

Hopeful: Jayne England with her family.

into the possible causes, treatments, and improvements in the management of the disease. This is the research you make possible, and this is the research that keeps hope alive for Tasmanians like Jayne.

It is not too late to support our research into MS and our other priority areas. Donations $2 and over are tax deductible and every dollar is used for

research right here in Tasmania.

To donate, please visit www.menzies-giving.utas. edu.au or use the donation slip included in the Bulletin.

Given the nature of our island, the close-knit communities within it, our access to world-class medicine, and your help, we can be one of the healthiest populations in the world.

Annual Menzies Excellence Awards TEN OF THE BEST

MENTORING AWARD

The Ten of the Best awards recognise high-quality work through a selection of the most influential papers of the year, noting they are “of the best”. Each year we make ten awards across the three categories of Clinical Research, Laboratory Research and Population Health. PhD student Nicolas Borchers Arriagada was the winner of the “Best of the Best” award for “Unprecedented smoke-related health burden associated with the 2019-20 bushfires in eastern Australia”, published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

This research responded immediately to an Australian crisis, and drew immediate attention with citation in major policy documents.

Recognises the significant and ongoing contributions made to the career and professional development of staff and students.

Recipient: Professor James Sharman

PROFESSIONAL STAFF AWARD Recognises outstanding achievement through exceptional performance and contribution to the Institute.

Recipient: Vivienne Jones Viv is the Consumer and Community Engagement Manager for the MS Research Flagship. She was instrumental in establishing the governance structure for the Flagship, including the Consumer and Community Reference Committee that has been actively engaged with Flagship activities.

RESEARCH IMPACT PRIZE

This prize recognises research outputs with demonstrable benefits to society.

Project Population health impacts of bushfire smoke and strategies for mitigating the associated harms.

Recipient: Professor Fay Johnston Impact Australia is at high risk from escalating extreme fire events which have widespread health, social and economic impacts. The 2019-20 fire season illustrated the importance of this growing problem.

Demonstrated impacts of this work outside the academic environment include: • Contributions to a Royal Commission, a Parliamentary

Inquiry, and the NSW and Victorian Inquiries into Black Summer. Prof Johnston was directly quoted or cited more than 50 times in the final reports.

• Many of Prof Johnston’s recommendations made to the enquiries were accepted, some have been implemented, others are in the process of being implemented throughout Australia.

• An app called AirRater that allows people to track air quality was developed by Prof Johnston’s team and has received major new funding to maintain and improve a national service.

• Changes to public health practice in relation to managing fire smoke events, including all states and territories starting to provide near real-time hourly air quality information rather than 24 hourly average.

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Research with Connections To recognise and celebrate World MS Day 2021, our MS Research Flagship hosted their first Research with Connections event on May 28 at Blundstone Arena.

This year’s World MS Day theme was ‘Connections’.

It’s a global theme for three years (2020-2022) that aims to build community connection, self-connection and connections to quality care.

The Research with Connections event was organised by the MS Research Flagship to bring the multiple sclerosis community together, showcase our research, and highlight the importance of

community connections.

More than 100 members of the Tasmanian MS community attended the event to watch presentations on several research topics – from gene hunting to magnetic brain stimulation. There were also presentations focusing on consumer and community engagement and a special guest presentation from Heather Francis, CEO of the Royal Hobart Hospital

Showcase: Our MS Research Flagship hosted a Research with Connections event.

Research Foundation.

The event was expertly chaired by the President of MS Australia, Associate Professor Des Graham. Our

researchers and MS partner organisations also provided additional opportunities for involvement throughout the day at their trade tables.

Worthy cause: The May 50K asks participants to walk or run 50km in May to raise money for life-changing research into MS.

These committed team members jumped at the opportunity to pledge their quads, calves, hamstrings, and glutes to the May 50K cause

May 50K – Raising money for MS Research The MS Research Australia May 50K is a rewarding and community-driven fundraising event that takes place in a month dedicated to multiple sclerosis.

The May 50K asks participants to leave their limits behind by walking or running 50km in May to raise money for life-changing research into MS.

For 2021, our team consisted of 16 people from the University of Tasmania’s College of Health and Medicine, the Menzies Institute

for Medical Research, and the MS Research Flagship. These committed team members jumped at the opportunity to pledge their quads, calves, hamstrings, and glutes to the May 50K cause.

After 31 days of running and walking, they raised more than $10,000 for vital MS research.

They also came 15th out of more than 500 workplace teams and second in the workplace sector ranking.

With competing workplaces such as Merck, Coca Cola

Amatil, Australian Clinical Labs, and MS Research Australia taking part in the challenge, they did a tremendous job placing in the top 20.

For their challenge, MS Research Flagship Program Manager Natasha Stevens and Consumer and Community Engagement Manager Viv Jones walked the Three Capes Track – nearly 50 km over three days. There was also an honourable mention for Dr Ashish Mehta, who recorded more than 240km.

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PROFILE

RESEARCHER PROFILE

Ingrid Cox Physician and PhD Candidate

What brought you to Menzies?

Australia has always been at the top of my list for study as the health system is considered one of the best in the world.

I chose Menzies as it matched my top criteria for successful study that is, quality research, supervisors with stellar backgrounds and experience and it’s in one of the most beautiful and tranquil parts of Australia with a lovely climate, offering a good balance between quality of education and quality of life. Also being from an island, Tasmania felt more like home. I’m originally from St Lucia in the Caribbean.

What is the focus of your research?

My current research focuses on the health and economic burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in Australia.

It is a lesser known, rare disease of the lungs but with a debilitating impact on both patients and families, as there are few treatment options available. In Australia there is not much information on IPF, so my study will seek to describe the epidemiological profile, examine quality of life, quantify costs related to management of the disease, and develop a disease simulation model to predict patient outcomes and cost effectiveness of interventions.

What are some of the recent findings from this work?

Our recent findings have shown that incidence, mortality and prevalence of IPF have increased over the past 15 years. In Australia the highest burden is in persons older than 70 years.

Quality of life in persons with IPF is lower than that of persons from the general population of that age group and is affected by the severity of the disease and the multiple comorbidities that are common in this age group. There are currently only two approved and available medications in Australia, and these are only for persons with mild to moderate disease.

Our findings have several implications for guidelines and policy related to early diagnosis, timely treatment of IPF, continued subsidisation of medications and treatment of comorbidities.

What is the most interesting aspect of this work?

I would have to say the many unknowns about the disease makes the work challenging and exciting. There is so much to learn each day and so many questions that continuously emerge that it keeps you engaged. I think this is really important because at the end of the day it really makes a difference in the life of the patients.

What other research based activities are you involved with?

We were successful with a grant from the Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation which focusses on the association of biomass smoke and hospitalisations in Tasmania. We are currently concluding this study. I have also worked on two projects focused on mental health with Dr Fiona Cocker, one looking at experiences

of families of first responders and another on building resilience in medical students and junior doctors.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I am the inaugural President of the Institutional Council of the Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Victoria and Tasmania Student Chapter and the Student representative on the ISPOR Australia Chapter. Apart from that, I’m mostly a homebody, I do enjoy a good book when I’m not reading journal articles and I also enjoy exploring my culinary skills. When I do get outdoors, I volunteer at Parkrun on weekends, love going for long walks and exploring the Tasmanian outdoors.

When I do have time I also volunteer for an NGO called EarthMedic which focuses on Climate Change and Health in the Caribbean.

MIND GAMES NOT JUST FUN AND GAMES

Support: The Mind Games organiser Sherri Ring hands over the fundraising cheque to Menzies Director, Distinguished Professor Alison Venn, and mental health researchers.

Teams from workplaces across Hobart competed in a day of fun and mind games for the second time and raised $80,000 for mental health research at the Menzies Institute.

health and promote a fun and supportive environment.

“This is especially important in a COVID-19 world with increased isolation.”

The money raised through The Mind Games in 2019 allowed Menzies to support a Mind Games Scholar, Adam Nebbs, who is completing a PhD in workplace mental health.

He is assisting lead workplace mental health researcher, Professor Angela Martin, in auditing Tasmanian workplaces to assess how mentally healthy those workplaces are.

The Mind Games Race for Research involved 55 teams of five people being put through their paces in 11 fun challenges at The Goods Shed in Hobart.

Event organiser Sherri Ring thanked the community for supporting the games for the second time, especially the

top-tier sponsors. “It’s very heartening to see the way local businesses such as Tas Networks and Tas Gas make workplace mental health a priority by getting behind our activities,” Sherri said. “We want to encourage people to start the conversation around mental

We want to encourage people to start the conversation around mental health

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FUNDRAISING Committed: Susie Kuciak asked 10 women to take part in the ‘Road to Recovery’ challenge to help raise breast cancer awareness and funds for further research.

Road to Recovery After her mother was diagnosed with Grade 3 Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer, Susie Kuciak wanted to raise both awareness of the disease and funds for further research.

Susie asked 10 women to take part in the ‘Road to Recovery’ challenge by running or walking 10km a day for 10 consecutive days, totalling 100km each.

One of these was good friend and Menzies postdoctoral research fellow Dr Kirsten Fairfax.

Through Kirsten, Susie was aware of the internationally significant medical research being conducted at the Institute, including work on the prevention and treatment of

diseases like cancer.

Funds raised by the challenge and an associated charity raffle totalled over $7,500 and have been donated to the Menzies Institute for Medical Research.

“I was so proud to be a part of my mum’s healing journey and to be able to raise awareness at the same time,” Susie said. Wanting to highlight how breast cancer can affect people who are otherwise fit and healthy, Susie designed the project

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to be a test of endurance for all involved.

Most of the women who took part were not regular runners and trained for four months before the challenge officially started. This included Susie’s mum, who was still undergoing treatment.

I was so proud to be a part of my mum’s healing journey and to be able to raise awareness at the same time

“At that point she was still really tired and wasn’t sure if she would finish the full 100km,” Susie said.

“But she took it one step at a time and managed to walk the whole way.

“She’s pretty focused when she puts her mind to it.

When you’re not well, staying positive and having a goal to work towards really makes a difference.”

“It was a very positive experience for all involved,” she said.

Happily, her mother’s health has had a positive outcome too, and she has been declared cancer-free for several months.

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest Menzies news?

Find us on Facebook and ‘like’ our page. You can read all our Bulletins and reports electronically at issuu.com.

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More than flowers In Memoriam

One sentence in your Will can fund life-saving medical research.

If you would like more information, please contact the Institute Advancement Manager on 03 6226 7700.

Bequests save lives by funding research.

Thank you.

We gratefully acknowledge gifts made from the following estates: Estate of the late Kathleen Patricia Allen Estate of the late Rosemary van den Berk Estate of the late Mavis Lillian Burridge Estate of the late Alice Meredith Hodgson Estate of the late Christopher Norman Horne Estate of the late Betty Maud Kula Estate of the late Peter Wallbridge Smith Estate of the late Helen Hawley Tanner We gratefully acknowledge gifts made in honour of: Mr Paul Andrew Mr Richard G Brazendale Mr Aart Byl Mr Edward Chambers Mr Norman H Deane OAM Mrs Helene M Dowd Mr David L Duggan Mr Donald Edwards Mr Keith Emmerton Ms Dinah Emmitt Mr Mervyn G Goscombe Mrs Diane Gray Mr Christopher D McDermott Mr Colin Mole Mrs Eileen P Murfett Mr Kenneth R Stocks