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March 2007 Expansion of CVR | 
Professor Colin Chesterman with Professors David Burke (USYD Director of Research, left), Roland Stocker (USYD Biochemistry in Vascular Medicine, centre), Nicholas Hunt (USYD Molecular Immunopathology) and Georges Grau (USYD Vascular Inflammation, right) at the opening of the USYD CVR node |  The Director of CVR, Professor Colin Chesterman with the University of Sydney Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Coats at the opening of the USYD CVR node | | | The University of Sydney node of the Centre for Vascular Research (CVR) was officially launched on 16 February 2007 in the presence of its Director, Professor Colin Chesterman, and several representatives of the University of Sydney including Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Coats. With this opening of brand-new laboratories and offices, the number of CVR nodes extends from three to four Australian universities (UNSW, ANU, Monash and USYD). It strengthens the position of CVR as the leading centre for vascular research in Australia.
Professor Roland Stocker is the head of the new node at The University of Sydney, in conjunction with his appointment as Chair of Biochemistry in Vascular Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and as a member of the Bosch Institute. The USYD node receives significant financial support from the University of Sydney and its Medical Foundation. This is in addition to government funding in form of competitive grants, including an NH&MRC Program Grant.
The present research focus of the USYD node of CVR is in atherosclerotic vascular disease, the regulation of vascular tone, and the role of redox reactions in these processes. The aim is to strengthen CVR in general and vascular research at the University of Sydney in particular, with a view to extend the node to other high calibre laboratories.
A core component of the research program of Prof Stocker’s laboratories over the next 5 years is the development of a novel class of potential anti-atherosclerotic drugs. This will be done in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company, committed to provide substantial support over this time frame, and well placed to take the work from the pre-clinical stage to the clinics. This exciting development is generating several openings for both junior and senior scientists in the areas of inflammation, vascular homeostasis, pharmacology and molecular cell biology. For further about these possibilities, please contact Prof Roland Stocker (rstocker@med.usdy.edu.au). | | December 2006 Competitive Grant Income more than $24 million | | During 2006, CVR was awarded more than $24 million in peer reviewed research grants to begin in 2007.Renewal of a ‘Vascular Biology’ NHMRC Program Grant accounted for over half of the total. Other sources of funding included NHMRC Project Grants, ARC Discovery Grants, the Cancer Institute of NSW, the National Heart Foundation and Diabetes Australia. | | October 2006 CVR group move into the new John Curtin School of Medical Research building | 
The new John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU. | Dr Mark Hulett’s team, Cancer and Molecular Immunology Group, that comprises part of the Canberra node of the Centre for Vascular Research have recently relocated their laboratory into the new John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) building at the Australian National University. The new building was completed in July and includes modern open plan laboratories, a public display foyer (to be named the Jackie Chan Science Centre), a 200-seat lecture theatre, and the Vanilla Bean Café. The design of the new building was inspired by the shape of the DNA helix that is reflected in the impressive twisting blade columns at the front of the building. The new JCSMR building has already been recognised with a number of prestigious architectural design awards and is fast becoming a Canberra landmark. | | August 2006 Cardiac Society Honours | 
Dr Ravinay Bhindi, Dr Yishay Orr &
Associate Professor Len Kritharides | The prestigious Ralph Reader Young Investigator Awards of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand for the best Basic Science and Clinical Cardiology research has been awarded this year to two research students based at the Centre for Vascular Research.
The Basic Science prize was awarded to Dr Ravinay Bhindi (jointly supervised by Harry Lowe and Levon Khachigian) for his work entitled "DNAzymes targeting the transcription factor Egr-1 reduce myocardial infarct size following ischaemia-reperfusion". Dr Yishay Orr (supervised by Len Kritharides and Carolyn Geczy) won the clinical section for her work entitled "Conformational activation of neutrophil CD11b without L-selectin shedding a novel pro-adhesive neutrophil phenotype identified during coronary artery bypass surgery".
Associate Professor Len Kritharides, Head of Cardiology at Concord Repatriation General Hospital and Co-Group Leader in CVR was appointed Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Society during the same meeting, held in early August. | | July 2006 Molecular Assassins |  | Professor Levon Khachigian's team (Transcription and Gene Targeting Laboratory) has developed new generation of "molecular assassins" that block a variety of disease processes, including new blood vessel growth, vascular leakiness and inflammation. The research was published in the July issue of Nature Biotechnology and has implications to common problems such as eye disease, arthritis and cancer. Khachigian and his team used similar technology previously to block tumour growth and arterial narrowing. Partners are currently being sought for the clinical development of these new-generation smart drugs through UNSW's commercialisation arm, NewSouth Innovations.
| | June 2006 Promotions to Laboratory Heads |  | Drs Katharina Gaus and Shane Thomas have recently been promoted to Laboratory Heads in CVR. Both scientists have been with CVR for the past two and a half years and have built their careers and their respective laboratories to the point where independence is clearly warranted.
| | November 2005 CVR scores two awards for excellence in Health and Medical Research |  | Achievements of CVR Scientists were recognised in the past month. Dr Katharina Gaus received the 2005 NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award and Professor Christopher Parish the 2005 Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Science.
The Tall Poppy Awards were established in 2000 to recognise young scientists who excel at research, leadership and communication and on this occasion were celebrated at NSW Parliament House on Thursday, 20th October. Dr Gaus, who is currently working at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany on a Humboldt Fellowship rated her most significant research as the development of imaging lipid “rafts” in living cells. This has enabled her to more precisely investigate the function of these “rafts” which appear to be effectively “communication hardware” between cells.
The Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research is awarded to a Scientist actively involved in research who has, at some time, received support from the Foundations. The aim of the award is to honour a person who has made an outstanding discovery in clinical or experimental biomedical research, the majority of work being carried out in Australia. Professor Parish is a distinguished recipient of this award, his research into the enzyme heparanase and its inhibition which has led to the development of the anti-cancer drug PI-88. This drug is currently being trialled extensively in several Centres throughout the world. | | August 2005 New Award for Dr Brett Garner |  | Dr Brett Garner has been announced the winner of a new National Heart Foundation research award. The inaugural award is named after the high-profile sports journalist Peter 'Chippy' Frilingos, who died of a heart attack in May last year.
Dr Garner was honoured at a ceremony this week, attended by Mr Frilingos' family and colleagues. Mr Frilingos' widow, Maureen, selected Dr Garner's work for recognition from a group short-listed by the Heart Foundation. The research involves developing drugs that promote cholesterol removal from arteries.
"It's great to get this sort of recognition as a researcher," said Dr Garner. "But most importantly, it helps raise awareness about heart disease amongst the broader community."
The Heart Foundation, Radio 2GB and The Daily Telegraph raised $70,000 in an appeal in commemoration of Peter Frilingos. The money represents a significant contribution to Heart Foundation funds which are used to support research into the causes and diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and related disorders. | | July 2005 ISTH Congress Comes Down Under: Senior CVR Researchers In Key Organisational Roles |  | Several senior researchers from the Centre for Vascular Research are playing key roles in the upcoming 20th Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, and the 51st Annual Meeting of the Scientific and Standardization Committee, which will be held in Sydney from 6-12 August 2005. The Congress venue is the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. This is the first time an ISTH Congress will be held in the southern hemisphere. Over 5 years in the planning, the Congress is expected to attract 4000-5000 delegates. Professor Colin Chesterman, President of the Congress, heads the Local Organising Committee comprising, among others, Professor Michael Berndt (Scientific Program Chair), Professor Levon Khachigian
(Congress Treasurer and Vascular Biology Section Chair), Professor Beng Chong (SSC Program Chair) and Dr Robert Andrews (Platelets Section Chair).
For further information, including registration instructions, please
visit the Congress website: http://www.isth2005.com |  | May 2005 Dr Katharina Gaus receives Australian Research Council Early Career Award |  | Dr Katharina Gaus was awarded the Australian Research Council Early Career Award from the Australian Academy of Science. The award allows early career researchers to attend the Science at the Shine Dome Conference (4th-6th May 2005 in Canberra) and the Annual Dinner of the Academy. This year the conference also included a symposium on stem cells.
Katharina was also recently awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship to work with Prof. Kai Simons at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Katharina will spend six months in Germany in the second half of 2005 and will use Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy to study the dynamics of proteins on the cell surface.
Photo:From left to right: Dr Katharina Gaus, Dr. Benjamin Kile from the Walter Eliza Hall Institute, the other ARC Early Career Research Award recipient and Professor Peter Hoj, ARC Chief Executive Officer. | February 2005 Levon Khachigian wins 1st Prize in the 18th Khwarizimi International Award |  | Professor Khachigian has won First Prize, Khwarizmi International Award for Science and Technology, which recognises distinguished innovators and inventors in fundamental and industrial science. This
award is co-sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) International Federation of Inventors'
Association (IFIA) and Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST).
Professor Khachigian was presented the award by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Excellency Sayed Mohammad Khatami in February. He was presented with a Certificate of Excellence in Research, a Commemorative Medal and a Gold Trophy during an elegant Awards Ceremony. Professor Khachigian addressed audiences at Tehran University and at the National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.
The Khwarizmi International Award was created in honour of the 9th Century A.D. mathematician and astronomer Abu Jafar Mohammad Ibn Mousa Khwarizmi. The Award is given to individuals judged by
international referees to have contributed significantly to knowledge. These individuals will have made significant contributions in major fields, with the aim of encouraging worldwide scientific and
technological activities and motivating scientists to provide concrete solutions to major problems. | December 2004 A Vintage Year for CVR |  Four of the five CVR career development award winners. From left are: Miles Davenport, Brett Garner, Harry Lowe and Katharina Gaus. Missing is Juliana Kwok. | | 18 out of 21 grants were awarded to CVR this year, an 86% success rate. This is remarkable when one considers that the national average for the schemes is 20-30%.
Grants are from NHMRC (2/3 Project Grants, 3/3 RD Wright Fellowships (10% of all awarded), 1 Fellowship Promotion and 1 Development Grant), ARC (4/4 Discovery Grants), NHF (4/6 Project Grants), Cancer Council NSW (1 Project Grants) and Ramacciotti (2/2 Equipment Grants). These new recurrent grant and career awards add more than $1.3M pa to CVR peer reviewed funding, which is already healthy, the new money in large part supporting future leaders. |  | October 2004
Viertel Foundation Awards to CVR | | Miles Davenport is the 2005 recipient of the Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellowship. Harry Lowe, working from Concord Hospital, received one of five Clinical Investigatorships awarded in the same round by the
Foundation. The awards were announced on the 19th October, 2004, by the Trustees of the Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation. Miles trained as a medical practitioner and then completed a PhD in immunology at Oxford University. He has since specialised in mathematical modelling as it applies to immunology and chronic infections such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Since joining CVR he has modelled the effects of HIV vaccination, but his approaches can also be turned to analysing angiogenesis and other pathological processes. Harry completed his PhD with Levon Khachigian and, on an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellowship, spent almost two years in Boston. Since returning, he has split his time between Concord Hospital as a cardiologist and research in CVR.
The Investigatorship provides funding to assist in developing his clinically based research. | April, 2004 New Glycobiology Laboratory
CVR has established one of the few laboratories in the world with expertise to sequence and study the structure and function of oligosaccharides. The core equipment includes two automated Agilent HPLC systems set up with UV, fluorescence and evaporative light scattering detectors. |  Figures in the photograph panel are from: Garner at al. (2001) J Biol Chem 276:22200-8 and Rudd et al. (1997) J Biol Chem 272(11):7229-44. | | Brett Garner with Chris Parish and Craig Freeman and non-CVR partner investigators Michael Guilhaus, Peter Gray and Mike Davies were awarded an ARC LIEF grant to purchase state-of-the-art HPLC equipment which forms the core of a new glycobiology laboratory. The photograph shows Zhicong He, a post-doctoral scientist in Brett Garner’s laboratory, setting up the equipment which will be used to characterise oligosaccharides derived from glycoproteins, glyolipids and glycosaminoglycans. Once the oligosaccharide sequence is analysed, the structures and function of the intact glycoconjugate can be accurately predicted (shown in the side panel of the photograph).
The field of glycobiology is expanding rapidly and the new laboratory will place CVR at the cutting edge of glycobiology research. More information about glycobiology and its importance in medical research can be found at the following websites: Glycobiology Introduction
http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/carbohydrates.shl
Glycoscience Network
http://www.vei.co.uk/TGN/ | December, 2003
CVR has achieved a 100% success rate in applications for NH&MRC C.J. Martin Post-Doctoral Fellowships this year. |  | Anthony Don and John Pimanda from Phil Hogg's lab and Mary Kavurma from Levon Khachigian's lab will be relocating to the UK or USA early next year.
John will be moving to the UK to study the transcriptional regulation of stem cell identity and differentiation in the laboratory of Professor Tony Green at Cambridge University. Mary will also be moving to Cambridge to study the role of vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis in atherosclerosis with Professor Martin Bennett at Addenbrooke's Centre for Clinical Investigation. Anthony will be traveling to San Diego to work with Professor Peter Sims in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute. He will be investigating the role of the phospholipid scramblase proteins in growth factor and cytokine signal transduction and haematopoietic cell maturation. | | September, 2003
New President of the Australian Vascular Biology Society |  |  | Congratulations to Wendy Jessup for her new role as President of the Australian Vascular Biology Society. Wendy, who was elected unopposed at the Society's Annual General Meeting in Ballarat, Victoria, took over the helm from Levon Khachigian who served his two year term and remains on the AVBS Committee as Immediate Past President. Wendy has had a long-standing association with the Society, having been a past Honorary Treasurer, also having organised the 1997 National Scientific Conference (NSC) in Leura.
| August 2003
Fresh Science Award |  | | Dr Katharina Gaus, ARC Post-Doctoral Discovery Research Fellow with the Macrophage Biology Group at the Centre for Vascular Research has won a Fresh Science award during Science week. Run by Science Now!, Fresh Science is a national competition to identify some of Australia's most exciting (but unreported) science achievements by sixteen younger researchers across the country.
Katharina is a Fresh Science winner for her work on lipid rafts, which are cellular communication centres on every cell in the body. As with telephone calls, where callers are connected through a central telephone exchange, so the cell membrane brings closer together many of the proteins that are talking (signaling) to each other, to increase the speed and accuracy with which messages can be sent. It does this by using specialized fat patches on the cell membrane. These patches are much more rigid than the surrounding membrane and so are called 'lipid rafts', which float on the 'sea' of membrane oils. 'Katharina developed a new microscopy method which permits researchers to look directly at lipid rafts floating on the cell surface. This was done by exploiting the difference in the rigidity of lipid rafts and other parts of the membrane and using a dye that changes color depending on fluid structure. Next year Katharina will be screening cells from heart disease patients and comparing the lipid structures from these cells with those taken from people currently unaffected by heart disease. She believes this could lead to a diagnostic test that uses cells rather than blood to determine heart disease risk in patients.'
| August 2003
Professor Michael Berndt, Centre for Vascular Research, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, receives Distinguished Career Award from International Society
 | | Every two years at its International Congress, the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis awards five Investigator Recognition Awards and five Distinguished Career Awards. Michael Berndt from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, received the Investigator Recognition Award and Medal in 1997, and this year in Birmingham, UK, at the XIXth Congress of the ISTH, the Distinguished Career Award and Medal. | Professor Michael Berndt received his Ph.D. from the Department of Biochemistry, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, in 1979, after which he spent a post-doctoral period with Dr. David Phillips at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where he developed his interest in the structure and function of platelet membrane glycoproteins. He has published over 200 manuscripts covering the fields of thrombosis and haemostasis, inflammation and vascular biology. His research has focused on the mechanisms of how blood cells interact with blood vessels, in particular the adhesive interactions mediated by the GP Ib-IX-V complex and P-selectin. His major focus has been on the structure and function of the GP Ib-IX-V complex, how it binds von Willebrand factor and other ligands, and signals platelet activation.
June 2003
Commonwealth Health Minister's Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research
 | | Levon Khachigian has joined Philip Hogg (award in 2001) in becoming the second CVR Scientist to win the Australian 'Commonwealth Health Minister's Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research'. The 2003 Award was presented to Professor Khachigian by the Federal Minister for Ageing, The Hon Kevin Andrews at the annual Victorian Medical Research Week Dinner on Thursday 5 June. More |
May 2003
Starving Tumours by Poisoning Their Blood Vessels*
 | | Professor Hogg's group has described a way of selectively inactivating mitrochondria in the cells that make blood vessels in tumours. Specifically, mitochondria in angiogenic endothelial cells have been targeted which resulted in inhibition of tumor blood vessel formation and tumor growth. This has been achieved using a peptide trivalent arsenical that inactivates a key mitochondrial transport protein (the adenine nucleotide translocator), which leads to proliferation arrest and cell death. The research was published in the May issue of Cancer Cell.
* Cancer Cell 3,497-509, 2003 |
April 2003
CVR Hat-trick in Heart Foundation Awards Three applications for funding from the National Heart Foundation from CVR have resulted not only in grants but also in awards for the high quality of the research projects. The prestigious awards, named in honour of NHF supporters, are in recognition of research excellence. The grants bring an additional $322,000 in research funds to the Centre  | | Associate Professor Levon Khachigian won for his project on the regulation of smooth muscle cell apoptosis (death) by a protein known as p21. This research may lead to the development of new techniques to prevent plaque rupture and heart attacks. |  | | Associate Professor Len Kritharides, with Prof Carolyn Geczy and Dr Paul Bannon, were recognised for their project on post-operative inflammatory response to cardiac surgery. The project will identify the response of white blood cells to open heart surgery and help develop treatments to reduce inflammation and improve recovery. |  | | Dr Brett Garner won for work, with Associate Professor Wendy Jessup, on the regulation of macrophage lipid (fat) metabolism in atherosclerosis, which is the main cause of heart disease and death in Australia. The research could lead to a new way to promote cholesterol removal from macrophages and thereby provide a novel way of treating atherosclerosis. | Click on the following links to get more information on CVR research activities or the National Heart Foundation. February 2003
Gottschalk Medal for Molecular Biologist  | The groundbreaking work of CVR molecular biologist Associate Professor Levon Khachigian has won him the prestigious Gottschalk Medal for 2003. Conferred by the Australian Academy of Science, the award recognises Professor Khachigian's research program that looks at the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in atherosclerosis and post-angioplasty restenosis. He is based at UNSW's Centre for Vascular Research.Professor Khachigian, 38, is no stranger to recognition for his work. He has won many awards, including in 2001 alone, the AMGEN Award for Research Excellence, the Heart Foundation's James Smillie Research Excellence Award, the inaugural Eppendorf Award for Young Australian Researcher and the Australian Institute of Science's Young Tall Poppy award. In 2002, he won the RT Hall Prize from the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Professor Khachigian will receive the Gottschalk Medal, awarded to recognise outstanding research conducted mainly in Australia in the medical sciences by scientists under 40 years of age, in May. The award recognises the contributions to biochemistry by the late Dr Alfred Gottschalk, FAA, who had a long association with the Walter and Eliza hall Institute and passed away in 1973. For further information, including a list of previous winners of the Gottschalk medal, go to http://www.science.org.au/awards/gottschalk.htm | |
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