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Monday 9 May 2016

Monash researchers bringing hope to lupus patients

Dr Vera Golder
Researchers at Monash University are leading the world’s largest study to describe lupus patients and disease characteristics, bringing treat-to-target options for lupus a step closer.

Systematic lupus erythematosus, or lupus, is a chronic multi-organ autoimmune disease with a broad spectrum of symptoms. Currently there are no effective targeted treatments for lupus, and most patients are treated with long-term steroids and therapies to suppress the immune system.  While these treatments can manage disease symptoms, they don’t prevent morbidity and loss of life expectancy and have significant and often devastating side-effects.

“Treat-to-Target” (T2T) is a concept used to design the best treatment options for a number of debilitating diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, vascular medicine and diabetes.  An international initiative that has resulted in significant improvements in patient outcomes in many areas of medicine, T2T defines specific treatment targets to measure disease severity.

The T2T philosophy requires information about disease activity. But how can you hit your target if the target hasn’t been defined?   Until now, lupus has had no defined treatment outcome states, clear treatment guidelines or T2T approaches.

“Determination of a measure of low disease activity for lupus is a major research priority,” said Dr Vera Golder, rheumatologist at Monash Health and PhD student in the Lupus and Arthritis Research Group, Monash University.

“Some patients with lupus have periods of disease inactivity punctuated by disease flare while others have persistently active disease.”

Dr Golder said that current instruments used to measure disease activity are complex, contributing to mixed results in trialling possible new targeted therapies.

The Asia-Pacific Lupus Collaboration recently developed and retrospectively validated the Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS) definition—a state which if sustained, is associated with good long-term outcomes.

“Our study is the first to prospectively validate and refine this LLDAS definition in a large multi-centre cohort over several years,” said Dr Golder.

Commencing in May 2013, 1846 patients were recruited prospectively in 12 centres from nine countries.

“In this study cohort, 93% of patients were female, with a mean age of 29 years at diagnosis and mean disease duration of 8.5 years at the time of recruitment.”
“More than 50% of patients were of Chinese ethnicity, 7% of patients were Caucasian, with the remainder representing the other ethnic groups native to the region.”

The Monash study found that Asian patients are more likely to have renal disease, whereas Caucasian patients are more likely to exhibit musculoskeletal, neurological and skin problems.  Low disease activity was observed in less than half of lupus patients at a single point in time.

“We’ve also shown that disease duration and phenotype, as well as national social wealth were predictors of LLDAS attainment,” said Dr Golder.

“Previous retrospective studies have shown that patients who spent more than 50% of their disease duration in LLDAS accrued less damage compared to patients who did not.”

“We are hopeful our study has brought us a step closer identifying treatment options that will have better long-term outcomes for lupus patients.”

Dr Golder presented her research findings recently at the Australian Rheumatology Association Annual Scientific Meeting in Darwin last week and will soon present at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Scientific Meeting in London.

May 10 is World Lupus Day.

Monash medical student’s research could save millions

Austin Lee
Final year medical student Austin Lee was selected to present two posters at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in Auckland last week. 

Austin’s research findings have significant implications for health care costs as well as patient monitoring during sedation.

Undertaken during his Bachelor of Medical Science year, the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) student was part of a research team that investigated whether pre-operative saline given through a drip can prevent low blood pressure during colonoscopy.

“Patients undergoing this procedure are at risk of low blood pressure because of pre-operative fasting, the dehydrative effect of bowel preparation, and the vasodilatory effect of sedative drugs,” said Austin.

“We undertook at randomised controlled trial, recruiting 150 patients, with either 2 ml/kg or 20 ml/kg of saline given intravenously to each patient.”

The randomised controlled trial found that large amounts of saline made absolutely no difference in blood pressure, thirst or post-operative morbidities including drowsiness, nausea and headaches.

“We estimate that in Australia, the annual cost of intravenous fluids administration during colonoscopy costs $7.14 million,” said Austin.

“Our study has shown that routine administration of fluid is not indicated, and therefore contributes unnecessarily to the cost of care.” 

At the ASM Austin also presented his findings of a survey of anaesthetists who were questioned about their methods of sedation during endoscopy (gastroscopy, colonoscopy and endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography).

“409 anaesthetists responded to our questions about the drugs they used in sedation, their preferred methods of monitoring patients (blood pressure cuff and pulse oximetry) and their use of intravenous fluids during the perioperative period,” said Austin.

Prof Leslie and Austin
at the conference last week
“The survey found that propofol is the drug of choice for endoscopy sedation administered by specialist anaesthetists in Australia, and that a maximum depth of sedation commensurate with general anaesthesia is routinely targeted by the majority of respondents for all procedures except for elective gastroscopy.” 

Significantly, Austin’s research revealed that blood pressure was not routinely measured by all respondents which is not compliant with ANZCA policy.   

Austin was ‘ecstatic’ to have had his posters accepted at the ASM and is grateful for the support of his supervisors.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the conference; the talks were very relevant and engaging, and I left feeling inspired about research and its impact on evidence-based medicine,” said Austin.

“I’d like to thank my supervisors, Professor Kate Leslie and Dr Megan Allen, for their teaching, guidance, and patience, and for their smiles, laughter, and encouragement that made these research projects an absolute blast.”


“I could not have asked for a better experience, and I highly recommend a BMedSc (Hons) project.” 

Bugs as drugs: harnessing novel gut bacteria for human health

Dr Samuel Forster
Researchers are optimistic that a recent breakthrough allowing growth of the majority of human gut bacteria in the lab will lead to the development of new therapies to replace the use of faecal transplants in treating certain gut infections.
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, including Dr Samuel Forster, an NHMRC C.J. Martin Biomedical Overseas Fellow from Hudson Institute of Medical Research's Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases in Melbourne, have grown and catalogued more than 130 bacteria from the human intestine according to a study published in Nature last week.

The researchers have developed a process to grow the majority of bacteria from the gut, which will enable scientists to understand how our bacterial ‘microbiome’ helps keep us healthy. Imbalances in our gut microbiome can contribute to complex conditions and diseases such as obesity, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and allergies. This research will allow scientists to start to create tailor-made treatments with specific beneficial bacteria.

Research in this field has expanded greatly in recent years with the intestinal microbiome being termed a ‘forgotten organ’, such is its importance to human health. Approximately 2 per cent of a person’s body weight is due to bacteria. Many of these bacteria are sensitive to oxygen and are difficult to culture in the laboratory, so until now it has been extremely difficult to isolate and study them. Read more here.



Grand Round Presentation - Diabetes, 11 May: Co-designing an integrated health service for multi-morbidity due to diabetes and chronic kidney disease

Unit: Diabetes               
Presenter: Dr Clement Lo
Date: Wednesday 11 May 2016
Time: 12.30pm to 1.30pm

Venue: Main Lecture Theatre, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton.

Hudson seminar “Molecular regulation of lymphoid cell responses at barrier surfaces”, 12 May

Prof Colby Zaph
This week's Hudson Seminar will be held Thursday 12 May, 12-1pm, Lecture Theatre 1, Monash Medical Centre


The speaker will be: Prof Colby Zaph, Head of the Mucosal Immunity and Inflammation Laboratory at Monash University.

Light refreshments to follow presentation outside the Lecture Theatre.

Professor Colby Zaph is Head of the Mucosal Immunity and Inflammation Laboratory at Monash University. Following his undergraduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, he carried out his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, working with Phil Scott on memory T cell responses during Leishmania infection. He stayed on at the University of Pennsylvania for his postdoctoral fellowship with David Artis where he switched focus to mucosal immune responses. In 2008, he started his own research group at the University of British Columbia, Canada. In early 2015, he relocated to Monash University

Overview of the Cancer and Immune Signalling Laboratory, 12 May

The second CiiiD / CID combined seminar will be held Tuesday 12th May with Prof Brendan Jenkins as speaker.

The seminar will be held 12-1pm in the TRF Seminar Room 1.  Lunch will be available from 11.45am.


Prof Brendan Jenkins
NHMRC Senior Research Fellow
Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases

Since establishing his research group at Hudson in 2006, Professor Brendan Jenkins has investigated the roles of IL-6 family cytokines and pattern recognition receptors in stomach and lung cancer, as well as emphysema/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other chronic inflammatory conditions (peritonitis, arthritis). Collectively, his research programs incorporate long-standing collaborations with basic scientific researchers, industry, and clinicians both nationwide and overseas. Amongst his scientific achievements are publications in the highest-ranking science and medical research journals, including Cancer Cell, Nature Medicine, Nature, Immunity, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Cancer Research, Oncogene, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, and Journal of Immunology, among others.

Professor Jenkins is a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow has held numerous other fellowships, including a prestigious Sylvia and Charles Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellowship. In recognition of his research achievements, he has also received many national and international awards, including the Australian Institute for Policy and Science Tall Poppy Award. In addition he is a holder of multiple project grants funded from within Australia (NHMRC, Cancer Council) and overseas (Association for International Cancer Research), and is a regular invited speaker at local and international scientific meetings.

Hudson Translational Workshop: "Bridging the Gap: How to engage with industry" May 19,

The focus of this month's seminar will be "Bridging the Gap: How to engage with industry".  Please see below for more information about the panel of invited speakers and your opportunities for discussion and networking.  Thursday, May 19, at 9.30am, TRF Level 2 Seminar Room 1 & 2


For catering purposes, please register your attendance at: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/bridging-the-gap-workshop-tickets-24444541281, selecting the "Hudson Institute" option.

Storytelling masterclass, 7 or 15 June

As part of the Women in Medicine program, Monash Health will be offering Leadership training, in the form of a 1 day course called Hooked: Storytelling Masterclass. This is designed to build leadership capability of women in medicine by harnessing the power of organisational storytelling as a tool of influential communication. Communication through logical argument and bullet points can only take the message so far. Ultimately, your effectiveness as a leader depends on their ability to connect with people, and inspire them to action.

The facilitator for this program, Yamini Naidu pursues an evidence based approach to demonstrate the effectiveness of this form of organisational communication. She has written several books dealing with effective business communication and has taught leadership and management at RMIT University.

Attendees will:
  • Identify their preferred style of communication, as a leader
  • Explore the use of organisational story telling as a contemporary tool of influence
  • Understand how to craft a story to help them to engage and inspire stakeholders to deliver their desired strategic business outcomes
  • Construct and narrate an “Ethos” story to help them fast track trust and credibility
  • Deliver their story for maximum impact
  • Assess the results

Attendees will be required to:
-          Enrol in, and attend a full day workshop on one of the following dates:
o   Tuesday, 7 June 2016 - at Clayton MMC
o   Wednesday, 15 June 2016 - at Dandenong Hospital
-          Pay a course fee of $250.

Further information:
Please find attached:
-          a flyer for the program

Next Steps for you:
If you are keen to be involved, please

  1. Enrol via Monash Health Learning:

Log in to Monash Health Learning with your Novell login and password
Go to Find Courses
Type “Story” or “Women” in the search box, and it will take you to the Story telling page.

Book in for one of the full day workshops.

 Complete your enrolment by paying the course fee of $250 at : https://www.trybooking.com/LDRA


BMedSc information night at MMC, 12 July

For more information, available research projects and registration, read here.

New short course! Introduction to Surgical Research starting in June 2016

Mr James Lee is convening a new short course, "Introduction to surgical research", starting in June 2016. The course is designed for:
  • Early postgraduate research students
  • SET trainees
  • Pre-SET trainees
  • Interns and Residents
  • Medical Students – Year 3+ / BMedSci / Honours students recommended (1st and 2nd years please enquire)

Monash Doctors Careers Expo, 14 May


PhD supervisors: Short 3 minute SURVEY on INDUSTRY PLACEMENTS for PhD students

The Faculty are undertaking an exercise to determine the current level of engagement of our graduate research students (PhDs) with respect to industry placement.  For the purposes of the data collection, and in keeping with the universities definition, industry is defined in the broadest sense to include: corporations (from small to medium enterprises to multinationals), government, non-government organisations and hospitals. 

This information will enable us to obtain a baseline of engagement with industry so that we can identify strategic ways in which we can increase and expand the opportunities for our PhD students into the future. 

If you supervise PhD students, we would strongly encourage you to complete the survey below by no later than Wednesday 11 May 2016



If you have any questions, please contact us via email priscilla.johanesen@monash.edu 

Menzies Foundation Allied Health PhD Scholarship – Applications Open

The Menzies Foundation is looking for outstanding researchers with potential to be the next generation of leaders in Allied Health.

The tax-free scholarship is offered over one or two years at $40,000 per year with a total value of up to $80,000.  It is open to outstanding Allied Health researchers studying at an Australian university who have completed the first stage of their PhD.

To be eligible, applicants must be researching in one of the following non-medical evidence-based allied health disciplines:
·    audiology, dietetics, exercise physiology, nutrition, occupational therapy, optometry, orthoptics, physiotherapy, podiatry, psychology, social work, and speech pathology

We are looking for applicants who not only demonstrate academic excellence, but who are future leaders. We expect our applicants will represent the Menzies’ ethos of being the best you can be, no matter where you start; taking risks, inspiring others and being willing to work hard. In addition, we’re looking for researchers who are likely to make a contribution to the further development of the allied health sciences in Australia and who will use their leadership, knowledge and skills for the benefit of others.
The funds can be used for a wide range of purposes, from equipment and conference attendance to living expenses.

In addition, the successful applicant is eligible to apply for a further $25,000 early career grant aimed at developing their research project in the first four years of their post-doctoral career.



For the full prospectus and to apply, go to http://menziesfoundation.org.au/scholarships/allied-health-sciences

Would you like to join the Monash postgraduate indoor soccer team?

The Monash postgraduate association is recruiting soccer players to form a team for an indoor soccer competition. They need a team of 5 players and 3 substitutes.
If you're interested, please contact Caroline Barrow at caroline.barrow@monash.edu


VIIN Careers Evening, 2 June

Wondering what to do next?  The VIIN Careers Evening is an opportunity for Postgraduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers to hear about alternative career paths.

Thursday 2 June, 2016 – 6:30pm Woodward Conference Centre, Carlton

Speakers: 
Hayley Newton, Senior Lecturer - University of Melbourne
Elizabeth Finkel, Editor-In-Chief - Cosmos Magazine
Jennifer Herz, Founder and Managing Director - Biointelect Pty Ltd
Joseph Bianco, Clinical Program Lead - GlaxoSmithKline
Priscilla Johanesen, Head of Teaching - Department of Microbiology, Monash University

Registration is free - drinks and finger food will be provided
Registration closes 24 May - for further details visit: viin.org.au

ECR Publication Prize Applications Open NOW

Are you an Early Career Researcher?  Did you publish a great piece of research in 2015?
You should apply for the 2016 Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences ECR Publication Prize!

Applications for the Early Career Researcher Publication Prize open next Monday 9th May so start preparing your application!

This year we will be awarding 6 Discipline Specific Prizes and 2 Fellows Prizes.

Winners of the ECR Publication Prizes in each category will receive $1000 for furthering their career in research-related activities.

All nominees for the 2016 Publication Prize will be asked to indicate whether they wish their contact details to be provided to organisers of School and Departmental seminar programs.  This may provide an opportunity for ECR’s to present their work to an external audience and gain new insight or collaborations for future work.

This year applicants will apply via an online application form using FluidReview which can be accessed here.
(We welcome feedback on the application process; please send to medicine.research@monash.edu)

Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Early Career Researcher?
The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences defines an Early Career Researcher as someone appointed at Level A-C, who is less than 10 years from award of their PhD.  Career interruptions are taken into consideration. 
ECR’s who hold an independently funded fellowship (e.g. ARC or NHMRC) are only eligible for the Fellows prize.  ECR’s who are Lab Heads or Group Leaders are ineligible to apply for this award.

What are the criteria?
·      The publication must be published in 2015 as either an epub with a 2015 online publication date or published in full with a 2015 publication date including volume and page numbers. 
·      Epubs must be available on the journal website and have first been published online during 2015 (online publication date should be available on journal website or pdf of publication).  Publications that are ‘submitted’ or ‘accepted’ but are not available to view on the journal website will not be considered.
·      Nominated publications from 2015 may not be nominated again
·      All nominated publications MUST HAVE a Monash University by-line to the nominating ECR.
·      Published journal articles with volume and page numbers published in 2015 must have been reported to Monash University and recorded in your ROPES profile as a C1 publication. 
·      All articles must meet the HERDC C1 categorisation (meet the definition of research and be published in a peer reviewed scholarly journal with an ISSN).  Publication categories are listed next to the publication in your ROPES profile.
·      You should be listed as first author, co-first author or last author on the publication.                    
·      Only one nomination per ECR will be accepted.
·      Current PhD students and adjunct staff are ineligible to apply for this award.

Why should I apply?  Surely there is someone with a Nature paper who will win the award.
There are six prizes available; one for each discipline in the Faculty.  Your publication will be assessed only against other publications from your discipline by academics that are familiar with the discipline. Publications will be assessed on 4 key criteria; originality of research, journal quality (impact factor and rank), research impact and contribution to research.  You are required to provide a 100 word statement with your application that outlines the impact of your research and your contribution to the publication.

Like to Apply?

Please read the Guidelines and Eligibility attached here and complete the online Nomination Form by Monday 6th June 2016.  Please address any questions to Tania Wilmann at medicine.research@monash.edu




Medical and health science funding opportunities - May and June 2016


Please find below a table of some of the medical and health science related grant and fellowship opportunities available for submission in May and June for dissemination to your researchers. 

ECR Funding Opportunity

Below is a link with information on a potential five year funding opportunity for ECR's who have completed at least one year of study or work in the United States or United Kingdom.

Please see the additional information and eligibility criteria in the link

There is also a FAQ's link here

Australia-China Young Scientist Exchange Program 2016: Australia to China

The Australia-China Young Scientists Exchange Programme (YSEP) is a joint initiative funded by the Australian Department of Industry and Science and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). It is supported by the Commonwealth of Australia under the Australia-China Science and Research Fund (science and research knowledge exchange).  

The YSEP is a two week exchange to China designed to offer early or mid-career Australian scientists a platform from which to develop or enhance both scientific and industry linkages with colleagues in China.  Successful applicants will receive a return economy airfare to China, visa fees, travel insurance, accommodation, domestic travel within China, meals and incidentals.  

A group of high quality early to mid-career researchers will be selected and must be available to travel to China during 30 October -11 November 2016.

To be eligible the applicant must:
  • be an Australian citizen or resident with no consolidated links with China and have not lived, studied or worked in China for longer than a total of 3 months;
  • be an early to mid-career researcher (defined as a researcher who has had between 3-10 years of research experience since the award of his/her PhD, or equivalent research qualification, with the PhD having been awarded between 3 and 15 years prior to the closing date for submission of application);
  • be employed by Monash and working in a field of research identified as a priority area (natural and physical science disciplines, including technology and engineering); 
  • have shown the potential to become leaders in the research community (demonstrated outstanding skills and potential for senior positions in science and technology);
  • not be an employee of a non-corporate Commonwealth entity under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability ACT 2013;
  • not have previously participated in the YSEP, known previously as the Young Researcher Exchange Programme or YREP;

As a limit of THREE applications per eligible institution applies, the MRO has requested that Faculties rank their applicants and submit the top ranked application only by 10 June 2016. As such, FMNHS requests that eligible nominees complete the attached application form (referring to the attached scheme guidelines) and submit the completed application form (and one-page CV with titles of five most relevant publications) to the Faculty Research Office (medicine.research@monash.edu) by 5pm on Friday 27 May, for ranking and selection by the Deputy Dean (Research).

Further information can be found on the ATSE website.  Application form here.  Application guidelines here.

Important dates
Applications due to MRO for shortlisting
9am Friday 10 June 2016
Shortlisted applicants notified
Tues 14 June 2016
Full proposal due to MRO
1pm Friday 17 June 2016
Full proposal due to ASTE
9am Monday 20 June 2016

Subscribe to BioMedVic to access PD & Training, Awards, Events & Funding

Researchers interested in receiving information ​directly from Biomedical Research Victoria (BioMedVic) are encouraged to subscribe (link here). You will be given access to the following opportunities:

  • Professional Development & Training
  • Awards Funding & Sponsorship
  • Events
  • Sector News

LabArchives Roadshow for Graduate Research, FMNHS, 19 and 27 May

Dear Supervisors and Researchers,

The Associate Dean Graduate Research, Professor Nellie Georgiou-Karistianis, warmly invites you to attend the LabArchives Roadshow

The Faculty is rolling-out the use of LabArchives, an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN), as a replacement to traditional paper based notebooks. LabArchives can be used in all disciplines of research, including non-laboratory based research groups.

All new graduate research students, who commenced in 2016, and their supervisors, are required to adopt the use of LabArchives. Importantly, the student will be required to drive their own research using the LabArchives environment. 

While all researchers are encouraged to make full use of LabArchives, there is flexibility in how the supervisor engages with LabArchives as part of their supervisory responsibilities for graduate students. 

We will be undertaking Roadshows within each School. The Roadshows are aimed at introducing you to LabArchives and how it can be used and there will be an academic colleague who will showcase how they are using LabArchives.
It is important that supervisors of new graduate research student(s) attend one of these sessions. All interested researchers are also strongly encouraged to attend as this platform can be used more widely.

Please note that this roadshow is intended ONLY for researchers and supervisors. Students will be introduced to the platform as part of another forum. 

Please register your attendance to one of the sessions below.

Session 1 - Thursday 19th May, 10-10:45am, Seminar Room 2, TRF Building
Basic Research LabArchives Champion, Professor Colby Zaph (SOBS), to showcase Notebook. Register at https://my.monash.edu.au/news-and-events/bookings/fmnhsrdo/view/168980/

Session 2 Date - Friday 27th May, 2-2:45pm, Seminar Room 2, TRF Building

Clinical Research LabArchives Champion, Ms Kellie Hamill (BASE Facility, SCS), to showcase Notebook.  Register at https://my.monash.edu.au/news-and-events/bookings/fmnhsrdo/view/168981/

Lodge of Australia Felix No.1 - Cancer Research Grants

The Lodge of Australia Felix No. 1 is part of Freemasons Victoria and offers two Cancer Research Grants of $750 each for the current funding period. 

The submission deadline is Friday ​1 J​ul​y ​2016 (9pm).

The Cancer Research Grants are to be used to cover travel costs and registration fees of postgraduate students (Honours, Master or Ph.D.) for presenting a poster at a scientific conference in Australia. The scientific content of the poster needs to address cancer research.
​Please find attached a promotional flyer here and a copy of the application form here.

For further information please contact the Secretary of the Lodge of Australia Felix No. 1, Graham Dines (gdines@bigpond.net.au).

Department of Defense (DoD) Peer Reviewed Medical Research Programs Funding Opportunities

The Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) Defense Appropriations Act provides $278.7 million to the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP).  The vision of the PRMRP is to improve the health and well-being of all military Service members, Veterans, and beneficiaries. The PRMRP challenges the scientific and clinical communities to address one of the FY16 congressionally directed topic areas with original ideas that foster new directions in basic science and translational research; novel product development leading to improved therapeutic or diagnostic tools; synergistic, multidisciplinary research programs; or clinical trials that address an immediate clinical need.

As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency, Research, Development and Acquisition (DHA RDA) Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation.  The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

FY16 PRMRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions are posted on Grants.gov <http://www.grants.gov/>.
Congressionally Directed Topic Areas:  
The FY16 PRMRP will solicit research applications for the following 39 topics areas:

 *         Acute Lung Injury
*         Antimicrobial Resistance
*         Chronic Migraine and Post-Traumatic Headache
*         Congenital Heart Disease
*         Constrictive Bronchiolitis
*         Diabetes
*         Dystonia
*         Emerging Infectious Diseases
*         Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis
*         Fragile X Syndrome
*         Hepatitis B
*         Hereditary Angioedema
*         Hydrocephalus
*         Inflammatory Bowel Disease
*         Influenza
*         Integrative Medicine
*         Interstitial Cystitis
*         Lupus
*         Malaria
*         Metals Toxicology
*         Mitochondrial Disease
*         Nanomaterials for Bone Regeneration
*         Nonopioid Pain Management
*         Pancreatitis
*         Pathogen-Inactivated Dried Plasma
*         Polycystic Kidney Disease
*         Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
*         Psychotropic Medications
*         Pulmonary Fibrosis
*         Respiratory Health
*         Rett Syndrome
*         Rheumatoid Arthritis
*         Scleroderma
*         Sleep Disorders
*         Tinnitus
*         Tuberculosis
*         Vaccine Development for Infectious Disease
*         Vascular Malformations
*         Women's Heart Disease

Grand Challenges Explorations - Application Deadline this Week

This is a reminder that the application deadline for the latest round of Grand Challenges Explorations is less than a week away!

Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to encourage innovative and unconventional global health and development solutions, is accepting grant proposals until May 11, 2016, 11:30 A.M. US Pacific Day Light Time. Applicants can be at any experience level; in any discipline; and from any organization, including colleges and universities, government laboratories, research institutions, non-profit organizations, and for-profit companies.
Two-page proposals are being accepted online on the following topics:
Initial grants will be US $100,000 each, and projects showing promise will have the opportunity to receive additional funding of up to US $1 million. Full descriptions of the new topics and application instructions in Chinese, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish are available here.

Furthermore, below are three other grant opportunities currently accepting applications:

1) The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), The Wellcome Trust and The Gulbenkian Foundation, are jointly holding a competition to award grants to outstanding early career scientists working outside the United States and other G7 countries. This International Research Scholars program aims to provide support for promising international scientists and to bring them into an eco-system that can foster their work and allow them to better understand and address biomedical issues of global relevance.

We invite you to check this blog by Dr. Chris Wilson. Application deadline is June 30, 2016. For more information please visit here.

2) The Blue Economy Challenge: Launching a Blue Revolution for Aquaculture: This challenge aims to find solutions to three important issues of aquaculture: 1) Rethinking feed for aquaculture 2) New ocean products and 3) Sustainable design by encouraging innovations that will revolutionize aquaculture in the developing world with a focus on the Indian Ocean region, where transformations in aquaculture can help eradicate poverty, end hunger, and preserve ecosystems.

Application deadline is June 30, 2016. For more information please visit http://www.theblueeconomychallenge.org
3) Combating Zika and Future Threats The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) invites global problem solvers to answer the call for groundbreaking ideas to enhance our ability to respond to the current Zika outbreak and generate cutting-edge technologies and approaches that better prepare the world to address the disease threats of tomorrow. Applications will be accepted starting from April 29, 2016 with Zika-focused submissions due by 5:00 p.m. on May 20, 2016, and all other submissions due by 5:00 p.m. on June 17, 2016. For more information please visit the official website here.

We are looking forward to receiving innovative ideas from around the world and from all disciplines. If you have a great idea, please apply. If you know someone else who may have a great idea, please forward this message.

Thank you for your commitment to solving the world's greatest health and development challenges.

The Grand Challenges Team