As we expand our cancer genetics research program, a generous donation of $100,000 from the Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA) has helped to purchase cell-analysis equipment.

“We are delighted to have supported the purchase of this initial equipment,” says Reg Richardson, MIA chairman. “We are hopeful that further funding will be able to support melanoma research at the University in the future, with a broader affiliation spanning research, education and training as well.”

Demand for the equipment increased after the appointment of two of Australia’s leading melanoma experts, Professor Helen Rizos and Professor Richard Kefford, earlier in 2014.

“With the MIA headquarters just down the road from Macquarie’s campus, Helen and I see very novel and fruitful collaborations here that we were unable to do elsewhere,” said Kefford. “It’s exciting to be so close to the MIA, with the world’s largest melanoma treatment centre and the largest melanoma biospecimens resource too.”

Read more in the Newsroom.

Join us in congratulating Professor H Patrick McNeil on his appointment to the role of Executive Dean of Medicine in our new Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

We asked Professor McNeil a number of questions about his academic background, aspirations for the new role and the challenges that lie ahead.

What’s the elevator pitch/layman’s version of your academic background and expertise?
I grew up in Hobart and studied Medicine at the University of Tasmania. After hospital residency, I moved to Sydney to become a specialist in rheumatology (treating people with arthritis and connective tissue diseases). Because many types of arthritis are due to problems with the body’s immune system, I became interested in and undertook a PhD in Immunology at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Then followed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in Boston where I discovered new genes expressed by an immune cell called the ‘mast cell’. I returned from Boston to a clinical academic role at UNSW where my research since has focused on understanding the role of mast cells in arthritic diseases.

As a clinical academic over the past 21 years, I have combined research with teaching medical students, and treating patients with arthritis. I spent 12 years at Prince of Wales Hospital and in 2005 took up a chair in Rheumatology at Liverpool Hospital. Whilst at Prince of Wales Hospital, I became very interested in teaching and learning and undertook a Graduate Diploma in Higher Education. My passion for improving student learning led to a leadership role as Associate Dean, Education where we transformed UNSW’s medical curriculum to a highly innovative outcomes-based program that many now regard as one of Australia’s pre-eminent Medicine programs.

In more recent times I joined the leadership team at Liverpool Hospital as the Executive Clinical Director. In this role, I have been working to transform the ways that doctors, nurses and health professionals interact with each other and do their work to ensure patients receive timely, safe and effective care when they require hospital treatment.

Arthritis is a common problem and seriously under-funded and under-recognised for its contribution to overall health burden. I became Chair of Arthritis Australia in 2010 to assist in its mission of advocating for and improving the lives of the 3 million Australian people living with arthritis.

Why did you choose that discipline?
Rheumatology was a relatively new discipline when I was doing my clinical training, at which time the available treatments were limited and doctors were not well trained to care for people with arthritis and related conditions. I thought there was a lot of room for improvement and research in immunology was just taking off. Over my career, medical research has generated a paradigm shift in new treatments for people with types of arthritis that involve inflammation in the joints, for example rheumatoid arthritis. As a result, we now have many highly effective treatments that have revolutionised the way rheumatologists can care for their patients.

What attracted you to Macquarie?
I love being involved in innovation and creativity and believe Macquarie has a great opportunity to construct a unique academic health care enterprise that can drive expansion of health-related research and education programs. Macquarie has a history of being different and challenging tradition and that suits my passion for innovation and improvement. The role requires a focus on research, teaching and clinical care and the opportunity to integrate these three areas of academic scholarship at Macquarie is an attractive prospect.

What do you hope to achieve in the new role?
Building a new Faculty is both challenging and exciting and I would aim to accelerate the research mission, building upon current strengths in the Australian School of Advanced Medicine, and developing partnerships available because of Macquarie’s location and relationships with a biotechnology corridor.

Creation of a precertification Medicine program is a priority that should be considered. If we go that way, I would hope to build a high degree of flexibility and innovation in the design and teaching and learning philosophy of such a program. I will ensure a strong focus on quality in the student experience to attract high calibre students to the Faculty’s pre-certification and post-graduate programs.

My vision for the academic health centre formed by Macquarie University Hospital and the Faculty is the provision of cutting edge clinical care, placing the patient at its focus of its operations with a strong emphasis on quality and safety. It will value its staff, create a learning workplace, and foster a culture of collaboration and inter-disciplinary care. Over time, I see the Macquarie University health care enterprise as being the institution of choice for clinicians and researchers at the top of their fields.

What do you see as the opportunities and challenges for Macquarie in the next 5-10 years?
As an outsider, I need to spend time learning more about Macquarie’s existing strengths before answering this question. However, I see Macquarie as being well placed to navigate the challenges that the entire higher education sector will face in the next decade. Maintaining and increasing educational quality should always be a priority of universities, and I am impressed by Macquarie’s commitment to transformative learning, and emphasis on experiential learning including the PACE program. I believe the research mission improves learning at every level, and I see Macquarie’s research acceleration will provide opportunities for these two components of academia to be increasingly integrated.

Read the Vice-Chancellor’s announcement of the appointment.

Find out more about the new Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

It was announced last week that the MCI will be the Australian coordinating centre for an international post approval clinical study into the early detection of lymphoedema, with medical devices leader ImpediMed.

Lymphoedema is the build-up of excessive amounts of fluid, resulting in swelling, usually in the arms or legs and is often the result of many cancer treatments.

“Cancer-related lymphoedema is widely accepted as the single most poorly understood and least researched frequent complication of cancer treatment world-wide,” says MCI Director and Professor of Breast Oncology Professor John Boyages.

While there is no cure for the condition, breakthrough Australian technology has seen the introduction of ImpediMed’s L-Dex measuring system – a machine which accurately measures changes up to six months before they become visible.

“I am very excited about this project. Through this clinical trial we will be gathering data from over 400 women at neighbouring hospitals including the Sydney Adventist Hospital (SAN), Norwest and Westmead.

“Early detection is absolutely vital to improve treatment options for our patients and I am confident that we will achieve best practice for women at risk of lymphoedema to have access to early intervention programs,” says Louise Koelmeyer, MCI Development Manager.

As the agreement was formally signed last week, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Sakkie Pretorius met with ImpediMed CEO, Rick Carreon and his team on campus.

“It was a pleasure to meet the team and hear about their ambitions, while learning more about the other partners in this trial,” said Professor Pretorius.

“We are joining a prestigious group of international partners in this endeavour, including leading US cancer centres, led by Principal Investigator Professor Sheila H. Ridner of Vanderbilt University. As the host Australian site, this is an exciting step for Macquarie, as we seek to become the leader of integrated clinical care, medical and health research and education in Australia”

The new clinical trial adds to the MCI’s existing work across multiple cross-faculty projects relating to advanced lymphoedema, laboratory research including a lymphoedema bank, MRI related imaging research, work-quality of life and early intervention studies.

Discussions with the Department of Engineering have also commenced, looking at ways of measuring compliance, measuring pressures as well as volumes of arms after treatment for lymphoedema.

Find out more about the MCI’s pioneering work in lymphoedema.

Macquarie and Johnson & Johnson Medical have launched a new collaborative agreement to address emerging issues across the Australian healthcare landscape and provide a tangible response to calls for higher education and industry to work more closely together.

The agreement sees a collaboration on joint education and research programs while providing practical experience for our students and innovative training for clinicians.

The partnership will include four initial work streams:
-          talent development and student engagement
-          surgical training
-          new research and development and innovation projects
-          a comprehensive range of additional initiatives across healthcare, entrepreneurship and leadership activities

Both Johnson & Johnson and Macquarie have committed to investing in and developing innovative healthcare solutions to address future needs to benefit the wider community.

Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton said the new partnership with Johnson & Johnson Medical was a natural fit for the University and an exciting addition to our PACE program.

“This partnership gives students an extraordinary opportunity to gain a world-class education with the support of one of the world’s largest healthcare companies, working on real-world issues to produce long-lasting and impactful outcomes far beyond traditional academic research environments.

“Our recently launched Academic Health Sciences Centre will develop our ability to deliver real impact where it matters most. Our partnership with Johnson & Johnson Medical is a tangible example of Macquarie actively engaging with the business community to support that enterprise. The best clinicians, the most innovative researchers, and the most inspiring teachers will lead the development of health and medical education and practice; and partnerships such as this one will be integral to future success of this venture.”

Johnson & Johnson Medical Managing Director, Gavin Fox-Smith said the company was very excited about the prospect of working closely with students and academic staff as part of the new program.

Read more about the partnership.

Read today’s Financial Review story.

“This is an exciting time to be a part of Macquarie University” said Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton, “and I look forward to our continued journey in the pursuit of ever-increasing excellence in academic medicine and health care.”

The new Faculty builds on our aspiration to have the nation’s first fully integrated Academic Health Sciences Centre under a university’s leadership. It will bring together the excellent work of medical and allied health researchers across the University and around the country, with unparalleled access to the world-leading clinical resources and research facilities found only on our campus.

The Faculty is a significant step in the establishment of Australia’s only Academic Health Sciences Centre, accelerating our quest for distinction at the intersection between medical research, healthcare and higher education.

Recruitment for an Executive Dean will begin immediately.

Find out more about the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The Academic Health Sciences Centre
The Academic Health Sciences Centre is a partnership between the university and healthcare providers, with an integrated approach to research, clinical services, education and training. This research and healthcare model is used by many of the world’s leading academic institutions and hospitals, including Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, UCLA, Mayo Clinic and many others in the United States. It ensures that medical research breakthroughs lead to direct clinical benefits for patients.

There are similar models in operation in Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, but a university-led and located Centre has not been established in Australia to date.

Our campus already boasts Australia’s only high-technology private hospital owned and operated by a University and a postgraduate medical research and teaching school, and the plan for an Academic Health Sciences Centre were outlined Our University: A Framing of Futures last year.

“Over recent years, Macquarie has made major investments in targeted areas that have strong external relationships, e.g. medicine, healthcare and hearing. We need to consolidate and expand these investments,” wrote Professor Dowton. “Therefore, we will extend our engagements locally and beyond by delivering Australia’s first university-led academic health campus to bring education, bio-medical and translational research together with state-of-the-art clinical care.”

Professor Dowton is an expert in innovative healthcare systems, having previously served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Harvard Medical International. In launching the new Faculty and Academic Health Sciences Centre, he outlined the next steps in this development, including a focus on greater NHMRC funding and the establishment of a novel pre‐registration medical teaching program.

“Macquarie University is unique among Australian universities, with maturity and achievement in our University Hospital and the Australian School of Advanced Medicine. Evidence from the US confirms that bringing these enterprises into full convergence improves healthcare and patient outcomes, and accelerates the conversion of laboratory‐based discovery into clinical practice, enabling us to deliver a level of healthcare unprecedented in this country that will benefit all of our society.”