Expert health and medical science leaders welcome vaccine roll-out, but caution that the vaccines alone are not enough.
See here for comments from Tania Sorrell, Tony Cunningham, Fran Baum, and other health experts.
The COVID-19 vaccination roll-out is a major development for Australia. It will enable people to take action that will help to protect themselves, their families and the wider community from a disease that has killed millions of people and impacted everyone, says the country’s expert body in the health and medical sciences.
The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS) is an independent body comprising more than 400 senior researchers and health leaders. It has been active in monitoring and guiding the nation’s pandemic response.
[continue reading…]Galaxies with extended disks maintain productivity, research reveals
Massive galaxies with extra-large extended “puffy” disks produced stars for longer than their more compact cousins, new modelling reveals.
In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, researchers led by Dr Anshu Gupta and Associate Professor Kim-Vy Tran from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), show that the sheer size of a galaxy influences when it stops making new stars.
[continue reading…]Completion of Australian-led astronomy project sheds light on the evolution of the Universe
The complex mechanics determining how galaxies spin, grow, cluster and die have been revealed following the release of all the data gathered during a massive seven-year Australian-led astronomy research project.
The scientists observed 13 galaxies at a time, building to a total of 3068, using a custom-built instrument called the Sydney-AAO Multi-Object Integral-Field Spectrograph (SAMI), connected to the 4-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales. The telescope is operated by the Australian National University.
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Using stem cell research to fight cancer has won two Australian researchers $55,000 each in the annual Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research, awarded by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.
Dr Melanie Eckersley-Maslin—a new recruit of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre—believes the proteins which control the growth of cells in embryos could teach us how to stop the uncontrolled growth of cells in cancer.
Vital to normal development in early life, these molecules may later play a role in the early stages of cancer or help it spread. If so, we could target them therapeutically and block or slow progression of the disease.
Associate Professor Steven Lane of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute wants to lift the survival rates of his leukaemia patients. He thinks the key could lie in the genetic fingerprints of the blood cancer stem cells that proliferate the disease.
Steven is studying how these cells become resistant to treatment through genetic changes. He will use the knowledge to develop more effective and tailored therapies, both to prevent and treat potentially fatal relapses.
The scientists have been recognised by the Foundation for their early-career leadership in stem cell research.
[continue reading…]Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences urges multi-pronged response for 2021
High levels of testing, efficient vaccine distribution and addressing pandemic mental health impacts are critical if Australia is to maintain control over COVID-19 in 2021, the country’s learned body for health and medical sciences has concluded.
The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS), an independent body comprising more than 400 senior researchers, has released a report spelling out the necessary next steps for pandemic response in the new year.
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A new resource will make it easier to identify programs with the greatest impact for women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The need is urgent. The working lives of women in STEM have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While there are hundreds of programs to attract and retain girls and women in STEM, a recent Australian National University study found that only seven of 337 initiatives in Australia provided publicly available evidence of impact or an evaluation of their effectiveness.
The Evaluating STEM Gender Equity Programs guide (the Guide)—published today by the Office of the Women in STEM Ambassador—provides practical tools for anyone running a gender equity program to evaluate their project and focus on what really works.
[continue reading…]Official site at www.nhmrc.gov.au/alcohol. Copies of all resources for media available here.
National Health and Medical Research Council confirms new national guidelines for reducing the health risks from drinking alcohol.
The guidelines are the result of four years of extensive review of the evidence on the harms and benefits of drinking alcohol.
They replace the previous version, published in 2009. They will underpin policy decisions and public health messaging for many years to come.
“We’re not telling Australians how much to drink,” says Professor Anne Kelso, CEO of NHMRC.
“We’re providing advice about the health risks so that we can all make informed decisions in our daily lives.”
Professor Paul Kelly, Australia’s Acting Chief Medical Officer, adds: “Every year there are more than 4,000 alcohol-related deaths in Australia, and more than 70,000 hospital admissions. Alcohol is linked to more than 40 medical conditions, including many cancers.
“Following the guidelines keeps the risk of harm from alcohol low, but it does not remove all risk. Healthy adults drinking within the guideline recommendations have less than a 1 in 100 chance of dying from an alcohol-related condition.”
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Children in remote and regional schools will soon be visited by astronomers bearing gifts in a quest to kindle interest in the cosmos.
The scientists – drawn from the ranks of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3D (ASTRO 3D) and the Australian National University – will donate a powerful telescope and high-tech accessories to each school so classes can continue to explore the Universe long after the astronomers have left.
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Theories on how the Milky Way formed are set to be rewritten following discoveries about the behaviour of some of its oldest stars.
An investigation into the orbits of the Galaxy’s metal-poor stars – assumed to be among the most ancient in existence – has found that some of them travel in previously unpredicted patterns.
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