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Young tuberculosis researcher awarded prestigious Melbourne-Boston Exchange at Melbourne Health Research Week
20 June 2007
Dr Emma McBryde, Head of Epidemiology at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, has received the prestigious Melbourne-Boston Research Exchange grant worth $20,000. It was presented by Melbourne Lord Mayor Cr John So at this year’s Melbourne Health Research Week.
Dr McBryde will travel to the United States, where she will combine her infectious diseases knowledge and mathematical expertise to build a transmission model for tuberculosis.
Research Week was formally opened by the Governor of Victoria, Prof David de Kretser AC, who has first hand knowledge of the importance of research. He is a world leader in reproductive and endocrinology research and has supervised over 30 PhD and 25 international postdoctoral fellows.
One of the highlights of the Research Week program was a public lecture on Coeliac Disease – progress towards prevention and protection which attracted a full house in the 180-seat LaTrobe theatre. Gluten-free snacks were provided for the attendees.
A total of 29 research papers were presented and over 100 abstracts submitted, showcasing the extensive research conducted across Melbourne Health services and in collaboration with its Parkville Precinct partners.
A display of 150 research posters filled the RMH Function Centre and ground floor corridors.
The RMH Research and Clinical Services Report 2006 was also launched, and is available from the Research Directorate or from the Melbourne Health website http://www.mh.org.au/.
Another highlight of the week was the hilarious Great Debate, which examined, tongue-in-cheek, Dr Clark Kent’s claim of a cure for ageing: Kryptonite. The debate was titled The medical researcher who promotes their work to the media is a sell-out, not a superhero.
Congratulations to the Research Week 2007 award winners:
- Melbourne-Boston Research Exchange Dr Emma McBryde
- Cleveland Young Investigator’s Award Dr Kylie Mason
- Best Poster Presentation Brit Gordon (Allied Health)
- Best Oral Presentation Anne McGann (Allied Health)
- Best Oral Presentation Louise Rose (Nursing)
- Best Oral Presentation Josephine McDowall (Quality and Safety)
- Best Presentation Dr Ramin Shayan (Surgery)
- Student Prize Dr Nhu-Y Nguyen
Focus on Emma McBryde - 2007 Melbourne-Boston Research Exchange grant recipient
Dr McBryde is a young infectious diseases physician at RMH and is Head of Epidemiology for the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service (VIDS) at RMH.
She completed a PhD on mathematical modelling on infectious diseases in hospitals, including 'Golden Staph'. Following her PhD, she began applying mathematical modelling to other communicable diseases and is now focusing on tuberculosis (TB).
TB is a major problem throughout the world, causing 1.7 million deaths in 2004. In recent years, the treatment of TB has been impacted by HIV infection and drug resistance.
Dr McBryde will travel to Boston to work with colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health. They will work on a detailed mathematical model that will increase the effectiveness of TB infection control interventions.
Dr McBryde explains that modelling will help determine how new vaccines and other techniques can help the fight against TB.
“My Boston collaborators have challenged beliefs about tuberculosis transmission and have shown that reinfection is far more common than once believed. This leads to major rethinks in the approach to TB interventions.
“The work I do in Boston will further develop the Boston TB models to help answer important questions such as ‘What is the value of treating latent TB in high and low prevalence countries?’ and ‘How effective are new vaccines likely to be?’. This work will not only enhance my skills, but more importantly, it will have the potential to create a significant impact on policy decisions effecting the control of TB,’ Dr McBryde said.
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