Honours Welcome
On the afternoon of Thursday 6th March, the School held a Welcome Function for the 2008 Honours students in the restaurant at the UQ Staff and Graduate Club. Students and their supervisors met informally and were encouraged to develop a network of peers and to seek assistance from the deep pool of expertise both within Biomedical Sciences and across the campus. The event provided the opportunity for students undertaking their studies at different locations, to interact more closely. The afternoon drinks and savouries were clearly a big success, so stay tuned for further events later in the program.

SBMS/QBI Joint Garden Party
In order to get to know our nearest neighbours in the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), the School hosted an afternoon party on Wednesday 26th March in the lush garden between the Skerman and QBI buildings. The garden setting facilitated a warm and friendly atmosphere for the 120 staff and students who gathered together. Feedback has revealed that some new collaborations have arisen and new networks developed. The success of the evening has encouraged QBI to host the next garden party during swat vac in June.

Annual Public Lecture
The School hosted its annual public lecture and awards ceremony on the evening of Wednesday 2nd April. The guest speaker was the renowed epidemiologist Professor Tony McMichael from the Australian National University. Tony’s research concerns the impact of climate change on global public health. His lecture gave the audience an insight into some of the serious issues that the planet faces in the coming decades. From the many and varied discussions afterwards on the balcony of the QBI building, it was evident that Tony’s message had touched the hearts & mindsof people. Following the lecture, the School recognised our highest achieving students in the various disciplines with certificates of achievement and prizes. Congratulations again to all those students for their achievements in their studies.

Prize Winners
Daniel Hamilton Prize - Daniel North
Alan Blackshaw Prize - Antimony Mar
Ray Ladd Prize - Sonya Manwaring
Quantum Prize in Pharmacology - Anthony Smith
Douglas HK Lee Hons Prize (Phys & Pharm) - David Eviston
Robert Kennedy Prize -
Human Anatomy - Gareth Davies
Cell & Developmental Biology Kristine Hillman
Histology & Emybryology - Rachel North
Michael F Hickey Memorial Hons Prize - Ji Eun Shin
The Pearson Education Aust. Prize - Candice Austin
Royal Australian College of Surgeons Dissection Prizes -
1st Prize Nikolas Stewart
2nd Prize: Patrick Pearce
3rd Prize: Scott Allison

Images of the Annual Public Lecture Here

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Welcome to David Simmons who is a new academic in the Developmental and Regenerative Biology research group. He is located on level 4 of the MacGregor Building.
Conrad Sernia and his lab have moved to join Wally Thomas on Level 7 of Otto Hirschfield.
Ricarda Their and her lab have moved to join Lesley Lluka and Liz Gillam on Level 4 Skerman.

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I’m originally from a tiny village near Portsmouth, right on the South coast of England. My Mum’s side of the family are from a fishing village in Fife, Scotland and I’ve spent most of my life in these two places. The first job I ever had was working in an RSPCA shelter, and the first hobby I had was fishing with my Dad. Biology has been the only subject I have truly enjoyed so I completed an undergrad in Marine & Environmental Biology at St Andrews University in 2000. Following this I worked as a field researcher for the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of Oxford University on a project looking at the impact of the European badger on the spread of bovine tuberculosis. I loved the job and spent most of my days wandering around the Gloucestershire countryside trapping and tracking badgers.

I then received an offer from my honours supervisor to do a PhD looking at the physiological differences between marine and freshwater sharks, focussing on ion and osmoregulation. He offered it to me as he knew I was a hard worker and it involved one and a half years of fieldwork shark fishing in the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay, so it wasn’t a tough decision! The Australian fieldwork was done in collaboration with Craig Franklin’s lab in SIB and I made a lot of good friends in Brisbane over the course of the project.

I completed my PhD in 2005 and wanted a change from research science. I landed a job as a conservation ecologist at Ezemvelo, a private game reserve between Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa. It was a dream job involving habitat management, animal husbandry, and guiding tour groups around the reserve. Sadly I had to give it up as my American girlfriend had secured a place on a Masters course at UQ doing Environmental Management, and we’d had enough of living on opposite sides of the world to each other.  I found it pretty tough to get a job in Brisbane and spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. Outside of work I play a lot of sport and got more enjoyment from coaching than I did from playing. It seemed like the best idea was to combine my two passions and so I started looking for teaching jobs. I applied to an SBMS advert for casual tutors in mid-2006 and spent many hours tutoring with Hardy Ernst and Kay Colthorpe. They really encouraged me and helped me develop my teaching skills and it paid off in 2007 when I was given an appointment as an associate lecturer. Since then I have been involved in a lot of different courses, but now spend most of my time teaching into our new first year course.

Outside of work I devote most of my time to playing Ultimate Frisbee. I have played for over 14 years now and have represented the Scottish National Team; I also run the Brisbane Premier League which runs on Thursday nights at Annerley. I still do quite a lot of fishing, but nowhere near as much as I’d like to. In what little time off I get I also enjoy travelling to experience different cultures, foods, and drinks.

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Upcoming Events include:
Tuesday 15 - 17 April - Honours Seminars
Wednesday 7 May - Thanksgiving Service
Thursday 5 June - Postgraduate Symposium

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New X-Ray Developer – SBMS has purchased and installed a new X-ray Developer on Level 3 Skerman – Room 315.  This X-ray Developer replaces the School facility previously located in the Ritchie Building.  The X-ray Developer in Ritchie will now be decommissioned.  Any questions regarding the new X-ray Developer should be directed to Lindsay Shannon.

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Work has commenced on the Head of School and Administration area in the Skerman Building. They predict that this will take 3-4 weeks. To access the Reception area please enter through the main entrance of Skerman NOT through the door on the MacGregor side.

New Instrument Room  - Skerman Room 418 has recently been refurbished and will become a new School instrument room.  Further information will be provided in the next edition of the SBMS Newsletter.

Work has commenced on the refurbishment of the level 4 Skerman Tearoom.  Works will include the replacement of the ceiling, lighting, kitchenette and furnishings.

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Upcoming courses for April

Occupational Health and Safety for Supervisors and Managers –
4 Hours
28th April 9:00 am – 1:00 pm  TEDI Seminar Rm, Bldg No. 15

Workplace Safety
Chemical Risk Assessment Database Training – 2 Hours
23rd April 2008 10:30am – 12:30pm Building 33, Rooms 102/ 104

Managing Safety in the Laboratory – 7 Hours
 23rd April 2008  9:00am – 4:00pm  TEDI Seminar Room, Bldg No. 15     

Radiation Safety with Self Contained Irradiators – 2 Hours
24th April 2008 9:00am – 11:00am TEDI Seminar Room, Bldg No. 15

Risk Assessment Database Training – 1.5 Hours
23rd April 2008    9:00am – 10:30am Building 33, Rooms 102 & 104

Biological Safety
Requirements for working with biological material – 2 Hours
22nd April 2008    9:00am – 11:00am     IMB Auditorium Building 80

Please contact Robyn Oram for further details ph. 53221

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Roger Moni Conference Seminar Leave May 14-30 (13 days)

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