Dean's Newsletter - February 2008

An important contribution to eye health
Associate Professor Ivan Goldberg has just completed his two-year term as President of the World Glaucoma Association.

During this tenure, the organisation has undergone a governance evolution, changed its name (formerly known at the Association of International Glaucoma Societies), developed its website to be a vast educational resource, revamped its publication, International Glaucoma Review, held a most successful World Glaucoma Congress in Singapore July 2007, merged its global meeting with the International Glaucoma Symposium and continued its global consensus projects to include Angle Closure and Angle Closure Glaucoma, as well as Intraocular Pressure. The next project is on Glaucoma Screening, with the support of the International Council of Ophthalmology. These projects have been received with acclaim globally, and greatly facilitate upskilling ophthalmologists and associated eye care workers in aspects of glaucoma management.

The WGA helped to form the World Glaucoma Patient Association, which in turn has helped patient support associations and groups to form in several countries, such as Singapore, South Africa, Ghana, Israel and Thailand. Glaucoma Australia is an active supporter of, and contributor to the WGPA.

Together with the WGPA, the WGA is organising the first ever World Glaucoma Day, recognised by the World Health Organisation, for March 6, 2008. Three countries are striking stamps to mark the occasion. There will be a multitude of activities worldwide, including an Advocacy Day in Washington DC, run by the American Glaucoma Society.


Congratulations to Associate Professor Christine Clarke (Western Clinical School and Westmead Millennium Institute)

Christine is the CIA on a grant of $5m over five years from the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Breast cancer affects 10,000 Australian women each year. The priority of this program is to decrease the impact of breast cancer in women who are less well served by current treatments. These form a significant proportion of breast cancer patients, including premenopausal women whose tumours are not hormone responsive, and women whose cancer becomes resistant to treatment.

The research will use a new approach focussed on nuclear receptors, which are master regulators of virtually every aspect of life. Although many nuclear receptors are expressed in breast cancers, their significance in breast cancer management has received little attention to date. The objectives of this program are (i) to identify the nuclear receptor networks active in breast cancers that will serve as new predictive targets of response to treatment and (ii) to translate this knowledge of new predictive factors into new treatments for groups of women currently with few treatment options.

Further information is available in the press release from the National Breast Cancer Foundation - PDF


Agreements with new teaching hospitals
To provide new opportunities for our students I have signed agreements with two private hospital organisations:

• Owen Ferguson Health in relation to Canada Bay Private Hospital (particularly to provide Surgery teaching for our students from Concord Clinical School) , Peninsula Private Clinic and Lismore Private Hospital; and
• St John of God Hospital Richmond (particularly to provide Psychological Medicine teaching for our students from Nepean Clinical School)

Teaching Improvement and Equipment Scheme (TIES)
Congratulations are due to the following members of our Medical School:

Reminder – Medical Program admissions review
A reminder that the recommendations developed by Kerry Gouslton and Kim Oates will be available very shortly and will be considered at two special Medical School meetings at 4.00pm in the Professorial Board Room with the usual videoconference connections available:

• Thursday 28 February – for discussion of the recommendations
• Thursday 27 March – for decision by Medical School

News from members of Medical School
If you have News you would like me to disseminate through this monthly Newsletter please email me direct or email Tom Rubin at: . For website News and Events items please email Beth Quinlivan at: .