You are here: Home / About the Medical School / Introduction / Dean's newsletter / This year

Dean's Newsletter - January 2009

Dear colleagues

May I welcome you to 2009. I hope you have had a chance for a break and are refreshed for the new year. I, personally, am looking forward to another exciting year with, no doubt, some challenges for us all.

The first challenge arrived as early as 5 January - news that we had just two weeks to submit applications for the Government’s Health and Hospitals Fund (see below).

To recap some good news….
The University of Sydney topped all universities and institutions in this year’s NHMRC Project Grants Round - a truly distinctive achievement.

Some more good news….
The University of Sydney (including our affiliated institutes) received nine of 58 Heart Foundation Grants-in-Aid for 2009. Details available here.

The Medical School has been awarded two grants by AusAID. Both are related to Timor Leste:

  • Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) Fellowships for the Timor Leste Fellowship program $223,190 - the Office for Global Health will bring seven Timorese health related leaders/ potential leaders to Australia for up to three months in 2009.
  • AusAID Public Sector Linkage Program - Timor Leste Critical Care Training Program $A127,486 supplemented to a total of ($162,786) with support from the University of Sydney’s International Development Fund and Sydney Medical School to develop and implement a sustainable three part evidence-based practical skills focused training program specific to Timor Leste for critical care health professionals. In addition, the team will assist in establishing a working group in Timor Leste to formulate an ongoing development plan for critical care skills training in Timor.

In addition Associate Professor Michael Dibley in the School of Public Health has been awarded two AusAID Australian Leadership Award (ALA) Fellowships for 2009:

  • Understanding Child Malnutrition in Vietnam: Improving Capacity for Surveillance and Interventions ($109,200)
  • Child Under-nutrition and Child Survival in Pakistan – Developing Capacity to Produce Policy Relevant Information ($140,280)

2008 Capacity Building Grants for Population Health and Health Services Research were announced in December. Medical School members were awarded two of the nine grants:

  • Professor Simon Chapman ($1,897,375): The Australian Health News Research Collaboration which aims to improve media literacy and the potency of policy advocacy among health professionals and so improve the quality of health news reporting in Australia.
  • Associate Professor Stephen Jan ($1,817,303): Using health economics to strengthen ties between evidence, policy and practice in chronic disease.

NHMRC Career Development Awards were also announced in December:

  • Dr Mark E Graham (Children’s Medical Research Institute)
  • Dr Renae M Ryan (Pharmacology)
  • Dr Andrew H Kemp (Westmead Millennium Institute)
  • Dr Lisa M Askie (NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre)
  • Dr Philip M Clarke (Public Health)

TIES Large grant scheme 2009
Grants have just been announced by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), Professor Derrick Anderson. Congratulations to the following members of Medical School!

  • Associate Professor Merrilyn Walton: “Academic support to implement the new Personal and Professional Development (PPD) Program of the Medical Program”: $46,160
  • Professor Tim Lambert: “Interactive multimedia-based training in descriptive psychopathology of the psychotic disorders” : $68,950
  • Dr Smita Shah: “Medical Students as Lifestyle Educators in Schools” : $55,000

Admissions Committee
Following the extensive reviews conducted of admission into the Medical Program and the Bachelor of Dentistry program the two faculties have established a combined admissions committee which will shortly commence meeting. I am delighted to advise that Professor Stewart Dunn has agreed to chair the committee. Stewart has a long interest in admission and has been deeply involved in interview development over many years. I am very grateful to him for agreeing to take on this important role.

Bernie Banton Centre
On 21 January Prime Minister Kevin Rudd officially opened $12 million Asbestos Disease Research Institute (ADRI) is housed in the Bernie Banton Centre at Concord Hospital (named in honour of the late asbestos campaigner). It is the world's first stand-alone research facility dedicated to the prevention and treatment of asbestos-related diseases working towards early diagnosis and improved treatment for the victims of asbestos-related diseases.

Mr Rudd also announced the Federal Government would commit $5 million the new centre. Further details at: www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=2985.

Office for Global Health
The Office for Global Health (formerly the Faculties of Health International Office) is now located in Room 206 Edward Ford Building as is the office for the Hoc Mai Foundation.

The Office for Global Health works with the University of Sydney’s Health Faculties to internationalise the research we undertake, the experience of our students and staff, and our approaches to learning and teaching. The OGH also aims to contribute to the health and wellbeing of our region by engaging in health projects with some of our nearest neighbours.

The Office has just completed a comprehensive website review and the new site can be found at www.usyd.edu.au/global-health/ or via a direct link from the front page of Sydney Medical School website.
The website includes a number of useful links to funding sources for your international project development and for international scholarships and fellowships. You might like to save this url into your favourites: www.usyd.edu.au/global-health/funding/index.php

Health and Hospitals Fund
With very little notice from the Department of Health and Ageing a number of members of Medical School worked extraordinarily hard to prepare submissions that were due in Canberra on 19 January. We now await the outcome. The submissions included (in no particular order):

  • Childhood Mental Health & Brain Development Building within the Brain and Mind Research Institute
  • Development of new clinical school (education, research, clinical services) facilities at Nepean
  • A new Centre for Multidisciplinary Education and Innovative Practice at Concord
  • A new building to integrate clinical teaching for the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry in a single facility at Westmead
  • Capital fit out of the currently vacant top floor of the Kolling Building at RNSH to accommodate the proposed early phase clinical trials unit

We anxiously await the outcome.

Australia Day Honours
Warmest congratulations to four members of Medical School:

  • Professor Colin Sullivan AO - For service to medicine as an innovator in the field of sleep disorders and the development of equipment and treatment practices. Colin has made an extraordinary contribution here
  • Clinical Professor Phillip Harris AM - For service to medicine in the field of cardiology as a clinician, administrator and educator, through contributions to professional organisations, and to the community
  • Clinical Associate Professor Stephen Lee AM - For service to medicine in the field of dermatology as a clinician, mentor and educator and through roles with professional organisations
  • Clinical Associate Professor Brian McCaughan AM - For service to medicine in the field of cardiothoracic surgery as a clinician, researcher and educator and through contributions to the delivery of health care services


Bruce Robinson
Dean