News archives 2010
- Beating the Christmas Bulge
- Melanin Research Group gets feature article
- SA heads into mozzie season
- What do pharmacists really earn?
- School Honours Scholarships
- Health: the Inside View winners!
- Dr Craig Williams talks about dengue fever
- New degree in 2011: Master of Dietetics
- 2010 Supported Teacher Awards
- Bachelor of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Honours)
- 2010 Tall Poppy Awards
- 2010 Keith Farrer Award of Merit winner announced (an article from the AFN)
- National Alliance for Pharmacy Education (PDF, 55kb)
Beating the Christmas Bulge
Associate Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition Jennifer Keogh recently gave some advice on how to 'healthily navigate the feasting of the festive season'. The article explores different ways of keeping control of weight gain during the holiday season. Click here to read the full article.
Dr Keogh recently joined the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences and will be teaching into the new Master of Dietetics, which will start at this School in 2011.
Melanin Research Group gets feature article
The School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences' Melanin Research Group, led by Dr Michael Kokkinn and Dr Cobus Gerber has received a feature article in the Journal of Chemical Ecology. The cover of the journal consists of a picture of the group's squid and an electron micrograph of squid ink melanin below it, which was supplied by the group. Click here to read the full article (Pdf, 377Kb).
The group is a relatively new research group within our School and acts as a bridge between Chemistry and Biology in their studies of melanin. For more information on the Group and its current activities, please review our School's Honours Research Book for 2011 (Pdf, 1MB).
Pictured from left to right: Dr Cobus Gerber, Frank Madaras, Frank Peddie, Dr Michael Kokkinn
SA heads into mozzie season
Late September the UniSA's mosquito-expert, Dr Craig Williams, talked to Channel Seven about the high numbers of mosquitoes currently in South Australia. The numbers are up to 8 times higher compared to other years, in part due to the higher than average rainfall last winter, providing a perfect breeding ground.
Though summer is considered the worst time for Ross River Virus, experts
are also concerned that we will be entering a period of higher risk for
diseases like encephalitis, something we haven't seen in
South Australia in over 30 years. "The best defence", says Dr Williams, "is
to use a good repellent and to cover up with clothing during dusk and dawn".
What do Pharmacists really earn?
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a pharmacy degree and ownership of a pharmacy added up to a pretty decent income. But the times are a-changing, say those working across the industry today. Thee is concern among many within the industry that pharmacists' incomes are under threat.
Dr Geoff March, president of the pharmacy division of APESMA and senior lecturer in pharmacy practice at UniSA, indicated the situation is similar in academia... Click here for the full article.
School Honours Scholarships
The School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences have announced they will be awarding up to 10 scholarships to fulltime students enrolled in the Bachelor of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Honours). The scholarships will be valued at $7,000 per annum and they are awarded for 1 year. If you would like to know more about our Honours program, please visit the Honours information page. Here you will also find a link to the Honours Scholarship information and application form.
Health: the Inside View winners!
Nutrition and Food Sciences and Medical Sciences organised a draw for people who attended their sessions at Health: the Inside View. Lucky winners are:
Ms Amelia Greer and Ms Jane Yang
Congratulations and happy shopping!
Dengue fever controls 'not effective'
Dr Craig Williams from the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences recently spoke to Sydney Morning Herald about the dengue fever risk during the coming Commonwealth Games which are being held in India. According to Dr Williams the efforts to combat the outbreak could prove to be more harmful than effective.
It has been reported that more than 1000 official cases recently emerged in Dehli, the city where thousands of athletes from over 71 countries will compete from 3-14 October. The different construction projects around the Games have been partly blamed for this outbreak, which is twice the normal annual figure. Click here to read the full article.
Dr Craig Williams is an active researcher within the Sansom Institute and his research interests include the ecology of mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit.
New degree in 2011: Master of Dietetics
The School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences is happy to announce that a new postgraduate degree in Dietetics will be added to the curriculum for 2011.
The Master of Dietetics is a 72-unit coursework program aimed at graduates from nutrition, health and science based disciplines who wish to pursue a career, or enhance their career field, with a qualification in dietetics.
The School has commenced discussion with the Dietitians Association Australia (DAA) and is planning to submit the program for accreditation with the goal of achieving this before the first students graduate.
The program is being taught at City East Campus. For more information, please visit the Master of Dietetics page.
2010 Supported Teacher Awards
The 2010 round of the Supported Teacher Awards has been finalised. Congratulations to the winners within our School:
- Dr Jackie O'Flaherty
- Dr Michael Ward
- Dr Craig Williams
They are part of the top 60 in academic staff who have demonstrated an outstanding teaching performance at UniSA. For full details, please visit the Teaching and Learning website.
Bachelor of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Honours)
Recently the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences launched their new Honours Degree. The Honours is considered a prestigious qualification all over the world. Having an Honours degree sets you apart from the rest as a high achiever.
The School's program is designed around project-based, hypothesis driven research. Honours students enjoy access to our state of the art facilities and to a wealth of knowledge from our research-active academic staff.
If you're interested in our Honours degree, please visit this page which is dedicated to explaining everything to do with Honours. More information on scholarships and an information session will be posted on the Honours page soon.
2010 Tall Poppy Awards announced
On
10 August Dr Ellen Nisbet was presented a Young Tall Poppy Award (SA) for
her research on Malaria. The Tall Poppy Awards are prestigious awards which
are given to young researchers who are considered to have shown 'excellence
in research/academic achievement in the sciences' and 'excellence in
community engagement to promote an understanding of science' (Australian
Institute of Policy&Science).
Her award was presented by His Excellency the Governor of South Australia, Rear-Admiral Kevin Scarce and the Honourable Jack Snelling, Minister for Science and Information Economy, at a presentation hosted by Craig Williams; the 2007 Tall Poppy of the Year recipient. Out of eight Tall Poppy Awards being awarded that day, three went to UniSA recipients. The other UniSA winners were Dr Saravana Kumar and Dr Siobhan Banks. The 2010 Tall Poppy of the Year award was presented to Dr Gabrielle Todd, who recently joined the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences. Among the attendees at the ceremony were Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Hoj and PVC Professor Allan Evans(UniSA media release).
Dr Ellen Nisbet is a lecturer in Life Sciences within the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences and an active researcher, leading a group at the Sansom Institute that works on malaria. Due to the spread of resistance, many of the key malaria drugs are now ineffective, causing malaria to kill around 1 million people each year. Understanding how the parasite functions is a key part in trying to find new drugs to fight it, which is the aim of the research. The group has been making promising progress.
Winning a Tall Poppy Awards means Dr Ellen Nisbet is given the opportunity to go out and visit schools across the State promoting research and science. Her main message? Science is fun!
2010 Keith Farrer Award of Merit winner announced
This week Dr Stuart Andrews, Associate Professor at the University of
South Australia (UniSA) was announced as the winner of this year's Keith
Farrer Award of Merit, awarded by the Australian Institute of Food
Science and Technology (AIFST).
Dr Andrews' contribution to the Australian food industry, food science
community, academic community and the AIFST is prolific and is well
deserving of the award.
Some of his career highlights include:
- During the 1980s he was instrumental to the development and presentation of food and factory hygiene training courses and videos
- Developed awareness of food security, quality and nutrition in rural and remote areas of South Australia, especially in indigenous communities
- A number of wine industry research projects were undertaken during Andrews' early years at SAIT, particularly in the treatment of winery effluent
- In 2007 Andrews became Chairman of the Biological Testing Accreditation Advisory Committee
- Supervised research projects in conjunction with the Cooperative Research Centres for water quality
- In 2009 Andrews was invited to work on a food testing project in the Mekong Delta for United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), assisting microbiology laboratories in Vietnam to achieve ISO 17025 accreditation.
This award is made for outstanding achievements in and contributions to food science and technology in the wide areas of research, industry and education, and recognises contributions that further the aims and objectives of the Institute.
National Alliance for Pharmacy Education
UniSA's School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences has joined forces with three other leading Australian schools of pharmacy to form the National Alliance for Pharmacy Education (NAPE) to actively support the ongoing advancement of the pharmacy profession as a key contributor to the healthcare team.
Read the full story (PDF, 55kb)