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HBPRCA Email Newsletter
March 2008
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There are a number of new
initiatives including our new look web site, a French Australian exchange
initiative, our HBPRCA 30th
Birthday Celebrations, an Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring
Initiative and a Human and Animal Devices workshop to accompany the end of
year meeting. For those that wish to relive
the revelries of the Adelaide meeting, Athina from Meetings First has made a photo album
available – click here. Don’t forget that
ISH is in Berlin this year, with registration and accommodation booking now
open. Visit the website! Associate Professor
Geoffrey A Head |
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE from Stephen Harrap It is an Honour to be able to continue to write
under the President’s by-line and it is a delight to have a new Executive of
the Council to carry on the great work of the previous. The new committee
comprises:
I’d like to thank all those who put themselves
forward for the Executive and welcome and congratulate Ann Goodchild, Arduino
Mangoni, Bruce Neal and Markus Schlaich, who have already shown their
enthusiasm and potential to contribute.
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MEETING NEWS from Kate Denton
The Austin Doyle lecturer is an expatriate,
Associate Professor David Sinclair, Harvard Medical School. David did his PhD with Prof Dawes in
Sydney. His research focuses on ways to prevent and treat the major diseases
of society by manipulating genes that control how fast we age. All reports
suggest that David is an engaging speaker. Certainly, his work has been
recognized by many prestigious awards and invitations. We are fortunate that
he has been able to accept our invitation this year. I am also particularly please to
announce that our own Assoc Prof Bruce Neal has accepted the Colin Johnston
lectureship. An award that he is well
suited for, having risen in a very short time to be to be head of a very
large cardiovascular research group at The George Institute in Sydney, where
he is now a Senior Director of Vascular Research. Bruce Neal is a
cardiovascular epidemiologist with particular expertise in the conduct of
large-scale studies in the field of blood pressure and cardiovascular
diseases, focusing on providing new evidence to influence clinical practice.
Some of his major contributions to date include being study director and
member of the Management Committee for the PROGRESS and ADVANCE trials, being
one of the Founders of and the Director responsible for the Blood Pressure
Lowering Treatment Tribalists’ Collaboration, and accepting a major role as
Chairman of the Australian Division of World Action on Salt and Health
(AWASH) which he has energised to a remarkable degree. Bruce has been at the
forefront of moving away from basing treatment decisions purely on the level
of blood pressure per se to basing them on total cardiovascular risk. This has extended the indications for
treatment to include blood pressure lowering in individuals with high
cardiovascular risk, but with blood pressure in the “normal range. I’m sure that he will deliver a talk of
interest to all our members. I
also have plans to try (yet again!) to energise the poster sessions. I would like to engage the help of our
more junior post-doc members in awarding some smaller prizes to poster
presentations. This will not replace the
student poster prize. However, this
will give valuable experience to our younger colleagues, be an addition to
their CV’s and will hopefully involve greater participation in the poster
discussions. Human and Animal
Devices Workshop This years workshop which will be held on Wednesday
3rd of December prior to the main meeting and will be focussed on
devices used in both clinical and basic (animal) research. Data Sciences International are keen to continue
to sponsor the animal telemetry users component of the workshop which proved
to be very successful in Brisbane. We have also had considerable interest in
expanding this to include human devices. The workshop will therefore be
organised as a morning and afternoon sessions focussing on each area, which
will allow participants to attend either or both sessions depending on their
interests. If any members would like to contribute please
contact the organising committee Geoff Head, Kate Denton, Markus Schlaich and
Arduino Mangoni via hbprca@meetingsfirst.com.au. |
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HBPRCA 30TH BIRTHDAY
CELEBRATIONS Student
introductions Getting to know and encouraging the
next generation of leaders in BP research is a major goal of the Council.
Therefore, we thought that it would be a good idea to “introduce” our
students at this year’s annual dinner. We would like to do this in the form
of a power point presentation that will loop for most of the night. We are
requesting that students provide the secretariat with their photo and some
salient points about themselves (no more than 50 words). This will help put
names and interests to student faces and facilitate convivial conversations. Our Family Tree
Competitions We would like to open the
following four competitions – 2 written and 2 photographic:
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PRIZES at the ASM We have updated the
“prize” definitions, to make them simpler for all. Please see below. This information is also on the website. Early Career
Investigator Oral and Poster Awards Supported by the High
Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia (oral) Supported by Clinical
Science (poster) This award is to encourage
membership and foster active participation of early career investigators in
the HBPRCA. The candidate must be an early career scientist (up to 10 years
post-doctorate, with consideration given for career interruption). Student Oral and
Poster Presentation Awards Supported by the High
Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia
Prizes and
Eligibility All
finalists are selected based on the ranking of their abstracts submitted
by the normal process for presentation at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the
Council. The winner of each prize will be decided by an specially convened
judging panel based on the quality of the data and the presentation.
be a member of the
HBPRCA by September 30 in the year of application to qualify. be the first author
of the abstract NOT have published
the work presented in the abstract in other than electronic form, at the time
of submission. NOT to have won an
award in same category in the previous year*. Best Oral
Prizes of $1,000 – will be awarded to the best
presentation in the Early Career Investigator Oral Award Finalists Session
and also to the best Student Oral Presentation. Best Poster
Prizes of $500 will be awarded to the best Early
Career Investigator presentation and also to the best student presentation.
In each case the presentation will involve the poster and a mini oral
presentation. The Early career Investigator award is sponsored by Clinical
Science and includes a certificate and a year's free online access to
Clinical Science. British
Hypertension Society Award Supported by the High
Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia and the British Hypertension
Society (BHS)
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MEMBERSHIP NEWS from Doug McKitrick March 31st is the
annual subscription due date for the HBPRCA. If you have thus far overlooked
paying it’s still not too late! Simply go to Don’t forget to
encourage your graduate students and post docs to take out membership with
the Council (free for students!). The special initiatives that have been
introduced are specifically intended to benefit student and early career members.
And of course participating in the vibrant Annual Scientific Meeting
(particularly the 2008 30th anniversary meeting) is a tremendous opportunity
for you, your post-docs, students and research associates to see and discuss
the broad research interests of the council and share your own. |
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FRANCO
AUSTRALIAN EXCHANGE PROGRAM from Geoff Head and Bruce Neal
·
Application
forms are available from Meetings First, hbprca@meetingsfirst.com.au ·
The
deadline for applications will be the 25th of April (Anzac day). The
applications will be judged by a panel of the HBPRCA executive and
notification expected to be made within 2 weeks of the application. ·
The
degree of support is anticipated to be AUD$2500 toward the airfare and
800-1000 euros per month towards the cost of accommodation. ·
The winner will be required to write a feature article (in English)
with photos for the e-news!! |
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AMBULATORY BLOOD
PRESSURE MONITORING (ABPM) WORKING GROUP INITIATIVE 2008 At present ABPM can be used to diagnose
hypertension, but cannot be used to manage hypertension because there
are no ABPM equivalents for target BP. While the PAMELA (1) study
provided an ABPM equivalent for the diagnostic level of 140/90, this study
from Monza in Italy does not readily provide ABPM equivalents for target BP’s
such as 125/75, nor is it necessarily relevant to the Australian
population. It is therefore important to derive a robust algorithm,
which can provide relevant ABPM target blood pressures. This HBPRCA clinical research
collaborative initiative is to establish ABPM target blood pressures relevant
to the Australian population. A number of Council members have expressed
interest in participating in the Working Group and we would like to hear from
more members who have experience in ambulatory recording and would like to
contribute their data so that we can collect clinic blood pressure and
ambulatory recordings throughout Australia in order to provide sufficient
data to derive the Clinic- ABPM relationship which will also be able to
account for ethnicity, sex or age. We are currently preparing the project
outline and scope for agreement and welcome suggestions. To indicate the feasibility of
this process, we have performed an initial pilot analysis of data collected
at the Alfred-Baker Heart centre. Figure below left shows the correlation
between 24 hour and Clinic Systolic Blood Pressure, which has regression
coefficients very close to the PAMELA study. The table (below right)
indicates the equivalent ABPM values for the clinic values of 140/90 based on
the regressions. Interestingly, the PAMELA study and our pilot data show for
at least 24 hour measurements, almost identical results.
We are working to have this
completed by the end of the year so we would expect data collection to be complete
by June this year. In order to promote further participation, some details of
the data to be collected is set out below. The data will need to be
de-identified and its inclusion in the analysis will need the respective
Institution Ethics Committee approval for transfer. The data will include the
following:
We now need to
know those council members that would like to participate in this project.
Now is the time to get on board! Please contact geoff.head@baker.edu.au by COB Friday 4 April 2008. Mancia
G, Sega R, Bravi C, De Vito G, Valagussa F, Cesana G, Zanchetti A. Ambulatory
blood pressure normality: results from the PAMELA study. J Hypertens.
1995;13:1377-1390. |
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CALL FOR SPECIAL ARTICLES for
Hypertension Professor
John hall has written to members of the Council who are editors of
Hypertension and asked for suggestions for invitations to write articles on
specific topics and for potential authors who should be invited to write
Brief Reviews, Hypertension Highlights, and other features that would be of
exceptional interest to the readers of Hypertension. These features are described on the web site for Hypertension
at: http://hyper.ahajournals.org/ If you are interested in contributing, please
contact Stephen Harrap s.harrap@unimelb.edu.au or
other Hypertension board members who are members of the Council. |
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DR RALPH READER from Paul Korner Dr Ralph Reader (Fig 1 nearby,
see legend), who was the first Director of the National Heart Foundation of
Australia, died in Canberra on The Foundation provided local
and overseas research fellowships and grants-in-aid for clinical and basic
cardiovascular research. Each year Ralph Reader visited every applicant and
spent a great deal of time to try to understand what each application was
about and what new scientific question was being addressed. These searching interviews
could be quite trying for each applicant, but allowed Ralph to become their
champion when their grants were being considered by the National Medical and
Scientific Advisory Committee. Ralph saw to it that Australia's
scientific wares were well displayed internationally. The National Heart
Foundation organised a number of international scientific conferences in
Canberra, which were published as supplements to Circulation Research. They included the 1967 symposium on Catecholamines in Cardiovascular
Physiology and Disease of some 25 papers, and the 1970 symposium on Hypertensive
Mechanisms of some 28 papers 1,2. These were held in the Shine
Dome of the Australian Academy of Science and were a great success. Because
of Ralph Reader and Austin Doyle's efforts the National Heart Foundation
hosted the 15th Scientific Meeting of the International Society of
Hypertension in the Sydney Opera House. In these ways Ralph educated all of
us not to be over-diffident in exhibiting in the international scientific
market place. Ralph was born in Brisbane in
1918, but the family moved to Sydney while he was still very young. He
completed his schooling at Fort Street High School and then studied Medicine at
the University of Sydney, graduating in 1940 in the first year of World War
2. Then came two years as a resident at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, during
which he found time to marry Hazel Scanlon, a talented singer. From 1942-1946 Ralph served as a doctor in
the Royal Australian Navy. After
demobilisation he worked for two years in the University's Department of
Medicine on the pathogenesis of acute glomerulonephritis. Then followed a further 3 years of
research at Oxford as a Nuffield Research Fellow, where he obtained a D.Phil
degree. He returned to Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital and helped establish its new Nephrology Department. As was
the custom of those days, his public hospital work was truly "honorary"
(i.e. unpaid) and he earned a modest living in half-time private medical
practice downtown. At the time of Ralph's
appointment cardiovascular disease ranked Number One in the causes of death
list in Australia, the USA and most other first world countries. The death rate from these disorders had been
rising steadily through the greater part of the 20th century and people spoke
of an epidemic of heart disease. The Foundation kept a careful eye on any
changes in national mortality These thoughts led to The Australian Therapeutic Trial for Mild
Hypertension (now often referred to as the First Australian Blood
Pressure Study). Planning for this began about 10 years after Ralph Reader's
appointment. It is perhaps less well known that there was much discussion
within the Foundation and the wider medical research community whether it was
justified to proceed with a study likely to cost $A 1 million (which now seems
ridiculously modest), instead of using the money to fund research fellowships
and grants-in-aid. Ralph could be
very persuasive when he set his mind to it, and managed to convince the
Foundation's Board and its National Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee
that a well conducted study, the first in the world addressing this question,
would enhance Australia's international standing, which would ultimately
benefit the national effort in basic and clinical cardiovascular research. A lot of individuals contributed to the
success of the study, but it would never have got off the ground, but for
Ralph's persuasive and patient advocacy. The trial began in 1973 and the
data collection was completed in 1978, with the main paper summarising the
findings published in the Lancet in 1980 3. The results showed
unequivocally that the number of fatal and non-fatal morbid events was
reduced in patients with mild and moderate hypertension whose blood pressure
had been reduced by anti-hypertensive drugs in comparison to those receiving
placebo (Fig nearby, see legend). The
study was an Australian landmark for forging close links between public
health and laboratory-based research. It is interesting that 1978, the year
in which the data collection was completed, also marked the year in which
HBPRCA held its first meeting in Melbourne, gradually replacing the Heart
Foundation as the national voice on hypertension research. The First National Blood
Pressure study was both the high point and the swansong of Ralph Reader's work
with the National Heart Foundation. He retired at the relatively young age of
62 years, but continued to maintain an association with the National Heart
Foundation as a member-at-large, where he was often called to give opinions
on various programs. Ralph also had many other
interests. During his spare time as director he was a farmer, living on a
large property at Tuggeranong on the outskirts of Canberra, where he kept
beef cattle and fine wool Merino sheep. All members of the National Medical
and Scientific Advisory Committee always looked forward to an evening at the
Readers' property. He and Hazel helped in the establishment of the Canberra
School of Music, and Ralph became president of the ACT division of the Arts
Council. Later, they spent a few years in Mossy Point on the South Coast of
New South Wales, where Ralph indulged his hobbies of sailing and fishing.
Hazel died in 1994, after which Ralph returned to Canberra. In recognition of his
substantial services, Ralph was made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael
and St.George in 1976, and was awarded an Honorary MD degree by the
University of Sydney in 2006. When he retired as Director of the National
Heart Foundation,the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, named
their Young Investigator Prize after him and there are now two Ralph Reader
Prizes at each annual scientific meeting, one for clinical and one for basic
science. He was a most remarkable and
imaginative medical administrator, who championed young investigators, and it
is very appropriate that he be remembered in this way. Perhaps the last word should be
left to Dr.Gaston Bauer in his account of the history of cardiology in
Australia 4: Since 1961
research, education and rehabilitation has been greatly assisted by the National
Heart Foundation of Australia. The impact of the Foundation under the wise
guidance of. Dr Ralph Reader has been felt in every cardiac department and
unit throughout the Commonwealth. 1 Reader R., Guest Editor, Catecholamines In
Cardiovascular Physiology And Disease, Circ
Res, vol.21, Supplement III, 1967. 2 Reader R, Guest Editor, Hypertensive Mechanisms, Circ Res, vol 27, Supplement II, 1967. 3 Reader et al., The Australian therapeutic trial in
mild hypertension: Report by the management committee. Lancet i,
1261-1267, 1980. 4 Bauer, G.E., Four Chapters In the History of
Australian Cardiology. In Cardiology in
Australia and New Zealand, edited by Hickie, JB and Hickie, K.P., Sydney,
The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, 1990. Legends Figure 1. Ralph Reader at about
1960. Figure 2. Results from the First Australian Blood
Pressure Study, showing the effect of active treatment with anti-hypertensive
drugs and placebo on cumulative total trial end-points (All TEP) and fatal
trial end-points (Fatal TEP). From reference 3. |
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Cardiovascular and Lipid Research Grants Grants of up to $55,000 (incl. GST) to be
awarded for 2009 The Pfizer Australia Cardiovascular and Lipid
Research Grants program is looking for medical graduates who have entered the
field of research (or have returned to research after an appropriate break)
within the last 5 years. Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent
residents and the majority of research must be conducted within Australia. Research funding is awarded for clinical research across
the fields of (but not necessarily confined to): -
Cardiovascular Disease -
Stroke -
Lipid Disorders Applications close May 23, 2008. For more information or to obtain an application form
visit: www.cvlgrants.com.au
Pfizer Australia Neuroscience Research Grants Grants of up to $44,000 (incl. GST) to be
awarded for 2009 The Pfizer Australia Neuroscience
Research Grants program invites applications from medical graduates who have
obtained specialist qualifications within the last 5 years, are currently in
advanced training, or have returned to research after an appropriate break.
Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents and the
majority of the research must be conducted within Australia. Research funding is awarded for basic
and clinical research across the broad field of neuroscience including: -
Pain Medicine -
Psychiatry -
Neurology Applications close May 1, 2008. For more information or to obtain an
application form visit: www.nsrgrants.com.au
Pfizer
Australia Pty. Ltd. ABN: 50 008 422
348, 38-42 Wharf Road, West Ryde, NSW, 2114 |
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AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH News ASMR Research
Awards ASMR offers two Research Awards
annually. These awards support a postgraduate student member of the ASMR
nearing completion of their studies or a recently graduated postdoctoral
member to undertake a short period of research in a laboratory outside of
Australia ($5,000) or in a distal laboratory ($2,000) within Australia. The
award specifically excludes support for conference attendance and travel for
an extended period of postdoctoral studies. Applicants for these awards must
have been members of the ASMR for at least 12 months immediately preceding
the year in which the Award application is to be considered. The application
form is attached or available for download at http://www.asmr.org.au/Researchfund.html 2020 Summit As you will be aware, the 2020
Summit is scheduled to take place at Parliament House in Canberra, April 19 -
20, 2008. ASMR is formulating a submission to the Summit and a
number of individuals from the HMR community are nominating for the
opportunity to attend as delegates. Information about the Summit
is available from http://www.australia2020.gov.au/about/index.cfm Australian Health
and Medical Research Congress Planning is well underway for
the 4th Australian Health and Medical Research Congress to be held
at the Brisbane Convention Centre, November 16-21. With 34
organisations participating, the multi-disciplinary, bi-annual Congress is
going from strength to strength. Be sure to diarize this important
event. Further information is available at http://www.ahmrcongress.org.au/ |
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AMGEN MEDICAL RESEARCHER Award An annual feature of ASMR
Medical Research Week(R) is Amgen's continuing support of Australian
medical research through sponsorship of the Amgen Medical Researcher Award -
the 9th time for national selection. The award recognizes early career
researchers with demonstrated independence, excellence, innovation and
achievements in medical research, with evidence of translation from bench to
potential for application, and with particular emphasis on research of the
last 2 years. The winner will receive a plaque and up to $6,000 for travel /
accommodation / registration expenses at an international meeting of their
choice. Criteria for selection: ·
Evidence of research excellence
- publications, patents, clinical trial involvement; ·
Ten years maximum since qualifying for a PhD or equivalent
degree (with possible concession for career break interruptions); ·
Preparedness to communicate research achievements
with the public and media; ·
Recognition by peers of his / her interest &
achievements in translational research; ·
Have spent the last two years working in an Australian
medical research institute or department. The application form is
available at: http://www.asmr.org.au/Awards.html Applications from researchers
who consider that they fit these criteria should be lodged, as per the form,
by Thursday April 24th 2008.
The award will be made at a media luncheon in Melbourne. (The presentation
venue alternates with Sydney.) |
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Athina Patti at Meetings First t 61 3 9739
7697 f 61 3 9739 7076 |
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HBPRCA would like to acknowledge the support of the
following companies: CORPORATE MEMBERS
CEPP Journal is provided to full members by Servier CORPORATE SPONSORS
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MEETINGS IN 2008 |
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ISH 2008 – The 22nd Scientific Meeting of the
International Society of Hypertension 14 – 19 June 2008 Click here for meeting website |
13th International SHR Symposium 20 - 22 June 2008 Prague, Czech Republic |
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Heart and Mind Psychogenic Cardiovascular Disease
Conference 3 – 5 September 2008 Prato, Tuscany Click here for meeting website |
2nd International Symposium on Pheochromocytoma 17 – 20 September 2008 Click here for meeting website |
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Annual Scientific Meeting of the British
Hypertension Society Click here for meeting website |
High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting 3 – 5 December 2008 Melbourne Exhibition Centre Click here for
more information. |
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