Category Archives: Impact

Containment of multi-drug resistant TB in the Pacific is critical.

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Professor Warwick Britton, Head of the Mycobacterial Group

Professor Warwick Britton, Head of the Mycobacterial Group at Centenary and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney, has been awarded $2.49 million towards a Centre of Research Excellence on tuberculosis control: from discovery to public health practice and policy – a collaborative program with colleagues from the University of Sydney, Woolcock Institute for Medical Research, University of Melbourne, Vietnam and Indonesia.

The grant adds to Centenary’s investment and effort in containing the spread of TB, still one of the world’s most devastating infectious diseases
and a growing threat to Australia. Drug resistant strains of tuberculosis are prevalent in Papua New Guinea, our closest neighbour.

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Spotlight on a Scientist: Part 3 of LB’s why I run series

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Dr Jeff Holst

Dr Jeff Holst, Head of Origins of Cancer group at the Centenary Institute and YCF member

LB asked me the question – “So, why are you running?” At first, I thought the answer was quite simple, I’m running to raise money for my own research team who are studying melanoma, breast and prostate cancer.

That’s the easy answer, but in reality there is a fundamental principle that drives me to be involved in fundraising – specifically that medical research is underfunded, and we should be doing all we can to support it, as it in turn supports and extends our lives.

This year is a bit of a shift for me, as over the past 5 years I’ve been involved in Movember. This stemmed from my research interests in prostate cancer, which have been funded by the money raised through Movember and distributed by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. But this year, I decided rather than do nothing for a month (ie – not shaving) I would step it up and train to run the City2Surf.

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March 24 is World TB Day

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TBTB used to be Australia’s top killer. In much of the rest of the world it still is, killing three people every minute.

Saturday 24 March 2012 marks 130 years since the discovery of the cause of tuberculosis (TB), a disease that kills more than one million people worldwide every year.

In 1882, TB was the leading cause of death in Australia – twenty times more deadly than the road toll is today and equivalent to the current annual death rate from all cancers.

Discovering the cause enabled Australia and other developed countries to push back successfully against TB with massive public health, screening and vaccine programs.
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Our TB work in Vietnam in the media spotlight

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Centenary Scientist Dr Greg Fox in Vietnam

Centenary Scientist Dr Greg Fox in Vietnam – a young researcher taking the fight against a global killer to the next level

130 years ago TB was Australia’s biggest killer – with a greater impact than cancer today.

In Vietnam 290,000 people have active TB and 54,000 people are killed by it every year.

One of our young researchers,  Greg Fox is working in Vietnam to understand how TB spreads in communities, and to work out the genetic factors that contribute to survival.

On Wednesday Greg and his work appeared on the Australia Network, which broadcasts across the Asia-Pacific.

In the run-up to World TB Day on Saturday March 24, Greg has also been talking on ABC Radio Australia, which broadcasts to Asia.

Listen to his radio interview here.

Find more about Greg’s latest work here:PDF format Vietnam release and background

Or his other Vietnam work here.

Can We Stop TB in Our Lifetime? Together We CAN.

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Dr Magda Ellis (right) working with a colleague

Dr Magda Ellis (right) working with a colleague

For this year’s Stop TB campaign, you can make an individual call to stop TB in your lifetime. That’s the call to arms for the 2012 World TB Day campaign and Centenary has joined the fight. The Institute is part of the TB Research Movement, launched by the Stop TB Partnership and the World Health Organization (WHO), in a collaborative strategic effort to encourage, support and promote the importance of research into the disease.

These organisations have set a goal to eliminate TB globally by 2050. It’s a big job because two billion people carry TB. Only one person in ten will get sick but we don’t know which one.

An inspiring team of Centenary researchers has been working tirelessly in the global effort to better understand the pathogen and the disease so we can better identify the people at risk, and get them the help they need.

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