2019 Hudson Institute Travel Awards and Bryan Williams Trainee Scholarship

Dr Sun will present her contribution to the Hudson Monash Paediatric Precision Medicine Program (HMPPM) at the D3b Centre at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in October. The HMPPM aims to improve treatment for child cancer patients with the greatest unmet clinical need. Dr Sun will also attend an instructional training program with the Children’s Brain Tumour Tissue Consortium (CBTTC) at the D3b Centre.

“This is an incredible opportunity to collaborate, receive welcome feedback and be updated with the most advanced methodologies,” Dr Sun said.

Dr Yang will attend the 9^th Annual International Conference of Aldosterone and ENaC in Health and Disease at Estes Park, Colorado, 2 – 6 October. She will chair a symposium, titled ‘Normal and Pathogenic Regulation of Aldosterone Biosynthesis’.

The conference focuses on cutting-edge research presented by top investigators in the field of mineralocorticoid receptors and aldosterone in pathophysiology.

“As my research centres on detrimental effects of aldosterone excess in cardiovascular disease, this meeting provides the ideal forum for discussion on my research outcomes,” Dr Yang said.

The conference also provides the opportunity for Dr Yang to network with world-renowned specialists in aldosterone and hypertension.

Brittany will attend the Marine Biology Laboratory (MBL) summer intensive program: Embryology: Concepts and Techniques in Modern Developmental Biology. The course is for advanced graduate students and aims to broaden understanding of developmental biology.

Brittany will also attend the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR) annual conference in San Jose, US, 22 July. She will present her work on the regulation of genes required for human sex determination.

“This will be the first opportunity I have to present my work at the SSR conference and showcase my PhD research to a specialised reproductive biology audience,” Brittany said.

She will also visit overseas research groups at the Francis Crick Institute in London and the Yale University in the US.

Mohamed’s work has identified a potential therapeutic target for lung adenocarcinoma. He will present his work at the World Congress on Inflammation in Sydney held, 15 – 19 September, as well as the International Cytokine and Interferon Society (ICIS) conference in Vienna, Austria, 20 – 23 October.

“I will also visit the University of Kiel, Germany, to discuss our data with world-renowned scientists in the field of cytokine biology. This will help us analyse and validate our proteomics data, which could pave the way for the discovery of potential therapeutic targets and biomarkers for lung adenocarcinoma,” Mohamed said.

Sarah will attend the Gordon Research Conference (GRC): Germinal Stem Cell Biology, held in Hong Kong, 19-24 in May.

“The conference focuses on scientific discussion, networking and fostering collaborations,” Sarah said.

She will also attend the Society for Reproductive Biology (SRB) meeting in Sydney, 18 – 21 August.

Dilanka attended the 110^th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 29 March-3 April in Atlanta, US. He presented the findings of his work on a novel functional role of the protein, STAT3, which contributes to vulnerability of tumours.

“Attending AACR 2019 allowed me to receive invaluable feedback and updates from pioneers in this field, regarding recent advances in cancer research. This helped to boost my knowledge, advance my set of skills and develop my career as a cancer researcher,” Dilanka said.