Clinical and Biomedical Research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI)

Unit Code

01798

Department/Institution Offering Unit

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
1G Royal Parade
Parkville
Victoria 3050 Australia

web: www.wehi.edu.au

Unit Points

Research Points: 87.5

Coursework Points: 12.5

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Contacts

Unit Coordinator/s:

Mr Frank Draffen
Student Administration Officer
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
1G Royal Parade
Parkville
Victoria 3050 Australia

tel: +61 3 9345 2603
fax: +61 3 9347 0852
email: draffen@wehi.edu.au

Alternative Contact:

Dr Lina Laskos
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
1G Royal Parade
Parkville
Victoria 3050 Australia

tel: +61 3 9345 2304
fax: +61 3 9347 0852
email: laskos@wehi.edu.au

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Overall Objectives

• To enhance knowledge of medical biology by undertaking a basic or clinical research project
• To understand the principles of research and an introduction to current literature and techniques in specialised areas
• To encourage independent and critical thinking from experimental design to data analysis and interpretation of research results
• To gain an understanding of the values and limitations of both basic and clinical science and to show the power of integration of these fields

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Content

Coursework: An essay based on a Bench to Bedside seminar series related to clinical and translational research. This essay is designed to demonstrate the student's ability to digest, evaluate critically and synthesise data obtained by others in the literature.

Research: Students will be involved in every aspect of scientific research, from experimental design through to data collection and report preparation and presentation.

Sample Research Topics:

Basic research and clinical projects will be offered in the following areas:

• Cancer and Haematology - understanding the regulation of cytokine action, molecular regulation of blood cell production and function, and transcription factors and development
• Molecular Genetics of Cancer - control of cell death, malignancy and therapy, and differentiation
• Immunology - transcription factor regulation of immunity, dendritic cell function and adaptive immune responses
• Infection and immunity - fundamental insights into the biology and immunology of infectious disease such as malaria and leishmaniasis
• Autoimmunity and Transplantation - the genetic and environmental factors that lead to diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and coeliac disease, and the immune mechanisms involved
• Bioinformatics - the development of methods, algorithms and software for sequence analysis, expression analysis, statistical genetics and biostatistics
• Structural biology - discovery of new medicines through the study of three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules
• Molecular medicine - how the proteins encoded in the genome work together to regulate complex processes

A detailed list of projects is available at: www.wehi.edu.au/WEHI_Groups/indexworkgroups.php?id=66#section02
Please contact individual Project Supervisors for more information.

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Assessment Breakdown

Research Component: 87.5 points
Research Report (up to 9,000 words): 80%
Oral presentation: 12.5%
Supervisor Evaluation: 7.5%

Coursework Component: 12.5 points
A written assignment of 2000-3000 words, assessed by the supervisor.

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Student Numbers

Number of places available:
Variable