Message from the Head of School
Morena whanau,
Welcome to week two of our new normal.
As we start our second week of online learning I just wanted you all to pause and consider what you have been able to achieve in an very short time for our students and their learning.
Transferring to online learning in the space of a week while dealing with the stress of the impending lock down was an amazing achievement and should give everyone a huge sense of satisfaction.
Sure, there are still some outstanding issues that will have to be worked through, but considering what you have already achieved I am confident that we will be able to work through them as they arise.
Personally I would like to thank our Academic and Postgraduate Directors, Clare Wall and Sue McGlashan, and of course your respective HODs ( Laura Bennet, Maurice Curtis, Alan Davidson, Michael Findlay, Michael Hay, and Malcolm Tingle) for their leadership during this period.
But most importantly I want to give a huge vote of thanks to our “front line troops” the Professional Teaching Fellows who have initiated and implemented the teaching innovations that we are now using to deliver our content online. Without this cohort of dedicated staff we would not have been able to transition as quickly and successfully to online teaching.
A final thank you to those professional and academic staff who are providing support for essential services during the lock down. These staff are not only ensuring our research infrastructure is maintained over this period, but also are leading the fight against COVID-19.
To all of you
Kia kaha
Paul
New staff
Congratulations to Dr Tracey Immanuel on her appointment as a Research Fellow in the laboratory of Dr Maggie Kalev in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology.
New PhD student
A warm welcome to Leandro Ladvanszky, a new PhD in the Department of Molecular Medicine & Pathology.
High impact paper
Julia Shanks, Mridula Pachen, Joshua W.H. Chang, Bindu George and Rohit Ramchandra recently published a paper entitled, ‘Cardiac Vagal Nerve Activity Increases During Exercise to Enhance Coronary Blood Flow’.
Three Minute Thesis Competition
Anantha Narayanan was the Runner-up with his presentation on ‘Stress, music and the operating surgeon’.
Gaston Bauer Lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting
Professor Julian Paton for being invited to give the Gaston Bauer Lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.
PhD student success
Hossein Jahedi competed in the Faculty’s 3 minute thesis competition and progressed to the University finals
Postgraduate success
Tiger Aspell has successfully completed his PhD project entitled ‘Characterization of Two Novel Putative Virulence Factors in Streptococcus pyogenes’.
Staff success
Congratulations to Heidi Bowmast for being awarded the University of Sydney School of Health Sciences Dean’s Scholar Award for 2022.
Staff success
Congratulations to Dr Sibusiso Mdletshe for his appointment to the role of Auckland/Northland Regional Director of the New Zealand Institute of Medical Radiation Technology (NZIMRT).