News & Events
Why virtual reality won’t replace cadavers in medical school
OPINION: Virtual reality has been described as a game changer for medical education. Some even predict it will see an end to using cadavers to teach anatomy.
It’s a big call but it doesn’t reflect the actual reality of medicine and medical training for a number of reasons.
Is the red wine compound resveratrol a miracle drug for infertility and ageing?
OPINION: “A glass of red wine a day could keep polycystic ovaries at bay,” said a news headline this week.
Fat or thin: can the bacteria in our gut affect our eating habits and weight?
OPINION: When we can’t lose weight, we tend to want to blame something outside our control. Could it be related to the microbiota – the bacteria and other organisms – that colonise your gut?
You are what you eat
Our gut harbours some trillion microorganisms. These are key in harvesting energy from our food, regulating our immune function, and keeping the lining of our gut healthy.
UNSW researchers join Academy of Health and Medical Sciences
Eleven UNSW researchers have been inducted as Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS), the most of any institution Australia-wide.
The group was among 50 new Fellows announced by the Academy today, bringing the total fellowship to 272.
The UNSW researchers inducted as new Fellows of the AAMHS are:
- Professor Rodney Phillips, Dean of Medicine
- Scientia Professor Richard Bryant from the School of Psychology
- Professor Basil Donovan from the Kirby Institute
UNSW staff honoured in national awards for teaching excellence
The passion and commitment of UNSW teaching staff to create unique and exciting ways to enhance student learning has been recognised in national awards for teaching excellence.
Three UNSW lecturers and a UNSW teaching team have received Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning as part of the Australian Government’s 2016 Australian Awards for University Teaching program.
Holding back the years
It was about 400 BC when Hippocrates astutely observed that gluttony and early death seemed to go hand in hand. Too much food appeared to ‘extinguish’ life in much the same way as putting too much wood on a fire smothers its flames. If obesity led to disease and death, he thought, then perhaps restraint was the secret to a longer life?
Both statins and a Mediterranean-style diet can help ward off heart disease and stroke
OPINION: If you’ve ever have the misfortune of a heart attack or are considered at risk of heart disease or stroke, your doctor will probably prescribe a statin drug, such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), to lower your blood cholesterol levels.
‘Animal Farm’ immunity receptors only work in a crowd, researchers find
In George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel Animal Farm, as the barnyard devolves into chaos the slogan “all animals are equal” quickly becomes “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”.
The same might be true for the tiny immune receptors scattered across the surface of our T-cells. Before now, it was unclear how these complex molecular receptors recognised harmful invaders (or antigens) and sent warning signals into the cell. It was largely assumed that “all receptors were equal”.
Impotence and optimism: the life of a cancer scientist
It is impossible to describe the deep frustration — impotence even — that comes with watching someone close die from a disease you have spent years researching.
It doesn't come close to the fear and turmoil of those facing their own mortality. But staring such a personal emblem of failure in the face is a special kind of torture few could know.
A simple, entirely reasonable question from my young daughter crystallised this uncomfortable insight for me.
Pomegranate diet improves brain function in mice with Alzheimer's disease
A diet rich in pomegranates had significant positive impacts for the brain health of mice with Alzheimer’s disease, an international research team led by the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at UNSW found.