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Young brainy students create world firstMedia Release A new 3D brain model is at the centre of a project created by a group of postgraduate students based at the Howard Florey Institute. The team, known as BRAINYak scanned a fellow members’ brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to construct their model. They have literally put their brains into their new entry in this year’s Biotechnology Entrepreneur Program, an initiative of Young Achievement Australia. As a group of young neuroscientists grappling with brain anatomy, the BRAINYak team endeavoured to design a unique way to understand where regions are in the brain and how they inter-relate. Scott Kolbe, the BRAINYak member who donated his brain for the scan said powerful new neuroimaging technologies such as magnetic resonance have opened up a new window in understanding the organisation and inner workings of the body’s most mysterious organ, the brain. “Using this technology we have created the perfect tool to understand neuroanatomy as easily and as efficiently as possible so we can instead focus on curing brain diseases and disorders that impact enormously on society,” he said. Their product, the NeuroSlice model consists of MR images of Scott’s brain, which the group has colour-coded so different areas of the brain can be identified easily. The NeuroSlice model will be of use to students and postgraduates new to the neuroscience field and to clinicians as a prop for diagnostic explanations to patients. BRAINYak’s invention is the first 3D brain model using MRI images and provides a representation of the brain in space, something not found when using software programs and brain atlases. Participants in Biotechnology Entrepreneur Program are guided through a 24-week intensive program by industry mentors during which they develop a product, taking it through the commercialisation process from concept to market. The BRAINYak team are sponsored by the Howard Florey Institute, Australia’s leading brain institute and Neurosciences Victoria, an organization dedicated to linking brain research with commercial opportunities. For further information on BRAINYak and their new invention visit www.hfi.unimelb.edu.au/BRAINYak.
Brain students solve universal lab dilemma
The Florey students, who called their business ‘Floreya’ (pronounced Florey-ah,) are participating in the biotech business program was adapted from the YAA’s Business Skills Program. The new program has attracted principal sponsorship from the Victorian State Government. While the biotech business program has yet to go national, it has already attracted attention nationwide, evidenced in the special national award presented to the Floreya business team. Additional state awards for the program were presented at the regular time in March 2005. The students won the Cochlear Innovative Product or Service Award 2004 for ‘Rackyatips,’ an affordable product that greatly simplifies the process of sorting and racking pipette tips, which are used extensively in almost all laboratories. Pipette tips can be purchased boxed and ready for use, but many labs, especially in educational and non-profit organisations, buy the tips loose in bags because it is much less expensive. Currently available solutions for boxing the tips are complex and very expensive. Rackyatips will enable lab workers to pour the tips into the sorter, rack them and transfer them to boxes ready for use in less than half the time it takes to do it by hand. Racking the tips by hand is a time-consuming task that every lab worker and student comes to hate, said Daniel Scott, the Floreya member who developed the product concept, which the team then refined and tested until they were satisfied with it. “Working in a lab as a student, you have to pack your own tip boxes, which is tedious, and I’m always trying to find a way to make things easier and more efficient,” Mr Scott said. In fact, so great is the desire for an affordable and effective machine to box pipette tips that almost every one of the 13 teams participating in the Biotech Entrepreneur Program identified it as a problem that needed to be solved. However, only Floreya developed a simple and affordable tip-racking machine. The students are now producing and marketing their aluminium and Perspex Rackyatips machine for $260. “There’s been a lot of positive feedback. Everyone who’s seen it has been impressed,” Mr Scott said. The Floreya team consists of 10 PhD students: Percy Chu, Eugene Duff, Mark Farso, Travis Featherby, Linda Lau, Caitlin McOmish, Ishanee Mookerjee, Daniel Scott, Nathan Stam and Tracey Wilkinson. They accepted the award at YAA’s 2004 National Awards presentation in Sydney in November 2004. YAA is a non-government, not-for-profit organisation that seeks to develop business enterprise skills and understanding in young Australians through partnerships with business, education and the community, thereby contributing to Australia’s prosperity. Participants in the Biotechnology Entrepreneur Program are guided through a 24-week program by industry mentors. During that period, they develop a product, taking it through the commercialisation process from concept to market. Other steps in the program include selling shares to raise capital, establishing an organisational structure, developing a code of ethics, preparing a business plan, preparing an Annual Report, and returning capital to shareholders at the end of the program. The YAA business development project has broadened the horizons and skills of the team, Mr Scott said. “As a scientist you can get a very narrow view of your career and your future, and you don’t realise how versatile your skill set is. “This has opened up career alternatives because everyone has learned how to apply our skills to business. “Programs like this let you know that business is an option and you get to try it out in a very safe environment,” Mr Scott said. For further information on Floreya and their Rackyatips machine, please visit www.gradstudies.unimelb.edu.au/prog_services/studentnews/gradnews/pdf/GradNews Sem 02.2005.pdf Musician also a brilliant scientist despite deafness
The 24-year old from Oxford University has recently joined the Howard Florey Institute on an Australian Bicentennial Scholarship after working with the Institute’s expert on Huntington’s disease in the UK. While Helen’s ambition to help find a cure for Huntington’s disease occupies the majority of her time, she is also an accomplished clarinet and piano player, and has played in three orchestras, as well as establishing the Magdalen College Chamber Music Society at Oxford University. Helen believes her deafness should never stop her from doing anything and sees her disability as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. “Some people find it fascinating when they hear I play the clarinet and piano, and quite often people don’t realise how deaf I actually am,” Helen said. “I have played the clarinet for 15 years and the piano for 19 years, although I prefer the clarinet as all of its notes are in the range that I can hear with the help of my hearing aids and I only have to listen to one note at a time, which makes learning pieces a lot easier. “Music has always been part of my life and I grew up playing the clarinet and piano with my brother, who is now the Principal Organist at Kings College in Cambridge,” she said. Helen thanks her speech therapist for her almost perfect speech, as she said her profound deafness would lead most therapists to only consider teaching her sign language. “As a deaf person, being able to speak has certainly opened up more opportunities for me and I never let my disability stop me from doing anything,” she said. “I have studied medicine and am now doing research for my PhD in Physiology at the Howard Florey Institute, and once that is completed, I will go to Cambridge University for clinical training. Helen’s interest in Huntington’s disease and the brain began when she was 12-years old and a school friend was diagnosed with the disease. That year, Helen and her classmates helped raise money for research into the disease. “I have always been interested in the brain as it controls all our functions, but it is still the part of the body we know the least about,” Helen said. “Huntington’s disease, which affects the brain, still has so much mystery surrounding it and extensive research is required to develop treatments and hopefully, one day, a cure. “Whilst at Oxford University, I met The Florey’s Dr Tony Hannan, and his work into Huntington’s disease inspired me to apply for the Bicentennial Scholarship and follow him back to Australia,” she said. During her time at the Howard Florey Institute, Helen will investigate how the provision of a stimulating environment alters the course of Huntington’s disease. This research should help the Florey’s scientists move towards functional analysis of specific molecular changes in Huntington’s disease pathogenesis, which is a crucial step in developing new drug treatments for this devastating disease. Helen said she has been very impressed by the Howard Florey Institute’s emphasis on collaboration and encouragement of its students. “The Florey scientists encourage us to excel, as opposed to just completing the basic requirements of a PhD,” Helen said. “It is refreshing to work in an environment where scientific results are shared amongst different departments to help solve the mysteries of the brain,” she added. Huntington's disease is an inherited disease of the brain that affects the nervous system and inevitably leads to death. The most common symptom is jerky movements of the arms and legs, known as 'chorea'. Chorea usually starts as mild twitching and gradually increases over the years. A person with Huntington’s disease may also have difficulties with speech, swallowing and concentration. There is no cure.
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A group of PhD students at the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne have won a special national award for developing the ‘Most Innovative Product’ in Young Achievement Australia’s 2004 Biotechnology Entrepreneur Program.
Being profoundly deaf since birth has not stopped Helen Grote from becoming an accomplished musician and travelling to Australia to investigate Huntington’s disease at the country’s leading neuroscience research institute.