Professor Justine Smith receives funding to combat blinding cancer, while other recent successes include a presidential position for a specialist surgeon and a Ministerial appointment for Flinders graduate.

Funds to help combat blinding cancer

A new cancer project led by Professor Justine Smith in the College of Medicine and Public Health and FHMRI: Eye Health has received significant funding from Flinders Foundation and the Queensland Eye Institute Foundation. The project aims to collect information from patients with vitreoretinal lymphoma, a rare eye cancer, to improve medical care and results.  

This cancer occurs inside the eye, but is difficult to diagnose and can affect the retina and other tissues at the back of the eye critical for vision.

“The grant will allow researchers to expand the global network of ophthalmologists contributing patient data to the registry and provide data quality and assurance monitoring by research staff based at Flinders University,” says Professor Smith.

To read more about this project, visit the Flinders Foundation website. 

Presidential position for specialist surgeon

Congratulations to Flinders University academic Associate Professor Nicola Dean, who has been appointed president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), an elected role with a two-year tenure. Associate Professor Dean’s appointment marks the first time in the Society’s 50-year history that a woman has been elected president.

Ministerial appointment for Flinders graduate

After a major reshuffle of Victorian Premier Dan Andrews’ Cabinet last week, The Honorable Gayle Tierney MP has been named Victoria’s newest Minister for Agriculture and Water. Ms Tierney studied politics and Asian studies at Flinders, before getting involved in the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and going on to represent Western Victoria in 2006. Her CV includes working in the portfolios of higher education, training and skills, and serving as the Victorian Labor government’s deputy leader in the Legislative Council.

Language experts offer insights

Dr Sky Marsen and Dr Jeffrey Gil, both from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, are co-editors of leading language textbook Exploring Language in Global Contexts. This engaging textbook offers a practical approach to understanding the complexity of language by exploring language use and language learning in a wide variety of contexts. Exploring Language in Global Contexts is published by Routledge and is available to purchase here.