Issue: November/December 2008
News
New mass spectrometers speed up medical research
The search for new drugs to treat cancer and auto-immune diseases will accelerate following the installation of a $2 million suite of mass spectrometers.
Family violence
The latest Journal of Family Studies highlights a strong association world-wide between family violence and a wide range of health problems.
Awards for asthma, malaria, cancer studies
Research into breastfeeding, muscle function, asthma, malaria and cancer treatment has received almost $3.2 million in the latest NHMRC grants allocation.
Genetic crop switch - and children's courts
A further $3.2 million worth of grants has been awarded to La Trobe researchers by the Australian Research Council
Top marks for maths and stats
La Trobe mathematics and statistics students consistently rate the teaching they receive at the University among the best in the country.
Ambassador rounds off a year of public lectures
Australia's Ambassador to China, Dr Geoff Raby, delivered the University's inaugural Alumni Lecture at the Melbourne Town Hall in October.
State of our rivers
Award-winning entertainer and actor John Doyle gave the Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture on the Albury-Wodonga campus.
Politics and the EU
Don Watson speaks on politics and public language at the Sir John Quick Lecture on the Bendigo campus.
Research
Habitat: the burning question
Recent large fires in Australia have put the spotlight on land management agencies and their fire management policies and practices.
Snakes and skinks alive — but for how long?
An endangered skink and snake have been discovered by a La Trobe PhD student in the Mallee.
Many faces of the same gene
Dr Danuta Loesch has been studying families affected by a faulty gene, Fragile X, for more than twenty years.
Inducing labour is not without risk
Caution should be exercised when inducing labour in women who have no clinical indications for the procedure.
People
Tough line on development
Anthropologist Dr Alberto Gomes has been invited to develop and teach a unit for a major initiative by UNESCO to promote peace and sustainability.
New professor for rural aged care post
Jeni Warburton has been appointed John Richards Professor of Rural Aged Care Research, based at the Albury-Wodonga campus.
Age is no barrier
At ninety-one years of age La Trobe University graduate Joseph Ciampa is one of the oldest PhD recipients in the world.
La Trobe's Model UN delegates
Two La Trobe students are among a select group of ten chosen to represent Australia at the Harvard Model UN Conference in Boston in February.
Books
Political ethics for activists
A new book by Dr Carolyn D'Cruz aims to shift the way debate in politics and ethics is framed.
Award-winning book focuses on great injustice
A book co-authored by historian Professor Marilyn Lake has won this year's Queensland Premier's History Book Award.
A voice for the heart of Kew
Research into the history of the Kew Cottages has resulted in a book and a documentary broadcast on ABC Radio National.
Ego and Soul
Ego and Soul by Professor John Carroll, examines the 'crisis of meaning' in modern western societies.