Associate Professor Judith Greer and Dr Yvonne Eiby

Elevated levels of antibodies against muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in people with first episode psychosis predict a worse clinical outcome at 12 months follow-up

Presenter: Associate Professor Judith Greer

Judith Greer is an immunologist with a strong interest in the nervous system and autoimmune diseases affecting the nervous system. She is a graduate of the University of Queensland, having completed her PhD on cancer immunology. She then undertook postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School in the USA, during which time her interests shifted towards immune responses within the nervous system, an area in which she has worked ever since. She is currently a Principal Research Fellow at the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, located at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital. Her research is directed particularly towards trying to identify brain components that are targeted by the immune system in people with a variety of disorders, particularly multiple sclerosis (MS), which is traditionally thought to be an autoimmune disease, and also in psychosis, where we are now starting to understand that autoimmune targeting of the brain can play a role in some individuals. She is interested in how the specificity of autoimmune responses within the nervous system relates to the symptoms experienced by patients, and in developing new ways to specifically turn off the damaging immune responses in the brain. A current focus of her research is to improve on pre-clinical models of MS, so as to enhance the translation of new therapeutic approaches for MS to the clinic. Judith is also interested in research training, and is the Director of Higher Degree Research Training in the Faculty of Medicine.

Blood volume of preterm infants: What is it and how can we support it?

Presenter: Dr Yvonne Eiby

Dr Yvonne Eiby leads the Preterm Physiology Lab within the Perinatal Research Centre at UQCCR. Her research focuses on protecting the developing brain by improving clinical management of preterm infants while in intensive care. She established the preterm piglet model that allows for comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular function and brain outcomes. Along with observational clinical studies, the team has developed a new understanding of the unique physiology of preterm newborns. This has enabled testing of current interventions to determine why they have failed and the development of novel strategies for testing in human trials.