Volume 3, No. 3 September l999

Simple blood test checks lung health
Honour and top job for V-C
Innovative scholarships offered for smart science degrees
New courses to aid wine exports
$2.2m for rural medicine
Double exhibition of Papunya art
In Brief

A simple, non-invasive test to assess lung health may soon take its place beside blood-pressure testing and other basic medical monitoring, thanks to a research discovery by medical scientists at Flinders University.

A team comprising lung physiologists Dr Ian Doyle, Professor Terry Nicholas and critical care physician Associate Professor Andrew Bersten has discovered that damage to the lungs allows surfactant proteins, normally confined to the airspaces of the lung, to leak into the bloodstream where they can be detected.

The inaccessibility of the lungs has been a long-standing obstacle to assessment of lung health - most conventional tests of lung function are relatively crude, usually revealing abnormalities only when disease is already established and clinically obvious.

The group predicts the lung health test could eventually join the standard armoury of tests which include those for blood pressure and liver or renal function. It could also have a wide application in occupational health.

The novelty and great potential of the test has been recognised by an international patent and by a research and licensing agreement between Flinders University and the Australian company Autogen Research Pty Ltd, which will fund ongoing research for the next two to three years.

Under the agreement, Autogen will have world-wide rights to commercially develop the research findings.

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Flinders Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb, who was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday honours for his contributions to tertiary education, has now been elected to the presidency of Australian Vice-Chancellor's Committee, the peak national body representing higher education.

Professor Chubb said that he looked forward to working with all the stakeholders in higher education, including the government, but would also seek to tap into wider community support for the benefit of the sector.

He takes up the two-year appointment in January 2000.

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Flinders University is offering three new scholarships for Science degrees from next year - each up to the value of $12,000.

Announcing the scholarships, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Chubb, said the scholarships would be offered annually and run for up to four years including Honours level.

The scholarships will be for three new degrees offered from next year - Bachelor of Science degrees in Computational Modelling, Marine Biology and Nanotechnology.

"These three degrees represent a new and innovative approach to science - the science for the new century," Professor Chubb said.

"The scholarships will be awarded to the student admitted to each degree at Flinders who achieves the highest TER score and will be paid at the rate of $3,000 each year as the student progresses."

Professor Chubb said the scholarships would be open to full-time students and students who completed the equivalent study on a part-time basis.

Further information can be obtained from the Office of the Faculty of Science and Engineering on 8201 3692.

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International marketing of Australian wine will benefit from a new series of short courses offered in the Flinders University School of Commerce.

The business-oriented courses are designed specifically for people in the wine industry, and will begin this year.

In designing the courses, the team of presenters examined all existing courses in Australia and established the needs of the industry through consultation with industry personnel.

The courses will be provided over 10 weeks for most subjects and lectures will be held at the university after hours.

Delivery of courses will be managed by Flinders Consulting Pty Ltd.

"The courses' orientation of learning and tuition towards problem solving will be particularly relevant to an industry that relies upon the integration of production, distribution, wholesaling and retailing," said Managing Director Dr Wayne Harvey.

The courses to be offered will be a certificate in Wine Marketing, Trade and Management, a certificate in Wine Marketing, Export and Management, and a certificate in Retail Beverage Management. A course in Retail Beverage Management will be held as a five-day intensive program twice a year between semesters.

The courses will be relevant to those wishing to enter the product sales component of the wine industry as a marketer or as a member of a sales team.

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The School of Medicine has received Federal government funding of more than $2.2 million for initiatives in its rural and remote teaching programs.

The grants provide funding for curriculum development programs and for capital works which will provide new facilities for staff and students. The Dean of the School of Medicine, Professor Lindon Wing, said the grants added huge value to the rural and remote initiatives being undertaken by the School of Medicine in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

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The first art exhibition to span both the Flinders Art Museum and the university's City Gallery will be devoted to the celebration of 25 years of Papunya Tula art.

Flinders University has long-standing links with the artists of the Western Desert painting movement and the Art Museum is home to one of the largest collections of early Papunya Tula paintings.

Art Museum Director Ms Gail Greenwood said the exhibition is drawn mainly from the significant collection of the Art Museum and new works from Papunya Tula Artists in Alice Springs. The dates are: Flinders Art Museum City Gallery, September 4 to October 17; Flinders Art Museum Campus Gallery, Septmber 6 to December 22 .

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CLEAN SEAS LAUNCH
A three year "Clean Seas" project in which Flinders will play a major part was officially launched in July.

The $3.8m project will result in cleaner coastal water and increased water supply for Port Lincoln as well as creating new economic development in the area.

Flinders research scientists from Biological Sciences, Earth Sciences and Environmental Health are providing scientific support for the project which will be based at the University's Lincoln Marine Science Centre.

QUEEN'S TRUST
Three Aboriginal students in archaeology - Tara Dodd, Jodus Madrid and Brian Marshall - have received the Queen's Trust for Young Australians Award.

Lecturer Dr Claire Smith, who nominated the students, said the three are part of a new generation of Indigenous Australian archaeologists who, in researching or curating Indigenous cultural heritage, are helping to shape Australia's future.