Summer is in the air and what better way to spend a balmy evening in October, in the open space at Mr Wow’s Emporium, sipping a delicious beer while learning from three cool speakers. In #15 Nerd Nite, we bring you speakers who will discuss breast cancer and its spread to other organs, dark matter and ergonomics.

Our friends at Mr Wow’s Emporium will be hosting us again with cold beers and delicious food from the Vodoo Jerk Truck.  Be there and be square!

Tuesday, 6 October 2015
at Mr Wow’s Emporium
97b Smith Street, Fitzroy
Doors 7pm/$5

Back to the lectures at hand:

*Presentation 1
Can we stop the spread of breast cancer to brain? A researcher’s perspective
by Dr Normand Pouliot

Description: Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women in Australia. Improvements in early diagnosis and therapies, current treatments cannot cure breast cancer once it has spread to distant organs such as bone, lung, liver and brain, a process termed “metastasis”. Despite the introduction of novel therapies against metastatic disease, most approaches remain ineffective against brain metastasis and its incidence is increasing. Dr Pouliot will present a brief overview of the research undertaken in his laboratory to tackle this problem and provide examples of potential new therapies for this devastating disease.

Bio: Dr Normand Pouliot obtained his BSc in biotechnology and MSc in immunology in Montreal, Canada. He moved to Melbourne in 1992 to undertake his PhD studies on colon cancer at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.  After a brief stint in the pharmaceutical industry, he joined the Stem Cell Biology Group at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to work on research projects aimed at understanding the factors controlling stem cells and skin regeneration. His research over the past 12 years at Peter Mac focuses entirely on studying genes that promote the spread of breast cancer to distant organs (metastasis), the major cause of mortality in patients. This work involves extensive animal experimentations and pre-clinical testing of novel therapies aimed and blocking metastasis and/or overcoming drug resistance that contributes to treatment failure.  When not in the lab, Dr Pouliot has two sons to keep him on his toes and practices martial art for sanity and stress control.

*Presentation 2
Everything you wanted to know about dark matter but were afraid to ask
by Dr Katherine Mack

Description: Dark matter. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together. But what is it, really? Are we sure it exists at all? Can it really all be explained by tiny invisible particles? I’ll get you up to date on what we know so far about dark matter, how we’re searching for it, and how it differs from the other big cosmic mystery of the day, dark energy. There will be time for questions at the end, so bring your own!

Bio: Dr Katherine (Katie) Mack is a theoretical cosmologist. Her work focuses on finding new ways to learn about the early universe and fundamental physics using astronomical observations, probing the building blocks of nature by examining the cosmos on the largest scales. Throughout her career as a researcher at Caltech, Princeton, Cambridge, and now University of Melbourne, she has studied dark matter, black holes, cosmic strings, and the formation of the first galaxies in the Universe. Dr Mack is also an active online science communicator and is passionate about science outreach. As a science writer, she has been published by Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time.com, The Economist tech blog “Babbage”, and other popular publications, and has a regular column in Cosmos Magazine. She is active on Twitter as @AstroKatie and her website is www.astrokatie.com.

 

*Presentation 3
Ergonomics: Synonymous with comfort?
by Dr John M. Looft

Description: When you look around today you will see many products labelled as “ergonomic”. There are ergonomic shoes, handles, and even pants. Ergonomic has become an advertising buzz term where people have a preconceived idea of comfort, instead of the actual definition: study of work.  During this talk Dr Looft is going to attempt to convince you ergonomics means much more than comfort and an import aspect of preventing musculoskeletal injuries. He will go over the process of performing an ergonomic analysis and how his PhD and future work will continue to advance the field through participatory ergonomics with a focus on communication and education.

Bio: Dr John M. Looft grew up on a farm near a small town in Iowa.  He started college at a small community college, so he could continue working on the family farm. He put in his transfer to the University of Iowa after his first month.  While at Iowa, he started working for Virtual Soldier Research Group as a freshman. He worked on developing 3D musculoskeletal models and started presenting to their clients after working there for only a couple months. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa in 2010, and decided to continue on for his Master’s degree.  He started working for Neuromuscular Biomechanics Lab in the Department of Physical Therapy and received a Fellowship in Ergonomics through the department of Public Health.  He completed my Masters in 2012 and continued on for his PhD.  After graduated with his PhD in 2014 in Biomedical Engineering, he received an Endeavour Fellowship to do research at The University of Melbourne.