Staff, Students and Monash Collaborators

Meet the Bone and Muscle Health Research Group

Researchers

Students

PhD Students

Mr Jakub Mesinovic's research is focused on type 2 diabetes and how this effects musculoskeletal health in older adults. This encompasses the effects of type 2 diabetes on falls and fracture risk, bone microarchitecture, geometry and density as well as physical performance. Jake is also interested in the role different types of exercise may have on these relationships, as it serves as a low-cost preventative and ongoing treatment for some of the detrimental effects type 2 diabetes has on musculoskeletal health.  Supervisors: Dr David Scott, Prof Peter Ebeling, A/Prof Barbora de Courten, Dr Ayse Zengin.

Ms Mavil Cervo has conducted clinical research studies on the effects of food on the immune system, cognitive and psychomotor skills, and on the nutritional status of children, as well as on body fat loss and blood glucose levels in adults. She also did a study to determine the nutrient composition of street foods and co-authored a book on High Value Fruits and Vegetables. Currently, Mavil’s research focuses on the inflammatory potential of diets and their effects on musculoskeletal health and sarcopenia. She is also interested in the bioactive substances in foods and their roles in the prevention of osteoporosis, inflammation and frailty.  She is keen to develop new dietary and clinical nutrition guidelines for bone health promotion and disease prevention which will help reduce the prevalence of osteoporosis and other chronic diseases.  Supervisors: Dr David Scott, Dr Tracy McCaffrey, Prof Kerrie Sanders, Prof Peter Ebeling.

Ms Carrie-Anne Ng's research surrounds the use of exercise targeted at improving bone health, particularly to prevent the insidious development of osteoporosis. She is particularly interested in the intricacies of individualising exercise training for osteoporosis in populations with other chronic conditions.  Supervisors: Dr David Scott, Prof Peter Ebeling.

Ms Anoohya Gandham

Professional and Academic Support Staff

Executive Assistant Ms Ruth Fantozzi provides high-level Executive Assistant support to Professor Peter Ebeling in his role as the Head of the Department of Medicine, as well as for his role as Chair of the Division of Medicine at Monash Health. In 2017 she was recognised for her outstanding work – winning the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Administration. Find out more about Ms Ruth Fantozzi

Research Co-ordinator Mx Cat Shore-Lorenti completed a Master of Philosophy in endocrinology and epidemiology in 2015 whilst also working part-time as a Research Assistant on projects centred around musculoskeletal health in older adults – community members and hospital patients. She is the Clinical Trials Coordinator for the Bone and Muscle Research Group. Mx Shore-Lorenti also manages the Clinical Imaging Service, providing access to inexpensive DXA, HR-pQCT and pQCT for researchers external to our group. If you would like to incorporate the Service into your research, email: med-bmrg@monash.edu

Dr Alexander Rodriguez is a Research Fellow with the Bone & Muscle Research Group, Department of Medicine, Monash University; with whom he completed a PhD in 2018 exploring the links between osteoporosis, sarcopenia and aortic calcification. His research focuses on understanding the cardiovascular effects of osteoporosis medications and on the relationships between the skeleton with the heart and vessels. He is interested in the statistical techniques of meta-analysis and large cohort studies. Dr Rodriguez is an associate supervisor for a PhD student and mentors several medical students with their research project. He is also a third-year medical student and hopes to build a career as a clinician-academic.

Post-doctoral Fellow Dr Hanh Nguyen is a Consultant Endocrinologist at Monash Health who's clinical and research interest is in osteoporosis and optimising skeletal health in under-recognised populations. She completed her PhD in the Bone and Muscle Research Group with a particular focus on rare anti-resorptive therapy related atypical femur fractures and has helped established the NHMRC funded international collaborative TrAFFiC Study to assess the clinical, genetic and bone material risk factors associated with this condition. Dr Nguyen's clinical experience in the Menopause Clinic and Adult Turner Syndrome Clinic at Monash Health has stimulated an interest in bone health in women with Premature Menopause and Turner Syndrome, and she has received multiple research awards and presented internationally in this field.

Research Assistant Mr Juan Rodriguez

Alumni

• Ms Carol Alonso
• Dr Amar Lakhani
• Dr Lachlan McMillan
• Dr Eleanor Thong
• Mr Theo Di Pauli von Treuheim

Monash Health Collaborators

Professor Peter Fuller, AM NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow	Professor Barbora de Courten	Associate Professor Amanda Vincent Adjunct Research Fellow
Dr Phillip Wong NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow	Dr Jasna Aleksova Monash Health Endocrinologist	Dr Anne Trinh Monash Health Endocrinologist
Dr Wei-Ling Chiu PhD student

National Collaborators

• Dr Shoshana Sztal-Mazer, Alfred Health
• Associate Professor Christopher Yates, University of Melbourne
• Professor Richard Sinnott, University of Melbourne
• Associate Professor Rory Clifton-Bligh, University of Sydney
• Dr Christian Girgis, University of Sydney
• Professor Louise Maple-Brown, Menzies Institute of Medical Research, Darwin

International Collaborators

• Professor M Carola Zillikens, Erasmus University
• Professor Rajesh Thakker, May Professor of Medicine, University of Oxford
• Associate Professor Kate Ward, University of Southampton
• Professor Bo Abrahamsen, University of Southern Denmark