The Melbourne Newsroom

Professor Kevin Davis live on ABC 24 discussing the latest debt issues in the Eurozone and what this means in the broader economic context.

Kevin Davis is a Professor of Finance. His primary research interests are in the areas of financial institutions and markets, financial engineering and corporate finance.

In more than 70 per cent of legal disputes over informed consent, patients allege the doctor failed to properly explain the risks of complications, a University of Melbourne study published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia has found.

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Wheezy toddlers who have a sensitivity to house dust mites are more at risk of developing asthma by the age of 12, a University of Melbourne led study has shown.

Children aged one – two years with a family history of allergy, who had a positive skin prick test to house dust mites, had a higher risk of developing asthma later in life. Results showed 75 per cent of these children had asthma at aged 12 compared to 36 per cent of children without a positive skin prick test.

In one of the largest human genetic studies ever undertaken, scientists have identified the major common genetic variants that contribute to the cause of the devastating neurologic disease, multiple sclerosis (MS).

The results of the study were published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature. They represent years of work by the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium (IMSGC) involving more than 250 researchers, in 15 countries, including from the University of Melbourne and Florey Neuroscience Institutes.

Dr Marie Bismark discusses her research which studied the characteristics of complaint-prone doctors and found that a small number of doctors account for a large share of complaints made in private practice in Victoria. She notes that Commissioners largely resolve complaints on a case-by-case basis and recommends that greater attention be paid to a doctor's complaint history.

After ten years at Australian Catholic University, Raimond Gaita is bringing his remarkable program of Wednesday Lectures to Melbourne Law School, from 8 June to 6 July 2011.

Join us for these five free public lecture events, each Wednesday evening from 8 June, to hear thought-provoking insights and ideas on the issues of secrecy, power and democracy, from writers, academics and commentators.

8 June - Guy Rundle will present "From Coldwar to Cyberwar: Power, the State and the Wikileaks Effect

The Dean of the Faculty of the VCA and Music at the University of Melbourne, Professor Barry Conyngham, has enthusiastically welcomed the allocation in yesterday’s state budget of $24 million to support arts education at the VCA.

Professor Conyngham said the fulfillment of the promise made by the Premier would allow VCA to “do the job we want to do”.

The funding committed in the 2011-12 Victorian Budget is for $6 million a year over four years.

It will deliver a range of practical initiatives to provide career pathways for students, including:

Teachers in the VET system need better acknowledgment and validation in recognition of the vital role they play in the complex world of vocational and technical education, according to a leading education expert.

Associate Professor Leesa Wheelahan, from the LH Martin Institute for Leadership in Higher Education at the University of Melbourne said VET teachers worked in a wider variety of workplaces, and with a more diverse range of students than school teachers or university academics.

With the Gonski review of school funding due by the end of this year, the release of school funding data on My School 2.0 has accelerated the already lively debate.
 
Professor Jack Keating from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education said the debate so far has focussed on comparing funding levels between Australia’s three school systems, which is illegitimate because they are so different. He advocates a funding model based on student need.