11 December 2018
Institute news
In late November, the Baker Institute Central Australia hosted a visit by a group of HTLV-1 experts from Japan. The group included Prof Toshiki Watanabe (Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and current president of the International Retrovirology Association), Prof Atae Utsunomiya (Haematologist, Imamura General Hospital, Kagoshima) and Junior Associate Professor Koju Kamoi (Ophthalmologist, Tokyo Medical and Dental University).
During their three-day visit, the group met with Lloyd Einsiedel and his team to discuss current and future research opportunities, met with key representatives from the Alice Springs Hospital and delivered an education session for Alice Springs medical and clinical staff.
In Australia, HTLV-1 infection is seldom seen outside central Australia. Recognising this limited research and clinical expertise in Australia, Prof Watanabe and his colleagues have committed to providing clinical support to physicians caring for the burgeoning HTLV-1 infected population in central Australia, particularly in the fields of haematology and ophthalmology. Collaborative studies of the clinical manifestations of HTLV-1 in endemic areas, which will focus on respiratory disease, are now being developed.
(L–R) Radwan Talukder, Joel Liddle, Koju Kamoi, Toshiki Watanabe, Shane Schinke, Lloyd Einsiedel, Rebecca Bradley, Atae Utsunomiya
