Around The College 

Year 12 VCA Arts/Technology Exhibition

Join us for our official opening of our VCA Arts/Technology Exhibition. The exhibition displays work created this year by students in year 12 across all of our Arts and Technology subjects.

The official opening will take place on Wednesday 19th October at 5:30pm with speeches starting at 6:00pm.

Hudson Institute Young Women in Science Program – Reflection 

During the last week of Term 3, Aimee Booth, Annabelle Lau and Mohana Lakshminarayanan participated in the Hudson Institute Young Women in Science Program. The Hudson Institute is a leading Australian biomedical research institute recognised internationally for delivering better health through translational research into cancer, inflammation, reproduction and development. Throughout the week, the three selected year 10 students had the opportunity to be placed in one of the Centres at the Institute and to participate in real-life medical research making a contribution that could one day help change lives.  

It was a privilege to spend the week at the Hudson Institute to learn about what it’s like to work in the field of medical research. I was paired with a neuroscientist who was working on various experiments on sheep in order to find better treatments for humans who suffer from birth asphyxia. Just some of the things I got to observe were surgeries, mice injections, cell therapy, embryology and histology. I found dead cells in brain scans, handled sheep brains, stained and cover-slipped brain samples, did data entries and even had lunch with the CEO Liz Hartland who is an inspiring woman in science. A massive thank-you to everyone involved in the experience including Ms. Emerton for organising.  

-Aimee Booth 

As someone who looks into pursuing a medical-related career, I was grateful to be able to participate in the ‘Inspiring Young Women in Science’ Program at the Hudson Institute for Medical Research. For the week, I was placed into the Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases and was partnered Dr Natalia Sampaio, where I observed her work on various projects. The first experiment we worked on explored the effects of Western Nile virus and Kunjin virus on mouse embryonic fibroblast calls. We also looked for the presence of tubulin proteins in cells using Western blotting and flow cytometry. These were conducted in the labs, and I was allowed to help out in small parts of the experiments, which was fun. In addition, our group was incredibly fortunate to participate in a range of other activities around Hudson Institute, including a lunch with Hudson’s CEO Liz Hartland, visits to an embryology lab, and visits to the Monash Health Translation Project facilities. Overall, my experience in the program was extremely fascinating, and it is incredible that there are such great opportunities for young girls to explore a future career in science. 

-Annabelle Lau 

Between the dates of 12-16th September, I had the pleasure of attending work experience at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. I was placed in the Endocrinology Clinic and partnered with Dr Jun Yang and watched her and her team conduct many experiments. These included separating DNA and RNA from samples, looking at RNA on a gel with a UV light, and watching different antibodies attack cancer cells. I was also fortunate enough to visit Dr Yang’s patient clinic, and observe how she interacted with patients, and diagnosed them with certain conditions. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and look forward to what other girls with such opportunities can do in the future, and anticipate what Women in Science have to offer, and all the ground-breaking discoveries they will make. 

- Mohana Lakshminarayanan