Paul Beshara, Alice Godwin and Ghazan Yousafzai worked under the supervision of doctor Chris Parkinson from the school of biomedical sciences, investigating the activity of new chemical agents against a melanoma cell line.

Melanoma is a highly metastatic and aggressive cancer and current treatments have limitations in terms of level of side effects and effectiveness of treatment.

Dr Parkinson’s group is exploring novel approaches to melanoma treatment based on generation of reactive oxygen species.

The student researchers looked at chemical behaviour, capacity to be taken up by cells, and activity against a melanoma cell line in the laboratory to assess whether a series of chemicals have potential as new drugs, and concluded several compounds synthesised by Dr Parkinson’s group are worthy of further investigation.

In another study, Joshua Slattery, Patrick Tang and Judisan Udayakumaran surveyed members of the public about their knowledge of paracetamol use and safety.

The students chose paracetamol as the subject of their study as it is readily available and the most widely used over-the-counter analgesic in Australia.

Paracetamol is a safe and effective medicine when used correctly but, like most drugs, can cause problems if the wrong doses are taken.

The study found higher levels of schooling were associated with increased likelihood of recognising paracetamol as an active ingredient, correctly identifying dosage and greater awareness of symptoms of misuse.