George Jelinek

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George A. Jelinek
Born (1954-02-21) February 21, 1954 (age 70)
Education University of Western Australia, Royal College of Surgeons, Australasian College for Emergency Medicine
Years active1979–present
Medical career
ProfessionProfessor and founder, Neuroepidemiology, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
Institutions Fremantle Hospital, Western Australia, St Mary's Hospital, London, The University of Melbourne, Sir Gairdner Hospital, Western Australia, The University of Western Australia
Research Emergency medicine, multiple sclerosis, chronic disease

George Jelinek is an Australian doctor who is professor and founder, Neuroepidemiology Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. [1] [2] This unit expressly evaluates modifiable risk factors that predict the progression of Multiple sclerosis. He has served since 2017 as the Chief Editor for Neuroepidemiology in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, and he was Founding Editor – and is currently the Editor Emeritus – for Emergency Medicine Australasia. [3] Jelinek also has the distinction of being the first Professor of Emergency Medicine in Australasia. [4] Between 1987 and 2018, he published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers, seven book forewords and eight books, and received more than 20 research grants. He is a frequent invited speaker.

Contents

In 2012, Jelinek supported the establishment of the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis charity in the UK, [5] with registration with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit commission (ACNC) following in December 2014 [6] and then not-for-profit 501(c)(3) registration in the United States in 2015. [7]

Biography

Jelinek received his MBBS at the University of Western Australia in March 1979, and a Doctor of Medicine in 1995. The focus of his doctoral thesis was Casemix classification of emergency patients. [8] His internship and residency were at Fremantle Hospital. He passed the first part of his Fellowship at the Faculty of Anesthetists, Royal College of Surgeons in 1983, and gained the Fellowship of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine in 1986. He was appointed as Professor and Chair of Emergency Medicine at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Western Australia, and Winthrop Professor and Head, Discipline of Emergency Medicine at the University of Western Australia, beginning in 1997; Director of the Emergency Practice Innovation Centre at St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne beginning in 2007 and took his position as Professor and Head at the University of Melbourne Neuroepidemiology Unit in 2015. [9]

Jelinek was diagnosed in 1999 with MS, [10] a condition that also afflicted his mother. [11] In 2011, he founded the non-profit Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis organization. [12] [13]

He is married to Dr. Sandra Neate, a specialist in emergency medicine with experience in coronial and forensic medicine and medical research. She is one of several trained professionals who run retreats for people with MS through the non-profit. [14]

Research

Grants

Grants since 2015 amount to more than AUD 5,000,000 in funding from various anonymous philanthropic donors and competitive funding bodies that support MS research.[ citation needed ]

YearPurpose
2018Partial Funding of the Neuroepidemiology Unit at the University of Melbourne School of Population and Global Health until 2028
2015–2017HOLISM MS Study [15] [16]
2015Establish the Neuroepidemiology Unit at the University of Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Emergency medicine

While Vice-President of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and a member of the Court of Examiners, Jelinek established the first academic department of emergency medicine in Australia at the University of Western Australia in 1997, ushering emergency medicine into the mainstream of academic medicine in Australia.

He published 50 papers in the specialty and introduced emergency medicine into the undergraduate medical curriculum at the University of Western Australia by the time he left this appointment in 2010.

He was awarded the Medal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, its highest honor, for services to emergency medicine in 2003.[ citation needed ]

Multiple sclerosis

In 2012, Jelinek began an ongoing study entitled HOLISM (Health Outcomes and Lifestyle In a Sample of people with Multiple sclerosis) that investigated the association of lifestyle with health outcomes in people with MS. [17] [18]

Based on his work, Jelinek devised a dietary-based program, "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis". [19] [20] The medical community and some organizations that specialize in MS remain unconvinced of the results of dietary regimens and await higher level evidence before making definitive recommendations. Jelinek asserts that there is little downside to the adoption of such lifestyle behaviors while he and others continue to pursue a more robust evidence base.[ citation needed ]

Jelinek's non-profit organization conducts live-in workshops, seminars and self-help groups for MS patients around the world. [21] Jelinek is active in fundraising for the continuing activities of the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis charity. [22]

Honors and awards

Publications

Books

Articles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multiple sclerosis</span> Disease that damages the myelin sheaths around nerves

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to transmit signals, resulting in a range of signs and symptoms, including physical, mental, and sometimes psychiatric problems. Symptoms include double vision, vision loss, eye pain, muscle weakness, and loss of sensation or coordination. MS takes several forms, with new symptoms either occurring in isolated attacks or building up over time. In relapsing forms of MS, between attacks, symptoms may disappear completely, although some permanent neurological problems often remain, especially as the disease advances. In progressive forms of MS, bodily function slowly deteriorates once symptoms manifest and will steadily worsen if left untreated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatigue</span> Range of afflictions, usually associated with physical or mental weakness

Fatigue describes a state of tiredness, exhaustion or loss of energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demyelinating disease</span> Any neurological disease in which the myelin sheath of neurons is damaged

A demyelinating disease refers to any disease affecting the nervous system where the myelin sheath surrounding neurons is damaged. This damage disrupts the transmission of signals through the affected nerves, resulting in a decrease in their conduction ability. Consequently, this reduction in conduction can lead to deficiencies in sensation, movement, cognition, or other functions depending on the nerves affected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4-Aminopyridine</span> Chemical compound

4-Aminopyridine (4-AP, fampridine, dalfampridine) is an organic compound with the chemical formula C5H4N–NH2. The molecule is one of the three isomeric amines of pyridine. It is used as a research tool in characterizing subtypes of the potassium channel. It has also been used as a drug, to manage some of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and is indicated for symptomatic improvement of walking in adults with several variations of the disease. It was undergoing Phase III clinical trials as of 2008, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the compound on January 22, 2010. Fampridine is also marketed as Ampyra (pronounced "am-PEER-ah," according to the maker's website) in the United States by Acorda Therapeutics and as Fampyra in the European Union, Canada, and Australia. In Canada, the medication has been approved for use by Health Canada since February 10, 2012.

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, sometimes experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), is an animal model of brain inflammation. It is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). It is mostly used with rodents and is widely studied as an animal model of the human CNS demyelinating diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). EAE is also the prototype for T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis</span>

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS in which activated immune cells invade the central nervous system and cause inflammation, neurodegeneration, and tissue damage. The underlying cause is currently unknown. Current research in neuropathology, neuroimmunology, neurobiology, and neuroimaging, together with clinical neurology, provide support for the notion that MS is not a single disease but rather a spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesional demyelinations of the central nervous system</span>

Multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) produce lesions and glial scars or scleroses. They present different shapes and histological findings according to the underlying condition that produces them.

Inflammatory demyelinating diseases (IDDs), sometimes called Idiopathic (IIDDs) due to the unknown etiology of some of them, are a heterogenous group of demyelinating diseases - conditions that cause damage to myelin, the protective sheath of nerve fibers - that occur against the background of an acute or chronic inflammatory process. IDDs share characteristics with and are often grouped together under Multiple Sclerosis. They are sometimes considered different diseases from Multiple Sclerosis, but considered by others to form a spectrum differing only in terms of chronicity, severity, and clinical course.

Research in multiple sclerosis may find new pathways to interact with the disease, improve function, curtail attacks, or limit the progression of the underlying disease. Many treatments already in clinical trials involve drugs that are used in other diseases or medications that have not been designed specifically for multiple sclerosis. There are also trials involving the combination of drugs that are already in use for multiple sclerosis. Finally, there are also many basic investigations that try to understand better the disease and in the future may help to find new treatments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Profilin 1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Profilin-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PFN1 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumefactive multiple sclerosis</span> Medical condition

Tumefactive multiple sclerosis is a condition in which the central nervous system of a person has multiple demyelinating lesions with atypical characteristics for those of standard multiple sclerosis (MS). It is called tumefactive as the lesions are "tumor-like" and they mimic tumors clinically, radiologically and sometimes pathologically.

Fred D. Lublin is an American neurologist and an authority on the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Along with colleagues at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, his work redefined the clinical course definitions of MS.

Diffuse myelinoclastic sclerosis, sometimes referred to as Schilder's disease, is a very infrequent neurodegenerative disease that presents clinically as pseudotumoural demyelinating lesions, making its diagnosis difficult. It usually begins in childhood, affecting children between 5 and 14 years old, but cases in adults are also possible.

Poser criteria are diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS). They replaced the older Schumacher criteria, and are now considered obsolete as McDonald criteria have superseded them. Nevertheless, some of the concepts introduced have remained in MS research, like CDMS, and newer criteria are often calibrated against them. The criteria were unveiled in the Annals of Neurology in 1983 by a team led by Dr. Charles M. Poser.

Schumacher criteria are diagnostic criteria that were previously used for identifying multiple sclerosis (MS). Multiple sclerosis, understood as a central nervous system (CNS) condition, can be difficult to diagnose since its signs and symptoms may be similar to other medical problems. Medical organizations have created diagnostic criteria to ease and standardize the diagnostic process especially in the first stages of the disease. Schumacher criteria were the first internationally recognized criteria for diagnosis, and introduced concepts still in use, as CDMS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen L. Hauser</span> American physician

Stephen L. Hauser is a professor of the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) specializing in immune mechanisms and multiple sclerosis (MS). He has contributed to the establishment of consortia that have identified more than 50 gene variants that contribute to MS risk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pathology of multiple sclerosis</span> Pathologic overview

Multiple sclerosis (MS) can be pathologically defined as the presence of distributed glial scars (scleroses) in the central nervous system that must show dissemination in time (DIT) and in space (DIS) to be considered MS lesions.

There are several ways for pharmaceuticals for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) to reach the market.

Several biomarkers for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, disease evolution and response to medication are under research. While most of them are still under research, there are some of them already well stablished:

Brenda Banwell is Chief of the Division of Neurology and Co-Director of the Neuroscience Center, and Professor of Neurology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and holder of the Grace R. Loeb Endowed Chair in Neurosciences. She also holds the title of Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

References

  1. "Professor George Jelinek". University of Melbourne. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  2. Swannell, Cate (14 December 2015). "Australian of the Year Finals". The Medical Journal of Australia. 203 (11). doi:10.5694/mja15.1214C3 (inactive 31 January 2024). Retrieved 11 November 2018.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
  3. "Applying Research to Prevention One Article at a Time". 31 May 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  4. "Editors & Contributors". Intellect, Ltd. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  5. "1157579 – OVERCOMING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS". Charity Commission, UK. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  6. "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis Limited". Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  7. "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis USA Inc". Nonprofit Explorer. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  8. "Investigative review of classification systems for emergency care" (PDF). Independent Hospital Pricing Authority. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  9. "George Jelinek Profile". ResearchGate. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  10. Trounson, Andrew (9 May 2016). "Meditating On Our Health". University of Melbourne . Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  11. "Professor George Jelinek". Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis.
  12. "Famous Aussies with MS". OzMS. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  13. "About: Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis". OMS. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  14. "An MS diagnosis led Professor George Jelinek's quest to stop history repeating". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  15. "The HOLISM Study". Melbourne of Population and Global Health. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  16. Hadgkiss, EJ; Jelinek, GA; Weiland, TJ; Pereira, NG; Marck, CH; van der Meer, DM (2013). "Methodology of an International Study of People with Multiple Sclerosis Recruited through Web 2.0 Platforms: Demographics, Lifestyle, and Disease Characteristics". Neurol Res Int. 2013: 580596. doi: 10.1155/2013/580596 . PMC   3649686 . PMID   23691313.
  17. "An Interview With Dr. George Jelinek". MultipleSclerosis.net. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  18. "MS: retreat programs have major health benefits". The Gawler Cancer Foundation. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  19. "Specific Diets for Multiple Sclerosis". MS / ACT NSW. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  20. "Special diets and MS". MS Society. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  21. "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis Group Expands into the United States". Multiple Sclerosis News Today. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  22. "Professor George Jelinek overcame multiple sclerosis the natural way". The Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
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