Dr Antony Mersiades will be leading the Northern Beaches Hospital’s revolutionary trial to see if medicinal cannabis can help prevent nausea or sickness in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

According to The Daily Telegraph, around 250 patients will be part of the Australian-wide study, with up to 10 of those being from the Frenchs Forest facility.

“This is the first cancer clinical trial at Northern Beaches Hospital using an investigative product,” Dr Antony Mersiades, medical oncologist and head of oncology services, said.

“It is a top level study to ask a question as to whether it works.

“It is huge for the hospital and very exciting.”

The hospital will be involved in the stage three component of the trial which will see patients who suffer severe nausea or sickness due to chemotherapy treatment, take either the oral cannabinoid medicine THC and CBD or a placebo.

Dr Mersiades said preliminary results from the NSW Government-funded trial, sponsored by the University of Sydney, showed the cannabis capsules had a significant improvement in nausea and vomiting in people undergoing chemotherapy.

A quarter of the patients taking medicinal cannabis experienced no vomiting and nausea, compared to 14 per cent of people who took a placebo.

Dr Mersiades said the earlier studies found that one in five who took medicinal cannabis had moderate to severe sedation and one in 10 reported dizziness, but that the reduction in sickness was a clear benefit.

Cancer patient Marion McGowan, 62, of Collaroy Plateau, has been having chemotherapy for six months. She said Dr Mersiades and the team had been fantastic during her cancer journey.

“Their unwavering support and encouragement is second to none, and I feel truly blessed to have had them all in my life over the last few months,” she said.

Source: Daily Telegraph

Australia’s top 100 earners have been laid bare in the Real Estate Business June 2021 rankings, with four Greek Australians included among the mix.

Victoria-based Sam Rigiopoulos managed to break into the top 20 highest earning real estate agents, ranking 16 overall. In 15 years, Rigiopoulos has secured 83 listing and sold 118. Servicing Northcote, the value of properties sold accumulates to $182,815,250.00, with an average sale price of $1,549,282.00.

James Lampropoulos is next on the list at rank 39 and services the Strathfield and Sutherland Shire areas. Working for Laver Residential Projects, he has sold 306 properties in his 25 years of working as an agent. The value of properties sold adds up to $227,301,243.00.

Alexandra Stamatiou-Buda, who works for McGrath Estate Agents, services the Earlwood area in Sydney and was ranked 60th on the list. Alexandra has an average sale price of $1,363,771.00, with the total value of properties sold adding up to $111,829,250.00.

Another Greek Australian from Victoria, Theo Politis services Donvale and was ranked 69th. With 17 years of experience, he has secured 93 listings and sold 82. Politis works for Barry Plant agency.

Sydney’s Alexander Phillips retained the top spot for the sixth consecutive year, followed by fellow Sydneysiders Michael Clarke and Ric Serrao. According to the rankings, Mr Phillips sold more than $700 million of properties in the last financial year. 

“It is a rollercoaster, you are on this exciting or scary ride with the clients. You build relationships with them,” Phillips said.

See the full list of agents here: https://bit.ly/3vESFsz

The Consulate General of Greece in Sydney have opened registrations for the Certificate of Attainment in Greek for the 2021 exams.

The Certificate of Attainment in Greek is the only national certificate officially recognised by the Greek Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, that confirms the knowledge of Greek as a foreign/second language at 6 levels.

Established in 1998, The Certificate of Attainment in Greek responds to a persisting request of all learners of Greek as a Second/Foreign Language in Greece and abroad for a state certificate of attainment.

The examinations will take place on the 4^th October 2021 for Levels A1 and C2, on the 05^th October 2021 for Levels A2 and C1, on the 6^th October 2021 for Level B1 and on the 7^th October 2021 for Level B2. The candidates will be notified for the exact location and time of their examination in due course.

Candidates who have reached the age of 8 at 31 October 2021 have the right to participate. In particular, children 8-12 years old (8 years of age and not older than 12 years old on 31 October 2021) have the right to participate in A1(8-12 yr) examinations. There is no other age restriction. However, candidates under the age of 16 should be advised not to take part in the B2, C1 and C2 examinations, because the content of the examinations requires knowledge and experience that the younger candidates do not have.

For the candidates to complete the online registration (or paper where applicable), they are required to deposit the examination fees. For Levels A1, A2 and B1 the fees are 65 Euros each. For Levels B2, C1 and C2 the fees are 73 Euros each.

The examinations are completed by more than 100 candidates from NSW each year, with certificates awarded to successful candidates by the Consul General of Greece at a ceremony hosted by the University of Sydney.

The exam registration can be completed online here: https://bit.ly/2S9xpNN
Further details: https://bit.ly/3iS91Lv
Samples of test subjects: https://bit.ly/3gPZ0My

If people cannot register online for technical reasons, they can apply on a paper application form contacting the Sydney Examination Centre (hellenicedu.sydney@gmail.com).

Registrations end on June 28^th, 2021 when the e-registration system closes.

Associate Professor Andrekos Varnava, will give the online lecture Cyprus and 1821: Myths, Realities, Forgetting and Remembering, on Thursday 24 June, 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

The events of 1821 and of the entire Greek War of Independence hold a very important place in the script of the imagined Greek nation in Cyprus and for Greek Cypriot nationalism. This revolves around the execution of 400 leading Cypriots in 1821 and a failed uprising in Cyprus, as well as the contribution of Cypriots to the war on the mainland.

This chapter has two aims: first to revisit the Greek Revolution in relation to Cyprus, in so doing showing how nationalist narratives have come to obscure the realities of the impact of the revolution on Cyprus and the role of the island and its people; and secondly, to explore the impact of the Greek Revolution on Cypriot society and politics since then, including in the formation of EOKA in the 1950s, and the history of its commemoration, as well as its place in the Education system.

Associate Professor Andrekos Varnava, FRHistS, was born (1979) and raised in Melbourne to Cypriot-born parents, obtained his BA(Honours) from Monash University (2001) and his PhD (2006) from the University of Melbourne. He is the author of four monographs since 2009: Assassination in Colonial Cyprus in 1934 and the Origins of EOKA (Anthem Press, ppk.2021); British Cyprus and the Long Great War, 1914-1925: Empire, Loyalties and Democratic Deficit (Routledge, 2020); Serving the Empire in the Great War: The Cypriot Mule Corps, Imperial Loyalty and Silenced Memory (ManU Press, 2017; ppk.2019) and British Imperialism in Cyprus, 1878-1915: The Inconsequential Possession (ManU Press, 2009; ppk.2012).

He has published over 50 articles/book chapters, including in English Historical Review (2017), The Historical Journal (2014), Journal of Modern History (2018), Historical Research (2014 & 2017), Contemporary British History (2019), Social History of Medicine (2020), Journal of Modern Greek Studies (2020) and International History Review (2021).

When: Thursday 24 June 2021, 7pm

Where: Online licture through Zoom, YouTube Live, Facebook Live.

Almost one year ago, Sydney accountant Filomina Kyriacou had her registration terminated by the Tax Practitioners Board over unpaid tax and penalties of $2.4 million.

This week, the accountant and her son, George Kyriacou, were accused in the case taken in the NSW Supreme Court of withdrawing $1,097,068 without permission from the accounts of a company previously run by her ex business partner Angelo Russo.

READ MORE: Tax accountant Filomina Kyriacou facing ban over $2.4 million unpaid tax bill

In court this week, Justice Guy Parker granted a temporary freezing order on Ms Kyriacou’s accounts while the case plays out.

According to his affidavit filed with the court, Mr Russo claims there were 101 individual payments taken out of Wentworth Williams Auditing.

He also claimed that Ms Kyriacou and her son had removed themselves as directors of the company in an attempt to stifle attempts to have the financial records revealed.

Mr Russo wrote in his affidavit that he confronted the pair over the money, The Daily Telegraph reports.

“Filomena would always refer me to George and George would always say he would get the documents together, however, George never provided me with anything,” Mr Russo wrote.

The court documents reveal Anthony Sumbati, an Australian Idol semi-finalist in 2003 who went on to work for Ms Kyriacou from 2015 to 2019, also gave an affidavit.

Mr Sumbati wrote that Ms Kyriacou told him: “Treat (Mr Russo) like a mushroom. Keep him in the dark. Don’t tell him anything. I control the money, he doesn’t need to know what I do with it.”

The singer also claimed in the affidavit that Ms Kyriacou “overstated” her cancer.

“When I first started working for Filomena in 2015, she told me words to the effect: ‘I have cancer. I only have a few months to live’,” Mr Sumbati wrote.

The case will return to court on June 22.