Australian Scientist: global leaders, international rising stars

Global climate change is now a major focus of public policy discussion. This remarkable consequence of intensified human activity underscores

the crossroads that we have reached in our relations with the natural world. Climate change, along with various other global environmental changes and the proliferation of cities as our dominant habitat, have

great consequences for our wellbeing, health and survival. Professor Tony McMichael

nhMrc australia fellow national centre for epidemiology and Population health,

australian national University

science.anu.edu.au

The University was established by the Federal Government in 1946 to lead the intellectual development of the country through research and education of the highest international standard. Today, ANU is one of the world’s

leading centres of research and scholarship, and is consistently recognised as Australia’s top university.

ANU is truly Australia’s national university, setting the bar in research, teaching and community engagement on issues of national and international significance. Our students study alongside and

learn from distinguished academics – individual thinkers who are at the forefront of their respective fields: leading and shaping debates, making global breakthroughs and extending knowledge in

new and profound directions.

ANU also has strong relationships with important decision makers and remains a significant contributor to the advancement of the nation and its role in the world. The University is

positioned closely to and aligned with other Australian national institutions, research organisations, offices of government, foreign ministries and the Australian Parliament.

The University stands alongside the world’s other leading research and educational institutions as a member of the International Alliance of Research Universities

(IARU) – a strategic partnership based on a shared global vision, research-led teaching and a commitment to educating future leaders.

Australian scientific research of the highest international standardThe australian national University (anU) has a rich history of discovery and a culture of enquiry that creates an exceptional and unrivalled research and learning environment.

With its legacy of intellectual leadership, position of national prominence and its

global reach, anU is truly a national institution of international distinction.

ANU COLLEGE OF MEdICINE, BIOLOGy & ENvIRONMENT | ANU COLLEGE OF PHySICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCESCRICOS PROvIdER NO. 00120C

Global climate change is now a major focus of public policy discussion. This remarkable consequence of intensified human activity underscores

the crossroads that we have reached in our relations with the natural world. Climate change, along with various other global environmental changes and the proliferation of cities as our dominant habitat, have

great consequences for our wellbeing, health and survival. Professor Tony McMichael

nhMrc australia fellow national centre for epidemiology and Population health,

australian national University

science.anu.edu.au

The University was established by the Federal Government in 1946 to lead the intellectual development of the country through research and education of the highest international standard. Today, ANU is one of the world’s

leading centres of research and scholarship, and is consistently recognised as Australia’s top university.

ANU is truly Australia’s national university, setting the bar in research, teaching and community engagement on issues of national and international significance. Our students study alongside and

learn from distinguished academics – individual thinkers who are at the forefront of their respective fields: leading and shaping debates, making global breakthroughs and extending knowledge in

new and profound directions.

ANU also has strong relationships with important decision makers and remains a significant contributor to the advancement of the nation and its role in the world. The University is

positioned closely to and aligned with other Australian national institutions, research organisations, offices of government, foreign ministries and the Australian Parliament.

The University stands alongside the world’s other leading research and educational institutions as a member of the International Alliance of Research Universities

(IARU) – a strategic partnership based on a shared global vision, research-led teaching and a commitment to educating future leaders.

Australian scientific research of the highest international standardThe australian national University (anU) has a rich history of discovery and a culture of enquiry that creates an exceptional and unrivalled research and learning environment.

With its legacy of intellectual leadership, position of national prominence and its

global reach, anU is truly a national institution of international distinction.

ANU COLLEGE OF MEdICINE, BIOLOGy & ENvIRONMENT | ANU COLLEGE OF PHySICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCESCRICOS PROvIdER NO. 00120C

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National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

Authors: Peter Hock

Title: Australian Scientist

ISBN: 978-1-921156-59-5 (pbk)

Notes: Includes index

AUSTRALIAN

GLOBAL LEADERSINTERNATIONAL RISING STARS

SCIENTIST

CONTENTS

Foreward by Prof. Ian Chubb

The Australian Academy of Science is an important body that promotes and supports science and scientists in Australia.

Introduction by Prof. Kurt Lambeck

Fostering talent, supporting training and providing incentives.

1 Chapter One — Australian science in the international context 12

Contemporary research is thriving in an increasingly borderless world. Significant benefits are flowing from cooperative engagement.

Australian Synchrotron Curtin University

Griffith University Southern Cross University

2 Chapter Two — Challenges and opportunities 26

How private money led to Nobel prize-winning discoveries in medicine and physiology.

Australian National University Anglo Australian Observatory

Uni of Wollongong ANSTO

University of Western Sydney

3 Chapter Three — The changing face of scientific research 38

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Xxxx Xxxx

4 Chapter Four — A world of research 46

The challenges facing the world today are too big to solve alone. How scientific cooperation can ensure a future for all.

AIPS / CSL ECU

Flinders University Shelston IP

5 Chapter Five — Australia’s scientific research system 56

Converting ideas into social and commercial benefits – the benefits of new ideas are extending well beyond the laboratory.

National Measurement Institute Swinburne University of Technology

University of South Australia University of New England

6 Chapter Six — Strength in partnership 70

How multicultural Australia can contribute to closer scientific research cooperation between East and West.

Australian Antarctic Division

7 Chapter Seven — International research 76

The greater the investment researcher mobility, the richer the global return.

CQ University University of Western Australia

8 Chapter Eight — Medical research 84

From penicillin to a vaccine for the human papilloma virus, local scientists are breaking new ground worldwide.

AMREP Brian Holden Vision

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Peter Mac Cancer Centre

Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

9 Chapter Nine — Global leaders 98

Profiles of eminent Australian members of the international scientific research community.

Australian National University La Trobe University

Queensland University of Technology University of Adelaide

University of Tasmania

10 Chapter Ten — Young Australian scientists 124

Rigour, intellect, discipline and irrepressible energy – a new generation of local scientists is ready to break fresh ground.

Bond University RMIT University

University of Sunshine Coast

11 Chapter Eleven — Future science 140

How scientific training can benefit the commercial world.

12 Chapter Twelve — Who’s who 147

The scientists who direct the future of science via the Australian Academy of Science Council.

8

AustrAliAn sCiEntist

FOREWORD

The Australian Academy of Science is an important body that promotes and supports science and scientists in Australia.

AuSTRALiA iS STRoNg iN SCiENCE. our contribution to global scientific output is 10 times our contribution to the world’s population. We have world class researchers and institutions across a wide range of fields, from agriculture to zoology and much in between. our universities are major sources of our scientific expertise — from the building of our national capacity to contributing to knowledge through our research and its application.The scientists celebrated within this publication, some of whom i know personally, are an inspiration to all of us, not just those of us with a passion for science. The narratives recorded in this book illustrate the immeasurable contributions of these Australians that stand to benefit humankind for generations to come.Science is global. Many of the big problems confronting us are ones where solutions require teams that transcend national boundaries. our scientists play their part. Many of those featured in this book have made or enhanced their contributions through working with scientists elsewhere — whether it be working in partnerships from Australia, or by joining international research teams overseas and bringing their enhanced expertise to Australia. They continue to visit and be visited keeping Australian science ‘international’.Just as the achievements of my generation are built on the shoulders of earlier ones, so too will the achievements of Australia’s newest scientists one day take us beyond the horizons of those who nurtured them.We, as Australians must resolve to strengthen our support of today’s and tomorrow’s scientists, so that every one of them will have the opportunities and mentoring required to bring out the absolute best of their individual and collective capabilities. i am pleased to contribute to this celebration of Australian scientists and their achievements — may there be many more such scientific lives and many more celebrations.

Professor ian Chubb, Chief Scientist for Australia

9

forEword

About the Australian Academy of Science

INTRODUCTION

The Australian Academy of Science was established by Royal Charter in 1954 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Modelled on the Royal Society of London, it is the national institution representing science in Australia. Although the Academy receives some financial support from the Australian Government, it is an independent body and has no statutory obligation to government.

THE ACAdEMy’S objectives are to promote science through a range of activities. it has five major program areas: • recognition of outstanding contributions to science • national science education • public awareness of science • international scientific relations • science policy

STRUCTURE OF THE ACADEMY The work of the Academy is founded on the knowledge and experience of its fellows. The fellowship of the Academy is made up of about 420 of Australia’s top scientists, eminent in some branch of the physical or biological sciences.

The Council manages the business of the Academy. The decisions of the Council are carried out by the secretariat in Canberra, overseen by an executive committee.

Sixteen fellows are elected to the Academy each year by their peers, and occasionally corresponding members or additional fellows join through special elections. Fellows contribute to the Academy in an honorary capacity by serving on Council, committees and as advisers.

RECOGNITION OF EXCELLENCEThe Academy encourages and rewards excellence in science through a number of medals and lectures. outstanding research by both early-career and senior researchers is recognised through several annual awards, such as the Pawsey and gottschalk medals.

10


PUBLIC AWARENESS OF SCIENCEThe Academy produces reports, conference proceedings and other publications. The Academy shares editorial responsibility with CSiRo for 11 Australian journals of scientific research. Interviews with Australian Scientists is a dVd series in which some of Australia’s greatest scientists talk about their research and scientific achievements.

NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATIONThe Academy advises governments on science education and produces a number of educational materials. Nova: Science in the News is an online educational resource for schools. Another innovative initiative linking the teaching of science with the teaching of literacy in Australian primary schools is an Academy program called Primary Connections. The success of Primary Connections has recently led to the development of another science education program, Science by Doing, aimed at secondary school teachers and their students.

SCIENCE POLICYAs an independent body of Australia’s leading research scientists, the Academy brings together experts from universities, industry and government to consider and report on scientific issues. The Academy supports 21 national committees that foster a designated field of science and serve as a link between Australian and overseas scientists in that field. The committees comment on proposals and advise on science policy. The Academy has published many reports and position statements on public issues such as stem cell research, genetic engineering and climate change. it also makes submissions to government ministers and parliamentary enquiries.

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC RELATIONSThe Academy represents Australia on the international Council for Science and about 30 of its affiliated bodies. As well as organising several regular international symposia on a range of scientific issues, the Academy operates a program in international scientific collaborations to improve Australian access to global science and technology in North America, Europe and northeast Asia. The Academy is also active in organising significant national and international scientific conferences.

Australian Academy of Sciencegordon Street, Acton ACT 2601 gPo Box 783, Canberra ACT 2601

general enquiries: Telephone: + 61 2 6201 9400 www.science.org.au

11

introduCtion

Science diplomacy begins from the premise that scientific values of rationality, transparency and universality are the same the world over.

12

The objecTives of the Academy in promoting international scientific and technological collaboration are to improve Australian access to science and technology, to increase awareness of Australian research, and to enhance research capabilities.

There is also an emerging realisation that international scientific engagement can make an important contribution to “soft diplomacy” as the world’s societies address many issues that require the sharing and implementation of scientific knowledge.

in 2009, delegates from 20 countries on all continents attended a meeting co-hosted

by britain’s Royal society and the American Association for the Advancement of science. The report from that meeting, New frontiers in science diplomacy, published in january 2010, begins from the premise that scientific values of rationality, transparency and universality are the same the world over and can underpin good governance and build trust between nations.

“science provides a non-ideological environment for the participation and free exchange of ideas between people, regardless of cultural, national or religious backgrounds,” the report says.

Australian scienceStrong recognition of the value of international scientific engagement and collaboration is a hallmark of Australian science. Led by the Australian Academy of Science and other scientific and professional organisations, this recognition reflects the international culture of scientific practice, the ethical imperative to share knowledge for the good of humanity, and the need to enrich Australian science and society through linkages with the world’s best science.

1

13

“The scientific community often works beyond national boundaries on problems of common interest, so is well placed to support emerging forms of diplomacy that require non-traditional alliances of nations, sectors and non-governmental organisations.”

With a membership that includes 119 national scientific bodies and 30 international scientific unions, the international council for science (icsU) is a premier vehicle for strengthening international science for the benefit of society.

because of its broad and diverse membership, icsU is increasingly called upon to speak on behalf of the global scientific community and to act as an adviser in matters ranging from ethics to the environment.

icsU mobilises knowledge and resources to focus on activities in three areas: international research collaboration; science for policy; and the universality of science. This is done though links with strategic partners, the scientific community, policy makers and the broader society.

The Academy takes advice from its national committees for science to appoint delegates to the business meetings of the icsU and its member unions. Professor bruce McKellar of the University of Melbourne is currently chair of icsU’s Regional committee for Asia and the Pacific, which guides the Regional office for Asia and the Pacific (RoAP). established

in 2006 and based in Kuala Lumpur, RoAP’s priority areas are the ecosystem, human-induced and natural hazards and disasters, and sustainable energy.

To further its interaction with icsU, the Academy has formed a new committee, chaired by Professor McKellar, to focus on icsU activities.

“The brief is to try to make sure that Australia has greater influence on the work of icsU, particularly to ensure that science is developed on an equitable basis worldwide for the benefit of societies worldwide.

“if you look at what icsU has been doing more recently, it has been emphasising the reach of science into developing countries, building up scientific capacity in developing countries.”An example of this work is a RoAP workshop in singapore last year, which brought together scientists from the region with expertise in the fluid mechanics and geomechanics of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami and cyclonic storms.

“The people who took part are continuing to work in collaboration. That is the kind of small-scale contribution we have made in the first few years — we are now trying to move to do more coordinated and long-term projects.”

Another forum for international scientific diplomacy is the interAcademy council,

“The brief is to try to make sure that Australia has greater

influence on the work of ICSU, particularly to ensure that

science is developed on an equitable basis worldwide.”


14

Prof. Bruce McKellar

created in 2000, which aims to mobilise the best researchers across the globe to advise international bodies such as the United Nations and the World bank on the global challenges of our time. The iAc recently released the reports Women for Science and Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future. current important issues for the iAc are emerging infectious diseases and water supply and quality.

The governing board of the iAc comprises the presidents of 15 academies of science and equivalent organisations (including the Academy), representatives of the interAcademy Panel on international issues (iAP), the international council of Academies of engineering and Technological sciences, and the interAcademy Medical Panel of medical academies, plus the African Academy of sciences and the Academy of sciences for the Developing World.

The goal of the iAP, a global network of over 100 of the world’s science academies, is to help member academies work together to advise citizens and public officials on the scientific aspects of critical global issues.

Networks and links created by the iAP allow academies to raise both their public profile among citizens and their influence among policy makers. iAP organises international conferences, sponsors workshops and serves as a forum

for the exchange of ideas and experiences among academies. it helps science academies to achieve greater public presence within their nation and region.

The iAP’s flagship program focuses on capacity building for younger and smaller science academies, particularly those in developing countries. in addition, iAP supports projects that are coordinated by member academies and regional networks. The projects include digital knowledge and infrastructure, science education, water research and management, and biosecurity.

The Academy has endorsed statements by the iAP on tropical forests and climate change and on ocean acidification, joining over 50 academies from around the world to express their concern over these issues.

The Federation of Asian scientific Academies and societies (FAsAs), founded in 1984, brings together 15 scientific academies and societies from the Asian region. For the period 2010 to 2012, the AAs is providing secretariat services to FAsAs and the AAs president has assumed the presidency of FAsAs.

FAsAs emphasises the importance of s&T for development in the region, and the integration of s&T into national development planning and policymaking processes. To achieve these aims it focuses on the promotion of good

15

AustrAliAn sCiEnCE in thE intErnAtionAl ContExt

teaching practices at all levels of science and the importance of science and technology in governance, business and everyday life.

bilateral engagement builds on the work of multilateral scientific organisations and enables focused cooperation between scientists to address issues specific to national needs and capacities. The Academy’s bilateral activities are substantially supported by the international science Linkages (isL) — science Academies Program, which is funded by the Department of innovation, industry science and Research. A key component of the program is a series of scientific symposia and workshops on global issues, conducted in Australia and overseas.

The program gives Australian researchers the opportunity to collaborate with overseas colleagues, to widen research perspectives and experience, to exchange ideas, to be recognised in the international arena, to gain information

and knowledge of techniques that will stimulate and advance Australian research, and to be involved in large international projects.

The Academy’s international exchange programs comprise scientific visits and exchanges to Asia, europe and North America, and also short-term, long-term and postdoctoral fellowships to japan. Funding for the program is derived from a variety of sources. The Australian Government is a major contributor through the DiisR-isL program, which contributes travel and living costs to support collaborative research between Australian scientists and technologists and their colleagues in europe, the Us, canada, Mexico, china, japan, Korea and Taiwan.

scientific collaboration and engagement ultimately relies on relationships between individual scientists, and Australia’s long history as a provider of education in the sciences and


16

The Australian Academy of Science website, www.science.org.au

Scientific collaboration and engagement ultimately relies on

relationships between individual scientists and offers a basis

for enhancing its role in international collaboration.

other disciplines offers a basis for enhancing its role in international collaboration.

The Academy’s immediate past-president, Professor Kurt Lambeck, has noted that Australia is highly successful in attracting international students at the postgraduate level, a large proportion of whom study in science and engineering.

“Australia could significantly expand its sphere of influence in global science through a more systematic cultivation of the science alumni of Australian universities,” Professor Lambeck says.

This opportunity was highlighted by Professor Andrew holmes, the Academy’s Foreign secretary, in an address to a conference hosted by the Royal society in june 2010 on “science Diplomacy — applying science and innovation to international challenges”.

Professor holmes said Australia has benefited in recent years from the very large numbers

of southeast Asian alumni who studied under the auspices of the colombo Plan, which was established in 1949 by the seven founding nations of Australia, canada, ceylon, india, New Zealand, Pakistan and the UK, to be later joined by burma, cambodia, indonesia, japan, Laos, the Philippines, the Us, vietnam and Thailand.

“With the benefit of hindsight, the colombo Plan could be seen as an opportunity for investment in not only intellectual capital, but also soft diplomacy,” Professor holmes said.

17

AustrAliAn sCiEnCE in thE intErnAtionAl ContExt


18

Synchrotron science enables users to study the structure and properties of materials at unprecedented levels of detail. these technologies surpass conventional methods and help drive innovation across many areas of pure and applied research and industrial development.

Enhanced access to synchrotron technologies is boosting Australia’s reputation in global scientific circles, enabling a stronger national contribution to the international development of advanced research capabilities and techniques, and attracting experts from around the globe to live and work in Australia.

the Australian Synchrotron supports a broad array of scientific disciplines, including biosciences, medical research, drug development, environmental science, agriculture, minerals exploration and processing, advanced materials, engineering and forensics. In addition to supporting research by users who visit from around the world, facility staff collaborate nationally and internationally in their own right.

research conducted at the Australian Synchrotron has contributed to the assembly of nanomaterials, improved cancer detection methods and alumina extraction processes, progressed the development of advanced materials and antimalarial drugs, and helped advance the understanding of processes involved in bacterial infection.

the Australian Synchrotron’s nine world-class beamlines are all highly regarded by users. A Melbourne-based scientist credits the high-throughput macromolecular beamline with revolutionising his research by providing access to new methods for structure determination. overseas researchers note that the microcrystallography beamline “takes 10 minutes to provide data that would otherwise take two to three days, and wouldn’t be as good”, and the soft x-ray beamline “offers

a great combination of very high energy resolution, high spatial resolution and large intensity”.

the Australian Synchrotron’s medical and imaging facility is being upgraded to become the most advanced instrument of its kind in the world.

the infrared microspectroscopy beamline is widely considered one of the world’s best in terms of its ability to obtain detailed nano-scale information on chemical bonding. A separate branchline, also considered world-leading, has high resolution and far-infrared capabilities suited to studies of atmospheric gases.

the Australian Synchrotron is playing an important role in training the next generation of Australian scientists. the facility organises educational tours and professional development workshops and has successfully embedded synchrotron science into high school curricula. this work provides inspiration to budding scientists and has a positive effect on the broader community.

Lighting the way for Australian researchThe Australian Synchrotron is helping Australian scientific and industrial researchers to achieve and retain positions at the forefront of their fields.

The Australian Synchrotron supports a broad array of scientific

disciplines. Photo: Sandra Morrow.


19

TURNING BRIGHT IDEAS INTO BRILLIANT OUTCOMESThe Australian Synchrotron’s world-leading capabilities provide unique tools for analysing human tissue, plants, proteins, artefacts, fibres, fluids, gases, minerals, metals and many other diverse materials.

Thousands of researchers from around Australia and New Zealand, along

with others from further afield, are already using our facilities to advance

their work.

To find out how the Australian Synchrotron can help you achieve your

objectives, visit our website.

www.synchrotron.org.au

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20CRICOS Provider Code 00301J BRAND CUCC0473

From within the spectacular new Resources and Chemistry Precinct at Curtin, Professor Julian Gale is rebuilding the fundamental structures of some of nature’s most complex creations to see what makes them tick.

Big expectations on a miniature scale.

MINERALS AND ENERGY | HEALTH | ICT AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES | SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTcurtin.edu.au

Throw the word ‘nanotechnology’ into polite conversation, and you’re likely to get a variety of reactions, many following a general pattern of apocalyptic prophecy and the ‘grey goo’ theory. But, as Professor Gale describes, there’s much work to be done on even understanding the fundamentals of how our world is put together on a molecular level. Our conversation conjures up a world in which scientists have been forced to see problems only on a macro scale – the smallest visible grain of sand still a monolith compared to the infi nitesimal scales generated on Curtin’s custom software. “Working on a scale of individual atoms, we’re looking at how we can use virtual models and computing to solve physical science problems,” he explains. “Broadly, what we do is computational nanoscience. Within that, we have three main foci; clean energy, minerals and water.” These three areas are some of the most hot-button topics in the scientifi c world right now. From solid-state batteries to technologies for a hydrogen economy, the computer simulations developed by Gale and his team have the potential to instigate new developments in hundreds of future technologies. “The beauty of computer models is that you can look at hypothetical possibilities,” he explains of his work’s potential. “The experimentalist might say you’re living in cuckoo land, you’re off looking at fantastical things that can’t be made; but occasionally you come up with ideas that inspire them to go away and do something different and actually make these things in the real world. Experimentalists traditionally like a good challenge, and if you set a realistic one they’re pretty good at achieving it.” The disconnect between physical experimentation and virtual simulation has long been constrained by two important factors: computing power and the age of the fi eld itself. Compared to hundreds of years of scientifi c experimental process, computation has barely existed before the 1950s, and is only now gaining the necessary processing power to render an accurate picture of extremely complicated natural systems, even for tiny fractions of a second. But Professor Gale is excited by the many recent successful applications of virtual computer models to real-world experimental science, and expects a surge of this technology in the coming years. In the meantime, the pioneering work done by the team in studying crystal growth – for which Professor Gale was recently awarded

an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellowship – is already showing practical possibilities in the fi eld.“Where computational nanoscience is starting to come into its own is in its application to specifi c real-world problems. Take the desalination plant at Kwinana. We have a situation where impurities in the seawater can collect on the reverse osmosis membrane. For example, dissolved carbon dioxide can grow into a limestone scale. This means the fi lter needs downtime to be cleaned, and more electricity to run it because the water needs to be forced through these blocked pores. But if we can understand how this problem occurs on the tiniest molecular level, we could potentially design a better membrane to suppress this process, or prevent it completely. It’s about being smarter about how we do things through thinking small.”

CUCC0473-FP(210x285) AustScientistMag.indd 1 6/18/10 11:55:44 AM


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Professor Igor Bray has produced breakthrough research in the field of quantum mechanics, specifically in the area of atomic collision theory, which governs the ubiquitous interactions of particles on the atomic scale.

An Australian research council (Arc) Professorial Fellow, Bray became internationally known in the 1990s for the convergent close-coupling (ccc) theory he developed with colleague Professor Andris

Stelbovics. the research solved a fundamental scattering problem that had perplexed physicists for

more than 60 years. the ccc theory now provides a basis for advances in diverse scientific fields and industries — including astrophysics, plasma displays, lasers, lighting and fusion energy.

Most recently, Bray’s team within the Institute of theoretical Physics has resolved a foundational problem that has plagued quantum mechanics since its inception in the 1920s. resolving “the coulomb three-body problem”, as it is

known, means that physicists will no longer rely on approximations to describe atomic coll ision systems. the reformulation of the underlying scattering theory provides a unified approach to such collisions, and applies generally across atomic, molecular, nuclear and high-energy physics. the breakthrough was published i n a s p e c i a l 2 0 0 9 i s s u e of Annals of Physics, with an editor’s foreword by the 2004 nobel Prize-winning physicist Professor Frank Wilczek.

Dr K ather ine tr ina j s t i c i s internationally known for her landmark discoveries in the field of vertebrate palaeontology. her research involves analyses of fossils she has recovered f rom the renowned Gogo geological formation in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and may lead to the formation soon being listed as a World heritage Site.

her examinations of placoderm fossils have revealed that the

phenomenon of viviparity — or reproduction by sexual activity

and live birth, as opposed to the laying of eggs — occurred 200 million years earlier than previously thought. She has a l so d i s cove red fo s s i l s o f primitive sharks and jawless fish in the canning Basin of Western Australia — discoveries important not only for the knowledge they provide about Australia’s past biodiversity, but also because they have enabled other geological formations in Australia to be dated, which

has important implications for oil and gas exploration.

no tab l y , Dr tr ina j s t i c ’ s research success is partly due to her application of recently developed analytical methods not previously used in fossil analysis. her application of synchrotron methods (using synchrotron radiation for imaging) and computerised tomography (ct scans) to the study of fossils is significant because it avoids damage to the fossil samples during analysis, which previously was an accepted risk.

Professor Igor Bray DIrEctor InStItutE oF thEorEtIcAl PhySIcS FAculty oF ScIEncE AnD EnGInEErInG

Dr Katherine TrinajsticSEnIor rESEArch FElloW DEPArtMEnt oF chEMIStry School oF ScIEncE


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At Griffith Institutes of Health, many of Australia’s leading scientists are working collaboratively to find integrated solutions for healthcare. From drug discovery through to clinical trials, the institutes’ expertise includes natural products, vaccines, carbohydrate chemistry, medicinal chemistry, the genetic basis of disease and healthcare economics.

Work with our renowned experts, use our high-tech facilities and access a range of resources such as Nature Bank, a unique collection of more than 200,000 optimised natural product fractions derived from 45,000 samples of plants and marine organisms.

To partner with Griffith Institutes of Health, visit griffith.edu.au/gih, email [email protected] or call +61 7 3735 5489

Partner with our experts to create your health solution

National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research Director Professor Alan Mackay-Sim; the Eskitis Institute Director Professor Ron Quinn; the Institute for Glycomics Director Professor Mark von Itzstein; the Griffith Health Institute Director Professor Lyn Griffiths and Pro Vice Chancellor (Health) Professor Allan Cripps.

GU25884_AusScnce_285x210_v1.indd 1 18/08/10 10:15 AM


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Dr rohan Davis obtained his Bachelor of Science with honours from the university of Melbourne (1992), and subsequently gained several years of industry experience working for AstraZeneca. Awarded a PhD from Griffith university in 2001, he then obtained two years post-doctoral experience at the university of utah, Salt lake city, uSA. returning to Griffith university in 2003, Dr Davis is currently a Senior research Fellow

at the Eskitis Institute of cell and Molecular therapies.

he has authored 59 publications in the fields of natural products and medicinal chemistry, and currently holds one patent.

like his colleague and mentor Professor Quinn, Dr Davis’s re sea rch in t e re s t s i nc lude developing an understanding of molecular interactions involved in biological processes via the Esktitis Institute’s nature Bank.

Dr Davis’ significant research contributions involve preserving and continuing to develop nature Bank, discovering new anti-malarials and anti-trypanosomal agents, and potential lead compounds in drug discovery programs. Dr Davis is establishing an international reputation and has been an invited speaker at natural product meetings in china (2009) and in the uS (2010).

After obtaining his PhD from the university of new South Wales (1970), Professor Quinn completed postdoctoral work at Arizona State university, university of hawaii and the Australian national university. he started at Griffith university in 1982 and was appointed Professor in 1994. Professor Quinn was appointed Director of the Eskitis Institute for cell and Molecular therapies in 2003. his research interests include developing an understanding of molecular interactions involved in biological processes. under his

leadership, the Institute established nature Bank, a globally important biological resource with enough biota to last 100 years of drug discovery activity. nature Bank provides fractions pre-selected for favourable physicochemical properties. the resulting screening set has over 200,000 high quality natural product fractions derived from a library of more than 45,000 samples of plants and marine invertebrates from tropical Australia, Papua new Guinea and china. the nature Bank platform enables faster and more successful identification of

novel compounds with drug-like properties. Professor Quinn has attracted major partnerships in natural product drug discovery, including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Actelion, Medicines for Malaria Venture and Drugs for neglected Diseases initiative. Professor Quinn was elected Fellow of the Australia Academy of technological Sciences & Engineering (2003) and received the rAcI Adrien Albert Award (2004). In 2010, Professor Quinn was honoured with the award of a Member of the order of Australia for service to scientific research.

Dr Rohan DavisESKItIS InStItutE For cEll AnD MolEculAr thErAPIES GrIFFIth unIVErSIty

Professor Ron QuinnESKItIS InStItutE For cEll AnD MolEculAr thErAPIES GrIFFIth unIVErSIty


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Associate Professor Scheffers, a coastal geomorphologist at Southern cross univers i ty , was named one of 200 Future Fellows in 2009. Dr Scheffers is the recpient of an Australian r e s e a rc h c o u n c i l Fu t u re Fellowship for a project which will look at tropical cyclone activity that has taken place over the past 7000 years in Western Australia.

Dr Scheffers is particularly interested in processes that shape and modify coastal landscapes over a variety of length and time scales and the coupling and feedback between such processes, their rates, and their relative roles, especially in the contexts of variation in climatic and tectonic influences and in light of changes due to human impact.

Dr Scheffers is investigating past and modern marine physical natural hazards such as tsunamis

and storms and the development of long-term records of tsunamis/cyclones from geological and biological proxy evidence as well as historical documentary records.

her work is exploring linkages between late Quaternary climate and landscape change focusing on past sea levels and the response of coastal ecosystems, particularly coral reefs.

Professor leigh Sullivan is a leading geoscientist with a high international profile. he is a co-director of Southern cross GeoScience. Professor Sullivan’s two key areas of research activity are acid sulphate soi ls and the health of waterways, and developing secure and practical carbon biosequestration solutions to reduce global co2.

Professor Sullivan has instigated research that is examining the likely impacts that rising sea levels will

have on the health of the coastal areas around the globe that contain acid sulfate soil. the research includes major field projects within tropical and temperate Australia, as well as in the low-lying Mekong Delta of Vietnam where 20 million people reside and grow crops and fish and shrimp on acid sulfate floodplains. he is also leading major research projects in the Murray-Darling Basin examining the impacts of drought and acid sulfate soil on the health of thousands of

inland wetlands and rivers.Professor Sullivan is co-leading

an Australian team that is leading the world in the development of secure, low cost solutions to reduce global co2 emissions. these practical solutions work by enhancing the production of carbon trapped within the naturally-produced microscopic si l ica particles — known as plantstones — in crops, pastures, forestry and horticulture.

Associate Professor Anja SchefferscoAStAl GEoMorPholoGISt SouthErn croSS unIVErSIty AuStrAlIAn rESEArch councIl FuturE FElloWShIP

Professor Leigh SullivanProFESSor oF GEoScIEncE DIrEctor oF SouthErn croSS GEoScIEncE, SouthErn croSS unIVErSIty


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Making a world of difference

At Southern Cross University we believe solving global challenges begins at home.

Inspired by our region, we are undertaking innovative research in fields such as geoscience, plant genetics, environmental science, tourism and regional development.

Working in partnership with communities, government and industry, we are helping to build a strong and sustainable future for Australia.

www.scu.edu.au/research

CRICOS Provider Nos: NSW 01241G, QLD 03135E

“Less than 250 years ago, it was astronomy that provided them with the impetus to end their long isolation from the rest of the human species.”

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Challenges& opportunities

2

Modern huMans arrived in australia at least 40,000 years ago, around the same time their counterparts ventured into europe. But the colonisers of the great southern land found different challenges and opportunities to their cousins in the distant north.

no neanderthal rivals, no cloven-hoofed animals, no canine or feline predators, nor the grasses that would enable northerners to develop rice, wheat and other cereals as staple food crops.

Life had evolved differently on a continent which had been an island for at least 50 million years since breaking from Gondwana and finally from antarctica to push north towards the equator. This was a land largely populated by marsupials and reptiles living in dry rainforests, desert, grasslands and eucalypt groves. over many generations, the first australians caused changes in the mix of flora and fauna in their country, just as humans did

wherever they set foot. They invented hunting technologies to catch the prey they needed to survive; they used fire to do what we would now call natural resource management.

astronomy is a science that beguiles humans, wherever or whenever they live. australian aboriginal societies developed systems of astronomy to explain what they saw in the skies and guide their travel on land and sea. Less than 250 years ago, it was astronomy that provided them with the impetus to end their long isolation from the rest of the human species.

europeans began encountering the great southern land more than 400 years ago, but its shape and size defied explorers and cartographers for almost two centuries, despite some scientific theories that a huge southern continent was necessary to balance the known continents of the north. european science had deduced that the earth was one of several spherical planets that orbited the sun. It was

The story of Australian science is interwoven with the continent’s natural history and the history of its human societies.

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also able to predict that Venus would cross between earth and sun on 3 June 1769, and that timing the event from three points on the earth’s surface would enable astronomers to calculate the distance to the sun.

so Captain James Cook was sent to the south Pacific with a crew, including the first scientists to ever encounter australia.

Cook’s mission observed the transit of Venus from Tahiti on the appointed day, while other observations were made in scandinavia and Canada to provide the data required for a major scientific achievement and a big step towards understanding the solar system.

after sailing west and circumnavigating new Zealand to establish that it was two islands, Cook’s ships encountered the southeast coast of australia. on 28 april 1770 they anchored in a sheltered bay, which they explored for a week. Cook recorded that the waters abounded with fish and the land was “diversified with woods, lawns and marshes”. The mission’s botanists, Joseph Banks and daniel solander, had found such a wealth of new plant species that he named the place Botany Bay.

Back in england after almost three years at sea in an expedition which had cost the lives of more than 30 crewmen, Cook said in a report to the admiralty: “I flatter myself that the discoveries we have made, although not great, will apologise for the length of the voyage.”

Within two decades arthur Phillip would lead the First Fleet to formally colonise australia. Cook’s long voyage of scientific and geographic discovery had instigated a second wave of human colonisation that would establish a new australian society and science, and again transform the continent’s landscape.

science would drive an unfolding discovery of the nature of the australian continent and its climate, as the transplanted society explored and settled into its new domain.

That society and its science would slowly evolve from its British inheritance to develop a more distinctively australian character in response to australia’s distance from the rest of the world and the realisation that much about australia was unique. The roots of australian society and its science would nevertheless remain strongly recognisable while science contributed to the shaping of the early colonial societies and to the eventual establishment of australia as a prosperous nation.

The legacy of Joseph Banks would provide a foundation for high excellence in the disciplines of botany and biology as scientists studied a “new World” of life forms, worthy of study for their own sake as much as for their relationship with the rest of the living world.

agriculture involved importing european models of herding and cropping, models which still dominate our agricultural landscape. australian agricultural science has thus

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faced remarkable challenges and has responded strongly, developing systems and technologies to optimise output from thin soils in capricious climates.

science has always underpinned the prosperity of the nation’s agricultural sector, from early innovations such as the stump-jump plough through to the work of contemporary molecular biologists who are modifying the genomes of plants to improve functions such as drought and salinity tolerance. In more recent times, the scientific emphasis has been on the need to ensure the long-term sustainability of agriculture by developing methods and technologies to conserve the environmental assets that make agriculture possible.

discovering and extracting the mineral wealth beneath the continent’s ancient crust also presented scientific and technological challenges that required particular australian solutions. The continent’s weathered regolith and its vast size meant that mining methods developed in other countries were either of little use or required major modification.

australia’s first export was 50 tonnes of coal shipped to India from newcastle in 1799. More than two centuries later, our minerals sector is australia’s largest exporter, testimony to the scientific and engineering expertise developed over that time.

australia’s mineral wealth also played a part in fostering medical research, an area

of science where australia originally enjoyed no particular advantage, but in which our research achievements currently shine brightest on the world stage.

The Walter and eliza hall Institute was established in Melbourne in 1915 to undertake medical research, funded by a bequest from the estate of Walter hall, who had migrated from england and made his fortune partly by investing in the Mount Morgan gold mine in Queensland. a few years later, the Baker Institute was also established in Melbourne, funded by donations from Thomas Baker, a qualified pharmacist who had made his fortune by pioneering the supply of photographic films in australia and eventually forming Kodak australia.

With the benefit of hindsight, it can be said that the establishment of the hall and Baker institutes — both now at the forefront of global medical research — seeded a synergistic process and a professional culture, which has enabled australians to make four nobel Prize-winning discoveries in the fields of medicine or physiology.

“a tradition grew up, and medical research is one of those fields where excellence begets excellence. Clever people are attracted to where other clever people are,” says sir Gus nossal, a former director of the eliza hall Institute and later president of the australian academy of science. however,

“Medical research… [a field] where excellence begets excellence.

Clever people are attracted to where other clever people are.”Sir Gus Nossal

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ChAllEngEnCEs And opportunitiEs

while the philanthropic spirit that gave birth to this tradition was certainly generous, its munificence is not matched when it comes to funding australian science today. australia performs poorly internationally on measures of private donations to scientific research, as it does when it comes to commercialising its own innovations, leaving science more reliant on public funding in australia than in most comparable economies.

This can be attributed to some unique australian characteristics — its relative youth as an economy, the fact that many of its major enterprises are branches of multinationals headquartered overseas, a relatively small domestic market, and the large distances to overseas markets. over recent decades, governments have concertedly fashioned science policy to overcome these obstacles. Initiatives

such as the Cooperative research Centre program and tax incentives have been shaped to engage scientists and entrepreneurs more closely and encourage australian enterprises to invest in research.

They have had some success — the performance trends are positive — but there is still more to do before australia matches its counterparts on these measures. There is also much for science to do as australia addresses the challenges of the 21st century. The australian continent is one of the most vulnerable to the effects of global warming, yet its economy is highly dependent on fossil fuels as a source of energy and export revenue. australia is also a major exporter of food as the world’s rapidly increasing human population threatens the integrity of environmental systems, which support food production in many regions.

Australian science is fully

responsive to these national

challenges… developing

innovative technologies

to reduce the carbon footprint

of energy production and other

human activities.

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as in the past, australian science is fully responsive to these national challenges. our atmospheric scientists, climatologists and meteorologists are at the forefront of global efforts to understand the world’s climate and the trajectory of change as greenhouse gas emissions increase.

australian researchers in many fields are developing innovative technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of energy production and other human activities in ways that must be affordable to all societies. and our agricultural scientists are leading the world’s effort to produce more food while using less land, water and fertiliser.

The australian scientist certainly is a valuable member of the national team.

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ChAllEngEnCEs And opportunitiEs


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thE FlorA of the Australian Alps is facing an uncertain future because of the impacts of climate change. now, researchers from the Anu research School of Biology are leading a wide-ranging investigation on the reproductive ecology and demography of alpine flora with a focus on seeds. Part of what they learn will help managers establish repositories of seed (seed banks) to preserve genetic diversity and assist with ecological restoration.

“Very little is known about the demographic, physiological and genetic changes that will occur in Australian alpine plant populations as temperature and co2 concentrations rise,” says Dr Adrienne nicotra, the lead researcher on the project. “nor do we know the characteristics of species that will be most affected, or how we might manage for these impacts.”

While the project is still in its first year it’s already collected seed from around a third of the plant species found in Australia’s alpine region. Given the serious threat climate change poses to flora of the Australian Alps, there’s a real urgency in the task. however, the researchers are confident their work and its seed

focus will be making an important contribution to our effort to manage climate impact on alpine flora.

Connecting water with wetland healthhoW Much water does a wetland need to stay vital? It’s far from an academic question because many of Australia’s inland wetlands no longer receive the natural flooding that has sustained them over thousands of years. And it’s a question that Sue Powell has been grappling with for many years, first as a scientific officer with the nSW government, and more recently as a PhD scholar with the Integrated catchment Assessment Management centre (icAM) at Anu.

using satellite imagery and applying remote sensing techniques, Ms Powell has been studying flood dynamics out on the wetland and analysing how the vegetation responds. She then models this information to explore what might happen given different amounts of environmental flow. the investigation will ultimately inform policy development and how decisions are made on water allocation.

there’s a lot at stake when it comes to decisions on water allocation across most of regional Australia, and especially along the Gwydir. Water is the key environmental variable in this region. It’s the lifeblood of the wetlands but it’s also the key input to the profitability of the surrounding cotton industry.

the analysis and modelling Ms Powell is carrying out will enable managers of the nation’s valuable water resources to be more confident about the impacts of the allocations they make.

you can bank onseed


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clIMAtE chAnGE is invariably described as a major policy problem. Most decision makers immediately think of the challenging task of justifying the significant short-term costs of taking action to avoid global calamity for the welfare of future generations. Jamie Pittock, a PhD scholar at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian national university, sees another side to the problem.Pittock believes many govern-ments are advocating climate change

mitigation and adaptation policies that may greatly increase impacts on water resources and freshwater ecosystems, as evidenced by rising levels of hydroelectricity and biofuel production. to test his theory, he has been conducting research into the best ways to integrate climate, river management and water policies, based on six WWF projects in china, India, tanzania, lower Danube, Mexico and Brazil.

Pittock is convinced that china’s scientists and authorities are

committed to tackling climate change. he says government officials largely accept that climate change is real, while politicians in many other countries are still debating the issue.

Pittock observes that china, like Australia, does struggle often to implement policies that address climate change. however, he is hopeful that current academic endeavours will lead to a solution.

Dr JulIE SMIth, a health economist and research fellow at the Australian centre for Economic research on health at the Australian national university, is working with a team of researchers and the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) to generate new knowledge on how to strengthen community and policy support for mothers combining breastfeeding with employment.

the study, which is being supported by an Austral ian research council linkage Grant,

will involve asking employers to describe the advantages gained by providing f lex ib le work arrangements designed to enable breastfeeding mothers to return to employment gradually, and to take time off during the work day to express milk for their baby or breastfeed their baby.

Smi th be l i e v e s a s s i s t i ng employed mothers to continue breastfeeding will reduce adverse impacts of genetic, social and environmental factors predisposing infants and children to ill health.

Such a policy would help prevent disease and help mothers reconcile labour force participation with protecting their own and their children’s health from premature weaning.

the research par tnersh ip also involves adapting a highly successful series of knowledge exchange seminars run by ABA each year for health professionals in cities and regional centres around Australia to engage with human resource managers and childcare workers.

Jamie PittockPhD ScholAr FEnnEr School oF EnVIronMEnt AnD SocIEty AuStrAlIAn nAtIonAl unIVErSIty InStItutE oF MEDIcAl rESEArch

Julie SmithhEAlth EconoMISt AnD rESEArch FElloW AuStrAlIAn cEntrE For EconoMIc rESEArch on hEAlth, AuStrAlIAn nAtIonAl unIVErSIty


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Born in Sri lanka, Dr Gayandhi De Silva migrated to Australia in 1994. Initially, Dr De Silva was interested in pursuing mathematics, but after enjoying a summer vacation at the Siding Spring observatory in nSW she chose observational astronomy as her professional career.

Dr De Silva obtained her PhD in Astronomy from Mount Stromlo observatory, part of the Australian national university. Following her PhD studies, she worked at the

European Southern observatory (ESo) in chile, supporting science operations at the cerro Paranal observatory. She moved to ESo’s headquarters in Germany in 2008. While at ESo, Dr De Silva and her colleagues used the ESo’s ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph to investigate the chemical composition of star clusters.

De Silva’s work validated the technique of “chemical tagging” of stars—that is, obtaining unique chemical identifiers for individual

stars. It forms the basis of the field of “galactic archaeology”, which is uncovering the origins and travels of the stars that make up our galaxy.

Dr De Silva returned to Australia in 2010 to take up a position with the Australian Astronomical observatory. She is the Project Scientist for hErMES, a high-resolution spectograph being built by the AAo, which will be the next major instrument for the Australian astronomical community.

After completing his PhD at the Australian national university in 1994, Dr chris lidman moved to chile to work at the European Southern observatory (ESo), first as an ESo fellow based at the la Silla observatory, t hen a s one o f t he f i r s t astronomers to work at the ESo Very large telescope, located on cerro Paranal in northern chile. During the 15 years he worked at the observatories, he played a central role in commissioning

astronomical instrumentation and in developing observatory operations at both observatories.

In 1996 Dr lidman joined the Supernova cosmology Project (ScP), in which he now plays a leading role. In 1999 the ScP published a landmark paper showing that the universe is dominated by an unknown form of energy (now called Dark Energy), which is causing its expansion to accelerate.

the discovery has led to many

awards, including the 2007 Gruber Prize in cosmology. Even though a decade has now passed since the effects of Dark Energy were first noted, its physical nature is still unknown. It is one of the biggest mysteries of modern physics.

In 2010 Dr lidman returned to Australia to take up a Future Fellowship at the Australian Astronomical observatory.

Dr Gayandhi De SilvarESEArchEr AuStrAlIAn AStronoMIcAl oBSErVAtory

Dr Chris LidmanArc FuturE FElloW AuStrAlIAn AStronoMIcAl oBSErVAtory


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In the 1960s, scientists and politicians in the United Kingdom and Australia took the farsighted decision to build the first major modern telescope in the southern hemisphere.

At the time it was commissioned, the Anglo-Australian Telescope was arguably the most sophisticated optical telescope in the world—a landmark in the technological development of both countries.

In 2008, an independent review found that it was still the most productive 4-metre telescope in the world, and one of the top five telescopes of any size.

The observatory that operates the telescope is now entering a new chapter in its history.

On 1 July the Anglo-Australian Observatory became the Australian Astronomical Observatory, a division of the Commonwealth Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

But although now under the sole stewardship of Australia, the AAO continues to welcome astronomers from all around the globe for partnerships in discovery.

www.aao.gov.au

The Australian Astronomical Observatory.New name, same starring role.

AAO-1750-Aust Scientist FP ad.indd 1 21/06/10 10:29 AM


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Professor Gordon Wallace’s research interests include organic conductors, nanomaterials and electrochemical probe methods of analysis and their application in the development of intelligent polymer systems. A current focus is the development of biocommunications from the molecular to skeletal domains in order to improve human performance via medical bionics. he is recognised as a pioneer in the emerging field of nano bionics. Gordon Wallace, an Australian research council

(Arc) Federation Fellow, is currently research Director of the Arc’s centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Sciences (AcES).

Gordon received the Inaugural Polymer Science and technology Award from the royal Australian chemical Institute (rAcI) in 1992; the rAcI Stokes Medal for research in Electrochemistry in 2004; and the hG Smith Memorial award from the rAcI in 2008. he was awarded an EtS Walton Fellowship by the Science Foundation Ireland in 2003;

named nSW Scientist of the year (chemistry) in 2008; appointed as a Professor in the World class university by the South Korean Government in 2009; and received the SPIE Smart Materials research lifetime Achievement Award (uSA) in 2009.

Gordon is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of technological Sciences and Engineering, the Institute of Physics (uK) and the rAcI.

Doctor Zenobia Jacobs is an archaeologist and Australian research council (Arc) Queen Elizabeth II research Fellow in the centre for Archaeological Science and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. her technica l spec ia l i ty i s geochronology, with a focus on the development of optically stimulated luminescence dating methods for individual sand-sized grains of quartz and their application to archaeological questions of global significance. her work has concentrated on providing a

reliable timeline for modern human evolution in South Africa, but her current interests also include archaeological questions in other parts of Africa and the world, as well as geological topics such as sea-level change for one of her Arc-funded projects,

Dr Jacobs i s genera t ing high-resolution chronologies for when and where homo sapiens first showed signs of symbolic behaviour, and whether neanderthals developed similar behaviours independently. Such information will help shed light

on the important turning points in human evolution and what factors triggered the first wave of human migrations out of Africa to populate the rest of the world, including Australia.

In 2009, Dr Jacobs was the recipient of a l’oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowship and was awarded the Sir nicholas Shackleton Medal for outstanding young Quaternary scientists by the International union for Quaternary research (InQuA).

Professor Gordon WallaceIntEllIGEnt PolyMEr rESEArch InStItutE unIVErSIty oF WollonGonG

Dr Zenobia JacobscEntrE For ArchAEoloGIcAl ScIEncE unIVErSIty oF WollonGonG

Our science research facilities are:

> Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Studies > Centre for Archaeological Science > Centre for Medical Bioscience > Centre for Medical Radiation Physics > Centre for Medicinal Chemistry

> GeoQuEST (geoscience research) > Institute for Conservation Biology and

Environmental Management > Intelligent Polymer Research Institute/

ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science

Visit us to find out why:Visit www.uow.edu.au/science/research

Connect with leading science researchersThe University of Wollongong has built its successful science research base and reputation by focussing on its key research strengths:

UOW CRICOS Provider No: 00102E


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Our science research facilities are:

> Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Studies > Centre for Archaeological Science > Centre for Medical Bioscience > Centre for Medical Radiation Physics > Centre for Medicinal Chemistry

> GeoQuEST (geoscience research) > Institute for Conservation Biology and

Environmental Management > Intelligent Polymer Research Institute/

ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science

Visit us to find out why:Visit www.uow.edu.au/science/research

Connect with leading science researchersThe University of Wollongong has built its successful science research base and reputation by focussing on its key research strengths:

UOW CRICOS Provider No: 00102E

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CSIRO ? 3

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Csiro


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Dr IVAn GrEGurIc graduated with a BSc (hons) in chemistry prior to being awarded a PhD in synthetic chemistry at university of Western Sydney. After completing his doctorate, Dr Greguric was employed by Schering-Plough Animal health in animal health care research, where he formulated and developed animal pesticide products. his duties included hPlc methods development and validation, drug feasibility trials, pharmacokinetics, drug safety trials, protocol report preparation and scale-up of lead/final formulations for plant manufacture.

After working at Schering-Plough, Dr Greguric participated in radioisotope research as an executive post-doctoral fellow in the ArI research group at AnSto (now known as AnSto life Sciences), under the guidance of Bill Burch, on the recovery of 201tl at the national Medical cyclotron during 2000.

Dr Gregu i c t h en j o i n ed t h e AnSto radiopharmaceutical group led by Andrew Katsifis, working primarily as a synthetic chemist in the drug targeted synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals for use in imaging and therapeutic applications in cancer and neuroscience. he subsequently developed skills in radiolabelling I123, I125 and tc99m with proteins, peptides and small molecules and made the transition from synthetic chemist to competent radiochemist.

over the next five years, Dr Greguic focused on the development of the AnSto radiochemistry team’s capability. During this period, the group

doubled in size to over 20 members, and significant investment was made in radiochemistry equipment, alongside the development of 18F radiolabeling and automation.

During his decade at AnSto, Dr Greguic’s role has evolved into that of a facilitator and builder of core radiopharmaceutical competencies in infrastructure, radiolabelling mythologies/techniques and staff training. he has been involved with collaborations specifically linked to French organisations, most Australian universities and key nuclear medicine and PEt centres.

Dr Greguric’s research activities include participating in the PBr project led by Andrew Katsifis with a crc in biomedical imaging development. he is the primary inventor of a melanoma imaging agent [18F]MEl050 (crcBID), the first human study of which was conducted at Peter Mac cancer centre in June 2010. he has also assisted with the development of an amino acid radiotracer [18F]-FPM (crcBID) which is headed for its first human clinical study, in late 2010.

At present his research time is focused in the development of Iodobenzamides compounds for melanoma therapy (crcBID), development of caspase-3 (apoptosis) radioligands and the broad development of metallo chelation ligands for Ga68, lu177 and Zr89 complexation in partnership with Peter Barnard at the la trobe university.

Dr Ivan GregurichEAD oF rESEArch AnD InnoVAtIon AnSto lIFE ScIEncES


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www.ansto.gov.au

Australian Nuclear Scienceand Technology Organisation

For more information about ANSTOvisit www.ansto.gov or call 02 9717 3111

AustScientistAd_portrait 9/2/10 5:09 PM Page 1

• OPAL research reactor • Neutron scattering• Nuclear medicine for medical treatment and diagnosis

• Material stresses and strains • Managing radioactive waste • Managing national facilities • Medical research

• Air pollution monitoring • Fruit fly irradiation• Radiation detection • Silicon irradiation

• National security • Climate change research• Carbon dating • Nanotechnology • Water dating


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Professor tissue is an international expert on the effects of climate change on ecosystems. his current research on plant response to changes in global climate primarily considers the interactive effect of elevated co2 and associated environmenta l factors (e .g. temperature, nutrients and water) on leaf level physiology and its implications for plant growth.

he has worked at Free Air co2 Exchange (FAcE) sites in forest and desert environments

around the world. he operates a precipitation manipulation experiment in the desert at Big Bend national Park in texas and is a close collaborator with the uSDA, working on water stress response in crops including peanut.

In addition, Professor tissue was a founding member of Precipnet, an internat ional consortium of scientists studying the impact of variable rainfall on native and agricultural ecosystems. Professor tissue’s goal is to

determine the mechanisms that regulate and integrate the developmental and physiological processes that influence leaf level carbon balance and plant growth from the cell to the ecosystem level. this information will be used to determine the impact of climate factors on carbon and water flux and ultimately, on growth and in natural and agricultural ecosystems.

Associate Professor Ian Anderson’s work centres on the molecular ecology of soil micro-organisms. he has particular interest in soil fungi, including those that form mycorrhizal associations with the roots of plants.

his current research is focused on determining the effect of climate change on the structure and activity of eucalypt forest soil microbial communities, and the potential role of soil microbes in increasing soil carbon sequestration. It is funded by

a life Sciences research Award from the nSW office for Science and Medical research.

In collaboration with Professor cairney, he is also developing innovative approaches, based on fluorescent in situ hybridisation and l a s e r m ic rod i s s ec t i on microscopy , to de te rmine , at the cellular level, the nature of the interaction between basidiomycete fungi and roots of Australian Ericaceae. this research will utilise a PAlM laser microdissection

microscope facility established within the centre for microbial and plant sciences research. Associate Professor Anderson was named ProSPEr.net-Scopus 2009 Asia Pacific young Scientist of the year in the area of agriculture and natural resources and received the nSW young tall Poppy Science Award in 2008 for his excellence in research achievements and passion for communicating science.

Professor David TissuecEntrE For PlAntS AnD thE EnVIronMEnt

Associate Professor Ian AndersonSchool oF nAturAl ScIEncES unIVErSIty oF WEStErn SyDnEy


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Climate Change and Energy Research at the University of Western Sydney

UWS has established one of Australia’s largest and most comprehensive research facilities, following the awarding of a $40 million grant in 2009. This project is an initiative of the Australian Government, being conducted as part of the Nation-Building Economic Stimulus Package. It supports Australia’s response to climate change – assisting the nation to adapt to a carbon-constrained economy and driving innovation in developing energy alternatives.

The new national Climate Change and Energy Research Facility (CCERF) at UWS will act as a beacon for the best and brightest climate change and energy researchers from around Australia and the world. The integrity of excellent teaching and research, the initiative to explore new horizons and the responsibility to create an environment where innovation thrives are key drivers in advancing the University’s mission.

If you have any enquiries about the Climate Change and Energy Research Facility – perhaps you are interested in joining or collaborating with UWS – please email [email protected] for further information.

04/08/2010 CHS2061

CHS2061-Australian-Scientist-ad.indd 1 4/08/10 1:37 PM

Cross-disciplinary collaboration will be crucial to achieve technological advances, particularly in the health and allied health fields.

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A worldof research

The world is changing rapidly, as is the way we conduct research and development. Australian Science demands more collaboration, especially international collaboration.

Recently, AustRAliA’s commonwealth science and industrial Research Organisation (csiRO) undertook a global foresight activity. the report from this project, “Our Future World: An analysis of global trends, shocks and scenarios”, identified a number of global research trends that could be amalgamated into five “megatrends”. One of these trends was summarised as “More from less” and relates to a trend of increasing demand for a depleting natural resource base due to population and economic growth. it will become paramount that these natural resources (such as energy, minerals, water and land for food production) be used in the most efficient manner. their utilisation will be increasingly constrained by the impact of a changing climate. thus, the link between energy, water, food and climate will be a dominant strategic research theme.

to ensure successful outcomes and achieve impact in these endeavours, we will need much stronger collaboration between research groups. Particular emphasis will be on both cross-disciplinary collaboration and international collaboration. cross-disciplinary collaboration will be crucial to achieve technological advances, particularly in the health and allied fields. A good Australian example of the impact that cross-disciplinary collaboration can yield is Bionic Vision Australia, which is a partnership of Australia’s leading researchers whose aim is to develop a bionic eye. this requires a team of experts from a number of different disciplines and brings together the leading experts in such fields as vision science, materials biocompatibility, wireless integrated circuits, ophthalmology and bio-engineering.

47

4

Another example of the need to foster cross-disciplinary research is the csiRO national Flagship program. national Research Flagships are large-scale multidisciplinary research partnerships that harness world-class expertise to tackle national priorities. indeed, in a recent review of the Flagships, it was concluded “Flagships offer the most promising mechanisms yet to drive large-scale activity addressing Australia’s national research priorities in a collaborative, cooperative and intensively managed manner”.

international collaboration is increasingly important in addressing global challenges and for making the most efficient use of physical infrastructure and knowledge capital. some good examples of large-scale international collaboration are the ceRn large Hadron collider (lHc), where more than half of the world’s particle physicists, representing 85 nationalities and more than 500 universities, do research; and the square Kilometre Array

(sKA) telescope, which will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope ever built. the sKA project currently involves more than 30 institutes in 15 countries, with Australia short-listed as one of the final two countries in contention to host the sKA.

scientific research and technological development are, by their very nature, international activities. new research often builds on the results of work undertaken previously in another country. Australia accounts for about two per cent of the World’s research effort. so, international research collaboration is important in order to tap into the other 98 per cent.

the relative citation impact of Australian research undertaken in collaboration with partners in other countries is significantly higher than research where such collaboration is not involved (see Figure 1).

More remarkably, the impact is almost tripled when there are both european and

Figure 1. Relative citation impact – science citation index publications 1991–2005

Source: FEAST 2009, “A Bibliometric Analysis of Australia’s International Research

Collaboration in Science and Technology: Analytical Methods and Initial Finding”,

Discussion Paper 1/09.

Figure 2. Contribution of the USA, European Union and Asia

Pacific regions to World Science output, 1990–2004.

Source: Thompson Scientific National Science Indicators

European Union

USA

Asia Pacific

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00

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tive

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Australian Publications with not International Collaborations

1991

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48


usA collaborators. this provides yet another example of the importance of international research cooperation.

international research collaboration enables Australian researchers and their students to acquire new knowledge that may be applied in Australia. it also enables the application of Australian knowledge to the needs of other countries. this can create opportunities for the export of products and services.

Research equipment and techniques are constantly evolving. international research collaboration helps Australian researchers to keep up to date by accessing new techniques and equipment in other countries. experience with new equipment in overseas laboratories helps our researchers to determine what is needed here. For example, Australia’s investment in a leading-edge synchrotron was informed by a sizeable group of Australian researchers that had gained experience with synchrotrons in Japan, the usA, the uK

and France. the Australian Government’s national innovation Agenda, Powering ideas, notes “Australia has everything to gain from improving connections within the national innovation system and expanding its participation in international research and innovation networks”.

the performance of our neighbours in the Asia Pacific region is changing dramatically. it is therefore important for Australia to collaborate with them. Both india and china are emerging as economic powerhouses and much of this future growth will be fuelled by an emphasis on science and technology. indeed, it can be seen in overall science metrics that, whilst the usA and europe have experienced a decline or plateau in global science output, the Asia Pacific region continues to grow (Figure 2). this is further exemplified in the material science domain where the Asia Pacific region is now the dominant global engine of research and development (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Contribution of the USA, European Union and Asia Pacific

regions to World Material Science output, 1990–2004.

Source: Thompson Scientific National Science Indicators

EuropeanUnion

USA

Asia Pacific19

90

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49

A world of rEsEArCh

“In an interconnected global economy, collaboration between

countries and across disciplines will be crucial to achieving success.”

china is emerging as a world leader in science and technology. the challenge for Australia will be to overcome the challenge of different cultures and languages to produce good collaborative outcomes.

in conclusion, in an increasingly interconnected global economy, collaboration between countries and across disciplines will be crucial to achieving successful outcomes in our research endeavours, particularly in major strategic issues such as the nexus between energy, water, food and climate. Jason Mitchell, a neuroscientist from Harvard articulated it succinctly when he said:

“the most dramatic innovation introduced with the roll-out of our species is not the prowess of individual minds but the ability to harness that prowess across many individuals.”

The Dish’ Radio Telescope at Parkes, NSW.

Photo by: David McClenaghan, CSIRO

50


One of these young adults may have the power to change the future.

CSL Limited A.B.N. 99 051 588 348. 45 Poplar Road, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia. CSL is a trademark of CSL Ltd. www.csl.com.au

We believe the next generation of Australian scientists are key to the future health and prosperity of this country.

To this end, CSL is committed to supporting the medical research community, and to fostering the next generation of medical researchers.

CSL is proud to support the medical research community through our partnerships with NYSF, UROP and AIPS. Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program

51


52

Professor Martins is Edith cowan university’s Foundation chair of Ageing and Alzheimer’s, and head of the centre of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease research and care. one of the world’s leading researchers into Alzheimer’s disease, his motivation for starting research into Alzheimer’s disease was a result of his father-in-law being diagnosed with the disease.

In the mid-1980s, Professor Martins was a member of a Perth research team that discovered the beta amyloid protein, which accumulates in the brain of sufferers and is the foundation of

Alzheimer’s disease. he currently leads a large multidisciplinary team over 40 researchers that undertakes research into diagnosis and biomarker discovery, basic science into understanding disease mechanisms and development of prevention and treatment strategies. this dedication to world-leading research resulted in him being named WA Australian of the year for 2010.

Professor Martins finds his association with Edith cowan university provides a wide range of specialist skills via academic collaborators, as well as through

PhD students such as molecular biologists, psychologists and exercise physiologists. Professor Martins is also Director of research for the Mccusker Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation established to enhance medical research into Alzheimer’s disease in Western Australia. Edith cowan university Vice-chancellor Professor Kerry cox said that research undertaken at Australian universities can have a real and tangible impact on the lives and wellbeing of people around the world.

Assoc ia te Professor Danie l Galvão is the Director of the Vario health Institute, which facilitates collaboration between researchers, educators, industry and government to optimise health and improve quality of life for people of all ages, within differing social, cultural, political and environmental contexts. Vario brings together a significant group of research centres, internationally recognised investigators and local industry partners with recognised

strengths in areas related to exercise science, health promotion, human

biology, nursing and palliative care, nutrition, occupational therapy, psychology and public health to promote a holistic approach to understanding health and lifestyle issues.

Associate Professor Galvão was recognised in the 2009 new Independent researcher Infrastructure Support (nIrIS) Awards. his research has facilitated the use of exercise as an important strategy to mitigate physical function-reducing treatment side

effects and improve quality of life in prostate cancer survivors.

In ternat iona l ly , Assoc ia te Professor Galvão has been the Australian researcher contributing to the writing committee for the influential American college of Sports Medicine (AcSM) consensus Statement on Exercise Guidelines for cancer Survivors, which is now the guideline for all exercise assessment, and the prescribed model for cancer management in north America and much of the world.

Professor Ralph MartinsFounDAtIon chAIr oF AGInG AnD AlZhEIMEr’S hEAD oF thE cEntrE oF ExcEllEncE For AlZhEIMEr’S DISEASE rESEArch AnD cArE

Associate Professor Daniel GalvãoDIrEctor oF thE VArIo hEAlth InStItutE EDIth coWAn unIVErSIty


53

At Edith Cowan University (ECU), our focus has only ever been on research that makes a difference. That’s why we continue to develop world-class research and innovation which not only engages with communities, but which creates strong social, economic, environmental and cultural impacts too.

Right now, we welcome collaborative research partnerships in the following areas:

• Aboriginal Health, Education and Community • Business and Society • Education • Engineering and ICT • Environment and Sustainability • Health and Wellness • Security, Law and Justice • Society and Community • Communications, Humanities, Media and Creative Arts

Start the journey and reach your potential. Call 134 ECU (134 328), email [email protected] or visit our website.

www.research.ecu.edu.au/ori/

303 ECU5219 CRICOS IPC 00279B

ReseaRch and innovation at ecUMaking a diffeRence


54

Dr Burdon followed her Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in biochemistry and microbiology, with a PhD at the Menzies centre for Population health research (now the Menzies Institute) at the university of tasmania, in the newly formed Department of Genetic Epidemiology. She then spent two years working on the genetics of heart disease in diabetes at a large medical school in north carolina, uSA, before returning to

Australia to take up a position in the Department of ophthalmology at Flinders university in 2005. her research is currently supported by two large grants from the nh&Mrc.

Dr Burdon’s research aims to determine the genetic risk factors for common blinding diseases. More specifically, it is attempting to identify which genes can cause which blinding diseases and ultimately to understand how they

do so. the work currently covers a variety of diseases, including glaucoma, keretoconus and diabetic eye disease, as well as work on cataracts in children.

In 2009, Dr Burdon received a young tall Poppy Science Award. the award recognises the achieve-ments of South Australian scientists under 35. they are selected on the basis of their research revelations and their passion for communicating their work.

After completing her PhD at the university of technology Sydney seven years ago, Dr Ellis took up two postdoctoral positions in the united States.

the first was at rensselaer Polytechnic Insti tute (rPI), where her nanotechnology work pertained to carbon nanotube functionalisation and surface modification for microelectronic device applications for IBM. the second position was at new Mexico State university, where the focus of

her carbon nanotube modification work was for conductive films and solar cel ls . Awarded a new Zealand Foundation of research Science and technology fellowship at Industrial research ltd, new Zealand, she worked on microfluidics (in particular switchable surfaces) and carbon nanotubes. An academic at Flinders university since 2006, Dr Ellis has 54 peer-reviewed publications, five full patents and attracted over $4 million in research funding.

Dr Ellis’ research involves the study of science at the nanoscale (less than one billionth of a metre). her work primarily involves the modification of surfaces for applications in desalination, forensic science and biosensing. She has projects focusing on fingerprinting using quantum dots, carbon nanotubes for water filtration and DnA profiling in forensic terrorist and crime scenes.

Dr Kathryn BurdonPoSt DoctorAl FElloW DEPArtMEnt oF oPhthAlMoloGy School oF MEDIcInE FlInDErS unIVErSIty

Dr Amanda EllisSEnIor lEcturEr In chEMIStry/nAnotEchnoloGy School oF chEMIcAl & PhySIcAl ScIEncES FlInDErS unIVErSIty


55

CRICOS Provider Number: 00114A

Supporting young researchers Flinders has programs specifically designed to nurture and mentor young researchers, encouraging their growth and development, and turning ideas into outcomes.

The University recently recognised the outstanding results, and future potential, of nine young men and women with the Vice-Chancellor’s inaugural Awards for Early Career Researchers in which cash rewards accompanied the accolades. They included medical scientist Dr Kathryn Burdon (pictured) who is researching the genetic causes of diabetes-related eye disease.

Family Friendly Fellowships It is a feature of active research and engagement with one’s peers that young researchers travel to attend conferences and add to the pool of ideas, from which solutions can emerge.

Flinders University has introduced a bold new concept of Family Friendly Fellowships. These Fellowships allow staff who are carers to travel and alleviate the stress of conference participation on families by facilitating travel for partners and children or providing support for family members who remain at home while a carer is away.

The Fellowships will also facilitate re-entry to the workforce after parental leave.

Harnessing new talent More broadly, Flinders University continues to build on its excellent reputation for research with an accelerated employment program for emerging leaders in academia, supporting staff to become more research-active, expanding industry and academic relationships, and strengthening international research collaborations.

A vibrant, supportive and sustaining culture is fundamental to successful research. With innovative programs that bring out the best in its young men and women, Flinders University is making the investment in ideas that will deliver dividends for society at large.

www.flinders.edu.au

Robust research is vital to understanding our world. It will help unlock the answers to the medical, environmental, economic and social challenges we will face in the future.

At Flinders University we are making a major investment in the next generation of young researchers, giving them the knowledge and skills to rise to those challenges

ideasInvesting

in

inspiring achievement

All participants operate in an environment shaped by the culture and broader political economy.

56

AustrAliA hAs a long history of successful innovation, from the boomerang to wireless local area networking, from the stump-jump plough to the black box flight recorder. the spark that ignites innovation is ultimately provided by people, but their new ideas can only be developed into products and services for social or commercial benefit if they are supported by a national innovation system.

According to the innovation system report, the first of an annual series designed to reveal

the workings of the engine room of Australian innovation and plot its development and performance, primary components of the system are businesses, universities, publicly funded research organisations and governments.

On the second tier are education, finance, infrastructure and other organisations that facilitate networks and provide financial and human capital.

“All participants operate in an environment shaped by the culture and broader political

Australia’sscientific research

system“The national innovation system is an open network of organisations interacting with each other in an environment that stimulates and regulates their activities and interactions.”

The Australian Innovation System Report 2010.

57

5

“We are near the top of OECD when it comes to government

funding of research. What we don’t have is generous funding

from the philanthropic sector and the private sector.”

58


economy, which influences the scale, direction and relative success of all innovative activities,” the report says.

While innovation provides the spark, the fuel that drives this engine is money.

Expenditure by Australian businesses on research and development (BErD) generally accounts for around 60 per cent of Australia’s gross expenditure on research and development (GErD), followed by the Commonwealth which contributes around 30 per cent, with the remainder coming from state and territory governments, overseas sources and philanthropic support.

For a number of reasons, particularly the fact that Australia is a relatively young economy, private investment in innovation accounts for a lower proportion of the national total than in most comparable developed economies.

the latest available data cited by the innovation system report shows that Australia’s BErD to GDP ratio of 1.27 per cent in 2007-08 was just 80 per cent of the OECD average of 1.58 per cent, but a marked improvement on the 1998-99 result of 46 per cent. in 2007-08,

39.1 per cent of Australian companies reported undertaking innovation, a rise of 6.4 percentage points compared to the previous year.

this trend is buoyed by the Commonwealth, which allocates around a quarter of its innovation spending to encourage business investment, including r&D tax incentives. the remainder is shared across universities, research agencies and programs that support international collaboration, and largely distributed via the Australian research Council and the National health & Medical research Council. in 2009-10 the Commonwealth budgeted $8.6 billion for science and innovation, a 25 per cent increase compared to 2008-09.

“successive governments of all political persuasions have actually funded research generously in Australia,” says Professor Bob Williamson, science Policy secretary for the Australian Academy of science.

“We are near the top of OECD when it comes to government funding of research. What we don’t have is generous funding from the philanthropic sector and the private sector.

“this is partly a reflection of the fact that industry in Australia has never been heavily involved in research.”

the Cooperative research Centre (CrC) model, introduced in 1990 to address the shortfall in private r&D by supporting research partnerships between publicly funded researchers and end-user companies, is a unique aspect of Australia’s innovation system.

Over three decades, 185 research ventures have been supported by the CrC program, receiving more than $3.3 billion from the Commonwealth and $10.8 billion in cash or kind from other participants. While this indicates that the CrC program has encouraged a resilient cultural

- Defence

- General advancement of knowledge:

- R&D financed from other sources than GUF

- General advancement of knowledge: - R&D financed from General University Funds (GUF)

- Agriculture

- Health

- Industrial Production and technology

- Energy + Environment

- Transport, telecommunication and other infrastructures

- Exploration and exploitation of space

- Exploration and exploitation of the earth

GRAPH KEy

59

AustrAliA’s sCiEntifiC rEsEArCh sYstEM

change in the attitude of businesses to investing in innovation, there is much further to go before Australia’s innovation system matches optimal international paradigms.

the Australian Bureau of statistics has found that 84 per cent of businesses that undertook innovation in 2006-07 did so with no collaborative arrangements. Maturity and size were key indicators, with 60 per cent of large, innovation-active mining firms engaged in collaboration, compared to only 13 per cent of innovation-active manufacturing sMEs.

this profile led the World Competitiveness report 2009-10 to classify Australia as competitively disadvantaged on measures of networking and linkages.

“it is troubling that collaboration and networking are consistent weaknesses in the Australian innovation system, particularly in comparison with the world’s most innovative countries,” the innovation system report says. “Australia lags significantly behind leading OECD countries in collaboration for innovation,

24%

AustralianGovernment

3%

State Government

4%

Other Australian

66%

Business

3%

Overseas

Contribution to absolute increase in GERD by source of funds, 1984-85 to 2006-07

Percentage of the total GERD increase over 22 years

Source: ABS (2008), Research and Experimental Development, All Sector Summary, Australia,

2007-07, cat. no. 8112.0; special ABS data request and DSSIR caculation

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“It is troubling that collaboration and networking are consistent

weaknesses in the Australian innovation system, particularly in

comparison with the world’s most innovative countries.”

particularly between large firms and higher education institutions.”

Our innovation system is also characterised by low levels of international engagement. research funding from overseas accounted for around 2.4 per cent of GErD in 2006, the latest available figure, ranking 25 out of 29 OECD countries. We earned the same low ranking for patented products or processes invented in Australia in collaboration with at least one foreign inventor, while only 1 per cent of Australian businesses collaborated with overseas partners in innovation, placing us second last in the OECD.

While the private sector is playing a more important role in our innovation system, the last decade has seen a fall in emphasis on basic research, shown by the proportion of public funding allocated to “general advancement of knowledge”. in 2009-10 this accounted for around 30 per cent of the Commonwealth’s research funding, down from almost 50 per cent ten years earlier.

Over the same period the share allocated to industrial and energy research rose from around 21 per cent to 35 per cent, signalling a stronger commitment to applied research and the need to respond to climate change, while health and environment research also showed modest gains. the biggest winner in 2009-10 was research into low carbon and renewable energy, which received slightly more than $1 billion, a 290 per cent rise from the previous year’s allocation of $270 million.

these outcomes reflect the hard decisions required when even the historically unprecedented 25 per cent increase in overall Commonwealth funding in 2009-10 could not meet the demands of all sectors.

“in the 21st century no country can be good at everything, even the us focuses on its strengths,” Bob Williamson says.

“But it should not be a backward-looking focus on strengths. We shouldn’t be looking at what we were good at five or ten years ago; we have to look at what is going to be important.”

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AustrAliA’s sCiEntifiC rEsEArCh sYstEM


62

Dr catrin Goebel has a degree in industrial chemistry and has been working in the national Measurement Institute’s Australian Sports Drug testing laboratory (ASDtl) in Sydney s ince 2000. During that time, she also completed her PhD in medicine and, since 2009, has been ASDtl’s research Manager.

Dr Goebel’s expertise lies in using lc — mass spectrometry for the analysis of performance-enhancing agents such as diuretics, corticosteroids, narcotics, peptide hormones and haemoglobin-

based blood substitutes. She has a particular interest in improving detection and quantification of peptide hormones such as insulin using mass spectrometry. her work has enabled the implementation of improved methods with which to detect these agents. Analysis of multiple residues of several different classes of banned substances in sports is difficult at best. Dr Goebel’s work lays the foundation for screening methods that detect multiple substances simultaneously. As ASDtl’s research Manager, she works closely with the other

34 World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratories to develop world’s best practice anti-doping methodologies. She regularly presents her work at international conferences. Most recently, at the annual cologne Doping conference, she presented her work on the detection of luteinising hormone (lh) in urine as a marker for anabolic steroid doping and the identification of doping with recombinant lh.

Dr Ilya Budovsky heads the electricity section at Australia’s national Measurement Institute. he received his PhD in electrical engineering in 1995 from the Mendeleyev Institute of Metrology, St Petersburg, russia. Ilya com-menced in 1991 as a research scientist, assumed responsibility for the low frequency standards team in 1997, and was appointed to his current role in 2009.

Dr Budovsky’s research has improved the accuracy of thermal converters and extended their usage from volts to millivolts

and microamps. his work in applying thermal converters to the measurement of wideband electrical power resulted in the world’s first electrical power standard for frequencies up to 200 khz.

Presently, Dr Budovsky’s team, together with Japanese, German, French and American scientists, i s deve loping quantum Ac standards which generate voltages with precise values in terms of fundamental constants of nature. the new standards will allow direct traceability of both sinusoidal and

distorted waveforms to quantum-based standards, thus ensuring quality for providers and consumers of electrical energy. Dr Budovsky has coordinated key international comparisons of Ac-Dc transfer standards and assessed metrology laboratories in Australia and overseas. he is a Senior Member of IEEE, represents Australia on the consultative committee for Electricity and Magnetism and chairs the Asia Pacific Metrology Program’s technical committee on Electricity and Magnetism.

Dr Catrin GoebelrESEArch MAnAGEr, AuStrAlIAn SPortS DruG tEStInG lABorAtory nAtIonAl MEASurEMEnt InStItutE

Dr Ilya BudovskySEctIon MAnAGEr, ElEctrIcIty nAtIonAl MEASurEMEnt InStItutE

The breadth of our work is impressivebut its impact is far greater.

TheNationalMeasurementInstituteisresponsibleforalldisciplinesofmeasurementinAustralia–analytical,biological,chemical,legalandphysical. Wehavetheexpertisetoofferawiderangeofmeasurementsolutionstoindustry,governmentandthecommunity. Wehelpindustryimproveproductqualitybydevelopinginstrumentsthatdeterminetheexactsurfacetemperatureinthemanufacturingofmetalsheeting. WeconductproficiencytestingprogramstohelpbreadmanufacturersmeetfolicacidlevelsinAustralian-madebread. Inthefightagainstcancer,NMIisdevelopingmeasurementtechniquestohelpwithearlydiagnosis.

Tohelpcurtailtheillicittraffickingofdrugs,NMIanalysesdrugsamplesforpolicethusenablingthemtoidentifycountryoforiginandtraffickingroutes. NMIalsosupportscontaminatedsiteremediation,metalsproductionandemissionsreportingbyanalysingforextremelylowlevelsofdioxinsandotherpollutants. Wecouldgoon,butyougettheidea. Insummary,weofferacomprehensive,multi-disciplinaryapproachtomeasurementchallenges. Soifyou’dliketoknowmoreaboutourcapabilities,[email protected].

National Measurement InstituteAdivisionoftheDepartmentofInnovation,Industry,ScienceandResearch

www.measurement.gov.au

National MeasurementInstitute


63

The breadth of our work is impressivebut its impact is far greater.

TheNationalMeasurementInstituteisresponsibleforalldisciplinesofmeasurementinAustralia–analytical,biological,chemical,legalandphysical. Wehavetheexpertisetoofferawiderangeofmeasurementsolutionstoindustry,governmentandthecommunity. Wehelpindustryimproveproductqualitybydevelopinginstrumentsthatdeterminetheexactsurfacetemperatureinthemanufacturingofmetalsheeting. WeconductproficiencytestingprogramstohelpbreadmanufacturersmeetfolicacidlevelsinAustralian-madebread. Inthefightagainstcancer,NMIisdevelopingmeasurementtechniquestohelpwithearlydiagnosis.

Tohelpcurtailtheillicittraffickingofdrugs,NMIanalysesdrugsamplesforpolicethusenablingthemtoidentifycountryoforiginandtraffickingroutes. NMIalsosupportscontaminatedsiteremediation,metalsproductionandemissionsreportingbyanalysingforextremelylowlevelsofdioxinsandotherpollutants. Wecouldgoon,butyougettheidea. Insummary,weofferacomprehensive,multi-disciplinaryapproachtomeasurementchallenges. Soifyou’dliketoknowmoreaboutourcapabilities,[email protected].

National Measurement InstituteAdivisionoftheDepartmentofInnovation,Industry,ScienceandResearch

www.measurement.gov.au

National MeasurementInstitute


64

Professor Alexander Babanin is from Swinburne university of technology’s centre for Sustainable Infrastructure. he has a degree in physics and a master in physical oceanography from the M.V. lomonosov Moscow State university in Moscow, russia. he worked as a research scientist in the Marine hydrophysical Institute in Sebastopol in russia from 1983 to 1996, where he also completed his PhD; in the Australian Defence Force Academy in canberra from

1997 to 2000; and in the university of Adelaide from 2000 to 2004. he has worked at Swinburne university of technology since 2004.

Alex’s areas of expertise and research involve wind-generated waves, air-sea interactions and ocean turbulence (including spectral modelling of the wind-generated waves); dynamics of surface ocean waves; wave breaking and dissipation; surface and bottom boundary layers; extreme waves; ocean mixing; wave

climate. results of his research have revealed new physical mechanisms in the processes of small-scale air-sea interaction, wave breaking and spectral dissipation of wave energy, upper-ocean mixing. his work is particularly relevant to the modelling of extreme weather conditions and ocean circulation, including climate change.

Professor Peter Drummond is from Swinburne university of technology’s centre for Atom optics and ultrafast Spectroscopy. he has been a fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences since 2003. he was awarded the 2005 harrie Massey Medal and 2008 Walter Boas Medal from the Australian Institute of Physics.the latter medal is awarded for original research that makes the most important contribution to physics carried out in the five years prior to the date of the award.

Professor Drummond’s joint research with theoretical colleagues at Swinburne in relation to ultra-cold atoms and quantum optics has led to the development of new theoretical calculations in both fields. this theoretical work has been characterised by testable predictions and consequently this has been adopted by a range of experimental groups. this has led to recent high-profile experiments in ultra-cold atomic physics at Swinburne, which has one of the world’s leading laboratories in this exciting new field of physics —

where temperatures are reduced to less than a millionth of a degree above absolute zero.

the importance of Professor Drummond’s work is evidenced by exceptional citation rates, even within the relevant field of research, indicating a high degree of visibility for the theoretical work.

As well as ultra-cold atomic physics — both fermions and bosons — Professor Drummond a l s o w o r k s o n q u a n t u m information, foundations of quantum measurement, genetics and computational physics.

Professor Alex BabaninSWInBurnE cEntrE For SuStAInABlE InFrAStructurE, FAculty oF EnGInEErInG & InDuStrIAl ScIEncES

Professor Peter DrummondProFESSor oF thEorEtIcAl PhySIcS, Arc cEntrE For QuAntuM-AtoM oPtIcS, SWInBurnE cEntrE For AtoM oPtIcS AnD ultrAFASt SPEctroScoPy

HOW DOES BEING HELP US GET BIGGER RESULTS?

CRICOS Provider: 00111D* ISI Thomson 2009

ReseaRch at swinbuRne

1300 275 788 swinburne.edu.au/research

Some call us small. We call it fat-free. It’s research focus, coupled with research agility. As such, our ability to turn ideas into commercial partnership opportunities is exceptional. Just ask Boeing, Ford and Cisco Systems.

And despite our size, citations of Swinburne’s research have grown 250 per cent since 1999, a rate of growth that outstrips all the Go8 universities.*

Combine this with a major investment of $250 million over four years, and our quest for research excellence is unparalleled.


65

HOW DOES BEING HELP US GET BIGGER RESULTS?

CRICOS Provider: 00111D* ISI Thomson 2009

ReseaRch at swinbuRne

1300 275 788 swinburne.edu.au/research

Some call us small. We call it fat-free. It’s research focus, coupled with research agility. As such, our ability to turn ideas into commercial partnership opportunities is exceptional. Just ask Boeing, Ford and Cisco Systems.

And despite our size, citations of Swinburne’s research have grown 250 per cent since 1999, a rate of growth that outstrips all the Go8 universities.*

Combine this with a major investment of $250 million over four years, and our quest for research excellence is unparalleled.


66

Professor John ralston is a physical chemist, specialising in colloid and surface chemistry, with complementary training in metallurgical engineering and technology. he has established a very strong international reputation in research, particularly in the physical chemistry of mineral flotation, static and dynamic wetting and the stability of colloidal systems.

Professor ralston is the creator and foundation Director of the Ian Wark research Institute (the Wark™), which incorporates the Arc Special research centre for Particle and Material Interfaces and the headquarters for the Australian Mineral Science research Institute (AMSrI), at the university of South Australia.

the research outcomes of Professor ralston and his team create enormous improvements to productivity, profitability and environmental sustainability for industries in the mining, materials, specialty chemicals, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

Professor ralston’s research outcomes have been documented and published in over 350 refereed journal articles and textbook chapters, plus numerous refereed conference papers and industry reports.

In the Wark, Professor ralston has assembled a team of researchers with backgrounds in chemistry, physics, engineering, mathematics and biotechnology. they collaborate internally and with their colleagues elsewhere in Australia and around the world. they have formal links (strong collaborative research

and technology transfer to industry) with more than 30 highly-reputed research institutions in Europe, north and South America, Asia and southern Africa and informal links with many others.

Professor ralston is and has been a member of numerous national and international associations and committees, including the college of reviewers, canada research chairs Program; the International union of Pure and Applied chemistry (IuPAc), Physical and Biophysical chemistry Division (2002-2004); the International Association of colloid and Interface Science; and the Australian research council’s Advisory council.

Professor ralston’s work in both fundamental and applied science has been recognised by his peers in Australia by his election as a Fellow of both the Academy of technological Sciences and Engineering (in 1993) and of the Australian Academy of Science (in 2005).

the significant contribution, and impact, of Professor ralston’s research has also been recognised through numerous awards. During 2007, he was named South Australian Scientist of the year and South Australian of the year. this was followed by the award of an officer of the order of Australia in 2008 and the Australian Academy of technological Sciences and Engineering clunies ross lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

Laureate Professor John RalstonDIrEctor, IAn WArK rESEArch InStItutE unIVErSIty oF South AuStrAlIA

JAM

USA

/0616/22 CRIC

OS PRO

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ER NO

00121B

A microfluidic device prototype is being

designed at The Wark™ to efficiently capture cancer cells from patient’s blood, which are present in ratios

as low as 1 to 10 per billion blood cells.

In the minerals processing industry,

‘lab on a chip’ technology has been developed to enhance solvent

extraction selectivity and increase transfer rates by factors of 100 to 1,000.

Researchers at the Ian Wark Research Institute (The Wark™), led by Laureate Professor John Ralston AO FAA FTSE, are developing a range of real world applications for microfluidic chips, such as extraction of metals, chemical recovery and biomedical diagnostics. Faster reaction rates, greater process control and a smaller process footprint provide

an excellent vehicle for ‘process intensification’ which also benefits from minimal contamination risks.

The Wark™ hosts the South Australian node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, a $12million state-of-the-art micro

fabrication facility. The Wark™ team has successfully demonstrated proof-of-principle capabilities of the microfluidic chip approach and is

now focussed on the wider implementation of the technology such as ‘tailoring’ the surfaces in the microchip channels.

This research program, with a significant international component has attracted strong interest from key players in the mineral and chemical processing industries. It’s another example of The Wark’s world-class

research in interfacial science and engineering and demonstrates why it remains an international leader in its field of research.

For more information about The Wark™ visit unisa.edu.au/iwri

Making the world micro.

USA 0616_22_Research Microchips_Aust Scientist_5.indd 1 4/06/10 3:30 PM


67

JAM

USA

/0616/22 CRIC

OS PRO

VID

ER NO

00121B

A microfluidic device prototype is being

designed at The Wark™ to efficiently capture cancer cells from patient’s blood, which are present in ratios

as low as 1 to 10 per billion blood cells.

In the minerals processing industry,

‘lab on a chip’ technology has been developed to enhance solvent

extraction selectivity and increase transfer rates by factors of 100 to 1,000.

Researchers at the Ian Wark Research Institute (The Wark™), led by Laureate Professor John Ralston AO FAA FTSE, are developing a range of real world applications for microfluidic chips, such as extraction of metals, chemical recovery and biomedical diagnostics. Faster reaction rates, greater process control and a smaller process footprint provide

an excellent vehicle for ‘process intensification’ which also benefits from minimal contamination risks.

The Wark™ hosts the South Australian node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, a $12million state-of-the-art micro

fabrication facility. The Wark™ team has successfully demonstrated proof-of-principle capabilities of the microfluidic chip approach and is

now focussed on the wider implementation of the technology such as ‘tailoring’ the surfaces in the microchip channels.

This research program, with a significant international component has attracted strong interest from key players in the mineral and chemical processing industries. It’s another example of The Wark’s world-class

research in interfacial science and engineering and demonstrates why it remains an international leader in its field of research.

For more information about The Wark™ visit unisa.edu.au/iwri

Making the world micro.

USA 0616_22_Research Microchips_Aust Scientist_5.indd 1 4/06/10 3:30 PM


68

Dr Pierre Moens gained his PhD degree from the catholic university of louvain after investigating — in collaboration with Dr terence Partridge — the function of dystrophin in a murine model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. then, in a postdoctoral position with Professor cris dos remedios at the university of Sydney, he was introduced to fluorescence spectroscopy and biophysics and met several of his current collaborators — Professor Enrico Gratton (university of california, Irvine) and Professor Glenn King

(Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Queensland).

Working at the university of Bordeaux in France and then with Professor David M. Jameson in hawaii, Dr Moens gained experience in molecular biology techniques and the application of fluorescence to biological systems. Since arriving at the university of new England in 2003 he has established continuing collaborations with world leaders in Europe, the united States and Australia, and has applied advanced biophysical techniques in studying

the interactions between proteins involved in cancer aggressiveness and the cell membrane with the aim of developing better, more cost-effective drugs against cancer.

to achieve these goals, Dr Moens and his collaborators are combining many different approaches – including biochemistry, structural biology, cell biology and biophysics. they are also taking advantage of cutting-edge developments in molecular imaging and image analysis.

Professor Fritz Geiser has worked in Zoology at the university of new England since 1988. he conducts research into the ecological physiology and biochemistry of mammals and birds, especially with regard to hibernation and daily torpor. he has discovered torpor in many Australian species, including tawny frogmouths and kookaburras.

Professor Geiser’s work on the diversity of species that employ torpor has substantially contributed to the current international

perception that many mammals and birds use it for energy conservation. he has estimated that 43 per cent of all Australian terrestrial mammals use torpor, and has shown that the rate of extinction in mammals worldwide is strongly reduced in those that employ torpor. he was the first to discover that dietary fats can substantially modify hibernation patterns, that torpid desert marsupials bask during rewarming from torpor to minimise energy expenditure, and that marsupial pygmy-possums can

hibernate without feeding for up to one year.

Professor Geiser has contributed significantly to knowledge about metabolic fuel use during torpor, chronobiology of hibernation, interrelations between torpor and reproduction, mechanisms of animals’ thermal tolerance, and the evolution of endothermy and torpor. he has published 170 scientific papers that are frequently cited, and his work is recognised worldwide.

Dr Pierre MoensSEnIor lEcturEr School oF ScIEncE AnD tEchnoloGy unIVErSIty oF nEW EnGlAnD

Professor Fritz GeiserProFESSor oF ZooloGy coorDInAtor oF thE rESEArch cEntrE For BEhAVIourAl AnD PhySIoloGIcAl EcoloGy


69

An Astronomy roundtable and workshops on climate change, biotechnology and nanotechnology drew leading researchers from Australia and China, led on the Australian side by Chief scientist Penny sackett and her two immediate predecessors, Professor Jim Peacock and Professor robin Batterham.

this high-level presence underlined the importance for Australia of scientific collaboration with China and other strategic partners with whom Australia has formal science and technology agreements – the United states, the European Union, France, India and Indonesia.

Interwoven with these bilateral agreements is a rich fabric of collaboration defined by research themes.

Professor Andrew Holmes, Foreign secretary of the Australian Academy of science, says none is more important than the challenge of developing carbon-neutral energy technologies

so an energy-hungry world can avoid the worst effects of climate change, which would hit Australia harder than most.

“We can’t do it on our own so we need the skills of our traditional European and north American partners, but we also need to engage with the emerging world, particularly China, which is leading the world in renewable energy research, and India, which is putting money on the table to do it,” Holmes says.

one example of this engagement was announced in July between CsIro and the China United Coalbed methane Corporation. the jointly funded $10 million demonstration project aims to capture up to 2000 tonnes of Co2 from a coal fired power station, sequester it in coal seams unsuitable for mining, and harvest methane displaced by the Co2 for use as fuel.

this is one of more than 3500 collaborative research agreements between Australian

In August 2010 the 30th anniversary of the China-Australia Agreement on S&T Cooperation was celebrated at the Shanghai World Expo with a program highlighting the scope of the relationship and key challenges facing science and society in all nations.

6 Strength in partnership

70

research institutions and overseas counterparts, which focus on research themes and specific projects under the umbrella of government- level agreements.

Despite this extensive network of international research collaboration, there is still much to do. Compared to other developed countries, Australia has a relatively low level of international collaboration when measured by r&D-funded overseas scientific publications co-authored with overseas researchers, patents with foreign co-inventors, or firms involved in international cooperation on innovation.

the prospects are good for improving our performance on these metrics, notably through the internationalisation of our knowledge base. the proportion of our population with tertiary qualifications earned overseas is the second-highest in the oECD, and Australia has the sixth-highest proportion of international students enrolled in advanced research programs. this raises the potential for Australia’s international scientific collaboration to be enhanced via the establishment of links by individual researchers.

“We have to have a commitment to small exchanges because they are the sprat to catch the mackerel,” says Andrew Holmes.

“there is a kind of entry criterion: getting a small grant to show that you can collaborate, then using that demonstration as a mechanism to help you gain entry to larger collaborations.”

Australia’s multicultural strengths will also enhance our ability to contribute to the emerging emphasis on establishing science as a more powerful platform for diplomacy.

In January 2010 a royal society publication, New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy, noted that a long tradition of operating across national boundaries has left science well placed to support emerging forms of ‘soft diplomacy’, identifying relations between Western and Islamic cultures as a key area for science to play a role.

In this context, the Australia-Indonesia treaty for Cooperation in scientific research and technological Development, signed in 2005 with the world’s most populous Islamic nation, could become Australia’s most important international research partnership by the time it, too, celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Australian Pavillion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

71


72

An Antarctic under-ice landscape of smoothly rolling plains, large mountain ranges, deep valleys and sub-glacial lakes was “seen” for the first time by an international team of scientists operating out of Australia’s Casey station in January 2009.

Photo above: This 60km section of radar signals over Aurora Basin shows the lower half of the East Antarctic ice sheet.

The strong bedrock reflection is seen through about four kilometres of ice, and internal layers in the ice can be seen

sweeping over an 800m change in bedrock height. Image by Roland Warner and Jason Roberts, Australian Antarctic

Division © Commonwealth of Australia

Collaborationthe essence of Antarctic science


73

AuStrAlIAn AntArctIc DIVISIon (AAD) scientists worked with colleagues from the united States, Scotland and France aboard a Basler aircraft-turned-airborne-sensor lab to examine the East Antarctic ice sheet and the landscape hidden thousands of metres beneath it.

on board the aircraft, high resolution ice-penetrating radar provided images of the underside of the ice sheet and layers within the ice; a gravity sensor and magnetometer measured the density and composition of the rock lying beneath the ice; a laser altimeter mapped the ice surface and digital cameras captured images of the surface features.

this groundbreaking work typifies the spirit of cooperation fundamental to Antarctic scientific research. collaboration is important in any scientific endeavour, but nowhere is this more apparent than in Antarctica, with its difficulty of access, expensive logistics, vast distances and inhospitable weather and terrain. the Antarctic treaty enshrines the notion of international cooperation in order to explore, discover and protect the greatest wilderness on the planet.

Australia has played a leading role in Antarctic science since Sir Douglas Mawson’s expedition to the magnetic South Pole almost 100 years ago. Since that heroic era of exploration, the AAD, on behalf of the Antarctic science community, has developed and supported a comprehensive science program that has earned a reputation for excellence in discovery, innovation and delivery on national and international goals. our scientists led many projects in the recently completed International Polar year and are strong

contributors to setting research directions in Antarctic science’s peak organisation, the Scientific committee on Antarctic research (ScAr).

the Australian program draws from a broad range of disciplines and institutions and is strengthened by collaboration with renowned international scientists. In 2008/2009 the program supported 119 projects, which were led by scientists from 31 institutions and involved collaboration with a further 242 institutions from 28 countries. over the past five years, the program has also supported 141 higher degree students, including 98 PhD students.

A new Australian Antarctic Science strategic plan (www.antarctica.gov.au) seeks to encourage, guide and focus program research over the next 10 years, with key thematic areas designed to provide input into government policy and environmental management priority areas. thematic areas will examine the roles of Antarctica and the Southern ocean in global change; terrestrial and ocean ecosystem change; natural resource management and wildlife conservation; and approaches to minimizing the impacts of an increasing human footprint on the Antarctic continent. A ‘frontier science’ theme will support less policy-focussed science that is aligned with national science priorities.

the program is open to researchers from around the world who wish to pursue studies in line with the strategic plan. I would encourage those with relevant expertise, a commitment to solving these global issues and, perhaps most importantly, a sense of adventure, to examine the plan and make contact with the AAD.

Collaborationthe essence of Antarctic science

John Gunn, Chief Scientist, Australian Antarctic Division


74

Dr Pierre Moens gained his PhD degree from the catholic university of louvain after investigating — in collaboration with Dr terence Partridge — the function of dystrophin in a murine model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. then, in a postdoctoral position with Professor cris dos remedios at the university of Sydney, he was introduced to fluorescence spectroscopy and biophysics and met several of his current collaborators — Professor Enrico Gratton (university of california, Irvine) and Professor Glenn

King (Institute for Molecular Bioscience, QlD).

Working at the university of Bordeaux in France and then with Professor David M. Jameson in hawaii, Dr Moens gained experience in molecular biology techniques and the application of fluorescence to biological systems. Since arriving at the university of new England in 2003 he has es tab l i shed cont inu ing collaborations with world leaders in Europe, the united States and Australia, and has applied advanced biophysical techniques in studying

the interactions between proteins involved in cancer aggressiveness and the cell membrane with the aim of developing better, more cost-effective drugs against cancer.

to achieve these goals, Dr Moens and his collaborators are comb in ing many d i f f e ren t approaches – including biochemistry, structural biology, cell biology and biophysics. they are also taking advantages of cutting-edge developments in molecular imaging and image analysis.

Professor Fritz Geiser has worked in zoology at the university of new England since 1988. he conducts research into the ecological physiology and biochemistry of mammals and birds, especially with regard to hibernation and daily torpor. he has discovered torpor in many Australian species, including tawny frogmouths and kookaburras.

Professor Geiser’s work on the diversity of species that employ torpor has substantially contr ibuted to the current

international perception that many mammals and birds employ torpor for energy conservation. he has estimated that 43 per cent of all Australian terrestrial mammals use torpor, and has shown that the rate of extinction in mammals worldwide is strongly reduced in those that employ torpor. he was the first to discover that dietary fats can substantially modify hibernation patterns, that torpid desert marsupials bask during rewarming from torpor to minimise energy expenditure, and

that marsupial pygmy-possums can hibernate without feeding for up to one year.

Professor Geiser has contributed significantly to knowledge about metabolic fuel use during torpor, chronobiology of hibernation, interrelations between torpor and reproduction, mechanisms of animals’ thermal tolerance, and the evolution of endothermy and torpor. he has published 170 scientific papers that are frequently cited, and his work is recognised worldwide.

Dr Pierre MoensSEnIor lEcturEr School oF ScIEncE AnD tEchnoloGy unIVErSIty oF nEW EnGlAnD

Professor Fritz GeiserProFESSor oF ZooloGy coorDInAtor oF thE rESEArch cEntrE For BEhAVIourAl AnD PhySIoloGIcAl EcoloGy

Australian GovernmentDepartment of Sustainability, Environment,

Water, Population and CommunitiesAustralian Antarctic Division

antarctica.gov.au

Australian Science in Antarctica Celebrates 100 Years

Australia has been at the leading edge of scientific research in Antarctica since Sir Douglas Mawson’s epic expedition to the icy southern continent in 1911.

Today, research institutions from all over Australia and around the world contribute to the Australian Antarctic Program, which is at the forefront of scientific research on climate change, ocean acidification, conservation and human impacts on the environment.

A new Australian Antarctic Science Strategic Plan is providing research directions for the future. Refer to our website for further details: www.antarctica.gov.au


75

Australian GovernmentDepartment of Sustainability, Environment,

Water, Population and CommunitiesAustralian Antarctic Division

antarctica.gov.au

Australian Science in Antarctica Celebrates 100 Years

Australia has been at the leading edge of scientific research in Antarctica since Sir Douglas Mawson’s epic expedition to the icy southern continent in 1911.

Today, research institutions from all over Australia and around the world contribute to the Australian Antarctic Program, which is at the forefront of scientific research on climate change, ocean acidification, conservation and human impacts on the environment.

A new Australian Antarctic Science Strategic Plan is providing research directions for the future. Refer to our website for further details: www.antarctica.gov.au

Conference

76

This Trend will only accelerate, which means that Australian scientists will need increasing support to build and maintain the relationships required to make this happen.

international collaboration is the major driver of Australia’s increased scientific output.

FeAsT’s bibliometric analysis of scientific journal publications involving Australian authors clearly shows that the increase in publications is being driven almost entirely by internationally co-authored papers, predominately with europe and the UsA (see FeAsT discussion Paper 1/09, http://www.feast.org/index/document/1).

One of the major factors contributing to this statistic is the rise of increasingly complex global issues being tackled by researchers (population health, climate change, biodiversity, etc.) that by their nature require international cooperation.

Key to international collaborationMost scientific collaboration occurs on an ad-hoc basis. For example, two researchers who have met at a conference decide to share insights and data and ultimately publish a joint paper on their findings and arrange to spend time in each other’s laboratory.

Further down the track these researchers may formalise their collaboration with a joint proposal for funding. A prior relationship and development of trust is a necessary pre-requisite for minimising the risks and maximising the success of this more rigorous engagement.

When it comes to international funding programs, the importance of trust is further accentuated as researchers are often engaging with foreign programs that have vastly different rules and expectations to domestic programs.

Over the past 20 years, Australian scientific output has become increasingly international as the problems being tackled by our researchers become larger in scale, scope and complexity.

Internationalresearch

7

77

International Collaborations in Australian Publications, Science Citation Index, 1991–2005.

in a recent survey (FeAsT discussion Paper 3/10, http://www.feast.org/index/document/3) of Australian participants in the european Union’s seventh Framework Program for research and Technological development (FP7) — which is a €50 billion multilateral research program — FeAsT confirmed that almost all engagement occurred through pre-existing relationships with european colleagues, most of which had been cemented via lab visits or overseas sabbaticals.

Multiplying and circulatingWhen researchers spend time in an overseas lab, they clearly stand to gain scientific knowledge and know-how, thereby adding to their already existing capabilities.

Conversely, they are also able to contribute to the scientific base of the laboratory they are visiting as well as expose their own research to wider audience. More subtly, however, when exposed to other research environments

— different national environments, funding regimes, cultures, problem formulation, etc. — the experience has a multiplying effect that enables them to think about and tackle scientific problems with an array of new mindsets. Additionally, by spending quality time in overseas laboratories they are building strong social capital with their counterparts.

nations across the globe have expressed concern for a long time about ‘brain drain’ — that is, the movement of talent from their home nation to abroad. Whilst a simple catchphrase that has been used to rally domestic support for scientific research, it fails to capture the essence of modern research — which is a global game! More recently, the phrase ‘brain circulation’ has been used in some parts of the world to encourage domestic researchers to pursue international opportunities and experiences with the understanding that they will, at some point, return to their home country with enviable skills and professional connections.

78


An investmentTraditionally, when we think about public funds being awarded to researchers to spend time overseas, we generally relate it to an investment in knowledge. however, as discussed above, we should increasingly consider the opportunity as an investment in social capital — the more we invest in researcher mobility, the greater the accumulation of social capital in the global research system, and the greater access we will receive to cutting edge research not available in Australia.

in the recent house of representatives inquiry into Australia’s international research collaboration, it is noted that amongst the key impediments to Australia’s international engagement are issues relating to researcher mobility. These include difficulties encountered by foreign researchers seeking to enter Australia to pursue their careers, and the difficulty domestic researchers experience in securing (or re-resecuring) funds to enable them to

spend important time overseas building their professional links.

One of the smartest investments we can make in Australian science is developing the global presence of our researchers.

About FeAsTThe Forum for european-Australian science

and Technology cooperation (FeAsT) highlights, promotes, and facilitates research collaboration between europe and Australia. More information about FeAsT can be found at www.feast.org.

Acknowledgements: Certain data included herein are derived

from the Web of Science® prepared by THOMSON REUTERS®,

Inc. (Thomson®), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA: © Copyright

THOMSON REUTERS® 2006. All rights reserved.

79

intErnAtionAl rEsEArCh


80

Dr corneel Vandelanotte is an nhrMc & nhF Post-doctoral research Fellow and acting director of the centre for Physical Activity Studies at the Institute of Social Sciences research, cQuniversity. he completed his PhD in 2004 at Ghent university in Belgium. In 2005 he moved to Australia where he first worked at the cancer Prevention research centre at the university of Queensland in Brisbane. In 2005, he was awarded an Early Investigator Prize for the best presentation at national

conference on Physical Activity and health organised by Sports Medicine Australia in Melbourne. In 2007, he was awarded a four-year nhMrc & nhF post-doctoral research fellowship. In early 2009, Dr Vandelanotte commenced his appointment with cQuniversity in rockhampton.

Dr Vandelanotte’s areas of expertise and research involve the development and evaluation of website-delivered and computer-tailored physical activity and dietary interventions, and, as

such, applying a population health approach to behaviour change.

Dr Vandelanotte is also involved in research evaluating the efficacy of interactive telecommunication technology (e.g. smart phones) to improve chronic disease self-management.

As Australia is facing an ob esity epidemic, Dr Vandelanotte’s work is crucial to reducing the burden of disease and health care costs related to physical inactivity and overeating.

Professor Brenda happell is from cQuniversity’s Institute for health and Social Science research and School of nursing and Midwifery. She is qualified as a general and mental health nurse; she is also a qualified secondary school teacher, with postgraduate qualifications, including a PhD, in Education. She is an internationally recognised leader in mental health nursing. As inaugural director of the centre for Psychiatric nursing research and Practice at the university of

Melbourne, Professor happell established a highly successful and innovative centre. She was responsible for the implementation of a world first academic position for a consumer of mental health services, and has maintained a long-standing interest in consumer participation in mental health.

Professor happell is a strong advocate for the human rights of people diagnosed with mental illness and her research interests include seclusion and other

coercive practices, and physical health associated with mental illness. During her career she has obtained more than $5 million in competitive funding, published more than 200 articles in refereed journals, authored two books and several book chapters. She has also established an impressive record as the Editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Mental health nurses, including its recent ErA reclassification from B to A.

Dr Corneel VandelanotteActInG DIrEctor, cEntrE For PhySIcAl ActIVIty StuDIES, nhnMrc & nhF PoSt-DoctorAl rESEArch FElloW, cEntrE For PhySIcAl ActIVIty StuDIES, InStItutE For hEAlth AnD SocIAl ScIEncES rESEArch

Professor Brenda HappellDIrEctor oF InStItutE oF hEAlth AnD SocIAl ScIEncE rESEArch, ProFESSor oF contEMPorAry nurSInG FAculty oF ScIEncES, EnGInEErInG AnD hEAlth

BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE www.cquni.edu.au 13CQUni 13 27 86

B R I S B A N E B U N D A B E R G E M E R A L D G L A D S T O N E G O L D C O A S T M A C K A Y M E L B O U R N E N O O S A R O C K H A M P T O N S Y D N E Y

B E I N S P I R E D

‘We are building one of Australia’s truly great universities.’Professor Scott Bowman Vice-Chancellor CQUniversity Australia

CQUniversity Australia has a focus on research that makes a difference.

Research that addresses the issues affecting our communities. Dynamic research from real people like…

» Dr Mitch Duncan who, with funding from the Heart Foundation of Australia and New Zealand, is examining physical activity levels and associated health outcomes.

» Dr Kerry Reid-Searl, our Nurse Educator of the Year, who is literally changing the face of nursing education with her innovative approach to teaching and curriculum development.

» Dr Brenda Happell, a leader in mental health nursing and patient advocacy, investigating the links between our minds and our bodies when it comes to health.

» And Dr Corneel Vandelanotte, a recipient of the prestigious NHMRC Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, who is undertaking groundbreaking research into the development and evaluation of web-delivered physical activity interventions.

CQUniversity Research… making a difference.

CRIC

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: QLD

002

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CO12720 BeInspired.indd 1 14/07/10 1:50 pm


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BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE www.cquni.edu.au 13CQUni 13 27 86

B R I S B A N E B U N D A B E R G E M E R A L D G L A D S T O N E G O L D C O A S T M A C K A Y M E L B O U R N E N O O S A R O C K H A M P T O N S Y D N E Y

B E I N S P I R E D

‘We are building one of Australia’s truly great universities.’Professor Scott Bowman Vice-Chancellor CQUniversity Australia

CQUniversity Australia has a focus on research that makes a difference.

Research that addresses the issues affecting our communities. Dynamic research from real people like…

» Dr Mitch Duncan who, with funding from the Heart Foundation of Australia and New Zealand, is examining physical activity levels and associated health outcomes.

» Dr Kerry Reid-Searl, our Nurse Educator of the Year, who is literally changing the face of nursing education with her innovative approach to teaching and curriculum development.

» Dr Brenda Happell, a leader in mental health nursing and patient advocacy, investigating the links between our minds and our bodies when it comes to health.

» And Dr Corneel Vandelanotte, a recipient of the prestigious NHMRC Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, who is undertaking groundbreaking research into the development and evaluation of web-delivered physical activity interventions.

CQUniversity Research… making a difference.

CRIC

OS C

odes

: QLD

002

19C;

NSW

013

15F;

VIC

016

24D

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CO12720 BeInspired.indd 1 14/07/10 1:50 pm


82

Associate Professor Kevin Pfleger is head of the laboratory for Molecular Endocrinology – GPcrs, which is a world-leader in its field, having developed technology which places special light-emitting labels on proteins of interest, allowing interactions between proteins to be studied. Advances demonstrated by him and the laboratory have enable these interactions to be monitored in real-time in living cells for longer time periods than previously possible. his work focuses heavily on G-protein coupled receptors, which are proteins that enable cells

to respond to particular hormones in an appropriate manner.

Associate Professor Pfleger s t u d i e d n a t u r a l S c i e n c e s (Pharmacology) at cambridge univers i ty in the uK and obtained his PhD in Molecular Endocrinology from the university of Edinburgh. In 2002, he joined the Western Australian Institute for Medical research as a research fellow and was awarded a Peter Doherty Fellowship by the national health & Medical research council beginning in 2005. he has won national and international

awards in his field and been invited to speak at numerous conferences and universities all over the world.

In addition to being head of his WAIMr laboratory, Associate Professor Pfleger is chief Scientific officer of the WAIMr/university of Western Australia spin-out company Dimerix Bioscience. In December 2009, he was named Western Australian young Scientist of the year at the Western Australian Science Awards.

A Winthrop Professor in the uWA School of Mathematics and Statistics and an Australian research council Federation Fellow, Professor Praeger is in the top 1 per cent of highly cited mathematicians in the world. She is recognised for adapting a 19th century theory by a now celebrated rebel French teenager, Evariste Galois, for use in today’s information technology revolution.

Professor Praeger’s research

focuses on the theory of groups, which can be regarded as the mathematical representation of symmetry. her work has resulted in theoretical and computational advances that have opened up new mathematical areas now studied by mathematicians worldwide.

named 2009 WA Scientist of the year, Professor Praeger runs two Arc-funded research programs which involve a team of uWA teaching and research

staff, Arc postdoctoral research staff, research students, honours students, and a regular stream of international research visitors.

Professor Praeger is a lso wel l known for promot ing the involvement of women in mathematics and for her work with the Australian Mathematics trust, which encourages the study of mathematics by primary and secondary school students.

Associate Professor Kevin PflegerMolEculAr EnDocrInoloGy lABorAtory WEStErn AuStrAlIAn InStItutE For MEDIcAl rESEArch thE unIVErSIty oF WEStErn AuStrAlIA

Professor Cheryl PraegerSchool oF MAthEMAtIcS AnD StAtIStIcS thE unIVErSIty oF WEStErn AuStrAlIA

If you want to achieve world-class results and work with researchers who are already doing just that,

we invite you to join The University of Western Australia. As a member of Australia’s Group of Eight

research-intensive universities, our focus is on working with the brightest and the best. We continue

to attract international award-winning teachers, researchers and students whose individual reputations

have helped to build ours. To explore the exciting opportunities available visit www.uwa.edu.au

CrI

Co

s Pr

ovid

er C

ode

0012

6GBC

&Y

UN

WG

430

Achieveinternational research excellence.

Join us.

UNWG00430 FP 285x210 Aust Science May2010_Final.indd 1 30/3/10 9:12:22 AM


83

If you want to achieve world-class results and work with researchers who are already doing just that,

we invite you to join The University of Western Australia. As a member of Australia’s Group of Eight

research-intensive universities, our focus is on working with the brightest and the best. We continue

to attract international award-winning teachers, researchers and students whose individual reputations

have helped to build ours. To explore the exciting opportunities available visit www.uwa.edu.au

CrI

Co

s Pr

ovid

er C

ode

0012

6GBC

&Y

UN

WG

430

Achieveinternational research excellence.

Join us.

UNWG00430 FP 285x210 Aust Science May2010_Final.indd 1 30/3/10 9:12:22 AM

84

8

A key question for Australian policy makers is whether and how Australian researchers can meet pressing national health issues, step up their engagement with international partners in order address global health, and ensure we generate the best outcomes from Australia’s excellence in research.

Australians are proud of their track record on research. one often-quoted research mantra is that “despite having only 0.3 per cent of the world’s population, Australia contributes 3 per cent of the oeCD’s medical research publications”. Australia has been home to six nobel laureates in medicine: from Howard Florey’s involvement in the discovery of penicillin through to Barry Marshall and Robin Warren’s discovery of the Helicobacter pylori bacterium. the groundbreaking vaccine for human papilloma virus was the result of Australian medical research.

Australians are also well connected throughout the globe. over 36 per cent of publications derived from nHMRC-funded research have one or more international authors. Half of these collaborations are with the usA, and 16.5 per cent with the uk.

As part of the global community, Australian is a growing recipient of external funding derived from industry and philanthropic sources.in a major economic analysis of the impact of Australian research in 2003, Access economics noted one measure of Australia’s attractiveness internationally is the amount of overseas funding it receives, which then amounted to around $121 million (4 per cent) of Australian R&D spending.

Between 2004 and 2008 Australia’s national Health and Medical Research Council provided 563 grants, totaling almost $400 million, which leveraged over $200 million from international

International research collaboration is a cornerstone of both basic and applied research in Australia.

Medical research

85

sources. in 2008, Australia was fourth on the list of niH funding recipients (behind Canada, south Africa and the uk), receiving 50 grants amounting to over $14 million.

the pharmaceutical sector is a major investor, contributing in excess of $700 million p.a. to research and clinical trial activity in Australia and much of this is sourced from overseas.

Australia is increasingly being recognized by overseas philanthropic granting agencies. For example, Australian universities and research institutes were the recipients of seven of 76 grants awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to combat disease in the developing world under the Grand Challenges explorations program. these grants reflect Australian expertise in immunology and drug development.

Australia is also contributing to regional development through collaborative research, training, education and health programs.

For example, the George institute has established a research centre in China, in partnership with Peking university Health science Centre, to address the threat of chronic disease. this marks an important milestone in improving health care in this booming nation.

the queen elizabeth Research institute, university of Adelaide, university of Philippines, Monash Medical Centre and Perak College of Medicine Malaysia are collaborating in the construction of an evidenced-based maternal health research program in southeast Asia. Disorders related to pregnancy and childbirth represent one of the biggest health risk differences between the developed and developing worlds. By establishing a network of researchers and teachers of evidence-based health care across four southeast Asian countries supported from Australia, this collaborative project aims to improve the clinical treatment

86


of pregnancy and childbirth related disorders and the health outcomes of mothers and infants.

the Australian Government established a parliamentary enquiry into Australia’s international research collaboration. Research Australia’s submission to the enquiry presented a range of principles for international engagement. these included:•BuildingAustralia’sknowledgebasethrough

transfer of skills, expertise, knowledge and resources within the domestic economy

•Providinggovernment,industryandtheresearch community with more economic information, a business case and the cost benefits of international collaboration

•Betternationalinformationregardingthedepth and breadth of collaboration

•Capacitybuildingtosupporttravel,exchanges, and international fellowships to provide Australian researchers with international

exposure and experience,and improved visa and immigrationprocesses to enable uptake of research positions within an Australian setting from international experts.in its June 2010 report, the enquiry noted

that collaboration at an international level is an absolute necessity. Recommendations focused on the mechanics of building partnerships, and the opportunity for Australia to develop a strategic approach to help it to build on its scientific strengths and explore opportunities for new collaborative partners.

there is no doubt that the future will offer exciting prospects for Australian researchers.

Note: Research Australia is the nation’s largest alliance working

to make health and medical research a higher national priority.

Research Australia is supported by 170 organisations that together

represent the voices of research institutes, universities, industry,

hospitals, philanthropic groups and the community.

www.researchaustralia.org

“Research Australia’s submission to the enquiry presented

a range of principles for international engagement.”

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MEdiCAl rEsEArCh


88

Associate Professor Josephine Forbes is from the Baker IDI heart and Diabetes Institute. She is currently involved in es tab l i sh ing the Austra l ian Academy of young Scientists. Associate Professor Forbes was awarded the commonwealth health Minister’s Award for Medical research and an nhMrc excellence award in 2010, each of which recognises emerging medical researchers in the middle of their careers. She has also received a young tall Poppy Award for excellence in scientific

communication and research and a young researcher Award in 2002 from the International Diabetes Federation as one of the most promising young scientists in the Western Pacific region.

Associate Professor Forbes’ area of expertise and research is within diabetes and its devastating complications, including kidney disease, which affects more than 400,000 Australian individuals and costs billions of health care dollars per annum. her research focuses on identification of new targets for therapy, since current medicines

only slow down the progression of diabet ic kidney disease. In particular, she studies the biochemical process of advanced glycation, which irreversibly modifies proteins both within our bodies and during modern food preparation techniques. these modified proteins cause damage via a number of pathways, including interruption of energy production in cell power stations (mitochondria) and via “caramelisation” of blood vessels, causing stiffening.

Professor Shaun Jackson is a co-founder of the Australian centre for Blood Diseases (AcBD), a Monash university centre located at AMrEP. the AcBD is the nation’s pre-eminent blood centre with internationally recognised research, treatment and educational programs. Professor Jackson’s research group is renowned for its work on blood clotting diseases, relevant to heart attacks and stroke.

In 2010, Professor Jackson was awarded an nhMrc Australia Fellowship to advance his team’s work on the development of new approaches to treat heart disease and stroke. the Australia Fellowships are Australia’s most prestigious award for excellence in the fields of health and medical research. In addition to his role at Monash, Professor Jackson has an adjunct professorial position at the Scripps

research Institute in San Diego in the uSA. he has established a large multidisciplinary research program involving scientists at Scripps, the Walter & Eliza hall Institute, Monash and rMIt university to examine innovative new approaches to the treatment of blood clotting diseases, focusing on biomechanical mechanisms that activate the blood clotting system.

Associate Professor Josephine ForbesGlycAtIon AnD DIABEtES lABorAtory BAKEr IDI hEArt AnD DIABEtES InStItutE

Professor Shaun JacksonProFESSor oF hAEMAtoloGy AuStrAlIAn cEntrE For BlooD DISEASES MonASh unIVErSIty

Located on the site of The Alfred hospital, Melbourne, the Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct AMREP is one of Australia’s leading centres for medical research, offering modern facilities and outstanding opportunities for research collaboration.

AMREP is a partnership between Alfred Health, Monash University, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health (Burnet Institute), La Trobe University and Deakin University. New AMREP research and education buildings were opened in 2002, attracting new groups and greatly stimulating research activity on the site.

Increasing numbers of research staff, largely due to mergers of the two medical research institutes with smaller institutes, and the need for expanded and upgraded clinical facilities for Alfred Health and educational space for Monash, were the main drivers for AMREP’s latest, innovative development. Stage 2 of The Alfred Centre, a 17,000 square metre project, was completed in early 2010. The extensive, new state-of-the-art research facilities include the Burnet Institute’s nine PC2 laboratories, PC3 facility and X-ray crystallography suite, and Baker IDI’s Healthy Lifestyle Research Centre, incorporating a research gymnasium.

In 2010, located at AMREP are: • The Alfred hospital (Alfred Health) • Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute • Burnet Institute • Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine • Monash University Central Clinical School (Departments of Medicine, Immunology and Surgery) • Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (Monash University) • Nucleus Network (including an early phase clinical trials facility) • National Trauma Research Institute • Australian Centre for Health Innovation • Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre • La Trobe Alfred Clinical School of Nursing

Major research programs at AMREP: • Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity • Infectious diseases, immunology, allergy and respiratory disease • Trauma, critical care and anaesthesia • Blood diseases • Mental health and neurosciences • Public health and preventive medicine • Global health

For further information about AMREP or to request a copy of the annual AMREP Research Report, contact the Alfred & Baker IDI Research Office, Commercial Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004 Telephone: +61 3 8532 1771 Email: [email protected]

EXCELLENCE THRoUGH CoLLABoRATIoN


89

Located on the site of The Alfred hospital, Melbourne, the Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct AMREP is one of Australia’s leading centres for medical research, offering modern facilities and outstanding opportunities for research collaboration.

AMREP is a partnership between Alfred Health, Monash University, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health (Burnet Institute), La Trobe University and Deakin University. New AMREP research and education buildings were opened in 2002, attracting new groups and greatly stimulating research activity on the site.

Increasing numbers of research staff, largely due to mergers of the two medical research institutes with smaller institutes, and the need for expanded and upgraded clinical facilities for Alfred Health and educational space for Monash, were the main drivers for AMREP’s latest, innovative development. Stage 2 of The Alfred Centre, a 17,000 square metre project, was completed in early 2010. The extensive, new state-of-the-art research facilities include the Burnet Institute’s nine PC2 laboratories, PC3 facility and X-ray crystallography suite, and Baker IDI’s Healthy Lifestyle Research Centre, incorporating a research gymnasium.

In 2010, located at AMREP are: • The Alfred hospital (Alfred Health) • Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute • Burnet Institute • Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine • Monash University Central Clinical School (Departments of Medicine, Immunology and Surgery) • Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (Monash University) • Nucleus Network (including an early phase clinical trials facility) • National Trauma Research Institute • Australian Centre for Health Innovation • Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre • La Trobe Alfred Clinical School of Nursing

Major research programs at AMREP: • Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity • Infectious diseases, immunology, allergy and respiratory disease • Trauma, critical care and anaesthesia • Blood diseases • Mental health and neurosciences • Public health and preventive medicine • Global health

For further information about AMREP or to request a copy of the annual AMREP Research Report, contact the Alfred & Baker IDI Research Office, Commercial Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004 Telephone: +61 3 8532 1771 Email: [email protected]

EXCELLENCE THRoUGH CoLLABoRATIoN


90

Professor Mark Wi l lcox i s renowned internationally for his steerage of basic and translational research and for establishing successful partnerships between academic research and industry.

Following the completion of his PhD in medical microbiology at Manchester university in 1987, Professor Willcox took up a fellowship in Australia at the

Institute of Dental research. In 1993, he joined the cornea and contact lens research unit of the School of optometry and Vision Science at the university of new South Wales.

Professor Willcox specialises in the areas of ocular microbiology, tear film biochemistry and corneal immunology. his particular field of research is microbial keratitis and

ways of preventing or controlling this disease. Microbial keratitis is a serious but rare infection of the front surface of the eye (the cornea) and is the only contact lens-related condition that is potentially sight threatening.

Amongst many awards, Professor Willcox was recently named the British contact lens Association Medalist for 2011.

Professor Brien holden oAM has been a major figure in international eye health and vision care for nearly 40 years. his influence extends across science, research and development, professional and academic education and international public health.

he has initiated and guided projects involving international researchers and industry that developed the silicone hydrogel contact lens — a revolutionary advance for the contact lens industry that today captures more than 50 per cent of the market

in the uS. he was also behind the development of soft toric contact lenses for the correction of astigmatism, one of the most successful toric designs ever.

Professor holden’s research focus is now on myopia (short-sightedness) and presbyopia (old sight) — refractive conditions that affect the sight of billions — and has engaged an international team of partners to develop novel technologies to solve these problems. the first spectacle design demonstrating an ability to control the progression of myopia

was developed by Brien holden and partners through the Vision crc (which he helped establish) and has been recently released across the world.

Brien has long been involved in humani tar ian e f for ts to provide eye care to indigenous Austra l ians and deve loping communities throughout the world. his contributions have been acknowledged through a host of national and international awards and honours, including the Medal of the order of Australia and six honorary doctorates.

Prof. Mark Willcox, BSc PhDchIEF ScIEntIFIc oFFIcEr BrIEn holDEn VISIon InStItutE

Prof. Brien Holden, PhD DSc OAMchIEF ExEcutIVE oFFIcEr BrIEn holDEn VISIon InStItutE


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92

LUDWIGINSTITUTEFOR

RESEARCHCANCER

Associate Professor Matthias Ernst was appointed in 1998 as joint-laboratory head of the colon Molecular and cell Biology laboratory at the ludwig Institute for cancer research (lIcr) Parkville Branch and is currently the Interim Director of the lIcr Parkville Branch.

Associate Professor Ernst is an nhMrc Senior research Fellow and chief Investigator on a $20 million nhMrc program grant. recently, he was promoted to Member of lIcr. he holds an honorary appointment at the university of Melbourne.

Associate Professor Ernst’s research involves a number of international collaborations and embraces reverse genetics in the mouse to dissect molecular mechanisms regulating epithelial homeostas is in the gastro-intestinal tract in health and disease. his investigations have recently identified epithelial Stat3 hyperactivation as a molecular mechanism linking inflammation of intestinal tumourigenesis. his group’s complementary interest in canonical Wnt signall ing genetically established permissive signalling thresholds for intestinal

tumour formation and research efforts are now focused to translate these findings into new therapeutic opportunities.

the importance of Associate Professor Ernst’s work is evidenced by more than 3400 citations and publications in prestigious journals, including Nature Medicine, Nature Immunology, Cancer Cell, Journal of Experimental Medicine, PNAS, Journal of Clinical Investigation and Gastroenterology.

Professor Scott has been head, tumour targeting Program, ludwig Institute for cancer research (lIcr) since 1994, Director of the centre for PEt, Austin health, since 1996, and was appointed Director lIcr Melbourne (Austin Branch) and Member of lIcr in 2005.

Professor Scott’s areas of research interest include tumour immunology, targeted therapies, and molecular imaging of cancer. At lIcr, he has led a basic and translational oncology research program focused on immune

based therapy and recombinant antibodies. this has culminated in six antibodies being taken from discovery to humanisation and first-in-man trials with Professor Scott as Principal Investigator, and all of these antibodies have been licensed to pharmaceutical or sp in-out companies for further development. As Director of centre for PEt, Professor Scott leads the largest academic molecular imaging program i n A u s t r a l a s i a , w i t h a n internationally renowned program for novel imaging tracers. he is

a chief investigator of nhMrc program and project grants, and funding from nIh, state and federal governments, and philanthropic sources.

the importance of Professor Scott’s contributions to medical research is reflected in over 210 publications with more than 4300 citations in prestigious journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, PNAS, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology and Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Associate Professor Matthias ErnstIntErIM DIrEctor, luDWIG InStItutE For cAncEr rESEArch (PArKVIllE BrAnch)

Professor Andrew ScottDIrEctor, luDWIG InStItutE For cAncEr rESEArch DIrEctor, cEntrE For PEt, AuStIn hEAlth ProFESSor, DEPArtMEnt oF MEDIcInE, unIVErSIty oF MElBournE

Ludwig Institute for Cancer ResearchThe largest international academic non-profit institute dedicated to understanding and controlling cancer.

A global network of ten Branches with leading Affiliates and clinical trial sites.

Mission: To improve patient outcomes through integrated programs that translate basic laboratory discoveries into patient benefits through conducting its own clinical trials.

Australia: Over 250 scientists, post-doctoral research fellows and students work alongside clinicians and research nurses in the two Melbourne sites embedded in the Parkville and Austin research precincts.

LUDWIGINSTITUTEFOR

RESEARCHCANCER

“I am persuaded that eventual mastery of cancer will come only from intense and unremitting scientific exploration over many decades”

Daniel K. Ludwig December17, 1974

The MeLbouRne–PARkvILLe bRAnCh has an outstanding track record in basic research into the biology of solid tumours with a particular focus on colorectal cancer. The Branch supports state-of-the-art platform technologies, including forward and reverse genetics in different model organisms and complements the human cancer genetics research supported through the Ludwig Colon Cancer Initiative. The Melbourne Branch is one of six founding partners of the Parkville Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

The MeLbouRne–AustIn bRAnCh located at Austin Health, is the principal translational and clinical research site for LICR global programs. Laboratory research focuses on cancer immunology, antibody-based therapeutics, signalling pathways in cancer, epigenetics of colon cancer, and tumour biology. Clinical oncology involvement is achieved through the unique joint arrangements with Austin Health in Medical Oncology and Positron Emission Tomography. LICR is a founding partner of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre, and will have new laboratories in this facility completed in 2012.

www.ludwig.edu.au


93

Ludwig Institute for Cancer ResearchThe largest international academic non-profit institute dedicated to understanding and controlling cancer.

A global network of ten Branches with leading Affiliates and clinical trial sites.

Mission: To improve patient outcomes through integrated programs that translate basic laboratory discoveries into patient benefits through conducting its own clinical trials.

Australia: Over 250 scientists, post-doctoral research fellows and students work alongside clinicians and research nurses in the two Melbourne sites embedded in the Parkville and Austin research precincts.

LUDWIGINSTITUTEFOR

RESEARCHCANCER

“I am persuaded that eventual mastery of cancer will come only from intense and unremitting scientific exploration over many decades”

Daniel K. Ludwig December17, 1974

The MeLbouRne–PARkvILLe bRAnCh has an outstanding track record in basic research into the biology of solid tumours with a particular focus on colorectal cancer. The Branch supports state-of-the-art platform technologies, including forward and reverse genetics in different model organisms and complements the human cancer genetics research supported through the Ludwig Colon Cancer Initiative. The Melbourne Branch is one of six founding partners of the Parkville Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

The MeLbouRne–AustIn bRAnCh located at Austin Health, is the principal translational and clinical research site for LICR global programs. Laboratory research focuses on cancer immunology, antibody-based therapeutics, signalling pathways in cancer, epigenetics of colon cancer, and tumour biology. Clinical oncology involvement is achieved through the unique joint arrangements with Austin Health in Medical Oncology and Positron Emission Tomography. LICR is a founding partner of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre, and will have new laboratories in this facility completed in 2012.

www.ludwig.edu.au

AustrAliAn sCiEntists

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Dr Belinda Parker is an early career scientist at the Peter Maccallum cancer centre. She was awarded a career Development Award (cDA1) in 2009 and currently holds a number of grants, including one as chief investigator on an nhMrc project grant.

Dr Parker’s primary research focus i s on breas t cancer metastasis. She aims to utilise models of breast cancer to identify key molecu lar mechan isms of spread to distant tissues, and to target these mechanisms with the aim of developing novel

therapies for pat ients with advanced breast cancer.

one of her research projects has revealed the contribution of a specific group of proteases, the cathepsins, to the spread of breast cancer to bone and the potential for blocking cathepsin activity using specific protease inhibitors as targeted therapeutics. this work has been supported by crucial international collaborations with two leaders in the cathepsin field, Professor Matthew Bogyo at Stanford university and Professor Bonnie Sloane at Wayne State

university, uSA. In addition to the work on proteases, Dr Parker’s research group recently revealed a novel mechanism whereby cancer cells escape recognition by the immune system to be able to survive and grow in bone. the results of this study reveal a novel mechanism of cancer cell outgrowth from dormancy and an exciting new therapeutic opportunity to prevent secondary tumours in breast cancer patients.

Assoc i a t e Pro fe s sor r icky Johnstone is Assistant Director of Peter Mac cancer research and co-head of Peter Mac’s cancer therapeutics Program. to date he has published over 110 peer-reviewed manuscripts.

In 2005, Associate Professor Johnstone was appointed as an nhMrc Senior research Fellow and awarded a Pfizer Australia Senior research Fellowship. he has since leveraged the outcomes of his fellowship-related research, being named as chief or co-chief investigator on grants totalling

more than $17 million. reflecting this success, he was promoted to nhMrc Principal research Fellow in 2009.

Associate Professor Johnstone is seeking to understand the molecular events underpinning cancer cell death initiated by chemotherapeutic-drugs and to decipher how tumours become multidrug resistant. he focuses on inhibitors of the enzyme histone deacetylase (hDAci) — novel chemotherapeutic drugs that regulate gene transcription by altering the structure of chromatin — and recently initiated clinical

trials of two hDAci in the treatment of t cell lymphoma.

Associate Professor Johnstone uses genetically manipulated tumour models to identify which apoptotic proteins and pathways are necessary for the therapeutic effects of hDAci. using microarray gene expression profiling, he has identified genes involved in apoptosis that are regulated differently in tumours and normal cells, providing a molecular basis for the selective effect of hDAci on tumour tissue.

Dr Belinda ParkerPEtEr MAc rESEArch FElloW MEtAStASIS rESEArch lABorAtory

Associate Professor Ricky JohnstonePFIZEr AuStrAlIA rESEArch FElloW co-hEAD oF cAncEr thErAPEutIcS ProGrAM ASSIStAnt DIrEctor cAncEr rESEArch

Australia’s only public hospital solely dedicated to cancer, Peter Mac is a leader in multidisciplinary cancer care and a national and international leader in laboratory, clinical and translational research.

Fundamental to Peter Mac’s excellence and leadership in cancer research is the fusion of an integrated, sophisticated research facility within a world-class cancer hospital, providing unique opportunities for medical advances to be accelerated and tested and for clinical questions to guide the research agenda.

Peter Mac research has experienced an unprecedented and sustained period of growth and development over the past decade. Underpinned by scientific excellence and research leadership, Peter Mac employs 450 laboratory and clinical researchers, a quarter of its total workforce.

Former Director of Research Joe Sambrook is emblematic of Peter Mac’s research excellence. His election to the Australian Academy of Science in 2000 recognised his significant contribution to understanding the processes underpinning cancer development.

Recent success through our research leadership includes:

Access for Peter Mac patients to many novel therapies and early phase clinical trials.•Driving and nurturing collaborative research programs (AOCS, ASSG, VBCRC, Pfizer TORCH, •kConFab, Melbourne Melanoma Project) across Australia.20 prestigious peer-reviewed fellowships (Australia Fellowship, NHMRC, ARC, CCV, NBCF, •VCA, Viertel, VESKI) awarded to Peter Mac researchers.

Peter MacCallum Cancer CentreThe best in cancer care, accelerating discovery, translating to cures.

For more information about research at Peter Mac: web www.petermac.org/Research email [email protected]

Colin House and Dr Andreas Moeller, Cancer Genetics & Genomics Lab

sciencemag_advert_050810.indd 1 6/08/2010 10:05:14 AM


95

Australia’s only public hospital solely dedicated to cancer, Peter Mac is a leader in multidisciplinary cancer care and a national and international leader in laboratory, clinical and translational research.

Fundamental to Peter Mac’s excellence and leadership in cancer research is the fusion of an integrated, sophisticated research facility within a world-class cancer hospital, providing unique opportunities for medical advances to be accelerated and tested and for clinical questions to guide the research agenda.

Peter Mac research has experienced an unprecedented and sustained period of growth and development over the past decade. Underpinned by scientific excellence and research leadership, Peter Mac employs 450 laboratory and clinical researchers, a quarter of its total workforce.

Former Director of Research Joe Sambrook is emblematic of Peter Mac’s research excellence. His election to the Australian Academy of Science in 2000 recognised his significant contribution to understanding the processes underpinning cancer development.

Recent success through our research leadership includes:

Access for Peter Mac patients to many novel therapies and early phase clinical trials.•Driving and nurturing collaborative research programs (AOCS, ASSG, VBCRC, Pfizer TORCH, •kConFab, Melbourne Melanoma Project) across Australia.20 prestigious peer-reviewed fellowships (Australia Fellowship, NHMRC, ARC, CCV, NBCF, •VCA, Viertel, VESKI) awarded to Peter Mac researchers.

Peter MacCallum Cancer CentreThe best in cancer care, accelerating discovery, translating to cures.

For more information about research at Peter Mac: web www.petermac.org/Research email [email protected]

Colin House and Dr Andreas Moeller, Cancer Genetics & Genomics Lab

sciencemag_advert_050810.indd 1 6/08/2010 10:05:14 AM


96

Dr tham’s post-doctoral research has focused on how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum invades red blood cells, a process critical for parasite survival and malaria pathogenesis. this deadly parasite inflicts the highest rate of human mortality, partly due to its utilisation of multiple pathways for invasion into erythrocytes.

For the malaria parasite to enter erythrocytes, parasite ligands must recognise their cognate receptors on the surface of the erythrocyte,

which then initiates a cascade of signalling events required for invasion.

Dr tham’s work focuses on the function of the parasite l igand Pfrh4 in red b lood cell recognition and invasion. She has recently identified the host erythrocyte receptor of Pfrh4 and shown that this interaction mediates a new invasion pathway utilised by malaria parasites.

Interes t ing ly , in malar ia-endemic regions erythrocytes have

extremely low levels of this host receptor. currently, Dr tham is involved in studies elucidating the effects of this receptor deficiency on parasite invasion. understanding the function of parasite invasion ligands is paramount in developing rational designs for a blood-stage malaria vaccine to alleviate the 300 million infections a year caused by Plasmodium falciparum.

Dr Strasser and his team are investigating the control of apoptosis, the cell death program essential for development and homeostasis. By using transgenic mice over-expressing the cell death inhibitor Bcl-2, and knockout mice lacking one of its antagonists, they demonstrated that abnormalities in the control of apoptosis can cause autoimmune disease or cancer and render tumour cells refractory to anti-cancer therapy.

Dr Strasser and his co-workers establ ished that mammalian

cells have two distinct signalling pathways leading to apoptosis, one triggered by ligation of cell surface “death receptors” and the other by certain developmental cues, cytokine deprivation or stress signals. using genetically modified mice, they could determine signalling mechanisms that are responsible for killing useless or potentially dangerous cells at the different checkpoints during lymphocyte development.

u s i n g b i o c h e m i c a l a n d molecular biology techniques,

Dr Strasser and his team discovered novel regulators that are essential for initiation of programmed cell death and showed that they function as sentinels for damage to various vital intra-cellular structures, such as the cytoskeleton.

t h e s e d i s c o v e r i e s h a v e major implications for cancer research, developmental biology and immunology and suggest novel therapeutic strategies for tumours, autoimmunity and degenerative diseases.

Dr Wai-Hong ThamPoStDoctorAl rESEArchEr InFEctIon AnD IMMunIty WAltEr AnD ElIZA hAll InStItutE oF MEDIcAl rESEArch

Professor Andreas StrasserJoInt hEAD MolEculAr GEnEtIcS oF cAncEr DIVISIon WAltEr AnD ElIZA hAll InStItutE oF MEDIcAl rESEArch

100284 Australian Scientist May 2010 285mm x 210mm

For 95 years the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s scientists have pursued the mission of Mastery of Disease Through Discovery.

The institute is home to more than 550 researchers who are working to understand, prevent and treat diseases including cancer – particularly blood cancers and breast cancer – type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease, hepatitis and malaria.

We are doing this because:

▶▶▶ This year, more than 534,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Australia and more than 43,000 Australians will die of cancer.

▶▶▶ Breast cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in Australian women. One in nine women will be diagnosed with the disease by the age of 85.

▶▶▶ More than 140,000 Australians have type 1 diabetes.

▶▶▶ Malaria kills up to 3 million people each year.

More than 30 clinical trials based on discoveries made at the institute are currently underway. These include trials of vaccines for type 1 diabetes, coeliac disease and malaria; and trials of a new class of anti-cancer drugs, called BH3 mimetics, for treating patients with leukaemia.

To follow our journey as we master disease visit our website www.wehi.edu.au or contact us:

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research 1G Royal Parade Parkville Victoria 3052 Tel: (03) 9345 2555 Email: [email protected]

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s

The institute is home to more than 550 researchers who are working to understand, prevent and treat diseases including cancer – particularly blood cancers and breast cancer

diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease, hepatitis and malaria.

This year, more than 534,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Australia more than 43,000 Australians will die of cancer.

Breast cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in Australian women. One in nine women will be diagnosed with the disease by the age of 85.

More than 140,000 Australians have type 1 diabetes.

Malaria kills up to 3 million people each year.

More than 30 clinical trials based on discoveries made at the institute are currently underway.

For 95 years the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’sMastery of DiseaseMastery of DiseaseMaster Through Discovery.



▶ This year, more than 534,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Australia and more than 43,000 Australians will die of cancer.

▶ Breast cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in Australian women. One in nine women will be diagnosed with the disease by the age of 85.

▶ More than 140,000 Australians have type 1 diabetes.

▶ Malaria kills up to 3 million people each year.

M a s t e r y o f D i s e a s e T h r o u g h D i s c o v e r y

Support Our Research www.wehi.edu.au

Celebrating 95 yearsof medical research

WEHI100284.indd 1 31/05/10 3:53 PM


97

100284 Australian Scientist May 2010 285mm x 210mm

For 95 years the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s scientists have pursued the mission of Mastery of Disease Through Discovery.



▶▶▶ This year, more than 534,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Australia and more than 43,000 Australians will die of cancer.

▶▶▶ Breast cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in Australian women. One in nine women will be diagnosed with the disease by the age of 85.

▶▶▶ More than 140,000 Australians have type 1 diabetes.

▶▶▶ Malaria kills up to 3 million people each year.

More than 30 clinical trials based on discoveries made at the institute are currently underway. These include trials of vaccines for type 1 diabetes, coeliac disease and malaria; and trials of a new class of anti-cancer drugs, called BH3 mimetics, for treating patients with leukaemia.

To follow our journey as we master disease visit our website www.wehi.edu.au or contact us:

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research 1G Royal Parade Parkville Victoria 3052 Tel: (03) 9345 2555 Email: [email protected]

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s

The institute is home to more than 550 researchers who are working to understand, prevent and treat diseases including cancer – particularly blood cancers and breast cancer

diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease, hepatitis and malaria.

This year, more than 534,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Australia more than 43,000 Australians will die of cancer.

Breast cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in Australian women. One in nine women will be diagnosed with the disease by the age of 85.

More than 140,000 Australians have type 1 diabetes.

Malaria kills up to 3 million people each year.

More than 30 clinical trials based on discoveries made at the institute are currently underway.

For 95 years the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’sMastery of DiseaseMastery of DiseaseMaster Through Discovery.



▶ This year, more than 534,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Australia and more than 43,000 Australians will die of cancer.

▶ Breast cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in Australian women. One in nine women will be diagnosed with the disease by the age of 85.

▶ More than 140,000 Australians have type 1 diabetes.

▶ Malaria kills up to 3 million people each year.

M a s t e r y o f D i s e a s e T h r o u g h D i s c o v e r y

Support Our Research www.wehi.edu.au

Celebrating 95 yearsof medical research

WEHI100284.indd 1 31/05/10 3:53 PM

98

Global leaders

9

This chapTer celebrates scientists whose achievements are of such magnitude that the australian academy of science believes they are not only leaders among australia’s scientific fraternity, but also eminent voices in the global community. One has won fame as a Nobel Laureate. another can point to praise from peers, but also sees her work used every time she opens a box of breakfast cereal. a third has changed thinking about clean energy and a fourth is not only a prodigious scientist, but is also cited as an example of australia’s success as a multicultural nation. The Global Leaders are candidates to become our next scientific heroes. These are the fifteen scientists chosen by the australian academy of science:

Jennie Brand-Miller, Biochemistsuzanne cory, Molecular Geneticistpeter Doherty, Nobel Laureateian Frazer, immunology & cancer researchMartin Green, solar energy researcherJohn hopwood, Lysosomal Diseases researcherTerry hughes, coral reef researcherKurt Lambeck, professor of GeophysicsJim peacock, GeneticistBarry Marshall and robin Warren,helicobacter pylori researchersMike raupach, climate change researchBrian schmidt, astronomerTerry Tao, professor of MathematicsBob Vincent, solar-Terrestrial physicsJohn Zillman, Meteorologist

Australian science punches above its weight, as is evident in the extraordinary achievement of scientific heroes like Howard Florey or, more recently, expats Sir Marc Feldmann and Elizabeth Blackburn.

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JeNNie BraND-MiLLer is unusual. she is a

practising scientist with an impressive list of academic

publications, and a best-selling author of popular

books on diet and health.

“When they made porridge into instant porridge,

and when they made rice into instant rice, they

made it into food with a high glycaemic index,”

she says. “Natural uncultivated foods usually have

a low glycaemic index.”

The concept of a glycaemic index (Gi) came to

Jennie Brand-Miller while she was doing research

into australian aboriginal diets. The Gi ranks the

carbohydrates in food according to their effect on

blood sugar, a significant driver of general health,

but especially important to sufferers of diabetes.

in 2010, professor Brand-Miller was presented

with the 2009 sir Kempson Maddox award by

the NsW branch of Diabetes australia. initially

attracting a hostile reception from researchers

and food manufacturers, professor Brand-Miller’s

work on nutrition and carbohydrates is widely

acknowledged today.

The Glycaemic index, an unknown concept only

two decades ago, is recognised worldwide as an

important tool for maintaining good dietary health.

professor Brand-Miller has written a number of

popular books, as well as more than 200 academic

papers. her book The New Glucose Revolution is an

international best seller.

recent population studies by professor Brand-

Miller and her team have looked at groups of 5000

people over a decade, and assessed the prevalence

of particular diseases while monitoring the diet

of the subjects.

“The low-glycaemic diet is actually the traditional

diet of most human beings,” says professor Brand-

Miller. “For example, the Mediterranean diet is low

Gi, with pasta, legumes, fruit and vegetables. Vinegar

dressings and alcohol also lower the glycaemic response

to food. This is one element of the Mediterranean diet

that makes it so healthy.”

The indian diet, with lentils, pulses, and basmati

rice, is also a “low Gi star performer” says professor

Brand-Miller. “high Gi diets are a product of modern

processing methods, which provide light, fluffy,quick-

cooking food.”

professor Brand-Mi l l e r says tha t what

contemporary medical practitioners refer to as

a “normal” glucose response is actually an abnormal

response to an exceptional diet of processed

carbohydrates. “aboriginal bush foods give an

amazing insight into what was the standard diet for

humanity,” she says. “and these natural foods have

a low glycaemic index.”

Jennie Brand-MillerBiOcheMisT

Good eating, good science,

good health

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i’M aMaZeD at the strength and breadth of

australian science,” says professor suzanne cory,

and suggests that isolation and the harsh australian

environment have contributed to this. “We had to

learn to stand on our own feet, and our investment in

science helped us to do this.”

however, she says, australia is certainly

internationally competitive in the sort modern,

high-tech research which can be done anywhere

in the world.

“it would be quite wrong if australia were only to

tackle the sorts of science where we have a natural

advantage,” she says. “We need knowledge on all

fronts in order to have a successful and economically

prosperous society. it is encouraging that a very high

proportion of australians have been recorded in surveys

as being very interested in scientific issues. as science

educators, we should be able to tap in to that interest.”

Molecular geneticist professor cory was awarded

the 1998 australia prize for her work at the Walter

and eliza hall institute (Wehi), with her husband

professor Jerry adams, on the genetic origins

of cancer. cancer, she says, is the result of an

accumulation of slight genetic errors; and in order

to understand and combat cancer, we need to have

an intimate understanding of the life and death of

the normal cell.

professor cory was born in Melbourne, and studied

science at Melbourne University, cambridge and the

University of Geneva. returning to australia in 1971,

she joined Wehi, becoming the director in 1996. she

became the professor of Medical Biology at Melbourne

University (1996-2009) and was on the board of

csirO from 2002 to 2007 when she became deputy

chairman.

as well as the australia prize, she has been awarded

the charles s. Mott prize of the General Motors

cancer research Foundation, the royal Medal of

The royal society and a L’Oreal-UNescO Women

in science award. she was elected to the australian

academy of science in 1986 and the royal society

in 1992. she is also an elected member of the Us

National academy of sciences, the american academy

of arts and sciences, the French academy of sciences

and the pontifical academy of sciences. in 1997 she

became a companion of the Order of australia and in

2009 was appointed chevalier de l’Ordre National de

la Légion d’honneur by France.

in May 2010 professor cory was elected to succeed

professor Kurt Lambeck as president of the australian

academy of science. she is continuing her cancer

research at Wehi and is a Vice-chancellor’s Fellow of

the University of Melbourne.

Suzanne CoryMOLecULar GeNeTicisT

Looking into the dark heart of cancer

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globAl lEAdErs

peTer DOherTy won the Nobel prize in 1996,

with his colleague rolf Zinknagel, for “their discoveries

concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune

defence”. in his Nobel Lecture, peter Doherty described

the debt that he owed to his predecessors in australian

immunology, “a direct consequence”, he said, “of

themes developed in australia” by sir MacFarlane

Burnet, Frank Fenner, and later Gus Nossal, Jacques

Miller, Gordon ada and others.

professor Doherty says that, of the awards and

honours which he has achieved as well as the Nobel

prize, he particularly values his election to the australian

academy of science, to the royal society, and to the

Us National academy of science. and he is especially

proud of the 1986 Gairdner international award for

Medical science, canada, and the paul erlich prize for

immunology (1983).

australian science, he says, has a history of dealing

with australian issues, but because of the relatively

limited science funding, we have needed to be “a bit

cleverer” and have developed a highly cooperative

ethos. But, he warns, we may be losing the proverbial

australian ability to improvise and innovate.

“as we abandon our manufacturing industries,

we are increasingly losing people who are good at

working with nuts and bolts,” he says. “We were

very good at innovation, and i am afraid that this

may be declining.”

however professor Doherty looks forward to

a new era in science, in which dealing with huge

datasets is only possible through advanced computing.

“For example, we’re looking at the genomics,

proteomics and lipidomics of early influenza virus

infection: these are massive datasets that we can only

handle through high-powered computing.”

“even if you start out with a clear hypothesis, often

you end up by reacting to the huge datasets,” he says.

“That’s going to be characteristic of 21st century

science.”

Traditional laboratory science is still vital, says

professor Doherty, but a lot of young researchers

are coming in from mathematics and statistics

and are bringing a whole new and different approach

to biological sciences like cancer researchand

immunology.

“What’s happening in science is a tremendous

convergence, looking at very complex issues,”

he says. “how smart are we? We’re still very limited

in our approach, and there are hugely important

problems to solve.”

Peter DohertyNOBeL LaUreaTe

On the shoulders of giants

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WheN iaN FraZer started his research career,

a clunky pc and the back of an envelope were the

best of research aids. Today, he says, computational

power allows the assembly of such vast quantities

of data that researchers can conduct almost

“hypothesis-free science”.

“We’ll be finding more and more information,

then writing programs to try and make sense out

of it,” he says. “it is beyond the ability of an

individual human being to encompass all the available

information.”

ian Frazer was born in 1953 in Glasgow,

scotland, and studied medicine at edinburgh

University. in 1974, he spent three months

at the Walter and eliza hall institute of Medical

research in Melbourne, and returned there in

1981 when he became particularly interested

in human papilloma viruses (hpV). in 1985

he took up a teaching pos i t ion wi th the

Univers i ty of Queens land and dec ided to

continue his work with hpV and cervical cancer

with his colleague, the late molecular virologist

Dr Jian Zhou. This led to the development

of a vaccine that prevents infection with hpV

and cervical cancer.

The vaccine is now produced commercially,

and to date more than six million doses have been

distributed in australia, with more than 54 million

doses given to girls aged 13 to 17 worldwide.

professor Frazer has received more than 20 national

and international awards for scientific research. among

them was Queenslander of the year and australian of

the year in 2006, the international Life award for

scientific research in 2007 and the prime Minister’s

prize for science in 2008.

professor Frazer says that he values the

awards that he has received, not for himself,

but for the science: “it’s nice to get the recognition

for science. i think it’s very important to show the

community at large that science contributes to society,

and the interaction between science and society is

vitally important.

“We live in a very scientific world. Understanding

how science in fact shapes society is something that

people are perhaps not yet prepared to accept,” he says.

“communicating as scientists with the community is

becoming more and more challenging.”

professor Frazer is currently director of the

Diamantina institute for cancer, immunology and

Metabolic Medicine at the University of Queensland.

Ian FrazeriMMUNOLOGy & caNcer research

Recognition is due to the science

that shapes society

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seLDOM has the development of a technology

been more timely. The citation for the eureka prize

for 2010 describes photovoltaics innovator Martin

Green as “a shining light” in the battle against global

warming and climate change.

professor Martin Green is known internationally for

his work on solar cells at the University of New south

Wales. he and his UNsW group have spent the past three

decades investigating solar cell performance,and have

achieved a remarkable success rate.

“it was regarded as a mature technology when we

started,” says professor Green, “but we were confident

that this was just the beginning. and we were very

conscious that what we were doing was exactly what the

world needed, exactly when the world needed it.”

professor Green and his team have since improved

the performance of this apparently mature technology

by over 50 per cent and have been inventors of

several technologies that have revolutionised the

solar industry.

professor Green says that commercialisation

of his innovative work has always been a priority,

and the team’s early work has been adopted under

licence by Bp and put into production in australia,

india and spain. in association with UNsW,

the world’s largest manufacturer of solar cells

is now in china. cumulatively, says professor

Green, there have been more than a billion dollars

worth of sales made under licence to UNsW,

with this figure soon to be exceeded annually.

research is an ongoing process, and professor

Green has developed what is cal led “third

generation” solar cell technology, tapping into

the full thermodynamic potential of photovoltaic

conversion. having created the world’s leading

photovoltaics research centre, professor Green has

also been colleague and mentor to many of the

most distinguished international solar researchers

and industrialists. “Globally, we need a clean,

cost-effective, electricity generation option. photovoltaics

provide a solution, provided that we can increase the

volumes and get the costs down dramatically,” says

professor Green.

professor Green’s global leadership has been

recognised by his appointment as chair of the panel for

review of the Us Department of energy’s photovoltaic

program, and membership of the United Nations

industrial Development Organisation consultative

Group on solar energy research and applications.

professor Green has received two eureka prizes,

a clunies ross award (1992), the australia prize (1999)

with stuart Wenham, and the 2004 World Technology

award for energy. he has received several international

awards, including the 2002 right Livelihood award,

commonly known as the alternative Nobel prize, and the

2007 solarWorld einstein award.

Martin GreensOLar eNerGy researcher

Letting the sun shine in

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The GreaTesT challenge for scientists is

to make sure that they can apply their research

and their knowledge where it is most needed

by the community, according to professor John

hopwood, head of the Lysosomal Diseases

research Unit based at the Women and children’s

hospital in adelaide.

professor hopwood won the 2008 south

australian of the year science award for his

three decades of research into genetic disorders

that affect children. he leads the 10-member

committee charged with directing the research

of the new south australian health and Medical

research institute (sahMri) being built in

adelaide. an extremely ambitious project set

to open in 2013, sahMri will house some

600medical researchers under the motto “from

the research bench to the bedside”.

“My passion as a scientist is interacting with patients

and their families, when we’ve actually made some

difference in their quality of life,” says professor

hopwood. “it is a very focusing and rewarding aspect

of being a scientist in this genetic area. it has kept me

motivated for 30 years!”

professor hopwood stresses the vital importance

of “translating” the work of research scientists

into clinical practice and into the community.

But at the same time, he suggests that the

recognition of scientific research is not always

as positive as it might be, especially in the practical

matter of funding.

in 2006, professor hopwood and his team

announced successful trials of a new treatment

for two childhood lysosomal diseases, and two

drugs were approved by the Usa Food and

Drug administration for clinical use. professor

hopwood has over 380 peer-reviewed scientific

publications, over 30 international patents and over

$30 million in competitive research funding. he is an

affiliate professor in the Department of paediatrics

at the University of adelaide and Department of

pharmacy at the University of south australia.

professor hopwood has been honoured with

the Lemberg Medal for excellence in Biochemistry,

a Member of the Order of australia, a Fellow of the

australian academy of science, honorary Fellow

of the royal college of pathologists of australasia,

the south australia premier’s science award for

excellence in commercialisation of research,

south australia scientist of the year, aTse clunies

ross award and, most recently, was awarded the

prestigious 2009 csL Florey Medal for significant

achievements in biomedical science and human

health advancement.

John HopwoodLysOsOMaL Diseases researcher

Taking the research results

into the community

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cOraL reeFs have to be seen in context, says

professor Terry hughes. Natural ecosystems cannot

be treated in isolation, as if they were not part of

the human world, the animal world, the oceans

and the atmosphere.

professor hughes is Director of the arc centre

of excellence for coral reef studies at James cook

University in Townsville.

“in recent years i’ve wandered into what is strange

territory for a marine biologist,” he says. “increasingly

i’ve been working with social scientists and reef

managers, and looking more at the human dimension

of coral reefs.”

australia’s Great Barrier reef is unusual, says

professor hughes, because it is part of a wealthy

country, and does not suffer the degradation caused in

developing countries by subsistence fishing, subsistence

farming and deforestation.

“The Barrier reef model is admirable, but it’s not

a model that is easily exported,” he says. “effective

reef management has to be tailored to local conditions

and availability of local resources.”

professor hughes has a special interest in

understanding the processes that govern the scarcity

or abundance of species, and has travelled widely

in the pacific and caribbean to observe reefs in

decline. The loss of biodiversity, he says, can have

devastating and far-reaching effects, which are

almost impossible to predict.

“a great deal of the recent literature describes the loss

of coral, the decline of the reefs,” he says. “These are

depressing facts, but they shouldn’t be seen in isolation.

if we ask what are we going to do about it, we can’t

ignore questions like food security for coastal human

populations, or options for future development. people

in the vast majority of countries which have coral reefs

actually depend on the reefs for their livelihood.”

Because of the links between natural ecosystems

and human populations, says professor hughes, science

is increasingly adopting a multidisciplinary approach

involving the social sciences as well as ecology.

“Many researchers,” he says, “including myself,

are referring to social ecological systems, where people

are not separate from the ecosystem, and everything

we do has an ecological footprint.”

When it comes to encouraging people to modify

their behaviour, professor hughes says “the solution

is to stop paying subsidies for more or bigger, but

to recognise and subsidise change for the better!”

professor hughes remains optimistic that good

science and good management will save coral reefs in

the long term, especially australia’s Great Barrier reef

— arguably the best-managed reef in the world.

Terry HughescOraL reeF researcher

The human context

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KUrT LaMBech is interested in the big questions:

how the earth works, why it works the way it does,

the role of the oceans, the future of the earth’s

inhabitants.

professor Lambeck was president of the

australian academy of science in 2006-2010;

he was elected to the academy in 1984, and to

the royal society in 1994. his international

recognition is shown by his membership of the

academies of the Netherlands, Norway, France

and the United states, and the academia europaea.

his international prizes and awards include the

Tage erlander prize from the swedish research

council, the prix George Lemaitre (Belgium)

and the eminent scientists award from the

Japan society for the promotion of science.

professor Lambeck worked in the Us and French

space science communities before returning

to australia.

professor Lambeck is concerned by what he sees

as a “loss of confidence” in the whole culture of science

throughout the wider community.

“For example, most of the public accepts the

realities of climate change,” he says. “But through

the activities of some who wish to minimise

the perception of the consequences, the public

is beginning to doubt the authority of science.

The scientific community is not standing up to this

as perhaps it should.”

professor Lambeck is confident that the scientific

process is robust. scientists, he says, are not all

prima donnas, but at the same time no scientist is

interested in repeating work which another scientist

has already done. research results are published,

the work is validated by other researchers and

becomes part of the accepted body of knowledge,

or is refuted.“The process is still alive and well,”

he says. The planet under stress has interested

professor Lambeck in recent years. “The unifying

theme to my recent work has been the reaction

of the earth to stress,” he says. “There is a range

of techniques to measure the response of the

planet to stress, and to predict the response

to new stresses. We are particularly interested

in developments in plate tectonics, and in the

effects of diminishing ice sheets and the ‘rebound’

effect as ice disappears.”

asked about his view of the planet’s immediate

future, professor Lambeck admitted that he oscillates

between admiration for mankind’s capacity for

cleverness, and the reverse. But by and large, he

thinks, humanity will rise to the challenge and ensure

a viable future for the planet and the species.

Kurt LambeckprOFessOr OF GeOphysics

Understanding

how the Earth works

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globAl lEAdErs

iT is a BiNDiNG obligation that scientists should

communicate what they are doing and why, says Dr

Jim peacock.

“scientists have to point out what their work

could mean in the future, to the environment, to the

community, or to the economy,” he says. “and it’s

important that they communicate in a way which

can be understood.”

although Dr peacock is recognised around the world

for his plant genetics research, he has also devoted

much of his time to achieving “scientific literacy”

among australian children. he was instrumental

in developing the academy’s primary connections

program, in which the teaching of science is integrated

with the teaching of basic literacy in primary schools.

“science is a way of thinking,” says Dr peacock,

and he is proud too of csirO’s scientists in schools

program, in which some 1800 working scientists are

‘paired’ with science teachers across australia. “it’s

been an amazing success for the scientists and the

teachers as well as for the children,” he says. “The

scientists can’t resist the eagerness of the children,

and the teachers enjoy working with the scientists,

gaining more confidence in teaching science. it’s been

a wonderful success.”

Dr peacock has long been acknowledged as

a global leader in plant science. in 2000, he and his

colleague Dr Liz Dennis were awarded the $300,000

prime Minister’s prize for science for their work in the

discovery of the flowering switch gene, a key gene in

determining when plants end their vegetative growth

phase and begin flowering. This discovery will help

boost the productivity of the world’s crops. They are

also working to increase the nutritional value of crops

eaten by billions of the world’s poorest people.

Dr peacock was chief of csirO’s Division of

plant industry, which he built into one of the world’s

foremost plant science institutes, from 1978 until

he retired from the role in 2003. in 2002 he was

elected president of the australian academy of

science. his many other honours include election

to the royal society in 1982, the Bhp award for

science excellence in 1988, and election to the

Us academy in 1990.

in 1994, Dr peacock was made companion of the

Order of australia (ac), and in 2006 he was appointed

australia’s chief scientist.

“people are very attracted to the truth,” says Dr

peacock. “The skill is to remove the mystery and

misinformation and bring the truth to them in ways

they will understand.”

Jim PeacockGeNeTicisT

Chief among scientists

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heLicOBacTer pyLOri is one of a handful of

bacteria which are known to the general public by

name. Just as well known are the names of Nobel

laureates robin Warren and Barry Marshall.

everyone once knew that stress causes ulcers;

it was regarded as a medical “fact”. But two researchers

quite independently had their doubts. in 1981 they

met, compared their quite different approaches to

the problem, and agreed to cooperate on the novel

research program, which led to Barry Marshall and

robin Warren being awarded a Nobel prize in 2005.

The two scientists had each become interested in

the probable role of h. pylori in human gastric ulcers.

pathologist professor robin Warren was studying

gastric bacteria at the royal perth hospital, where

Dr Barry Marshall was the gastroenterology registrar.

“When i met Barry, i was just finishing a paper

for publication,” says professor Warren. “i had a

suspicion that h. pylori was more than just associated

with ulcers, but was actually the cause, while he was

looking for a suitable clinical research project. so we

started a joint study, where i did the pathology and he

did the clinical work.”

When their research initially met with profound

skept ic i sm f rom the medica l communi ty ,

Dr Marshall took the radical step of drinking

a culture of the bacteria.

“after a few days i was vomiting,” says

Dr Marshall. “The bacteria had indeed started

attacking the lining of my stomach. and, after

that, people became a bit more convinced!”

Dr Marshall is confident that great and original

scientific discoveries still come from academic or

curiosity-driven research.

“The helicobacter discovery was a reminder that

bacterial infectious diseases were not something

out of the nineteenth century,” says Dr Marshall.

“They are still very much around, and i think that

there may be viral infectious diseases waiting to be

investigated. For example, what causes alzheimers?

We don’t know. even obesity has been linked to

gastric bacterial causes.“

Dr Warren and Dr Marshall later collaborated

on a major study showing the beneficial effect of

eradicating h. pylori on the relapse rate of duodenal

ulcers.

as well as the Nobel prize, the two researchers have

jointly received the 1994 Warren alpert Foundation

prize (harvard Medical school) and the paul erlich

and Ludwig Darmstaedter award (1997), as well as

many individual prizes and awards.

Barry Marshall and Robin WarrenheLicOBacTer pyLOri researchers

Winners of the Nobel Prize

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globAl lEAdErs

MiKe raUpach deals in cycles. in his 35 years as

an active researcher, he has worked on five or six

major topics. “These are the great cycles, the cycles

of energy, water, carbon and nutrients, which sustain

the earth’s systems. humans are changing these

cycles and interacting with them,” he says.

Dr raupach was elected a Fellow of the academy

of australian science in 2009, after a long career

with csirO, culminating in his present position

of Leader of the continental Biogeochemical

cyc les research Team at csirO Marine

and atmospheric research. he was a contributing

author of the ipcc Working Group One report

in 2007, and was an inaugural co-chair of

the international Global carbon project. his

main research interests include the movement

and storage of heat, water and carbon in

landscapes; global and continental change,

especially the effects of climate and human land

use on terrestrial cycles; the global carbon cycle

and the ways it is influenced by human activities;

and the mechanics of turbulent flows, such

as wind and weather over vegetation.

Dr raupach is recognised around the world

as a major contributor to the science of human-

influenced climate change, and is the author of

a number of papers on the subject.

“The large-scale functioning of the earth and the

biosphere have been an inspiration throughout my

career,” says Dr raupach. “it is fascinating that

we have come through a time when we regarded

ourselves as the dominant species, but we are slowly

realising that our relationship with nature is deeper

than that. it’s a two-way cycle.”

Dr raupach says that his philosophical approach

does not in any way detract from the integrity of

the science. a central element of the discipline of

science is that one always remains the servant of the

data, always subject to what the observations and

measurements reveal. however, says Dr raupach,

good science is not in any way inconsistent with

viewing the world as one in which human beings

and the natural world are partners in the great

cycles of nature.

“The big challenge today is to meet the enormous

demand for scientific information at every level,

from the backyard barbecue to the political debate,”

says Dr raupach, “while at the same time being

entirely rigorous and maintaining an absolute

respect for the scientific process.”

Mike RaupachcLiMaTe chaNGe research

Global leader

in carbon cycle research

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BriaN schMiDT believes that pure research,

especially cosmology, can lead to a revolutionary

understanding of the world and humanity’s place

in the universe.

Dr schmidt, of the australian National University’s

research school of astronomy and astrophysics,

was elected a Fellow of the academy of australian

science, and a Fellow of the Us National academy

of science, in 2008. among a long list of awards and

prizes, he won the major Gruber prize for cosmology

in 2007. according to the Gruber Foundation report,

it was a “crazy result” which delivered the $500,000

prize jointly to Dr schmidt and his team, and a team in

the Us led by professor saul perlmutter.

The “crazy result” which both teams independently

discovered was that the expansion of the universe

is accelerating, not slowing as cosmologists had

previously predicted. The expansion of five billion years

ago was slower than the rate of expansion today, and

driving this expansion is the mysterious force of dark

energy. einstein’s cosmological constant, regarded

by einstein himself as a blunder, has achieved a new

significance.

Dr schmidt and his colleagues are continuing

to work towards understanding the accelerating

universe, concentrating their attention on exploding

stars or supernovae. Dr schmidt is also active in

the skyMapper project, using an automated optical

telescope, situated at coonabarabran in NsW,

to survey the entire southern sky to a resolution

a million times fainter than what is visible to the naked

eye. at the heart of the system is a 268-million-pixel

digital camera, designed at the aNU, able to detect the

age, mass, temperature and position of the billions of

stars visible and invisible. Because images are repeated

a number of times, movement and changes will also

be detected, and it is hoped that more “dwarf planets”

such as pluto will be found in the solar system. The

southern sky is particularly interesting, says Dr

schmidt, because the galaxy itself cuts through it, and

because southern skies are relatively clear, clean and

cloud-free.

Dr schmidt, originally from Montana, pays

tribute to the scientific culture in australia. “There’s

less power hierarchy in australia than in the Us

or europe,” he says. “For example, it was possible

for me as young researcher in australia to lead an

international research team, which probably would

not have been possible elsewhere. it’s that ability to

give everyone a go, which really gives australia the

ability to do interesting science. it’s quite different

to the way the rest of the world does things.”

and, says Dr schmidt, there’s an additional

satisfaction in vindicating einstein.

Brian SchmidtasTrONOMer

Dark energy

in an accelerating universe

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globAl lEAdErs

WheN a TWO-year-OLD is discovered expounding

mathematics to his fellow toddlers, it’s reasonable

to anticipate a bright future for the boy. so it is no

surprise that australian-born Terence Tao was, at

24, the youngest full professor ever appointed by the

University of california, Los angeles (UcLa).

according to his father, adelaide paediatrician

Billy Tao (himself born in shanghai), the young

Terry taught himself numbers and letters by

watching Sesame Street. and from then on his

progress was remarkable: the University of

adelaide at 14, bachelor’s degree at 16, doctorate

at princeton University at 21, and then joining

the faculty of UcLa.

Now 34 and married with a young son, professor

Terry Tao teaches, gives public lectures to packed

audiences, and has gathered an array of the top

awards, including the Fields Medal, regarded as the

Nobel prize for mathematics.

Terry Tao, believed to be one of the very best

mathematicians alive today, is a phenomenal solver of

problems, many of them regarded as virtually impossible.

To explain his ability, he uses a rock-climbing analogy:

“Before i work out any details, i work on the strategy.

Once you have a strategy, a very complicated problem

can be split up into a lot of mini-problems. i’ve never

really been satisfied with just solving the problem.

i want to see what happens if i make some changes;

will it still work? if you experiment enough, you get a

deeper understanding. after a while, when something

similar comes along, you get an idea of what works and

what doesn’t work. it’s not about being smart or even

fast. it’s like climbing a cliff: if you’re very strong and

quick and have a lot of rope, it helps, but you need to

devise a good route to get up there.”

among mathematicians, Terry Tao is recognised

alongside Dr Ben Green for the Green-Tao theorem on

the occurrence of prime numbers. at a less theoretical

level, his work on “compressed sensing” could

revolutionise digital camera technology.

in 2010 commentary he wrote for cNN.com,

Terry Tao explained that he has become a United states

citizen, but retains dual nationality: “Of course, my life

is more than just my work. i am a husband and a father

and a proud citizen of two countries; my homeland of

australia and my adopted country here in the United

states. i identify with them both.” he went on: “i enjoy

a good meal, a good vacation or a good movie, much

as anyone else would. But mathematics is both my

profession and my hobby, and the place where it seems

i am best able to make a contribution; so if i had to

answer the question ‘Who am i?’ i would have to say,

‘a mathematician’.”

Terry TaoprOFessOr OF MaTheMaTics

Mathematician extraordinaire

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The earTh’s atmosphere is criss-crossed by waves,

moving horizontally and vertically, and Bob Vincent

of adelaide University is tracking them. atmospheric

waves range from the largest scale planetary waves

to gravity waves with scales as short as a few tens of

kilometres.

“The important thing is that waves transfer

energy and momentum from one part of the atmosphere

to another,” says professor Vincent. “These gravity

waves are very similar to the waves of the ocean, except

that they travel vertically as well as horizontally. They

are a very efficient mechanism for carrying momentum

from the lower atmosphere to higher regions. When

they ‘break’ they can drive large-scale circulations

which need to be incorporated into climate models.

“and gravity waves (or more accurately, buoyancy

waves), which have been studied for more than

150 years, are not to be confused with gravitational

waves,” he says.

professor Vincent is president (2010) of the

scientific committee for solar-Terrestrial physics, was

elected to the academy of science in 2004, and is a

member of the australian antarctic science advisory

committee. Much of his work using radar to detect

winds high in the atmosphere has been carried out at

Davis Base in antarctica.

professor Vincent’s research involves measuring

the momentum of gravity waves in the atmosphere.

as well as working with radar, he has collaborated

with a French research group using specially

designed balloons, which maintain a pre-determined

altitude near 20 kilometres. “campaigns using

these free floating ‘super-pressure’ balloons have

proved particularly fruitful in helping to determine

gravity wave sources in remote regions, such

as the antarctic,” he says. “The momentum

generated by the breaking waves can be transferred

to the atmosphere, with significant consequences. This

research helps us to understand the behaviour of the

atmosphere, and underpins current climate science.”

professor Vincent talks with enthusiasm about

the sort of ‘field work’ that his research entails.

“Designing a wind measuring radar in the laboratory,

then going out to remote sites in the pacific,

or antarctica, or the Northern Territory, and

installing and setting up the radar, tuning it,

and making sure that it is working properly is fun.”

professor Vincent’s research has had a number of

practical applications, including the development of

radar used for weather forecasting by the Bureau of

Meteorology. climate change, he says, is an extremely

serious issue, which requires an immediate response

from the community. “adaptation is not going to be

easy. The world we are leaving for our children and

grandchildren is going to be very different to the one

that we enjoy,” he says.

Bob VincentsOLar-TerresTriaL physics

Making waves in the middle atmosphere

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globAl lEAdErs

aFTer a DisTiNGUisheD career that has included

stints with the australian Bureau of Meteorology and

as president of the World Meteorological Organization,

John Zillman aO knows the difference between weather

and climate.

Dr Zillman has been one of the most influential

figures in shaping climate science in australia,

and was a leading figure in the establishment of

the intergovernmental panel on climate change

(ipcc). Dr Zillman has a scientist’s respect for

scepticism and alternative views, but says that he has

a total commitment to the concept of the ipcc and

its ability to give an objective and balanced view of

the science.

Dr Zillman believes that australian science,

in particular the earth sciences, has a remarkable track

record and an established international reputation,

despite australia’s comparative lack of scientific

resources. he singles out the antarctic and southern

Ocean climate, and the considerable body of work

carried out by australians in the southern Ocean as

one of the important drivers of world climate research.

“We pioneered the use of satellites and drifting buoys

for synoptic analysis over the southern Ocean,” he says,

“and we managed to squeeze every drop of information

from sparse southern Ocean shipping.”

Dr Zillman looks forward to a renewed australian

commitment to space science, and enhanced

cooperation between space scientists, meteorologists,

hydrologists, oceanographers and other earth system

scientists and service providers. he has an especially

optimistic view of future developments in his own field

of meteorology.

“The next thing over the horizon is detailed local

weather forecasting and warning,” he says. “Models

will have the ability to extract the last little bit of

information from the observed data, and then provide

an almost limitless amount of forecast information, for

any location, up to six or seven days ahead. it’s already

gone far beyond what i expected to happen in my

professional lifetime, and we’re just at the beginning

of the process.”

Dr Zillman was Director of the http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/australian_Bureau_of_Meteorology from

1978 to 2003 and was permanent representative

of australia with the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

WMO “WMO” World Meteorological Organization.

he was elected a Fellow of aTse in 1980 and

served as president of aTse from 2003 to 2006.

he was president of the National academies Forum

2005-06 and president of the http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/international_council_of_academies_of_

engineering_and_Technological_sciences (caeTs)

in 2005. he was also a member of the prime

Minister’s science, engineering and innovation

council (pMseic). in 2005 he was awarded the 50th

international Meteorological Organization prize.

John ZillmanMeTeOrOLOGisT

Climate, weather and courteous discourse

114


115

globAl lEAdErs


116

A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science since 2003, Professor David Vaux is Director of the la trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences, an nhMrc Australia Fellow and a recipient of more than a score of prestigious honours and awards, including the Gottschalk Medal , the Glaxo-Wel lcome (Australia) Prize, the roche Medal, the Victoria Prize, the AnZScDB President’s Medal, the lemberg Medal and, most recently, the MacFarlane Burnet Medal. he has served as a member of the editorial

boards of eight high-profile international scientific journals, which currently include Apoptosis, Cell Death and Differentiation, Disease Models and Mechanisms and EMBO Reports.

Professor Vaux is renowned for his discoveries that the oncogene Bcl-2 promotes cell survival, and that it is a functional homologue of the nematode gene ced-9. these findings provided the first experimental evidence implicating failure of cell death as a cause of cancer in humans and are

recognised as a landmark in cancer research. he continues to play a leading role in the field, with his work on the IAP family of proteins (cellular inhibitors of apoptosis) and the mammalian antagonists of IAPs (Smac/Diablo and hrtA2/omi). he serves on the scientific advisory board of tetralogic Inc., a small pharmaceutical company that has developed an IAP antagonist drug that is currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of cancer.

Associate Professor chery l Dissanayake joined la trobe university in 1996, having spent three years as a postdoctoral researcher, most of them in the Department of Psychiatry’s neuropsychiatric Institute at the university of california in los Angeles. A registered psychologist, she is a member of multiple professional bodies, including the International Society for Autism research, American Association for Psychological Science, the Society

for research in child Development and the Australian Psychological Society. In 2005 she co-founded the Australasian Autism research Alliance, and in 2008 established and was appointed Director of the olga tennison Autism research centre. the centre has attracted large amounts of funding from private and government sources for research into the nature, causes and treatment of autism.

Dr. Dissanayake’s research interests are in early social-cognitive

development and autism spectrum disorders. her work incorporates studies of both autistic and normal populations and she enjoys collaborations with colleagues in Australia, the uSA and the uK. current research projects include identification of early markers of autism in infancy (both social-cognitive and biological); co-morbidity of autism and Fragile x Syndrome; self-other relations in autism; pretend play, and a new area of research, autism in girls.

Jamie PittockSchool oF MolEculAr ScIEncES DIrEctor, lA troBE InStItutE For MolEculAr ScIEncES lA troBE unIVErSIty

Associate Professor DissanayakerEADEr AnD ASSocIAtE ProFESSor, School oF PSycholoGIcAl ScIEncE DIrEctor, olGA tEnnISon AutISM rESEArch cEntrE, lA troBE unIVErSIty


117

World-class research with partners in more than 50 institutions around the globe, investigating:

Treatment and prevention of malaria•Programmed cell death in cancer and development•Mitochondrial biology and disease•How viruses cause disease•Autism and its management•Body image and eating disorders•Improvements to the bionic ear•Plant and animal genomics•Metagenomics of soil microbes•Soil health and sustainable agriculture•Better crops and animal production•Materials and surface science•Geometric numerical integration•

New world-class facilities now under construction:

AgriBio, the Centre for AgriBioscience, will be one of •Australia’s premier research facilities, whose mission will be to support Victoria’s $11.8 billion agricultural sector through improved productivity, better disease protection and reduced environmental impact.

The $94.3 million La Trobe Institute for Molecular •Science (LIMS) – turning research in molecular science, biotechnology and nanotechnology into medical solutions, and educating a new generation of scientists.

Want to join us? 1300 135 045

latrobe.edu.au/scitecheng

The future of science is already here.

LA TROBE INSTITUTE FOR MOLECULAR SCIENCE

Architectural render


118

Professor tanya Monro is an Arc Federation Fellow and Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) at the university of Adelaide. the vision of IPAS is to pursue a transdisciplinary research agenda, bringing together physics, chemistry and biology to create knowledge and disruptive new technologies, and solve problems for health, the environment, defence, food and wine.

Professor Monro is a member of the SA Premier’s Science

& research council, a Bragg Fellow of the royal Institution of Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of technological Sciences and Engineering (AtSE). In 2010 she was a finalist in the Scopus young researcher awards and in 2009 was named Emerging leader in the Science category in The Weekend Australian Magazine’s Emerging leader awards. In 2008 she won the Prime Minister’s Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the year, in

2007-2008 she was the ‘Women in Physics lecturer’ for the Australian Institute of Physics and in 2006 was presented with a Bright Spark Award by Cosmos magazine.

Professor Monro came to the university of Adelaide in 2005 as inaugural chair of Photonics. She has published over 330 papers in journals and refereed conference proceedings, and raised over $65 million for research, including funding for a building for IPAS.

the university of Adelaide has become a major centre for global research into nuclear and particle physics after winning a highly prestigious Australian laureate Fellowship from the Australian re s ea rch counc i l (Arc) . the Fellowship, one of only 15 awarded nationwide in 2010, was awarded to internationally renowned physicist Professor Anthony thomas FAA, chief Scientist and Associate Director for theoretical and computational Physics at Jefferson lab, the uS Department of Energy’s thomas Jefferson national Accelerator Facility in Virginia, uSA.

Fol lowing rece ipt o f the Fellowship, Professor thomas

returned to the university of Adelaide to lead the recently formed research centre for complex Systems and the Structure of Matter. Before taking his position at Jefferson lab in 2004, he was Director of the university’s Arc Special research centre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter and Elder Professor of Physics. Professor thomas’s many awards include the harrie Massey Medal (uK Institute of Physics), the thomas ranken lyle Medal (Australian Academy of Science) and the Walter Boas Medal (Australian Institute of Physics). he is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Institute of Physics, the uK Institute of Physics and

the American Physical Society. Professor thomas has served as President of the Australian Institute of Physics, Vice-President of the Australian Academy of Science, Secretary of IuPAP commission c12 and is the inaugural chair of the IuPAP Working Group on International cooperation in nuclear Physics (WG.9). under his leadership, WG.9 provided expert advice to the oEcD Global Science Forum Working Group on nuclear Physics, which prepared a global roadmap for research in nuclear physics.

Professor Tanya MonroArc FEDErAtIon FElloW School oF chEMIStry & PhySIcS InStItutE For PhotonIcS & ADVAncED SEnSInG

Professor Anthony ThomasAuStrAlIAn lAurEAtE FElloW School oF chEMIStry & PhySIcS


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Dr Jane Sargison is one of the few active female engineering researchers in Australia.

Dr Sargison’s abi l i ty was recognised as an undergraduate student and she was a university Medallist at the university of tasmania when she graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Engineering, first class honours. She was also a rhodes Scholar and

attended oxford university with this scholarship for three years. She then returned to hobart and started as a research Fellow at utAS in 2001.

Dr Sargison’s areas of research are experimental and computational fluid dynamics, thermodynamics and heat transfer. She is chief investigator in three Australian research council linkage grants.

She has also conducted consultancy studies for such organisations as hydro Electric corporation, rolls royce and the Australian Maritime college.

Dr Sargison co-supervises many PhD and masters students in the School of Engineering and teaches some undergraduate courses.

In 2009 she was awarded a rising Star Award from utAS.

the flavour-potent chilli could also pack a punch in the future prevention and treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease — the leading causes of chronic illness and death in developed countries.

utAS School of human life Sciences research fellow Dr Kiran Ahuja is investigating the biological activity of the two active ingredients of chillies — capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin — and whether chillies could replace aspirin in preventing blood clots.

Dr Ahuja’s research has focused on the antioxidant properties of these two chemicals, with results

showing there is a beneficial relationship between the chemicals and the formation of fatty deposits on the inner wall of arteries — a precursor to many cardiovascular-related health issues.

Most recently Dr Ahuja and her co-researchers have found that capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin inhibit platelet aggregation, which can lead to thrombosis or blood clots.

this year, Dr Ahuja’s research wil l assess the comparative effects of aspirin and chilli on platelet aggregation. the study will investigate what amount of chilli gives the same effect as a

standard dose of aspirin on platelet aggregation and will be followed up with a dietary intervention study with human volunteers.

Dr Ahuja says it is possible that, one day, chillies could replace aspirin, or be combined with aspirin, as a medication for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. this work on blood coagulation follows on from Dr Ahuja’s earlier investigations for her PhD thesis that showed chilli intake improves post-meal glucose and insulin response and hence may play a role in diabetes prevention.

Dr Jane SargisonSchool oF EnGInEErInG unIVErSIty oF tASMAnIA

Dr Kiran AhujaSchool oF huMAn lIFE ScIEncE unIVErSIty oF tASMAnIA


121

As a hub for globally significant research,

Tasmania continues to put runs on the

board. Our unique, isolated situation

and our focus on distinctive research

make UTAS one of the top 10 research

universities in Australia. In fact, UTAS

continues to be recognised for research

results that are international in quality

and scope, in areas such as Antarctic

and marine studies; sustainable primary

production; environment; community

place and change; population and health;

and frontier technologies.

For instance, by tracking Shy Albatross

juveniles across the Southern Ocean,

UTAS researchers are revealing why they

are not surviving long enough to breed.

Chillies have been flagged by the UTAS

School of Human Life Sciences as a

replacement for aspirin in the treatment

of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

A study led by the Tasmanian Institute

of Agricultural Research has created a

“scab-free spud” – using cell selection

techniques in the pursuit of the

perfect potato.

And researchers at the Institute for

Marine and Antarctic Studies have

discovered that microscopic plants that

support the ecosystem are unlikely to

survive the predicted warmer winters

due to climate change.

If you’re interested in the kind of

spectacular outcomes that research in

a global laboratory test bed can provide,

log on to www.research.utas.edu.au or

www.utas.edu.au/graduate-research,

and to find out more about the

Tasmanian research sector, go

to www.development.tas.gov.au

If losing your albatross becomes a pain,

take two chillies and see us in the morning.

2504

2504_FP_Research Hub.indd 1 17/5/10 4:37:52 PM

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Young Australian scientistsThe Australian scientists profiled show that the 20s and 30s can be a time of extraordinary productivity.

All were selected by the Australian Academy of Science as among the Australians most-likely to make significant global impact in coming years. Most also demonstrate how a youthful perspective can add significantly to our research capabilities. These are the Australian Academy of Science’s ten rising stars:

Stephen Blanksby, Mass spectrometryMarnie Blewitt, epigenetics researcherSean Connelly, Coral reef researcherVanessa Hayes, Professor of genomic medicineDaniela rubatto, earth scientistron Smernik, Soil scientistNicole webster, Marine scientistJames whisstock, Computational biologistDavid white, Marine geologistStuart wyithe, Astrophysicist

10

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A gooD Tool has many uses, says Stephen

Blanksby, and researchers from a diverse range of

disciplines are requesting that the mass spectrometry

unit at the University of wollongong becomes a part

of their projects.

“Mass spectrometry (MS) means being able to

identify molecules by their weight,” says Dr Blanksby.

“This helps us to understand the molecular structure,

and can be applied to medical research, where we

can observe very subtle changes in cell membranes

associated with diet, exercise, illness or age.

“Using a related technology, we’ve been able to help

Australian industry by identifying anti-oxidants in the

polymer coating of roofing iron and fences,” he says,

“and improving these traditional products to cope with

the harsh conditions found on a typical Australian roof!”

Dr Blanksby looks forward to a continuing increase

in MS as a research technique, and is proud to find that

researchers trained in Australia find a ready welcome

in MS chemical and biological laboratories around

the world, while the wollongong team is hopeful of

exporting home-grown technologies.

Dr Blanksby and his team have also been

collaborating with an Australian visual research

institute, which has a particular interest in problems

associated with contact lenses.

“we have been trying to understand the molecular

structure of tears,” says Dr Blanksby. “The familiar

‘dry eye’ sensation that some contact lens wearers

feel may be associated with the lipids in tears. It’s

exciting research.”

The challenge for the future, according to Dr

Blanksby, is using MS to the greatest advantage,

applying techniques that are faster, more accurate and

more selective than traditional MS in order to derive

more detailed information about molecular structure

with ever less sample to analyse.

Dr Blanksby completed his PhD in 1999 at the

University of Adelaide, where he undertook mass

spectrometry-based studies of highly unsaturated

cumulenes of interest in the interstellar medium.

He then took up a postdoctoral appointment at the

University of Colorado, Boulder, where he worked on

using ion-chemistry and spectroscopy to investigate

the reactivity and thermochemistry of peroxyl radicals.

Since his appointment to the University of wollongong

in 2002, he has made significant contributions to the fields

of ion-molecule chemistry and lipid mass spectrometry.

He has published over 70 papers and was awarded the

2007 rennie Medal from the royal Australian Chemical

Institute and the 2009 leFévre Prize from the Australian

Academy of Sciences.

Stephen BlanksbyMASS SPeCTroMeTry

Blood, sweat, tears … and roofing iron

124


AS well AS being a young mother, Dr Marnie

Blewitt leads a research team in epigenetics. Highlights

of her career include journal articles, conference

presentations, and a number of awards and prizes.

In 2009 she was awarded the l’oreal Australia For

women in Science Fellowship.

“The Human genome Project identified 30,000

genes making up a human. But how do the genes

know which human characteristic they cause?

If similar or identical genes produce quite different

results, then the reason must be something outside

the gene sequence,” she says. “This is the exciting

field of epigenetics.”

Dr Blewitt took her degree at Sydney University,

and studied in Paris and oxford before gaining

her PhD in 2004. She is currently a Peter Doherty

Postdoctoral Fellow at the walter and eliza Hall

Institute in Melbourne.

She is confident that Australian science is very

highly regarded overseas. “even though researchers

in europe or the United States may have access to a

far larger pool of money, Australian researchers are

seen as being very resourceful,” she says. “They are

regarded as being a real asset in any lab. They think

about things from different angles to try to get to the

answer. It’s not difficult for an Australian scientist to

find jobs in science overseas.”

Dr Blewitt is enthusiastic about the daily tasks of the

laboratory researcher. “lab work is really exciting,”

she says. “It’s fun. It’s one of the reasons why I went

into science in the first place. It’s a pleasure not to have

to sit at a computer all day, but to go into a lab and

perform physical experiments. That part of science is

really enjoyable.”

Biology is the basis of Marnie Blewitt’s enthusiasm.

People, she says, are wired differently, and her interests

and talents lie in the biological sciences. She hopes

her research will lead to some fundamental insights

into how epigenetics controls the expression of the

genes. It may also have some important application

to disease.

“when epigenetics goes wrong it can cause cancer,”

she says. “If we can understand the molecular

mechanisms, then perhaps we can design targeted

therapies to treat these tumours in the most effective

ways possible.”

Marnie BlewittePIgeNeTICS reSeArCHer

What makes the genes go round

125

Young AustrAliAn sCiEntists

SHArkS, CorAlS and no-take fishing zones can

all be better understood through mathematics, says

Sean Connolly.

Professor Connolly has an ArC Professorial

Fellowship in the ArC Centre of excellence for Coral

reef Studies at James Cook University in Townsville.

He uses complex mathematical models to understand

the processes that maintain biodiversity on coral reefs.

His research findings have been published in Nature,

Science and Ecology Letters, among others.

“My research group integrates mathematical

modelling and empirical work to examine the causes

of large-scale patterns in marine biodiversity,” he says.

“Happily, much of the empirical work is done wearing

a wetsuit on the great Barrier reef.”

Professor Connolly says that modelling is

becoming increasingly important in the ecological

sciences, and that in recent decades it has become

increasingly good at maximising the information

that can be gleaned from data.

“Today we can link, quantitatively, models of

ecological dynamics with observations collected now

and over the past decades. This allows us to make more

definitive statements about the degree of uncertainty

associated with our understanding of how things work,

and with our projections about the future,” he says.

“The scientific process is a dialogue between

our perceptions — empirical data — and our pre-

conceptions — our theories about now nature

works. The more rigorously we confront models

with data, the more fruitful that dialogue. It’s when

our data depart unaccountably from our models that

things get exciting.

“This is what sparks major theoretical change

in ecology,” he says.

As well as having a distinguished record of scientific

publication, Professor Connolly has been very active in

communicating the results of his research to the public

at large, and he has made a number of appearances

on ABC radio’s The Science Show, as well as many

public forums, newspaper stories, and radio and

TV appearances. He was one of a team of scientists

who wrote The Townsville Declaration on Coral Reef

Research and Management (2002), and has published

other papers on the effects of climate change and

terrestrial runoff on the health of the reef.

originally from the USA (he obtained his PhD from

Stanford University in 1999, and moved to James

Cook University in 2000), Professor Connolly remains

optimistic about the future of coral reefs.

“Australians love the sea, and the reef in particular is

a national icon,” he says. “reefs worldwide are being

degraded, but I think we can avoid a catastrophic

collapse if we manage our effects on climate and our

extraction of reef resources.

“Many people depend on the reef for their livelihoods,

so it’s in our own interest to protect reefs for future

generations.”

Sean ConnellyCorAl reeF reSeArCHer

The numbers of biodiversity

126


VANeSSA HAyeS is a geneticist with an impressive

record of laboratory research, but her career has

included trekking the kalahari Desert in search of early

human genetic characteristics, and encounters with

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Tasmanian Devil,

for the same purpose.

“I like to go to the extremes of science,”

says Dr Hayes. “That’s why I went to Namibia. Africa

holds a vast untapped resource, which we haven’t

used or appreciated. Identifying extreme human

characteristics is a great way of rapidly advancing

scientific knowledge on the genetic basis to human

adaption and human disease.”

Prostate cancer is a major cause of death in

Australia, but nearly all the sufferers are of european

extraction, says Dr Hayes. It is African men, she

believes, who hold the genetic key and who have the

greatest incidence of the disease. She believes that all

populations need to be included in DNA databases.

Defining the genomic profile of population diversity

will facilitate major breakthroughs in understanding

the origins of multiple complex diseases.

In 2010, Dr Hayes travelled thousands of kilometres

through southern Africa and the kalahari Desert,

taking blood samples from poorly defined khoisan

(click-speaking) and African Bantu populations. Her

work identified the most divergent complete human

genomes sequenced to date, including that of Archbishop

Desmond Tutu and !gubi, a kalahari Bushman.

This data, published in Nature, provided an additional 1.3

million DNA variations to current databases. This study

provides not only a glimpse into humanity’s ancient past

as hunter-gatherers and sheds light into its transition

and expansion as farmers, but will contribute to defining

human phenotypic characteristics.

“Australia is unique in the way it celebrates its

scientists,” says Dr Hayes. “I’ve lived in many

countries and Australia is far ahead of the game

when it comes to recognition and public coverage

for local scientific research.

“It is therefore up to us as Australian scientists to

utilise these opportunities and relay our message to

the public,” she says. “If we cannot communicate our

science to the lay person, then we have ultimately

failed. we need to take responsibility for implementing

changes.”

Now a Conjoint Professor of Medicine at the University

of New South wales, and resident in Sydney, Dr Hayes

recently accepted a position as Professor of genomic

Medicine at the J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego,

California. Dr Hayes studied in South Africa, and did a

PhD in cancer genetics at the University of groningen,

Netherlands. She received an Australian-American

Fulbright Professional Scholarship (2009); the ruth

Stephens gani Medal for Human genetics, Australian

Academy of Science (2008); an Australian young Tall

Poppy Award for Science (2007); the NSw Premier’s

Award for outstanding Cancer research Fellow (2007);

the BNP Paribas Award for Cancer genetics (2006); and

has produced 50 peer-reviewed publications since 1996.

Vanessa HayesProFeSSor oF geNoMIC MeDICINe

The science of extremes

127


DANIelA rUBATTo describes herself as an

earth scientist who is passionate to find out about

the mountains.

“Those great big things on the horizon, how did they

get there? where do they come from? How long have

they been there?” she wonders.

Her main research interest, she says, is in

geochronology of metamorphic processes, crustal

growth and mountain building. In 2002, she

discovered a key geochemical signature in the mineral

zircon in metamorphic rocks that experienced extreme

conditions. This geochemical fingerprint allows the age

extracted from the mineral to be linked with the pressure

and temperature that the rocks have experienced, and

thus to time the path the rocks have travelled at depth.

Dr rubatto has a particular interest in the mineral

zircon, indeed she speaks of it with a surprising

fondness. “Zircon never lets you down,” she says.

“It’s such a solid material to work with, with so much

information contained in it. you can follow millions

of years of the earth’s evolution in zircon, if you just

know how to read it. It’s a never-ending puzzle which

is a joy to work on!”

As a scientist, Dr rubatto enjoys being able

to move between Australia and other parts of the

world. Australian science, she says, is extremely

international. Much of her research has been done

in the western alps of Italy, in the Sikkim Himalaya,

and in the interior of Australia. She appreciates what

she thinks of as the Australian attitude to scientific

research: enjoy it, do not take it too seriously,

but be very good at it!

“Although I spend time in the mountains, and

I love walking the mountain trails, for my research

I do not join extreme field trips, and I do most of my

‘extreme’ work in the laboratory,” she says. “life is too

precious, and family keeps me from doing rash things

or being away too long!”

Daniela RubattoeArTH SCIeNTIST

An enquiring mind amongst the mountains

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All HUMAN activities ultimately depend on water

and air, and the soils which are such a vital part of the

economy and the environment.

ron Smernik’s research is focussed on soil organic

matter, a soil component that affects the physical,

chemical and biological properties of soil.

“I have problems with the term ‘soil scientist’,” says

Dr Smernik. “It has the effect of putting things into

one basket. In fact soil science covers a wide range of

scientific disciplines.”

The organic matter that Dr Smernik studies gives

structure to soil by holding particles of sand, silt and

clay together; it reduces soil strength, enabling root

penetration; it enhances water holding capacity and

water infiltration; it comprises most of a soil’s nitrogen,

and about half of its phosphorus; and is the source of

energy and nutrients for the soil microbes. Finally, soil

organic matter represents a bigger pool of carbon than

terrestrial biomass and atmospheric Co2 combined.

Dr Smernik uses innovative nuclear magnetic

resonance (NMr) technologies to characterise

soil properties.

“My approach has been to adapt standard chemistry

methodologies, in particular NMr spectroscopy,

to a very different purpose,” he says. “The result is

a new perspective on an important material.”

Australian scientists, says Dr Smernik, have

a certain informality, which stands them in good stead.

They are willing to question authorities and orthodoxies,

and not be over-awed by the reputations which their

international colleagues may have.

“Soil science is also vital ly important in

our context,” says Dr Smernik. “Australia may

not be at the forefront of some of the research

endeavours, but in soil science we more than

hold our own. even though some of the actual

knowledge that we gather is specific to Australia,

our research skills will be welcome anywhere

in the world.”

Dr Smernik was awarded the Freder ick

white Prize (for researchers under the age

of 40, engaged in one of the physical sciences)

in 2008. He has a PhD in organic chemistry,

and recently was granted an Australian research

Council QeII Fellowship to carry out research

at the University of Adelaide on the influence

of organic matter on the toxicity and movement

of organic pollutants in soils and sediments.

Ron Smernik SoIl SCIeNTIST

Covering a wide range of disciplines

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Dr NICole weBSTer loves sponges, whether they

are under the Antarctic ice or blooming on the great

Barrier reef.

“Sponges and microbes play such an important role

in the sea. There are more species of microbes in the

ocean than anything else,” she says. “Microbes actually

make up a greater mass than everything else in the

ocean put together!

“Microbes are at the base of the food chain, so every

living thing depends on them,” she says. “And they form

an astonishing range of symbiotic partnerships, such as

the relationships which are essential for the survival of

marine organisms like corals and sponges.”

Dr webster says that although sponges in particular

are useful as indicators of marine health, they are often

the poor cousins to corals and “rarely on the radar”

of science and natural resource managers. Sponges

may comprise up to 60 per cent symbiotic bacteria,

and the various organisms that make up a sponge are

highly sensitive to changes in the environment such as

pollution or rising temperatures.

“we know that the marine ecosystem depends

on sponges, especially as highly efficient filters,”

says Dr webster. “But what we also know is that

the sponges of the great Barrier reef begin to fail

as organisms when sea surface temperatures reach

33 degrees Celsius. with impending climate change,

this has huge significance.”

Dr webster, who says that she was interested

in science even as a child, obtained a postdoctoral

fellowship at the University of Canterbury. This enabled

her to carry out research through the New Zealand

Antarctic base on the use of sponges as bioindicators

in a polluted marine environment. The good news, she

says, is that despite very heavy pollution in some areas,

the sponges and their related bacteria are thriving.

Dr webster, as a working scientist and a young

mother of three children, regrets that her opportunities

to do field work are diminishing.

“My role now involves far more planning and

collating scientific results, even if it’s exciting research

work,” she says. “The actual experimental work at the

laboratory bench is mostly done by students. As for

getting into a wetsuit and diving on the reef, it doesn’t

happen as much as it used to!”

Dr webster is concerned that important scientific

concepts such as biodiversity and ecosystem services

have not had the recognition that they deserve from land

and marine managers, while the scientific knowledge

that underpins these ideas has hugely increased.

“environmental change is occurring, and the

rate of change is a real threat,” says Dr webster,

“but I remain hopeful that most species, including us,

will be able to cope.”

Nicole WebsterMArINe SCIeNTIST

Sponges, microbes and managers

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ProFeSSor JAMeS wHISSToCk has been

exploring the fundamental shape and structure of

components of the living cell, and how they afffect the

activities of pathogens and diseases such as cancer.

The whisstock laboratory at Monash University is

internationally recognised for its groundbreaking

research into the role of proteases and their inhibitors

in human diseases.

In the arcane world of bioinformatics, genomics

and protein biology, Professor whisstock makes a

surprisingly simple observation: “Shape is a very

important thing in biology. If you can see what

something looks like, you can then understand

how it works. And then you can look at changes or

mutations, and how they give rise to deficiencies and

ultimately to disease.”

Professor whisstock uses x-ray crystallography,

synchrotron light and advanced super-computing

to carry out his basic biological research. His early

research focus was on bioinformatics and serpins —

the latter being a group of proteins able to inhibit the

proteases that break down proteins and can lead to

degenerative disease.

“we are lucky to be working in such an exciting

period of science,” he says. “There’s been an explosion

in data, and the increase in computing power permits

so much more to be revealed from the data. our lab

deals in pure biology, in genomics, in crystallography

and in bioinformatics. we use a very big computing

infrastructure to bring all this together.”

one of the most exciting moments of Professor

whisstock’s research career came when, after 10

years’ work, he and his team were able to determine

the structure of an important protein family belonging

to the membrane attack complex/perforin superfamily.

Human deficiency in these proteins may lead to a

number of serious diseases as well as an increased

susceptibility to bacterial infection and cancer.

“when we worked out the structure, we could

see, because of its shape, that it was related to a very

ancient family of bacterial toxins,” he says. “Perhaps

two billion years have gone by, and here are these

two very powerful weapons. one of them is used

by bacteria against us, and one we can use against the

attack of bacteria. It’s a beautiful irony!”

In 2006 James whisstock was awarded the

Science Minister’s Prize for life Scientist of the

year, in 2008 the Commonwealth Health Ministers

Award, and in 2010 the Australian Academy

of Science gottschalk Medal. He is currently an ArC

Federation Fellow.

“Australia is a fabulous environment for science,”

says Uk-born Professor whisstock. “young,

enthusiastic researchers are prepared to take risks

and be brave … there’s a great ‘can-do’ aspect

to Australia.”

James WhisstockCoMPUTATIoNAl BIologIST

Structural and computational biology

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eVeN DeeP UNDer THe SeA, structures need to

have a good foundation, especially if they are carrying

oil or natural gas. Professor David white has made a

study of the difficult and challenging science of oil rigs

and seabed pipelines. “Pipelines may have to be laid

for hundreds of kilometres, at great depths beneath the

sea, and be able to carry gases or oil, often very hot

and at high pressure,” he says. “The pipelines don’t lie

still. They wriggle around on the seabed. And they get

longer as they get warmer.”

A problem facing oil and gas operators is finding out

just what lies beneath the ocean, along the route of any

proposed pipeline. This is particularly a problem off the

Australian coast, where the variability is much greater

than in oil and gas bearing areas elsewhere in the world.

Some western Australian gas fields now being exploited

lie in water that is 1200 metres deep at the foot of what,

on land, would be a vast cliff some 100–200km off the

northwest coast.Marine geologists can learn a lot about

the seabed by using seismic methods that measure

shock waves from detonations and other similar

techniques, says Professor white, but ultimately there

is a need to take samples, bring them to the surface,

and analyse their mechanical properties. “we receive

samples at our lab in western Australia, where we use

a centrifuge to replicate the in situ strength of the soil,”

says Professor white. “we can ramp up the effective

gravity within the centrifuge to 200g. This enables us

to simulate the conditions at the sea floor, and we use

scale models of foundations, anchors and pipelines to

assess their characteristics and their behaviour under

realistic operating conditions — for example, during

cyclones.” Professor white is also interested in the

unique characteristics of the Australian sea floor, which

are quite different to the northern hemisphere, where

ancient rocks, glaciers and rushing rivers provide the

sediments that make up the seabed conditions of today.

Australian offshore soils are predominantly made from

soft carbonate minerals, which are the fossil remnants

of organisms that lived in our tropical seas.

He started his career as a lecturer at Cambridge

University, but moved to Australia to become one of

the youngest professors at UwA in 2007 at the age

of 31. In 2010 he received the Anton Hales Medal

from the Australian Academy of Science, recognising

his contribution to earth sciences. He has more than

a hundred published papers, and has received the

Bishop Medal, the Telford Premium, the rM Quigley

Honourable Mention and the BgA Prize (twice).

As well as receiving academic recognition, Professor

white’s work has resulted in designs and techniques

that are widely used in engineering practice, and he has

been called in as a consultant to oil and gas operators

based in london, Houston and Norway.

David WhiteMArINe geologIST

Keeping the oil and gas industry on a secure foundation

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ASTroPHySICIST STUArT wyITHe has a

better idea than most about what happened at the

very beginning. Astronomy, says Professor wyithe,

is a cooperative science. The people who make

observations work closely with the people who try to

model and interpret them, and he, although he is an

astronomer, never actually uses a telescope. The raw

materials for his research are numbers, and his tools

are normal desk-top computers.

“My main interest is in the first galaxies,” he says.

“These are literally the first galaxies formed. we have

developed a very good picture of the Universe before

galaxies existed, just three hundred thousand years

after the Big Bang.

we also have many observations of galaxies as they

existed from a billion years after the Big Bang right down

to today. However, as yet, we have no observations of

the Universe during the important in-between period,

when the galaxies were forming. Astronomers refer to

this time as the Dark Ages.”

After taking a physics degree followed by postdoctoral

study in astrophysics at Melbourne University,

Professor wyithe left Australia to do research at

Princeton University. In 2001 he was awarded a

Hubble Fellowship to Harvard. when he returned to

Australia he took the position of Australian research

Council Queen elizabeth II Fellow at the University of

Melbourne.

In 2009 he was awarded the Academy’s prestigious

Pawsey Medal for Physics. The citation for this award

stated that he made “outstanding contributions to

cosmology, and to our understanding of the likely

structure of the universe as the first stars formed, with

work on the birth of black holes, stars and galaxies”.

Professor wyithe says that, although astronomy

has no immediate or predictable commercial rewards,

there are occasional unexpected spin-off products

such as the wi-Fi technology patented by CSIro

in 1992.

“But the most important spin-off is in terms of

training,” he says. “we train a lot of students, and my

students have moved into climate modeling, geothermal

research, meteorology and many other very different

fields, because they have had a technical training which

is very transferable.”

Professor wyithe is confident that most people find

science inherently interesting, and most young people

find it exciting. In recent decades the style of research

has changed with the increase in computing power,

but there is still an important place for curiosity-driven

science.

Stuart WyitheASTroPHySICIST

Back to the Big Bang

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Dr Pa t r i ck Warnke i s an internationally-renowned stem cell researcher and plastic surgeon who created world headlines after leading a research team that succeeded in ‘growing’ a new jawbone for a cancer sufferer using the patient’s own stem cells. the jaw was the first larger tissue engineered body part to be grown.

In 2007, Dr Warnke launched the revolutionary MyJoint program in Germany — a cutting edge tissue-engineering network comprising researchers and practitioners from

leading institutions worldwide who are focussed on developing technologies that will enable patients to use their own bodies as “bio-reactors” to grow replacement bones and organs.

Dr Warnke continues his role in this groundbreaking medical field, drawing Bond university’s Faculty of health Sciences and Medicine into the global MyJoint collaboration.

In addition to Dr Warnke’s extensive research and publication portfolio, he has devoted many

years to teaching through lectures, clinical skills training and thesis supervision, winning an award in 2006 for the Best Student lectures of the year within the Medical Faculty of the christian Albrecht university in Germany.

As Professor of Surgery, he a l so des igned the new surgical curriculum for Bond’s medical students.

Assoc ia te Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik is one of Australia’s foremost emerging researchers spec ia l i s ing in the area of neuroimmunology and has been instrumental in establishing the Public health and neuroimmunology unit (PhAnu) at Bond university.

Much of her work relates specifically to immunological dysfunction in chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers and she is regularly asked to speak to community groups on behalf of Queensland health and nSW health. her research in the area of exercise immunology has

also contributed to the body of knowledge relating to the effect of doping in sport and she serves as Sports Medicine Australia’s national spokesperson.

the vital research conducted by Associate Professor Marshall-Gradisnik has attracted more than $1.2 million in grant funding and she has produced 32 peer-reviewed papers, five book chapters and two provisional patents.

Associate Professor Marshall-Gradisnik was recently awarded funding of $555,000 through the 2009-2011 Queensland Government Smart State Science research Grant for a project titled

“Validation of novel biomarkers for cFS/ME”.

Associate Professor Marshall-G r a d i s n i k i s c u r r e n t l y collaborating with a number or researchers, including:•D r D o n a l d S t a i n e s ,

Queensland health Southern Area Population health

•Professor Nancy Kl imas , Miller School of Medicine, university of Florida, uSA

•Professor Oguz Baskur t ,u n i v e r s i t y o f A n t a l y a , turkey

•Professor Herbert Meisleman,Keck School of Medicine, los Angeles, uSA.

Dr Patrick WarnkeProFESSor oF SurGEry FAculty oF hEAlth ScIEncES AnD MEDIcInE

Professor Sonya Marshall-GradisnikASSocIAtE ProFESSor BIochEMIStry FAculty oF hEAlth ScIEncES AnD MEDIcInE


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BOND UNIVERSITY

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST RESEARCH


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Jason Seris, an rMIt university graduate, has become the first Australian to be chosen for rolls-royce’s prestigious north

American leadership program.Ser i s recent l y graduated

with a Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace), first-class honours, and undertook his internship as part of the rMIt International Industry Experience and research Program (rIIErP) . he i s now jo in ing the Graduate leadership Development Program with the GE rolls-royce Fighter Engine team.

the Fighter Engine team is developing the F136, the world’s most advanced combat engine,

for the Joint Strike Fighter.over the five-year program,

he will complete five rotations across rolls-royce sites. Potentially, he may find himself working in Washington Dc, Singapore, tokyo and at the company’s headquaters in Derby, uK.

Australia is a leading partner in the Joint Str ike Fighter program, and Seris and his fellow rMIt interns are making a vital contribution to the development of the F136 engine, which will power that aircraft.

Professor Dav id Adams i s Director of the health Innovations research Institute (hIri) at rMIt university. the theme of the rMIt health Innovations research Institute is “translating fundamental science into better health outcomes”.

Professor Adams has received a Muscular Dystrophy Association o f A m e r i c a Po s t d o c t o r a l Fellowship; a Grass Fellowship in neurophysiology, Marine Biological laboratory, Woods hole, uSA; a Beit Memorial Fellowship for Medical research, uK; and a Bronze Service

Award from the American heart Association. he is currently the elected President of the Australian Physiological Society.

Professor Adams’ most recent research involved the potential for toxins produced by cone snai ls to better control the chronic pain suffered by one in five Australians of working age. he l e ad s t h e un i v e r s i t y ’ s i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o v e n o m peptides, the cocktail of agents in cone snail venom that paralyses prey. his team focuses on isolating peptides that target particular receptors in the pain pathways in

a bid to find new treatments for chronic and neuropathic pain.

Backed by a $1.4 mil l ion Australian research council grant, Professor Adams and his team work with one of the world’s leading cone snail experts, Professor Frank Mari, at Florida Atlantic university. the collaboration with Mari means rMIt can now broaden its investigation beyond Australian species. the team also works with researchers in the university of calgary and a group based in Belgium.

Jason SerisGrADuAtE lEADErShIP DEVEloPMEnt ProGrAM royAl MElBournE InStItutE oF tEchnoloGy

Professor David AdamshEAlth InnoVAtIonS rESEArch InStItutE royAl MElBournE InStItutE oF tEchnoloGy


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GLOBALLY CONNECTED, LOCALLY RELEVANT

Research with Global Impact

With projects addressing issues of concern at local, national and international levels, RMIT promotes ingenuity and creativity to achieve maximum impact.

Ground-breaking success in areas including nanotechnology, engineering, aerospace, complementary medicine and ICT, demonstrate the University’s capacity to make its mark in research and innovation. RMIT research focuses on issues of global importance and encourages collaborative approaches, innovative solutions, and timely and relevant outcomes that benefi t society.

The new European Union Centre at RMIT will build bridges with Europe to tackle the complex, diffi cult problems that impact the way we live. The Centre uses RMIT’s strong links with Asia

to enhance European understanding and engagement with the region, tackling vital issues such as the future of cities, people mobility, border security and climate change.

Throughout the University, multi-disciplinary projects are carried out in close collaboration with RMIT’s research institutes, other Australian and international universities, industry, government and partner organisations.

With globally recognised researchers supported by state-of-the-art facilities, RMIT offers exceptional opportunities for postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers.

For more information visit >www.rmit.edu.au/programs/researchprograms

mitc

h S

1710

S 1 7 1 0 _ R M I T _ A S _ R . p d f P a g e 1 2 8 / 0 7 / 1 0 , 2 : 3 7 P M


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Professor Abigail Elizur is a leading researcher in the field of aquaculture biotechnology. She was awarded the university of the Sunshine coast’s Vice-chancellor’s Medal for research in 2009 for her involvement in a number of major aquaculture research projects, particularly the world-first spawning of southern bluefin tuna in captivity.

Professor Elizur’s expertise in fish reproductive physiology and advancing genetic studies using genomics has enabled university

of the Sunshine coast to become an important contributor to the Australian Seafood cooperative research centre and other major research.

Among Professor Elizur’s current projects is one aimed at “climate-proofing” tasmania’s $270 million salmon aquaculture industry. this project, led by Griffith university in partnership with uSc and Salmon Enterprises of tasmania, has received funding from the federal government’s Fisheries research and Development corporation.

researchers are examining the impact of temperature variations on Atlantic salmon breeding stock of different ages in tasmania in a bid to improve the survival rate of eggs.

Prior to her appointment with uSc in 2005, Dr Elizur was a senior research scientist with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and head of the Fish reproduction Department at Israel’s national centre for Mariculture.

Professor tim Smith is a leading researcher in the fields of climate change adaptation and coastal management and Director of the Sustainability research centre at university of the Sunshine coast. Along with his research partners he was awarded the 2009 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Innovative Solutions to climate change. the award was based on research he jointly led with representatives from the Sydney coastal councils Group, WWF and the cSIro that assessed Sydney’s ability to

adapt to future climate conditions. Professor Smith is currently leading the Adaptive capacity theme in a similar climate change adaptation project for South East Queensland, which represents Australia’s single largest integrated climate adaptation research initiative at the regional scale, and involves the Queensland and Australian governments, the cSIro climate Adaptation national research Flagship, the university of Queensland and Griffith university. he is also currently leading the communities

theme of the national climate change Adaptation research Facil ity network on Marine Biodiversity and resources, and the Adaptive learning theme of the cSIro coastal cluster. Prior to his appointment at uSc he was a senior research scientist with the cSIro. he also led the social science portfolios of two national research centres (coastal and catchment hydrology crcs).

Professor Abigail ElizurGEnEcoloGy rESEArch GrouP unIVErSIty oF thE SunShInE coASt

Professor Tim SmithSuStAInABIlIty rESEArch cEntrE unIVErSIty oF thE SunShInE coASt


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USC’s climate change research received a boost in May with a $300,000 federal government grant to assess how fast-growing tropical hardwood trees can be better used to combat climate change.

The large collaborative project—involving USC, CSIRO Plant Industries, and Agri-Science Queensland—establishes the group as the major tropical forestry research provider for Australia in addressing climate change.

The project will assess the drought adaptation and carbon sequestration rates (the rates at which trees absorb carbon from the air) in tropical hardwood plantations.

It will enhance the forestry sector’s knowledge of tropical trees adapted to drought, and enable the sector to participate in ground-breaking sustainable carbon pollution reduction schemes.

The grant from the government’s Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund was for the Forestry Adaptation and Sequestration Alliance project.

Project leader Dr David Lee is Associate Professor of Plant

Genetics at USC and a Senior Principal Research Scientist with

Agri-Science Queensland in the Department of Employment,

Economic Development and Innovation.

v is i t www.usc.edu.au/research

Forestry project targets climate change

University of the Sunshine Coast QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA Tel: 07 5430 1234 Fax: 07 5430 1111 CRICOS Provider Number: 01595D

M&C Forestry ad.indd 1 1/06/10 3:36 PM

Conference

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Until qUite recently, science was performed by small, elite groups in one place, usually one university, one city, one country. During the past 50 years, science has become a global enterprise. Australian scientists now live and work all over the world, and most leading scientific teams are international, made up of collaborators from many countries.

We used to speak of the “brain drain” when a scientists left their home country to live and work in another, but now we think of a “brain balance”, where some Australians

find opportunities overseas, while equally accomplished scientists from other places come to live and work here. no country, however rich, has every facility in every subject, and Australia has focused on some fields (such as astronomy and immunology, to name but two) in which it is particularly strong.

A world view of the value of science is now found worldwide. Australia needs science if it is to survive as a prosperous country. to this end, it is vital that Australia nurtures engagement and participation in the global science effort.

Most scientists are inspired by the excitement of discovering new things. This has been true for the whole of human history. The joy of working out the explanation for the force of gravity, the special law of relativity, the periodic table, the double helix, or telomeres, is extraordinary. Most scientists know moments of great excitement, even though few of us will shine as brightly in the constellation of science as Newton or Mendeleev, Einstein or Crick, Franklin or Watson, or Elizabeth Blackburn.

11Future scienceBob Williamson

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We have a relatively liberal visa and citizenship policy for scientists from other countries who want to carry out research here, but should remain vigilant in practice to minimise employment barriers. We must introduce our own scientists to the international science

arena early in their careers. Some lucky ones are selected to mingle with nobel laureates and thousands of budding scientific elite from around the world at meetings like the one at lindau on lake Constance in Germany in 2010.

We must also ensure that scientists who leave Australia to work in other countries keep in contact and are in our minds when new initiatives are funded at home. After their years abroad, they will return with new and different approaches that will help to renew and invigorate Australian science.

Promoting flexible and sustainable career paths for our early career scientists will help to ensure that ongoing science capability is available to tackle the big issues and drive our nation’s future. improving mobility between research, university, industry and government sectors, valuing alternative science-based careers outside of academia, and providing career re-entry opportunities for young scientists who experience interruptions or discontinuity in their research efforts all go a long way toward

supporting early-career scientists to achieve work-life balance alongside a career in science.

But is science only for the scientists? let’s consider the big issues facing governments throughout the world. First and foremost, climate change, global warming and energy

policy. Science stories appear every day in the media, but which are true? Can we be skeptical without becoming foolish? How much “margin of error” is there, and who corrects errors if they are made? Perhaps more importantly, how do we ensure that politicians and public servants have enough scientific knowledge (or can get independent, evidence-based information from scientists) to make informed policy and planning decisions?

What of other issues? When is it ethical to use embryonic stem cells? Are genetically modified foods harmful, or helpful? is the population growing at an unsustainable rate? is nuclear power safe? these debates CAnnOt cannot be held without those involved having some level of scientific knowledge. Because of this, education in the principles of science is a matter for everyone, not just for scientists.!

Australia is fortunate: we have a wonderful education system. there has been an increasing emphasis on attending university and about a third of Australians now study at one of the

“When is it ethical to use embryonic stem cells? Are genetically

modified foods harmful, or helpful?”

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AustrAliAn sCiEntists

30 or so Australian universities, most of which offer strong science courses. By 2020 i predict this will rise to 50 per cent, a remarkable increase when you consider that a mere 50 years ago only about 3 per cent of people went on to higher education. in total, there are now almost 200,000 students who study undergraduate science, engineering, agriculture or information technology in Australian universities. Universities offer exciting new courses combining science with arts or law or engineering, creating pathways for a new generation of highly qualified and scientifically literate graduates in a range of professions.

However, undergraduate education is only the beginning. in 2010, anyone aspiring to a career in scientific research would be expected to have a PhD. it is remarkable that about 4000 people get PhDs from Australian universities in science,

engineering and medicine each year. A doctorate used to be training for a career in research, usually in a research-oriented university, or with CSiRO or in a medical research institute. now, however, a PhD trains a young woman or man for any job that requires a high level of intelligence combined with the ability to create, follow and complete a plan of research or study. Most students who get a PhD do not finish up as “boffins” any longer. there is a

growing expectation that in future a top-ranking public servant, school principal, politician or industrialist is likely to have a doctorate.

if a doctorate is to be the best qualification for any senior appointment, we must ensure that every PhD is not only trained in depth in his or her own subject, but also has a broad knowledge of teamwork, media, finance, mentoring and human relations. Australian universities are now responding by ensuring that most PhD students have the opportunity to choose courses that provide these leadership skills.

For those who are passionate about science, joining the scientific workforce is an important decision. the salaries are not great for junior researchers (although they improve as you progress). the hours are long, and there is little job security, particularly in the university sector. However, in return, a scientist experiences the

joy of facing new challenges every day and the reward of solving them using skills that are essentially personal, in the knowledge that his or her work is a contribution to the future of Australian science and the global science effort.

For many scientists, these privileges are combined with the wonderful moments of participating in the excitement of discovery, of being at the frontiers of knowledge and blazing new intellectual trails.

“In future a top-ranking public servant, school principal,

politician or industrialist is likely to have a doctorate.”

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MEdiCAl rEsEArCh


144

thE tErM of an innovation patent is eight years compared to 20 years for a standard patent. however, unlike a standard patent, an invention claimed in an innovation patent does not have to pass the test for “inventive step” — rather, it must meet the (lower) test for “innovative step”. Further, in certain circumstances, it is possible to file innovation patents from standard patents and vice versa. With astute management, therefore, a patentee can avail of the

“best of both worlds” and thereby strengthen their IP position.

the lack of an obviousness test provides a great opportunity for patentees to take advantage of our innovation patent as a powerful strategic property in its own right and/or to maximise their advantage during litigation. Such was the case in Dura-Post (Aust) Pty ltd v Delnorth Pty ltd [2009] FcAFc 81, where the Full Federal court recently decided to uphold a

Australian innovation patent advantage

By Caroline Bommer and Peter Treloar

Ignore it at your potential peril

thE FActS: In addition to “standard” patents, the Australian patent system offers a unique form of protection called the “innovation patent”.


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trial judge’s decision that an innovation patent was not subject to an obviousness test, but rather to the substantially weaker “innovative step” test being something peculiar to Australian jurisprudence.

In the Dura-Post case, relating to the simple subject matter of elastically deformable roadside posts, the patentee had filed multiple divisional innovation patents from a standard patent and successfully sued on the innovation patents. the successful innovation patent claims each defined a new, but arguably non-inventive, combination of known features. however, the court concluded, based on evidence, that in each case the claimed difference over the prior art, while small, did provide a substantial or “real” contribution to the working of the invention and as such passed the threshold test.

The implications and recommendations

the absence of an obviousness test allows applicants to potentially obtain protection for more marginal developments and/or obtain broader rights for an invention in Australia than would be possible in nearly all other jurisdictions. As such, we would encourage potential applicants to consider innovation patents as an adjunct to a standard patent application in order to obtain a fast-to-grant right with potentially broader claims. they should also be considered as an adjunct or alternative for developments that would normally at best be protected via the useful, but limited, registered designs regime. Importantly, many applicants are already doing this. It is undoubtedly preferable to be the holder of innovation patents in your particular IP space, than trying to operate around competitors’ rights, which may prove to be unexpectedly broad and difficult to successfully challenge.

Innovation patents proceed to “grant” after a basic

formalities review. they need not be examined substantively unless and until the patentee wishes to establish enforceable rights. In this way, they can be both powerful and flexible, as it is clear from this latest case that minor points of distinction disclosed within the specification may be sufficient to establish patentable rights.

For the same reasons, it is difficult to accurately predict the potential scope of granted but unexamined innovation patents of third parties. this arguably provides an added incentive for applicants to attempt to dominate particular market sectors through innovation patents.

however, it is worth noting that the innovation patent regime appears to be at odds with one of IP Australia’s stated goals — aligning Australian patentability standards with those of other major jurisdictions such as Europe and the uS. Such policy considerations may give rise to a substantive review or revision of the regime in due course, although any resultant changes would almost certainly not have retrospective effect.

Meanwhile, based on the law as it presently stands, our recommendation is to take full advantage of the significant strategic and commercial benefits that innovation patents currently provide. your competitors may already be doing just that!

The Academy’s affairs are conducted by a council of 17 Fellows, elected at the Annual General Meeting, that meets five times each year. It includes the seven-member Executive Committee and other Council members.

Who’s who

147

Executive Committee of Council

President: Professor Suzanne CoryProfessor, Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Secretary (Physical Sciences): Professor Peter HallARC Federation Fellow and Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne

Secretary (Biological Sciences): Professor Graham FarquharProfessor of Environmental Biology and Associate Director, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University

Secretary (Science Policy): Professor Bob WilliamsonHonorary Senior Principal Fellow and Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Melbourne

Secretary (Education and Public Awareness): Professor Jenny GravesDirector, Australian Research Council Centre for Kangaroo Genomics Head, Comparative Genomics Research Group, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University

12

148


Foreign Secretary: Professor Andrew HolmesLaureate Professor, School of Chemistry, Bio21 Institute, University of MelbourneCSIRO Fellow, CSIRO Molecular and Health Technologies

Treasurer: Professor Michael DopitaEmeritus Professor, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University

Council members

Professor Andy GleadowProfessor of Earth Sciences, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne

Professor Chris GoodnowARC Federation Fellow and Chief Scientific Officer, Australian Phenomics Facility, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University

Professor Doug Hilton FAA, Principal Research Fellow, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne

Professor Richard HobbsAustralian Professorial Fellow, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia

Professor Chennupati JagadishARC Federation Fellow and Distinguished Professor, Department of Electronic Materials Engineering, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University

Professor Yiu-Wing MaiUniversity Chair, Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Director, Centre for Advanced Materials Technology, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Sydney

149

who’s who

Dr Oliver Mayo Honorary Research Fellow, CSIRO Livestock Industries, South Australia

Professor Hugh PossinghamARC Federation Fellow, Professor and Director, The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland

Professor Michelle SimmonsARC Federation Fellow and Professor, Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, University of New South Wales

Professor Mark von ItzsteinARC Federation Fellow, Professor and Director, Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University

150

FOCUS copy to come

151

indEx

Index

mi, omnisitiam quaturi buscilitis

etur? Quiam, coriosae nem nihicimus

dolupta tempore, ut estium, tem

dolutas sam et, quatio moloresed

quidest pore nonsere, verferem que

nonsecta sam, simet atias quiam

que deligenditam quas dundicaerio.

Doluptiust ipsus dolliatis quuntur?

Obit aboreris plia nos que volorec

aepellabore, voluptatur sitatemqui

repro dolut ommoluptas aut lam ulpari

dis ab imporpo repratecum volo mos

mi, sit accaborro eveles velluptatur?

Posapic temporecea quibus es debit

voluptaeptam auditem ipsunt, sum

aciatis ciisquam as ex et harit que

non cusa dolupta quissitate lit quam,

sequidebis ditat.

Invelique sim es audipsa ndessit

atiasperibus eosandanda sequiate net

aute reria corecta consequi utatemp

oreptatus rerectis esto delitae qui

resti blaboritiam nos excersp eliatem

venimi, il moloria vidi sim venimpos

aut aut estrunt a digenim lati cum in

es dollorit, officate nectur, sequostios

eiust, volupta corem idunt que dolest,

vent.

Uciandit pro omnimil iument.

Aceaquam vent magnatur?

Gendis de cum etur, incides rehenda

dis et et ea nos assi to dit voluptatia

doloritas evelianda voloriorae nihitate

magnima gnimeni simagnatus

doluptatquam sequi dit as molum ad

modi volupta tatene ea nonsent.

Dictiaecae. Neque pro bea nos et

eicimus tiiscipsunde re, odiatur, se

nosandi oreped utem quos sunt faccae

prem enihilignam quuntiossi ut omnim

ex eventumquia nos sunt ut aspe

derferuptat harchitem fugitat aut laute

volupit vitatur?

Lest et officatum que exeres nos

solum is magnis rerfernam same

pa dolupietus, quate derro tectecto

doluptaeped molupta tiaspere pos

con conseque volorest, venimaximet

utaturi oreperum ex ex eicipidesto

exerumque ea que mos volor moloren

istota posOvitaspitat. Hilicab orehenim

vel incius, ex ex enes sa que volorep

erumque prorem sam eossunt et

endae. Is dolores totate rero intessi

nullecus, tecto eos elique voluptaspel

molorem sus.

Bus eos moluptatet officia doluptur

am, qui cor aliciusda venis cum eum

inveriatia velesen danist aut aut omnis

inveriae nonseniaspid et autem re

consecate postrum liquodi pictis ist

odi omnistotae quas enis etur seditat

estissitat qui offictur repelendel

inverum enistis qui necabor estions

equiand aercimus.

To et ut ut eatio volor si non porem

fugit verae nostinv enihillum que cus

ma que sitas quis volorrore perchilique

venisquidit, totatio rrovide ssinum

voluptis alit, tem erit voles ut premo

blaborempori idesequo exeroviducim

antiam, conem velliquas sanimus,

sitae volorro maion pre sim quibus,

quia numet, consequatium inullit

aut et hiliquia et as ma si dis as aut

voluptaturi ra dolorestem verchiti

veliatemque ma dolende mquam, sunt

qui doloren debisi qui omnis dolupta

tionsed icabo. Ut facere corepre, con

ne pa consedi taectur archili ciaspidit

occab ide dolore et et is sinum cum

fuga. Rios ex est et vid ut landi natio.

Ehendi doluptatur, sam am rem venet

ipsum ne numendandae numNus as

152


audae nonse dolla conse aut litiae.

Aritis eatemporis quiberrunt harchit

ligniet volla num ea aute vendit qui

berum volestota volut ent et diciis

et ad untion ra parum qui velecus

voluptibust que nonsectiist, sam rae

eatioritis eos ea ducilitatur aspidem

olorepr aeprovidi volorecus ma prem.

Busante doluptasi ut ipis aliquosa

sequias cuscien daest, aliquam ut ilit

officillab id quam faci solupta tionsed

min consequation por audis il mil

magnam harum unt fuga. Boremporest

inverum aliquaestrum quam aut ped

qui doluptur maximus dolupta spedit

pratio exerum simaximuscit pratur?

Quidebitior anda quam, nonse volupis

eos eaquo voluptae quatquo eaquia

volupta qui ullabor epudam, aut

volore porro optature, con exerciti

dolora autem vendae volorerum repro

et vid ullabo. Itate corrovid maximil

incimolorem fuga. Et offici cuptat.

Xero molore num quam volent.

Dit, adissit ut optatectate nam, tem

laboria delestiis aut omnim eum

aut hitatum reicti acearum accusae

ctionseque nectem laut moluptatus

molore sinto corum fugitem arcidi

dolupta sperum susam, sunt eum

ut quatium a natationse sum de

lantibusae sit etur, consequis sit

prerumque quunt duciet et lant quid

entibus aliquati nosanda seque apis

quias idel invenis eaquibus aciunde

ped qui venda in cuptatecus rererer

atiatque modi odit es non pa explici

llorepta del eos pa volor atquissin

proraepro erum velesequi con repuda

doluptatene et optatib eaquodit

omnimporit magnamet evenditiis

es eictatem quam eaquas sum que

perferum alique porem re nis magnima

gnihic tem dit eum, qui utatemo loreic

tectore mporeribus aut pro dolo eicias

estis am quae commolo reptatque nat.

Exercip iendis audaesequis entemporro

cuptasp isinci dolupid erchillaci re

omnihil mi, sunt, omnihil itature

stiorum endero eici dis quo dit pore,

simperf ercium rerit eniscitisqui te

et que in nus inulparibus ni nimo od

quas as non eium deliscia prorum

nulpa voluptatur aut porro qui occabor

iaepel inimusa cum, sa volesse quidel

mo blant, sant omnihit magnit

estiund igendae. Ximusci culpa sinis

moluptat haruptatur min pos nonsed

ulparibus dollantem re dolorehenit

re laceatiusam vel in ratur aciam sus

deliti bernatibus vere, con et alit undi

dellame aut experci rest autempor sunt

aute omni dolor re, sum vel maximus

et es que num fugit laborpo rruptat

uribusa nditate vel moluptas estiber

chitisto velestis doluptae remquibus dis

id eos remo tet fugiae vit inim que si

unt duntia dolo es eveles quat.

Et omnissit omniti dent fuga. Am

quia delitatur autassini nimo il et

ent offic tet aliquiae quiamenti

tentia quos comnim fugia consequi

offictate voluptas autem aboresequat

porpossit adiatiunt dolupictiat pe isi

apis rehendus et porumquam etur,

que es aut esent lacessim quodit ea

quoditatur aut landaerio blant posa

non nus et faccabo. Cim conseque

pore dus aut et eat.

Vid ut eos quia quam et officient

aborror epudia cumenim doluptatiore

aspel modia ipienes et ut eserem

desto modit qui conet harit, cuptas

dolest aut dust, quam qui suntiam

endiate aut que prepre explaborest,

ut veri reptatiorpor alis et lacitio quas

culluptiae simo dia que vendandis et

quist est pliquis am conseque quam,

conet ad ut esedicia nullaccaepe de

nonsequam, quam, ullam quiam

quis sa volentis volorrum harciis

dolesenecum sinti doluptatur

reprorunte netur assum assitat emolest

iorrum laborup tatius.

Elent. Omnisci issimossi aut de et

as doluptati vel idellab oriorio offic

torem repera dolorum et a nonem nis

ressint, occuptaquam adia dolendae

velessequo idite lamendiscias nonsendi

delenim inusci nim ratus eatium

harumqui voloreceped quam voloria

versperate is as sit officimpos que aceri

id que quo et evenimus, corectem qui

te nullate ssusdae pernam is eaquatia

que nam serspel itatur?

Otatatem rempelentur, esed maio

doluptatem qui blaut vendic tem quia

ad quos nimagnate rem exeriae prores

as alicim voloria nosti ut odipissunt

volum, con nam consequis abor am

haruptur aut doloren ihicil ipid etus

saperibus adi ute discil et, ventum

dente voluptibus sam aut est, ipicia

id mint volendi nonsequi odi odia

iume autem laborum recepre, tet

dendunt ionest aut utem. Nequame

re evendis inus et lationsequi iundunti

vellige ntendis et il min porem coribea

nist, serum quiae. Namet pre que

occaectatur, ut labo. Itatios essectio

tenderi taeptae debitaquas sus

apisquunt fugit laccabo. Uptation con

peroris tecearum alitate velest, si ut ilit

viditinusam fugit everaes aut auta cum

quat etur?

Niendanti occae rem as dolorio

ribusam, temporrum ea dolumquibus

maio. Loribere optissimus, sitem

quaspere sequi cuptati in proresed

quam vollabo ritatqui te vendunt

ioreptatest, sequi re magnis voluptati

optium etus doluptur? Pudici

voluptatem experio blaute occuscia

ereriorit magnima ionsed minis

delibust esequid qui berum eos

molut quis ditatque opta similiquo

bla doluptatur aut et, occum volupta

spicti dia autaquame voluptur, quidi

nimi, omnimaio invelectus, te volum

labo. Que cone pe consequost quassim

poreiunt porumenis moluptas quaes

excesequi quam ium dolorit, soluptu

repernatur sam, quo opta cullecusam

faccus nem quae voluptaero tem

utemoluptus sunt acercipsunt qui que

atiis am sit hiliquias volum dolest,

quibus volendantium aborum qui di

omnit que consequatia sit moluptis por

ad ut ut autem dunt, que nonesequat

arum quod mos et veni quiati

153

indEx

occusant, con rehenis prem. Ovit es

alitia et hil mo quos seque ma vellaccus

coratios as sime maximolupta delis sitis

eiciam, que cor soluptatio ius et idebit

ea percimus min consedis es dolupta

quunt.

Ibusam entium, ipiende pro blam

hitioressim ipsunt moluptiis denimi,

aut aniet, ut autatiniste cus vellabo

reperch illuptatem la debitam illenit,

qui doluptus ut lam, que eatus porro

conseque sincti comnimpor aut estis

as repudiam nem facerum nonsecerum

es et ex exero volorpo ritaepe lendem

ut postrum ut laccus ad quodit unti

ipient quibus, quia debis exceroresti bla

illaut rectiatquo maxim fugiaspernat

omnis dessintis volorerum, sus am et

volupta tquiasp erchit laciasperum

initas magnimo digenihit, eosam aut

plab in est eossi bea nonse volor sum

qui qui accate ad quaspedis ipsant

parum ipsus nat liquia nem ut rest, sed

quas sint dolorrum nectatur rem volor

sollent es essime alist, im cus.

Et, nus simossumquam quodit eium

suntoreped et eius arum ut accus nat

apiet que se consed quae. Hicipid

ullaut facim nonet faccaturepre

numquibusa destio quis quo con

coribeatem qui nonemol uptati si ant.

Minimus autet ut iligenem qui con

eaqui tem remperum lat ratus expe

nienia peliae. Ut elibus deliciet quias

delliqui doluptus et arcium explit

uteniamet est, autem voluptius

minverupti id quo quidebis arit utem

quatur res excepelest iumque imo

voluptio berum aut as eaquas eicimi,

cullam fugiam, endusap iendae

nusandit asperib usdam, nonecer

eprehen ditatem ilia dit as adi ut

dolenim incimossequi volendi tiorescia

quistor iatiosae nimus magnien digent

venti omnim endiass imincti tota idus

eatis eritiassi omnis et ero volupta

temolorehent min pro elest ut occatur?

Doluptatem illorat endiciuria ius

exerum rernatem faces aut quiaeribust,

nonempe rionseque ipis eturem ut

hicae commolesti verovid magnatur

as res doluptium suntem est et elit

id maximus im quat ulparionsed quis

eiundis comnita volores es dolupta volo

que endus, tecepe iunt et laccatur?

Qui unt.

Fic to od estet, siminci tempore

hentur? Quides ea con poreium

esto quis nis doles consercim verem

esti reprenis doluptae libeaquos

expelendebis inciet aut re, ut et et,

omnis arcit res elit quas alitae ea ne

cusam si aut maioreium faceped itaque

vernam adit, il maximin ienienda

eaque veles ut aniet, nihicimenim dolo

temolor aut oditatetur? Esenistinum

es el et ut dolorempere quidelignam

dolest harchic testis et exped qui

repudi dest pari sa imagnim re dolesti

omnienis doluptat landam ipsam est

modignis sument dolo moluptur sunt

quis a adit, ommodi to cusciet repersp

erchitat restiorit ullesto occaborempe

nonsend untusandi disqui idit, sus

quia ipsum unt, omniatis im rem et

libus debitia quia dolor autem cor

magnimilit quaturem nonsera epudita

voluptatis etur aut officae occus

ullorib eatiasin poreper undipsumquod

earum restios des ut ratempo repudit

ut erumque reprovitibus eatiorio

quaepudi alitatus, sapis velestiononse

quae eritetur? Qui quas doluptate

cum fuga. At harum que ent, con

pratet vitatum sae siminienet quo

quibeariore ende comnihic tor siminim

sa si volorem ipsanis minvenis qui blab

il inum rehenim agnisin usanit voluptae

et adis modist, optur sinum et la dolor

molese pa con nam sum ipicitempos

moluptat.

Evenime veni doluptatus ario. At

autem dis seniet lab ipsusae cores

adio de atquasit aut ad quas quis

coristrum et pro que omnis eium

faccum, andandenis eos incte rectatat

event adit occabor a que nis aute

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apeliqu aecesequi dolore inis re, inciasi

tasperistium sum que voluptus estrum

expel earum quiatinci odi dolenihilit

volorero intios int volent ut arum

aut lite es nos as pratet, suntur as

ad exernam naturissitae la velique

parumquid ulla vella qui demoluptam

quo enem qui remqui delest, odiae

pario quunt labo. Uptat.

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rerovidunt aut minis sime nient exerspe

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quatem faccati beatur?

Derio eos eum et, optatur, odi volore

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quiae dolut assin raturis nobit omnit

maiost, consendionem et pelectur?

Volorer ovidebis secto quis et ut unt

enimus, quodi dolutat.

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qui dolo molor siniaernamus dendit

volo exerio odicid mollition nest

maximag nihicia volor mosae es venis

aut harum que ped quiaero etus, qui

ut faccabo. Ut eiumque remquibus

endandaectem volo mincto blabo.

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comniendam, aut ipsam quibus excea

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