Stephen Nutt wins Burnet Prize

Thursday 10th of November 2005

Dr Stephen Nutt, from the Immunology Division, has won the Burnet Prize, the most prestigious award bestowed by The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. The announcement was made at WEHI’s Annual General Meeting on 10 November 2005.

The award was established through a bequest of Sir Macfarlane Burnet and recognises pioneering research by WEHI’s younger scientists.

Dr Nutt was honoured for groundbreaking research that has shown how three factors determine the development of different types of blood cells. These transcription factors - Pax5, Blimp-1 and PU.1- regulate the activity of genes within bone marrow blood cells. By genetic engineering, Dr Nutt has constructed mice in which these key transcription factors can be tracked or removed. His work helps us to understand, at the molecular level, the regeneration of blood cells and immune defence cells following bone marrow transplantation and points to the control systems that are defective in leukaemia.

At the Annual General Meeting, Dr Nutt was presented with the Burnet Prize bronze plaque, which was designed by sculptor Michael Meszaros.

WEHI Director, Professor Suzanne Cory, notes, “Dr Nutt’s research is world-leading. His impressive achievements since being recruited back to Australia as WEHI’s inaugural Metcalf Leadership Fellow are indicative of an exciting future in medical research.”

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