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01/07/09
A fellowship to encourage outstanding female scientists to take up leadership positions in medical research has been established by the new Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Professor Douglas Hilton.
Professor Hilton, who today started his directorship of the institute, has made setting up this fellowship his first initiative, reflecting his strong desire to encourage more women to pursue lifetime careers in medical research. The fellowship is named after the institute’s outgoing Director Professor Suzanne Cory.
The $1.25 million Cory Fellowship is open to Australian women wanting a first opportunity to lead a laboratory. Whether they completed their PhD two years ago or 20 years ago we encourage them to apply.
Professor Hilton is passionate about encouraging younger scientists, particularly women, to take up leadership positions. “There are many talented young scientists in Australia, some of whom have outstanding research skills, but the current career paths for scientists are so linear that there are few opportunities for these people to become independent until they reach their 40s or 50s,” he said.
“I am particularly concerned about the under-representation of women at senior levels. About 60 per cent of PhD students at WEHI are women and similar numbers are found at other medical research institutes but we don’t see anything like this representation at the top.
“We need to remove barriers to women continuing in science. I suspect many excellent leadership candidates simply do not put themselves forward and I hope this fellowship encourages them to do so.”
“They should be inspired by the achievements of Professor Cory who has made a stellar contribution to WEHI over more than 30 years, especially in her past 13 years as Director.”
On hearing of the new Fellowship, Professor Cory said, “I am honoured and thrilled about this special Fellowship. Many women have made superb contributions to science. And yet, even today, too few women make science their life's vocation. Australia needs all the scientific skills it can muster to tackle the huge health and environmental problems that lie ahead. We cannot afford to lose 50 per cent of our capability. I hope this Fellowship will encourage more young women to stay in science and fulfill their potential.”
The Cory Fellowship will provide the successful applicant with $250,000 a year over five years to establish a laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. The institute is looking for women scientists who work in areas such as diabetes, immunology, cancer genetics, epigenetics, bioinformatics, stem cells, infectious diseases, and systems biology. Applications will open in September and the inaugural Cory Fellow will be announced before the end of the year.
The Cory fellowship brings to four the number of Leadership Fellowships offered by WEHI. The fellowships are named after some of the institute’s most distinguished scientists: Professor Sir Gustav Nossal, Professor Donald Metcalf, Professor Jacques Miller and Professor Suzanne Cory.
For more information contact:
Michelle Trevorrow
Head, Fundraising, Communications and External Relations
Ph: +61 3 9345 2639;
Mob: 0400 603 150;
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
About Professor Doug Hilton
Professor Hilton, 45, is the sixth Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in its ninety-four year history. The University of Melbourne has also confirmed his appointment as Research Professor of Medical Biology and Head of the Department of Medical Biology. Professor Hilton has received many prizes and awards for his contribution to medical research, including the Amgen Medical Researcher Award, the inaugural Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research and the GSK Australia Award for Research Excellence. At the age of 39 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and currently serves on this organization’s Council. In 2008, he was recognised as one of the NHMRC’s “Ten great minds in health and medical research.”
About Professor Suzanne Cory
Professor Suzanne Cory is the outgoing Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. She has been celebrated for her work in cancer research and immunology. She was appointed a Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 1999.
About the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Established in 1915, affiliated with and a close collaborator of The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Institute’s mission is ‘Mastery of Disease through Discovery’. Its research teams have been responsible for discoveries that have transformed the way the scientists think about the world and the way patients are treated. Today, researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute are focused on three big medical challenges: cancer, autoimmunity and infectious diseases. The Institute is located in Parkville, just north of the Melbourne CBD in Victoria, where it will soon be housed in a state-of-the-art new building.
16/06/09
Melbourne scientists have identified a chink in the life cycle of malaria that offers hope for the development of new treatment options for this devastating disease.
The malaria parasite grows inside red blood cells but to survive and cause illness it must transport hundreds of different proteins to the outside. While these proteins have many different functions that are crucial to parasite growth and survival, a common feature is that they must all pass through the same pore in the surrounding membrane.
Melbourne scientists have now discovered the identity of this protein pore. The main significance of this finding, announced today in the leading scientific journal Nature, is its implication for a new anti-malarial therapy.
The research has been undertaken in a collaboration that includes two of Australia’s leading medical research institutes, The Burnet Institute and The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research and Deakin University’s new Medical School.
Dr Tania de Koning-Ward, the lead author of the study, said the discovery opened up a new way to combat this disease.
“The next step is to identify drugs that block this protein channel. Since it is completely unique to malaria parasites this is a realistic possibility”, she said.
Professor Brendan Crabb, coordinator of the project, said the discovery is a breakthrough.
“Protein export machines are of great interest in biology but because of the enormous scale of the malaria problem this one also has practical health value. Therapies that block this pore interfere with many different crucial processes in the one hit and in that sense it is an Achilles heel of the malaria parasite.”
Malaria is spread via mosquitoes and its most lethal form is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. There are in excess of 400 million cases of malaria each year with more than one million people, mainly children, dying from the disease. New therapies are urgently needed to combat ever-increasing resistance to the available drugs.
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About Burnet Institute
The Burnet Institute is Australia’s leading medical research and public health institute specialising in infectious diseases immunology and cancer. The Institute’s mission is to reduce the impact of infectious diseases by translating medical research into tangible public health outcomes. Burnet has more than 350 scientific researchers and public health professionals and has specifically chosen to focus its efforts on finding solutions to those infectious diseases that have the greatest impact on humankind today. Burnet has public health programs in Australia and in many resource-poor countries of the Asia Pacific region, as well as in Africa. The Institute plays a critical role in preventing the spread of and reducing the impact of infectious diseases in these countries.
For further information about the Burnet Institute www.burnet.edu.au
About Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research is one of the world’s leading biomedical research centres. Established in 1915 as a benevolence of the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, today the Institute comprises over 600 staff dedicated to the ‘mastery of disease through discovery’. Located in Parkville, near Melbourne’s CBD, the Institute is an independent not-for-profit company affiliated with The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Its state-of-the art facilities and cutting-edge research training has benefited scientists, clinicians, post-doctoral fellows and post-graduate students from around Australia and across the world. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s world-renowned scientific teams are focused on four big global medical challenges: cancer – leukemia, lymphoma, breast cancer, multiple myeloma; immunity – immune regulation, vaccines, immunotherapy, inflammation; autoimmunity – diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease; and infectious diseases – malaria, leishmaniasis, chronic virus infections. The Institute’s vision is to translate discoveries made at the laboratory bench into improved outcomes for patients and more effective preventative strategies. In order to realise this goal, institute scientists engage not only in discovery research but also in clinical and commercial partnerships. A major building project currently underway will double the Institute’s physical footprint and provide great opportunities for Australia’s next generation of biomedical researchers.
About Deakin University
Deakin University seeks to be recognised as Australia’s most progressive university. It aims to do this by ensuring that all of its activities are relevant, innovative and responsive. Deakin has campuses in Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool. The Deakin Medical School is Victoria's first rural and regional medical school. The goal of the medical program is to contribute to the improvement of the health and wellbeing of Australians by creating a cohort of new doctors who are skilled and motivated to pursue a career in medicine in rural and regional areas either as specialists or general practitioners.
For Further Information:
Michelle Trevorrow
Head, Fundraising, Communications and External Relations
(03) 9345 2639
0400 603 150
Email:trevorrow@wehi.edu.au
04/06/09
Research into blood cancers and immune system regulation has today seen two WEHI scientists recognised in the 2009 Victorian Premier’s Awards for Public Health and Medical Research.
Dr Kylie Mason has received the Premier’s top award for her research into blood disorders, particularly leukaemia and lymphoma. The award is presented annually to an outstanding Victorian postgraduate health or medical researcher. Dr Anna Proietto received one of three commendation awards.
Dr Mason’s research has shown that adding a new class of anti-cancer drugs, called the BH3 mimetics, to standard chemotherapy can help eradicate a blood cancer in mice that is similar to Burkitt’s lymphoma in humans. A similar drug is now undergoing clinical trials in patients with leukaemia at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and at hospitals in the US and Europe.
In the course of her research into BH3 mimetics, Dr Mason also discovered that the life-span of platelets is determined by the balance between two proteins - Bcl-xL and Bak. Platelets are specialised cells that clot the blood to prevent bleeding, and platelet transfusions are often required by cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy.
An undesirable side-effect of cancer chemotherapy can be extensive bruising and potentially life-threatening bleeding, Dr Mason, who is also a consultant haematologist at the Royal Melbourne and Western Hospitals, said. “The bleeding and bruising is caused by the unintended depletion of platelets, which are essential for blood clotting and wound healing,” she said.
“The well-being of some patients depends upon platelet transfusions, particularly during the vulnerable period that follows anti-cancer treatment. The significant demand for high quality platelets, coupled with their short shelf-life of only five days, presents major logistical challenges in clinical practice.”
Dr Mason’s findings on how platelet lifespan is controlled could allow the development of techniques, such as by the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, that prolong the lifespan of blood bank platelets, thereby increasing their availability to patients receiving cancer treatment.
Dr Proietto is investigating the role of dendritic cells in preventing auto-immune diseases, diseases such as multiple sclerosis or type 1 diabetes where the body attacks its own cells.
“Dendritic cells are crucial to the body’s immune response as they present the proteins of invading pathogens on their cell surface so these foreign proteins can be attacked by the immune system,” Dr Proietto said.
“In auto-immune diseases the body’s own proteins are attacked by immune cells called self-reactive lymphocytes. This occurs when the self-reactive lymphocytes are either not removed during their development in the thymus, or are not properly controlled by regulatory cells if they escape out of the thymus.”
Through animal studies, Dr Proietto has found a special population of dendritic cells in the thymus is responsible for eliminating most of these self-reactive lymphocytes as well as the development of the regulatory cells that control any ‘escapees’.
“These findings provide insight into the causes and prevention of auto-immune diseases but must now be extended to human dendritic cells for future clinical applications,” she said.
High-resolution images available upon request.
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is one of the world’s leading biomedical research centres.
Established in 1915 and affiliated with The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Institute’s mission is ‘Mastery of Disease through Discovery’. Its world-renowned research teams have been responsible for breakthrough science and pioneering therapies that have changed the face of disease and human health worldwide.
Today they are focused on four big global medical challenges: cancer, immunity, autoimmunity and infectious diseases. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is located at Parkville, Victoria where it will soon be housed in a state-of-the-art new building.
For Further Information
Michelle Trevorrow
Head, Fundraising, Communications and External Relations
Ph: +61 3 9345 2639
Mob: 0400 603 150
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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