2015 Fulbright Scholars announced

The Australian-American Fulbright Commission, an educational and cultural exchange program underwritten by the Australian and US governments, has selected its Australian scholars for 2015. The Fulbright Scholarships support students and scholars, chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, to research and study in each other’s countries, exchange ideas and develop bilateral relations and connections to address common issues.

Anthony Maeder, a professor in Health Informatics at the University of Western Sydney, has been appointed the 2015 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Agriculture and Life Sciences. To be hosted by Kansas State University, Professor Maeder will investigate methods to develop purposeful mobile applications to support physical activity and nutrition programs, with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyles in children and adolescents.

Associate Professor Stuart Tangye, an immunologist from Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, has been made a 2015 Senior Scholar. The scholarship includes the opportunity to work in the lab of his prospective American host, Professor Jean-Laurent Casanova from The Rockefeller University, where he will learn how to use the latest genome sequencing technology and bioinformatics techniques to identify specific changes associated with immunodeficient diseases.

Cognitive scientist Briony Swire-Thompson, a PhD candidate from The University of Western Australia (UWA), has meanwhile been awarded a Postgraduate Scholarship. Swire-Thompson is currently researching how people process misinformation and how they update their memory when information they believe to be true turns out to be false. She will work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to expand her research into the area of political misconceptions.

Awardees will assemble in Perth on 19 February for an induction into the Fulbright Program and the 2015 Showcase and Presentation Dinner, where their scholarships will officially be announced. The full list of scholars can be viewed at http://www.fulbright.com.au/scholars/2015-australian-scholars.