CSL Florey awards for malaria, microbiome research

Melbourne scientist Professor Alan Cowman has been awarded the $50,000 CSL Florey Medal for revealing how malaria parasites infect humans, paving the way for new drugs and vaccines for a disease that infects more than 240 million people a year.

The Florey Medal is awarded biennially by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) to an Australian biomedical researcher for significant achievements in biomedical science and/or human health advancement. In addition to the silver medal, the award carries a prize of $50,000 due to the support of CSL. The awarding of the 2021 medal was postponed for a year due to pandemic restrictions.

Over the course of his career, Cowman has revealed the fundamental biology and molecular mechanisms of how malaria parasites infect humans, hijack red blood cells and use them to produce proteins that help the parasite evade the body’s immune responses. He also discovered key mutations in the parasite’s genes that are responsible for resistance to antimalarial drugs, enabling researchers to map the spread of drug resistance.

The genetic knowledge and technology developed from Cowman’s research led to the first genetically engineered malaria vaccine, currently in clinical trials, which is intended to stop the parasite from reaching the bloodstream and causing severe disease. His work has also led to a major industry collaboration that has created a new class of compounds, now in preclinical testing, that target three stages in the chain of transmission and so should make it very difficult for the parasite to develop resistance to the treatment.

“With new malaria parasite strains increasingly becoming resistant to available drugs, the development of vaccines and novel antimalarial compounds to block transmission remain the most effective preventative measure against this killer disease,” said Cowman, who is Deputy Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI).

CSL’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Andrew Nash, said the research has global ramifications. “Alan’s discoveries show how studying the fundamental genetic science of a parasite can lead to improved understanding of a disease, tools to map its evolution and spread, and new therapies to prevent or fight infection,” he said.

AIPS Director Peter McMahon highlighted the importance of Cowman’s research, stating, “Malaria is one of the biggest killers of children under five years of age in most developing countries. Alan’s past and ongoing work will play an important role in achieving the World Health Organization’s goal of reducing malaria mortality rates by 90% of 2015 levels by 2030.”

The 2022 CSL Florey Next Generation Award has meanwhile been presented to Chloe Yap, for debunking a widespread myth that the gut microbiome causes autism — it turns out, it’s the other way round.

The Next Generation Award recognises a current PhD candidate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement and potential in biomedical sciences, health and medical research. It is an initiative of the AIPS, supported by CSL, to encourage the growth of up-and-coming researchers, carrying a $20,000 cash prize and trophy for the winner and two runner-up prizes of $2500 each.

Yap, a PhD candidate at Mater Research and The University of Queensland, and her colleagues performed the largest and most in-depth autism microbiome study to date. They showed that children with autism were more likely to be picky eaters and that this was contributing to their less diverse microbiome, rather than the microbiome itself being the cause of their symptoms.

“Our study provides clarity for families and puts the focus on good diet rather than the false hope of experimental and expensive microbiome treatments,” Yap said.

The two runners-up were Jack Chan, from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, who is enhancing a new form of cancer immunotherapy for the treatment of solid tumours; and Jose Alquicira Hernandez, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, who is studying the impact of genetic variation in the human immune system.

Nash described the Next Generation awardees as “three remarkable early-career researchers”. AIPS Co-Chair Professor Maria Kavallaris added, “Over their careers, these researchers could shape the future of health care and our way of life in ways we can’t even begin to imagine.”

Image caption: Professor Alan Cowman in the lab. Image credit: WEHI.

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