State finalists for Student Excellence Awards announced

The state finalists of the 2012 AusBiotech/GSK Student Excellence Awards have been announced. Sixteen promising research students competed for the chance to represent their state, and the six state finalists will now compete at the AusBiotech national conference to win a $7,000 travel grant.

AusBiotech and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) hold the annual competition as a key initiative to encourage more students to pursue research and consider a career in bio-sciences. The prize seeks to reward those young researchers striving to develop innovative solutions to health issues in the community and recognise their high achievement, unique work and innovations.

“We created these awards to raise awareness of bio-sciences and to encourage more students to consider it as an area of study and to support young, promising scientists and their research,” says Dr Anna Lavelle, CEO of AusBiotech.

“The Australian scientific community have a first class record of discovering successful therapies and innovations. Yet despite this strong track record, fewer Australian young people are entering science. It is important to reward those who do make the decision to focus their careers on bio-sciences.”

GSK Medical Director, Dr Andrew Yeates describes the Student Excellence Awards as an indication of what we can expect from the next generation of biomedical and scientific researchers.

“GSK has been proud to partner with AusBiotech on these awards for a number of years. Each year we to see new and innovative approaches to scientific research come through our student cohorts. If the calibre of past entrants and winners is anything to go by our future is looking very bright.”

These are the finalists for each state:

NSW Hock Tay, from the University of Newcastle, is researching the potential role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in modulating immune responses to bacterial infections.

QLD Connor O’Meara, from the Queensland University of Technology, is developing a novel vaccine design for chlamydia that disarms the bad properties of the disease transforming it into common bacteria.

SA Tatiana Pereira Soares da Costa, from the University of Adelaide, has uncovered a new compound of molecules that have been shown to be effective against one of the most drug resistant bacteria, Golden Staph.

TAS Kim Jye Lee Chang, from the University of Tasmania, is investigating the use of Australian microalgae for the production of biofuel, biodiesel, omega 3 oils and co-products.

VIC Jaclyn Sceneay, from the University of Melbourne, is working on a way to identify patients prone to developing metastatic diseases (the cause of over 90% of cancer-related deaths), which would allow treatment to be tailored according to a patient’s individual susceptibility.

WA Elizabeth Grenik, from Curtin University, is developing a modified scaffold that can be implanted in the body to repair, heal and grow damaged or lost deep tissue (skin or muscle). This research could be the gateway towards growing artificial organs.

The six state winners from across Australia will go to the AusBiotech 2012 conference in Melbourne from 30 October – 2 November 2012, where they will present their research and compete for the national title.

Winners of the state awards receive travel, accommodation and registration to the conference. The national winner of the AusBiotech/GSK Student Excellence Award will receive a $7,000 travel grant to be used to present their research at an international conference. In addition, the national winner’s principal supervisor will receive a $2,000 research grant.

For more information on the awards visit the AusBiotech National Conference website.