Nominations open for Victoria's 2009 Premier's Award for Health and Medical Research

The search is underway for pioneers of Victorian health and scientific research through the 2009 Premier’s Award for Health and Medical Research.

Premier John Brumby said the awards were a pathway to developing our depth of scientific talent, and urged Victoria’s up-and-coming health and medical researchers to enter.

“The Victorian government is taking action to support innovation and has committed over $2.1 billion to its Innovation Agenda, the largest such commitment of any state government,” Brumby said.

The award program provides $40,000 in prize money: $16,000 for the winner and $8000 each for three commended applicants.

The Jack and Robert Smorgon Families will also present a $30,000 award to a research institute associated with the work of the Premier's Award winner.

“This prestigious award is an opportunity for our leading early career researchers to earn well-deserved recognition for their work,” Brumby said.

“Past winners have worked in many different health and medical fields, all contributing to Victoria’s international reputation for pioneering research which is improving people’s lives and strengthening our 21st Century economy.”

Past winners include:

• Dr Merlin Thomas, who found a link between sugar and the damage it causes. His research has concentrated on Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs), formed when sugars bind to protein, which then contribute to blindness, kidney failure and heart disease in individuals with diabetes;
• Dr Stephen Ting’s work focused on a gene called grainyhead-like 3 (grhl3) that is essential for normal skin development in mammals. He found that the loss of this gene in animals results in a condition that resembles spina bifida, a neural tube closure defect of human infants. He also discovered this gene plays an essential role in skin barrier formation and wound healing;
• Dr Mark Shackleton, whose critical breakthrough in understanding normal breast biology has enormous implications for the development of new therapies for breast cancer. By carefully analysing and 'dissecting' breast tissue, he discovered the mammary stem cell that can, upon transplantation, regenerate a normal, fully functioning breast;
• Dr Helen Cox’s research into drug-resistant tuberculosis — a disease that kills about two million people a year — has changed the way that TB patients are now being treated in the developing world; and
• Dr Benjamin Wei’s research into cochlear implants provided the strong experimental basis for what is now the standard worldwide clinical practice of immunising all cochlear implant patients.

“This award is about celebrating the successes and acknowledging the achievements of Victoria’s health and medical researchers and the institutes behind them.”

The Premier’s Award for Health and Medical Research is an initiative of the Brumby Government and the Australian Society for Medical Research.

Nominations for the 2009 Premier’s Award for Health and Medical Research are open until 17 February 2009.

For further information and to apply online, visit www.business.vic.gov.au/premiersawards.

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering is managing the award applications.