Curtin medal for a Nobel professor

Nobel Laureate and molecular biologist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn was awarded the Curtin Medal for Excellence in Medical Research at the Australian National University this morning.

Professor Blackburn has a long and distinguished career and was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2009. She has pioneered the study of telomeres - caps that protect chromosomes in cells - and is a discoverer of telomerase - an enzyme that does the protecting. Her work has opened a new field of science, raising the possibility of such medical breakthroughs as understanding the ageing process in cells and interfering with cancerous cells.

Tasmanian-born Professor Blackburn completed a biochemistry masters at The University of Melbourne, before undertaking her PhD studies at the University of Cambridge. It was at Yale, as a postdoctoral fellow, that she discovered the nature of the telomere.

Professor Blackburn has been with the University of California, San Francisco, for more than 30 years. Her work there combines clinical research studies with laboratory-based cell and molecular studies. Her other awards include the Albert Lasker Award in 2006, often regarded as the American Nobel, and the Australia Prize in 1998.

The Curtin Medal is awarded by The John Curtin School of Medical Research.