Genomics researcher wins Commonwealth Health Minister's Award


Friday, 10 June, 2016

Genomics researcher wins Commonwealth Health Minister's Award

The Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research for 2016 has been awarded to Dr Joseph Powell from The University of Queensland (UQ). The award recognises outstanding individual achievement by the top-ranked National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Career Development Fellowship recipient.

Dr Powell was acknowledged for his work using large-scale genomic data to investigate how DNA sequence variants contribute to human disease. According to NHMRC CEO Professor Anne Kelso, his achievements in the field of statistical genomics are “making a significant contribution to our understanding of the genetic basis of human disease”.

“His research is developing and exploiting new computational and statistical methods to explore how changes in non-coding DNA cause changes in gene expression that affect disease susceptibility,” said Professor Kelso.

“Work at this frontier will ultimately benefit the broader community through new approaches to the control of specific diseases.”

The award was presented to Dr Powell at the Medical Research Week Dinner, hosted by the Australian Society for Medical Research in Melbourne last night. In addition to the award, Dr Powell receives a $50,000 grant that will help his team at UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience to further their research.

Pictured: Dr Joseph Powell.

Related News

CSL fellowships fund immunity research, AI-designed proteins

Australian scientists Dr Carolien van de Sandt and Dr Rhys Grinter have each been awarded CSL...

Leukaemia Foundation funds ongoing blood cancer research at UWA

The $3m in funding is understood to represent the single largest non-government investment in...

Jian Zhou Medal recognises anaesthesia, blood pressure research

The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences has announced Professor Britta Regli-von...


  • All content Copyright © 2025 Westwick-Farrow Pty Ltd