Australian Academy of Science elects new Fellows

Each year the Australian Academy of Science picks a select few to join its ranks as Fellows. This year, 21 top scientists have been honoured, including nine working in the life sciences.

Plant biology was particularly well represented, with three researchers elected as Fellows who have worked on understanding the challenges in modern agriculture.

Academy President, Professor Suzanne Cory, welcomed the Fellows to the AAS. “I warmly congratulate all of our new Fellows for their outstanding contributions to Australia and the world,” she said.

The new Fellows will be admitted to the Australian Academy of Science and present summaries of their work at the Academy’s annual three-day celebration, Science at the Shine Dome, on 2 May in Canberra.

The new Fellows include:

Professor Michael Alpers AO FAA FRS
Centre for International Health, Curtin University
Identifying the prion disease kuru and building the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medicine into a world-renowned institution.

Dr Peter Norman Dodds FAA
CSIRO Plant Industry
Understanding the molecular basis of rust resistance, in order to protect the world’s most valuable food crops from rust diseases.

Professor Johannes Thieo Lambers FAA
School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia
Revealing mechanisms by which plants function and grow in different and challenging environments.

Professor James McCluskey FAA
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne
Deciphering how the histocompatibility proteins regulate immunity and influence transplantation and autoimmune disease.

Dr Graeme Moad FAA
CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering
Designing methods for controlled synthesis of polymers, with applications for new methods of drug delivery and electron transport in photovoltaic devices.

Winthrop Professor Stephen Bruce Powles FAA FTSE
School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia
Foreseeing the problem of herbicide resistance and pioneering herbicide resistance science internationally.

Professor Frances Separovic FAA
School of Chemistry, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne
Using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance to advance understanding of how peptides get into membranes, with applications for antibiotics and Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Jane Visvader FAA
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Identifying and isolating the stem cell responsible for breast development and characterising which cell types in the breast give rise to the different types of breast cancer.

Professor Greg Stuart FAA
John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University
Making seminal contributions to understanding how information is processed by individual nerve cells within the brain.

Professor Joss Bland-Hawthorn FAA
Institute of Photonics and Optical Science, University of Sydney
Pioneering the science of astrophotonics and making significant contributions to experimental physics and astrophysics.

Professor Paul Leslie Burn FAA
Centre for Organic Photonics & Electronics, University of Queensland
Discovering light emitting polymers and dendrimers leading to worldwide interest in organic semiconductors.

Dr John Church FAA FTSE
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Investigating oceanic climate change indicators and providing pre-eminent expertise on the rate of sea level rise in the 20th Century.

Professor Patrick De Deckker AM FAA
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University
Linking the patterns of environmental change on land and at sea.

Professor John Arthur Endler FAA
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
Revolutionising the understanding of how animals perceive the world and pioneering the new science of sensory ecology.

Professor Timothy Fridtjof Flannery FAA
Environmental sustainability, Macquarie University
Advancing public awareness and understanding of science.

Professor Stephen William MacMahon FAA
The George Institute
Demonstrating that cardiovascular risk continues to decline as blood pressure lowers, leading to international changes in clinical guidelines and patient care.

Professor Tanya Mary Monro FAA FTSE
Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing, University of Adelaide
Developing nanophotonics for nonlinear optics and sensing, resulting in novel solutions to diverse measurement problems.

Professor John Norris FAA
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University
Making discoveries that changed several concepts in astronomy, including the formation of galaxies.

Dr Louise Marie Ryan FAA
CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics
Developing and applying statistical methods to diverse areas of public interest, including financial risk, climate change and cancer.

Professor Michael Edmund Tobar FAA FTSE
School of Physics, University of Western Australia
Pioneering the development of devices for precision frequency generation and measurement, including in space.

Professor Robert Charles Williamson FAA
Research School of Computer Science, Australian National University, and National ICT Australia
Developing powerful new methods and theoretical arguments for analysing data.

Australian Life Scientist would like to congratulate all the new Fellows on their appointment.