Locals win grants to study in US

Fellowship grants of more than AUD$270,000 have been awarded to seven Australian scientists to pursue research and studies at American Institutions courtesy, of the American Australian Association.

Specialising in a range of scientific fields including organic chemistry and asymmetric catalysis, molecular electronics, parasitology and pain, the fellows will join 22 existing Association Fellows at institutions throughout the US and Australia in an attempt to increase collaborative relationships between the two countries.

The American Australian Association fellowships have been funded entirely from the private sector. Much of the funding has come from a series of annual benefit dinners that have honoured prominent Australians in the United States. The late Sir Keith Murdoch -- father of media baron Rupert -- was one of the first Australians to actively promote the Australian-US relationship and was instrumental in founding the American Australian Association.

Fellow profiles:

Sir Keith Murdoch Fellow: Dr David Lupton
David Lupton's research interests are organic chemistry and asymmetric catalysis, and he hopes his work may lead to more efficient and sustainable ways to perform chemical transformations through catalytic methods rather than the traditional organic synthesis.

Sir Keith Murdoch Fellow: Dr Natalie Scott
Currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of New Orleans, Natalie Scott is investigating the conversion of under-utilised natural gas resources into higher value feedstocks and commodities.

Sir Keith Murdoch Fellow: Gemma Solomon
Gemma Solomon is currently in her final year of a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Sydney. In 2006 Solomon will commence a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University and will focus on the electrical properties of single molecules on silicon surfaces.

Dow Chemical Company Foundation Fellow: Nathan Gianneschi
Currently undertaking a PhD at the Scripps Research Institute, Nathan Gianneschi's research interests include the development of a novel biomolecule-based detection method for DNA, proteins and small molecules and the development of novel catalytic therapeutic devices.

Merck & Co Foundation Fellow: Dr Mark Hutchinson
Mark Hutchinson's research focus is pain -- specifically, understanding how our brain and nerves communicate with our immune system, and how this system controls our sensitivity to pain.

Qantas Airways Fellow: Dr Danielle Stanisic
Danielle Stanisic is currently a postdoctoral scientist at the Department of Medical Parasitology, New York University School of Medicine, studying the role of host genetics in natural resistance to malaria infection. She has been invited to continue in the Department of Medical Parasitology at NYU to obtain epidemiological training that will help her to analyse a multi-centre collaborative field study investigating pregnancy and malaria in Papua New Guinea. Stanisic hopes to return to Australia with the necessary skills to design and implement field studies investigating natural immunity to the malaria parasite in countries where malaria is wide-spread.

Macquarie AAA Stanford Graduate School of Business Fellow: John Foong
John Foong graduated from the University of NSW with first-class honours in Information Systems and Management, and has been accepted into the MBA program at Stanford University.