Issue 11. 9 August 2010.pdf - UWA Staff - The University of Western ...

From Circadian
rhythms to cold
water immersion:
the best
in the West
“Imagine a society where to talk
about science is as natural as
talking about football.”
When Baroness Susan Greenfield
suggested this to guests at the annual
Australian Society for Medical
Research Week (ASMR) dinner, she
was preaching to the converted.
More than 200 medical researchers
and community leaders listened to
Baroness Greenfield, Director of the
Oxford Centre for the Science of the
Mind, a Professor of Pharmacology,
the ASMR 2010 medallist and a
flamboyant opinion leader, considered
to be one of the most powerful and
inspirational women in the world.
ASMR celebrates its work and its
members every year with a scientific
symposium in each state and awards
for young researchers presented at the
gala dinner.
As usual, UWA graduate students and
early career research staff dominated
the awards, winning 11 of the 12 major
prizes.
Baroness Greenfield, a highlyesteemed
medical researcher, says the
most important attributes a scientist
Make a booking in your diary
List of things to do on August 21:
1 Go to Save the Children Book Sale
2 Vote in the federal election.
From left, Dr Kristen Nowak (Young Scientist of the Year 2009 and director of ASMR),
Baroness Susan Greenfield and Allison Butt (ASMR President)
can have is a belief in one’s own ideas
with flexibility to modify those ideas in
the light of experimental data. “Above all,
you have to have a passion for what you
do and, ideally, a sense of humour for
when things go pear-shaped.”
An Qin from UWA’s Centre for
Orthopaedic Research won one of two
$2,000 Department of Health prizes for
her work on treating diseases such as
osteoporosis; Jasmine Tay from the
School of Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine won the other one for her
research into breast cancer cells.
Eleanor Drummond (Anatomy and
Human Biology) won the $1,000 WA
Biomedical Research Institute prize for
her work in Alzheimer’s disease. Other
$1,000 awards went to Angela Fuery
(Paediatrics and Child Health), also for
research into Alzheimer’s, and Tahmina
Anwari (Anatomy and Human Biology)
for research into Circadian rhythms and
It may not be as important as voting in the Federal
election, but you get more chances.
If you can’t make it to the Undercroft between 6am and
5pm on Saturday, the sale is also open on Friday August
20, from 5pm to 9pm. It continues on Sunday from 8am
to 5pm, then until Wednesday, at these times:
Monday (9.30 – 6.30); Tuesday, half price day (9.30 –
6.30); Wednesday, bargain box day (9.30 – 2pm).
The charity has more than 100,000 books, CDs, DVDs and
sheet music for sale.
Save the Children supports disadvantaged children in Australia
and many third world countries.
You can volunteer to help at the sale by calling 9387 6215.
their links to medical conditions
including diabetes and metabolic
disorders.
The study of paediatric brain tumours;
work on controlling gene expression;
research into ageing and its
progressive loss of muscle mass and
function; the effects on the lungs of
early exposure to arsenic coupled
with influenza; and whether cold
water immersion for recovery
influences food intake in athletes all
won $750 prizes for uwa staff and
graduate students.
Irving Aye (Women’s and Infants’
Health) won a $500 award for
cholesterol research, part of which
showed that proteins which transport
cholesterol can protect the placenta.
Baroness Greenfield returns to UWA
on August 26 for a UWA Extension
lecture in Winthrop Hall, The Future of
the Brain, the Brain of the Future.
New Courses 2012
and current students
The University is turning its attention to the
implications of New Courses 2012 for current
UWA students, and students commencing in
2011.
Faculties have recently been engaged in discussions
about proposed transition plans for their students
and a communications strategy for current students
is being developed in collaboration with the Guild
and relevant working parties.
New Courses 2012 will open up a range of options
for current students and students commencing next
year, including the opportunity to enrol in one of the
new professional postgraduate courses. For more
information about our new courses visit www.
newcourses2012.uwa.edu.au and register online for
the latest updates.
12
UWA NEWS 9 August 2010
the University of Western Australia