2010 Annual Report - Institute for Molecular Bioscience - University ...

imb annual report 2010
4
DARREN BROWN:
SEADRAGONS
A fluorescence
microscope image of
macrophages labelled
with antibodies
QUEENSLAND CENTRE FOR
MEDICAL GENOMICS OPENING
The Premier the Honourable Anna Bligh,
MP, performed the honours at the opening
of the Queensland Centre for Medical
Genomics, located within the Institute, on
June 16 th . This facility has been funded
by the largest-ever NHMRC grant, a State
Government NIRAP grant and cash and
in-kind support from a number of sources
including the Cancer Council of NSW,
Applied Biosystems and The University
of Queensland. It was a pleasure to
welcome the Premier to the Institute and
to showcase the new facility that will give
researchers a better understanding of
pancreatic and ovarian cancer, with a view
to developing better treatments for these
diseases. Since the Centre’s opening,
work has been progressing well on the
sequencing of 500 different pancreatic and
ovarian cancer genomes and data has
been released to the research and general
community through the auspices of the
International Cancer Genome Consortium.
It is a mark of the excellence of the IMB
that each year our researchers pick up
awards from within the University and
from external professional societies for
outstanding contributions to science.
2010 has been no exception and my
congratulations go to Professor David
Craik who was awarded the Ralph F.
Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry
from the American Chemical Society, Dr
Ben Hogan who received a UQ Research
Excellence Award for his research into the
human lymphatic system, Dr Ryan Taft
who was a finalist in the People’s Choice
Eureka Awards and Dr Richard Clark, who
received a Queensland Health and Medical
Research Senior Researcher award.
Other outstanding efforts during the year
included Professor John Mattick, AO,
who successfully applied for an NHRMC
Australia Fellowship to follow on from his
ARC Federation Fellowship, Professor
Jenny Stow and Associate Professor
Rohan Teasdale, who were successful in
an $8.9 million NHMRC program grant
application to examine cell biology and
inflammation and Professor Rob Parton,
who received a Best and Brightest
Achievement Award from the NHMRC
in March for the highest-ranked project
grant nationally.
Overall our success in the major domestic
grant schemes for projects commencing
in 2011 was a little down on last year’s
success rates. We were, however,
coming off a very high base, including
a 59% success rate in the NHMRC
schemes, and an adjustment down in our
overall success rate was inevitable. This
slight downward shift in the amount of
domestic competitive research funding
coming in for 2011 is offset, however, by
the success of Professor Matt Cooper
in obtaining a UK Wellcome grant for
his research into new therapies for
antibiotic-resistant infections. The
amount of money being invested by
the Wellcome Trust in Matt’s research is
significant and will enable him to make
major strides in understanding and
treating antibiotic-resistant infections.
2011 is shaping up to be a busy year.
Our first UQ Academic Board Review
occurs in April 2011. This Review
will examine our contributions to the
University, particularly in the teaching
and collaborative research areas, as well
as taking into account the performance
metrics already submitted to the
State Government. With a staff cohort
committed to excellence across all areas
of our operations I am confident that we
will come through this second review
with flying colours. I look forward to
rising to the challenges of 2011.
Professor Brandon Wainwright
IMB Director