UQ scientists dominate biomedical award nominations

UQ scientists dominate biomedical award nominations

Five of the six finalists in the prestigious AMP Biomedical Research Awards to be announced next month are young scientists from the University of Queensland.

Award winners will be announced following public presentations of the finalists' research at a special function on Wednesday, June 2 at the Bancroft Centre, Herston, at 6.30pm.

Event organiser Dr Marcello Rosa of the University 's Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre said this year's field was "very competitive" and finalists' work exemplified the high quality of cutting-edge research carried out in the State.

"Researchers are investigating areas ranging from the body's response to physiological stress to retinal degeneration in the eye," he said.

Dr Rosa said these types of awards schemes were important to provide public recognition for the work of gifted young scientists, who provided the future for biomedical science in the State. Finalists are:

Predoctoral category:
o Stuart Behncken, Physiology and Pharmacology Department, UQ;
o Christopher Dayas, Physiology and Pharmacology Department, UQ;
o Eliza Whiteside, Centre for Molecular Biotechnology, QUT.

Postdoctoral category:
o Nigel Barnett, Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre, UQ;
o Philip Sugerman, Dentistry Department, UQ;
o Fiona Wylie, Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, UQ.

The awards night is part of the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) Medical Research Week, to be held May 28 to June 5. The ASMR is Australia's peak organisation representing health and medical researchers.

The AMP Biomedical Research Awards are the premier annual awards for young Queensland researchers. Prizes of $2000 will be awarded to winners of the predoctoral and postdoctoral categories, and a further $500 will be given to the two runner-up finalists in each category.

The judging panel includes Queensland biomedical researchers, industry members and science communicators.

Media: Further information, Dr Marcello Rosa, telephone 07 3365 4104.