Scientific award to molecular biologist

A leading University of Queensland scientist has been presented with a major new scientific award at the Lorne Genome Conference held in Victoria this month.

The Institute for Molecular Bioscience Co-director Professor John Mattick received The Eppendorf Achievement Award, established to honour an Australian who has made substantial contributions to Australian molecular biology.

The Award recognises Professor Mattick's scientific research contributions and his promotion of molecular biology throughout Australia.

In addition to being a Co-director of the IMB, Professor Mattick is Director of the Australian Genome Research Facility and Director of the Australian Research Council Special Research Centre for Functional and Applied Genomics. His research contributions include work on the architecture and function of the fatty acid synthetase complex and the development of a recombinant DNA based vaccine against sheep footrot, one of the first such vaccines in the world.

"Molecular Biology is a powerful tool with the potential to positively impact on society. These innovations will range from computer technology modelled on the genetic code, to novel pharmaceutical treatments," Professor Mattick said.

The IMB is national research and development initiative based at The University of Queensland St Lucia. It will be housed in a new $105 million research complex developed in partnership with CSIRO. The building program is expected to be complete in 2002 and will house 750 scientists. This new centre of excellence will establish Brisbane as a major hub for biotechnology and bioindustries in the Asia-Pacific region.

"The IMB aims to attract the world class researchers and provide them with a state of the art facility in which to conduct this research. We want to contribute both to science and society," Professor Mattick said.

He plans to spend six months sabbatical leave at the University of Oxford this year to develop his ideas on the structure of genes and gene regulation in higher organisms.

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