Further recognition for distinguished UQ immunologist

Immunologist and Director of UQ's Diamantina Institute, Professor Ian Frazer, has been awarded the 2009 Australian Medical Association’s gold medal for his outstanding services to the association, to the practice of medicine and the community.

Awarded annually, the Gold Medal of the AMA is the highest honour the Association can bestow.

Accepting the medal at a ceremony on March 10, Professor Frazer acknowledged the significant recognition of research as a major driver.

He also highlighted the importance of continued funding to support medical research.

“Australia contributes significantly to basic research, with just over two percent of the total global output," he said.

"However, we fall well behind in the translation of research into practice partly due to the lack of infrastructure support in hospitals."

The new Translational Research Institute to be based at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, an example of such infrastructure, will provide an opportunity to produce early-stage clinical trials in Australia. UQ’s Diamantina Institute will be part of a collaborative within the TRI.

“The next Gardasil or Cervarix will be produced here,” Professor Frazer said.

Professor Frazer, who continues to be an active advocate for medical research won the 2005 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science, was named Australian of the Year for 2006, won the Howard Florey Medal for Medical Research in 2007, awarded the Honda Prize in 2009, has also been made a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Media: Doreen Awabdy, telephone: +617 3176 6623 | email: d.awabdy@uq.edu.au | web: www.di.uq.edu.au