The Tri-University Distinguished Guest Speaker Evening would not have been possible without the very generous support from our speakers, host, sponsors and many other members of our Universities involved in making our inaugural event such a successful evening!
We would like to recognize everyone involved by highlighting our 2014 event below. We look forward to seeing you all again for 2015!
Sincerely, your 2014 Tri-University committee
We would like to recognize everyone involved by highlighting our 2014 event below. We look forward to seeing you all again for 2015!
Sincerely, your 2014 Tri-University committee
Meet the Speakers - 2014
Keynote Address
Laureate Professor Peter Doherty, AC
Laureate Professor Peter Doherty AC, shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel, for their discovery concerning the specificity of cell-mediated immune defence.
He was Australian of the Year in 1997, and has attracted many prestigious international awards, including the Paul Ehrlich Prize (1983), the 1986 Gairdner International Award for Medical Science, and the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (1995). Since 1983, he has been a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
Professor Doherty is based at Melbourne University’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology and
since 1985 has been a member of the Department of Immunology at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. His research is mainly in the area of defence against viruses.
Peter Doherty graduated from the University of Queensland in Veterinary Science and became a veterinary officer. Moving to Scotland, he received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He is the first person with a veterinary qualification to win a Nobel Prize. Peter is also the author of several books, including A Light History of Hot Air, The Beginners Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize, Sentinel Chickens: What Birds Tell us About our Health and the World and Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know.
He was Australian of the Year in 1997, and has attracted many prestigious international awards, including the Paul Ehrlich Prize (1983), the 1986 Gairdner International Award for Medical Science, and the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (1995). Since 1983, he has been a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
Professor Doherty is based at Melbourne University’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology and
since 1985 has been a member of the Department of Immunology at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. His research is mainly in the area of defence against viruses.
Peter Doherty graduated from the University of Queensland in Veterinary Science and became a veterinary officer. Moving to Scotland, he received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He is the first person with a veterinary qualification to win a Nobel Prize. Peter is also the author of several books, including A Light History of Hot Air, The Beginners Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize, Sentinel Chickens: What Birds Tell us About our Health and the World and Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know.
On the panel
Professor Graeme Young
Professor Graeme Young is a graduate of the University of Melbourne and currently the Mathew Flinders Distinguished Professor and Professor of Global Gastrointestinal Health at Flinders University, South Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (AATSE). In 2009 he was awarded the Distinguished Research Prize of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia and was honoured as SA Scientist of the Year in 2013. He is also Chairman of the Governing Council (board) of the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer. He has an international reputation in the field of bowel health, covering research and health program implementation in bowel cancer prevention and infant deaths from diarrhoea and malnutrition. Currently, the latter projects take him to Asian and African countries, working on projects to deliver better therapy for diarrhoea and to reduce the impact of zinc deficiency, the major micronutrient deficiency affecting child health globally.
Professor Gary Wittert
Professor Gary Wittert obtained his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa. He trained as an endocrinologist in Christchurch New Zealand and subsequently received postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Oregon Health Sciences University.
He joined the University of Adelaide in 1994, received a Personal Chair in 2004 and is currently Head of the Discipline of Medicine, and Senior Consultant Endocrinologist Royal Adelaide Hospital. He is Director of the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men’s Health Research, and a founding member of the Centre of Research Excellence Nutritional. He will lead a new Centre for Nutritional Research and Diagnostics, located within the South Australian Institute for Health and Medical Research.
His research, focused on obesity, involves basic, clinical and population health approaches. He initiated and oversees the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study (FAMAS), the Male, Adelaide, Inflammation, Lifestyle and Stress (MAILES) Study, and leads a large multi-center diabetes prevention trial in men (T4DM). His basic research is currently focused on peripheral mechanisms of appetite regulation and intermediary metabolism. Professor Wittert is Independent Chair of the Weight Management Council of Australia, Vice President of the Asia Oceania Society for the Study of Obesity, and founding Editor in Chief of Obesity Research and Clinical Practice. He has authored over 230 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and is currently funded by the NH&MRC and ARC.
He joined the University of Adelaide in 1994, received a Personal Chair in 2004 and is currently Head of the Discipline of Medicine, and Senior Consultant Endocrinologist Royal Adelaide Hospital. He is Director of the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men’s Health Research, and a founding member of the Centre of Research Excellence Nutritional. He will lead a new Centre for Nutritional Research and Diagnostics, located within the South Australian Institute for Health and Medical Research.
His research, focused on obesity, involves basic, clinical and population health approaches. He initiated and oversees the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study (FAMAS), the Male, Adelaide, Inflammation, Lifestyle and Stress (MAILES) Study, and leads a large multi-center diabetes prevention trial in men (T4DM). His basic research is currently focused on peripheral mechanisms of appetite regulation and intermediary metabolism. Professor Wittert is Independent Chair of the Weight Management Council of Australia, Vice President of the Asia Oceania Society for the Study of Obesity, and founding Editor in Chief of Obesity Research and Clinical Practice. He has authored over 230 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and is currently funded by the NH&MRC and ARC.
Associate Professor Janna Morrison
Associate Professor Janna Morrison is Head of the Early Origins of Adult Health Research Group in the Sansom Institute for Health Research at the University of South Australia. A/Prof Morrison has been funded as a fellow by the Heart Foundation since 2004 and is currently a South Australian Cardiovascular Health Network Fellow. Her current research focusses on how the fetal cardiovascular system responds to changes in nutrient supply before conception and during pregnancy. Initial work focused on understanding how the small baby maintains its’ blood pressure in utero and if these mechanisms might lead to an increased risk of hypertension in adult life. With the aid of a American Physiological Society Career Enhancement Award, she began interrogating the effects of being small on heart development. More recently, she has looked at the other end of the spectrum, the effects of maternal obesity on heart development. After completing her PhD at the University of British Columbia, Janna held postdoctoral positions at University of Toronto and the University of Adelaide before joining the Sansom Institute for Health Research in 2006. Among her numerous awards and achievements, Janna received a South Australian Tall Poppy Science Award (2006) in recognition of her work examining the link between low birth weight and heart disease in adulthood.
Professor Lynne Cobiac
Professor Lynne Cobiac is the Director of the CSIRO Preventative Health Research Flagship which is comprised of multidisciplinary teams from CSIRO and other leading research institutions, working across science boundaries to address the challenge of reducing the impact of chronic disease in an ageing population. The flagship brings together science and technical staff with skills in genomics and proteomics, biotechnology, bioinformatics and statistical data analysis, structural biology, information technology, psychology and food and nutritional sciences.
Prof Cobiac has a background in nutritional biochemistry and research coupled with an Advanced Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and business management experience.
She is a member of the SA Premier’s Science and Industry Council. She has recently been Chair of a working party contributing to the development of the National Food and Nutrition R&D, TT Strategy for the Primary Industries Standing Committee (PISC).
Prof Cobiac has a background in nutritional biochemistry and research coupled with an Advanced Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and business management experience.
She is a member of the SA Premier’s Science and Industry Council. She has recently been Chair of a working party contributing to the development of the National Food and Nutrition R&D, TT Strategy for the Primary Industries Standing Committee (PISC).
Professor Tanya Monro
Professor Tanya Monro is an ARC Georgina Sweet Laureate Fellow and Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) at the University of Adelaide. IPAS pursues a transdisciplinary research agenda, bringing together physics, chemistry and biology to create knowledge and disruptive new technologies, and solve problems for health, defence, the environment, food and wine.
Tanya is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Australian Institute of Physics. She is a member of the AAS National Committee for Physics, a member of the SA Premier’s Science & Industry Council (PSIC) and an inaugural Bragg Fellow of the Royal Institution of Australia. Tanya was awarded the Australian Academy of Sciences Pawsey Medal for 2012. In 2011 Tanya was awarded South Australia’s “Australian of the Year” and the Scopus Young Researcher of the Year. In 2010 she was named South Australian Scientist of the Year and Telstra Business Women of the Year (in the Community & Government category). In 2008 she won the Prime Minister’s Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.
Tanya obtained her PhD in physics in 1998 from The University of Sydney, for which she was awarded the Bragg Gold Medal for the best Physics PhD in Australia. In 2000, she received a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton in the UK. She came to the University of Adelaide in 2005 as inaugural Chair of Photonics. She has published over 500 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings and raised approximately $140M for research. She serves on international, national and state committees and boards on matters of science and research policy and science evaluation and assessment.
Tanya is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Australian Institute of Physics. She is a member of the AAS National Committee for Physics, a member of the SA Premier’s Science & Industry Council (PSIC) and an inaugural Bragg Fellow of the Royal Institution of Australia. Tanya was awarded the Australian Academy of Sciences Pawsey Medal for 2012. In 2011 Tanya was awarded South Australia’s “Australian of the Year” and the Scopus Young Researcher of the Year. In 2010 she was named South Australian Scientist of the Year and Telstra Business Women of the Year (in the Community & Government category). In 2008 she won the Prime Minister’s Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year.
Tanya obtained her PhD in physics in 1998 from The University of Sydney, for which she was awarded the Bragg Gold Medal for the best Physics PhD in Australia. In 2000, she received a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton in the UK. She came to the University of Adelaide in 2005 as inaugural Chair of Photonics. She has published over 500 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings and raised approximately $140M for research. She serves on international, national and state committees and boards on matters of science and research policy and science evaluation and assessment.
Host
Dr Paul Willis
RiAus Director Dr Paul Willis is well-known as a science broadcaster with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, presenting and producing on ABC television science shows including Quantum and Catalyst. Recently Paul has narrated and appeared in the series Monster Bug Wars on SBS TV for Beyond Production.
Paul is passionate about informing, educating and amusing people of all ages and backgrounds about science and is keen to seize the opportunity to talk about science in a variety of public forums. He was rewarded for his passion in 2000 when he was joint recipient of the Eureka Prize for Science Communication.
Dr Willis brings a solid research career in vertebrate palaeontology to his work as a science communicator and now as Director of RiAus. He has produced many academic reports and papers, has authored or co-authored seven books on dinosaurs, rocks and fossils, and has written many popular science articles for a variety of publications.
Paul was the resident palaeontologist on seven Antarctic expeditions and brings this enthusiasm and keen sense of adventure to his role as Director of RiAus. He is ready and willing to engage with non-scientists and to stimulate community conversations about science, life, and everything.
Paul is passionate about informing, educating and amusing people of all ages and backgrounds about science and is keen to seize the opportunity to talk about science in a variety of public forums. He was rewarded for his passion in 2000 when he was joint recipient of the Eureka Prize for Science Communication.
Dr Willis brings a solid research career in vertebrate palaeontology to his work as a science communicator and now as Director of RiAus. He has produced many academic reports and papers, has authored or co-authored seven books on dinosaurs, rocks and fossils, and has written many popular science articles for a variety of publications.
Paul was the resident palaeontologist on seven Antarctic expeditions and brings this enthusiasm and keen sense of adventure to his role as Director of RiAus. He is ready and willing to engage with non-scientists and to stimulate community conversations about science, life, and everything.
The Power of Three - 2014 Committee Members
The Tri-University Distinguished Guest Speaker Evening was independently organised by
postgraduate students representing each of the three South Australian universities.
postgraduate students representing each of the three South Australian universities.
Heather Armstrong
Heather is the founder of the Tri-University Distinguished Guest Speaker Evening, although it would not have been possible to organize such a fantastic evening without the help and support of the other members of the Tri-University committee and its many generous sponsors. Heather also currently holds the position of event coordinator for the University of Adelaide Health Sciences Postgraduate Association (HeSPA).
Heather began her research career at the University of Alberta in Canada where she completed an MSc in Cell Biology studying molecular chaperones, protein pathways, and their role in disease. She is currently entering her second year of PhD study at the University of Adelaide in the Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories where she is examining the efficacy of Heat Shock Protein inhibitors in the treatment of prostate cancer. With a PhD from the DRMCRL she hopes to pursue a career in which she can express her passion for helping patients to overcome their medical struggles, along with aiding to determine the mechanisms of disease and assisting in the development of better methods of treatment.
Heather can be contacted via LinkedIn, Research Gate or email.
Heather began her research career at the University of Alberta in Canada where she completed an MSc in Cell Biology studying molecular chaperones, protein pathways, and their role in disease. She is currently entering her second year of PhD study at the University of Adelaide in the Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories where she is examining the efficacy of Heat Shock Protein inhibitors in the treatment of prostate cancer. With a PhD from the DRMCRL she hopes to pursue a career in which she can express her passion for helping patients to overcome their medical struggles, along with aiding to determine the mechanisms of disease and assisting in the development of better methods of treatment.
Heather can be contacted via LinkedIn, Research Gate or email.
Susan Christo
Susan is a final year PhD candidate, studying within
the field of immunology at the Experimental Therapeutics Laboratory. Her interests are developing an automated assay that
can measure the responsiveness of T cells; an immune cell that fights infection
and cancerous cells. Susan hopes to use her PhD to continue in a career of immunology research, and one day plans to work abroad to gain global scientific experience.
Susan can be contacted via email, LinkedIn, and Research Gate.
Susan can be contacted via email, LinkedIn, and Research Gate.
Karen Patterson
Karen's PhD takes her into the realm of Autoimmunity and Nutrigenomics as she manages dual projects at both the Flinders University/Flinders Medical Centre Immunology Department investigating clinical and serological associations of autoantibodies in an Australia wide cohort of autoimmune disease patients and at the CSIRO Nutrigenomics and DNA Damage Diagnostics Laboratory where she is investigating genomic instability in autoimmune disease patients. Karen has extensive experience in event management having worked with public and private sector institutions, corporations and NGOs. Karen is
President of the Flinders University Postgraduate Society - Faculty Medicine,
Nursing and Health Sciences. Karen is also passionately interested in education, the promotion of science and community involvement.
Karen can be contacted via email at Flinders University or email at CSIRO
Karen can be contacted via email at Flinders University or email at CSIRO
Emma Stewart
Emma is nearing the end of her PhD in the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide. Her research looks at the way we process different types of visual information and how the brain uses this visual information to plan accurate hand movements and how this allows us to interact with our environment. She is President of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Association at the University of Adelaide. She hopes to move overseas to continue researching the interaction between vision and action once she finishes her PhD. Emma can be contacted via email.
Dannielle Post
Dannielle is in the early stages of her PhD candidature with the Social Epidemiology and Evaluation Research Group. The focus of her research is to assess the effects of a health-related educational program, underpinned by theoretical principles, on behaviour change related to diabetes & cardiometabolic risk factors. This research is situated in a remotely located mining & manufacturing workplace. Dannielle is a student member of the Public Health Association of Australia & the Australian Health Promotion Association & is interested in workplace health promotion.
Dannielle can be contacted via email.
Dannielle can be contacted via email.
Nuy Chau
Nuy is currently finalising her PhD at Flinders University in Clinical Pharmacology studying drug glucosidation – an alternative drug metabolising pathway for morphine and mycophenolic acid and the molecular mechanisms underlying this pathway in parallel to the characterised glucuronidation pathway. She is currently the Treasurer of the Flinders University Postgraduate Society – Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Nuy is interested in promoting public interest in science in the community and is a member of the Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus).
Nuy can be contacted via email.
Nuy can be contacted via email.
Tri-Uni Sponsors - 2014
The Tri-University Distinguished Guest Speaker Evening cannot be made possible without the generous support of our Sponsors: