University of Queensland research into new and efficient vaccines will be one of the benefits of the latest Smart Futures Premier’s Fellowship.
Professor Anton Middelberg, from UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) was awarded the prestigious $1.25 million Fellowship last night to cut the large amount of time and money required to deliver a tailored vaccine for emerging diseases.
“Instead of the currently accepted 15 years and $1 billion needed to develop a new vaccine, we are using nanotechnology in an attempt to reduce the time to a matter of weeks, which has obvious advantages for new strains of old diseases such as influenza, or entirely new viruses such as Hendra virus,” Professor Middelberg said.
“This work will also enable us to fight Group A Streptococcal (GAS) disease, which can lead to rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, more efficiently and cheaply.”
Another five UQ researchers were also awarded Smart Futures Fellowships to research areas such as revolutionising the treatment of dementia and producing environmentally friendly industrial chemicals.
UQ Smart Futures Fellows:
- Dr Jana Vukovic (Queensland Brain Institute) is investigating new treatments for dementia by activating a dormant population of neural precursors in the brain to stimulate neurogenesis and augment memory function in the aged.
- Dr Elizabeth McGraw (School of Biological Sciences) is investigating how to stop the transmission of the dengue virus by infecting mosquitoes with a naturally occurring bacterium.
- Dr Caroline Gaus (EnTox) is investigating how contaminants can move through soil to groundwater and result in human and environmental exposure.
- Dr Claudia Vickers (AIBN) is investigating using yeast cells and the sucrose from Queensland sugar cane to produce isorene, which is principally used for the production of synthetic rubbers for vehicle tyres.
- Dr Chamindie Punyadeera (AIBN) is investigating a simple and cost effective test for the early detection of a molecule recently shown to be a new risk factor for heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular events.
UQ Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Max Lu thanked the Queensland government for its continued support of talented researchers.
“These fellowships provide our researchers with the freedom to pursue their specific interests and we look forward to many exciting developments associated with these projects,” Professor Lu said.
“Professor Middelberg’s Premier’s Fellowship is the fourth one to be awarded to UQ researchers since the program started five years ago, a testament to the quality of the researchers we have at the University.”
Professor Middelberg will present a seminar entitled Engineering an end to influenza at UQ's Centenary Celebration Day from 10.30-11am at the AIBN this Sunday, April 18.
Media: Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (07 3365 2802, 0433 364 181).
