Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty returned to The University of Queensland today as guest of honour at a graduation ceremony at QIMR Herston.
Professor Doherty witnessed the conferring of degrees in Tropical Health, Community Nutrition and Public Health on 50 local and international students.
In his address, Professor Doherty, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Medicine, said that immense challenges lie ahead for graduates specialising in areas such as tropical infectious diseases.
"The death rate in tropical regions resulting from diseases like malaria and TB is enormous, and still there are no good vaccines available. And the economic realities of the world in which we live does not help the situation either. For instance, even in the case of measles, where there is an effective vaccine, we still have over a million deaths from the disease each year."
Professor Doherty said the need for the sustainable development and control of population growth had never been greater.
"We have to be able to assure people in the developing world that their kids will survive if we expect them to limit the size of their families. Of course, there are also important social issues to address here as well, such as the empowerment of women, which will have a bearing on family size. To feed people in the future, I also see an important role for new technologies such as genetically engineering saffron rice or the development of plants to grow in high-salt soils. "
This annual graduation ceremony, organised by the Australian Centre for International and Tropical Health and Nutrition (ACITHN) and the Public Health Program of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Queensland, was the last in which the Master of Tropical Health and Master of Community Nutrition degrees were conferred. From next year, the degree will be known as Master of Public Health, majoring in Tropical Health or Community Nutrition.
Speaking at the ceremony, ACITHN's Director, Professor Ian Riley, said this year was the 21st in which the Master of Community Nutrition degree was awarded to students that come from diverse backgrounds and cultural groups.
"Nationalities represented this year include Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Canada, NZ, Australia, Namibia, Bangladesh, South Africa, Mozambique and Lesotho."
As part of their course, students have undertaken five different and very interesting projects in four overseas locations - three in Thailand and one in Philippines.
"We have also had four visiting examiners - three from Thailand and one from Philippines. Dr Effie Espino, examiner from RITM in Manila is very happy to return to Brisbane because she will be joining the masters students to graduate with her PhD," Professor Riley said.
"And Dr Jintana Yhoung-Aree is also happy to return to Brisbane - she graduated as a Master of Community Nutrition student in the mid 1980's, has since completed a PhD in demography and is now on the staff of the Institute of Nutrition at Mahidol University in Thailand."
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