Three University of Queensland researchers have been awarded Queensland Young Tall Poppy Awards in recognition for their outstanding research contributions.
UQ's Dr Lars Nielsen, Associate Professor Ranjeny Thomas and Associate Professor Matt Trau were among the eight award recipients announced at Parliament House in Brisbane recently.
The announcement was made at the launch of the UQ sponsored Queensland Tall Poppy Program, an initiative of the Australian Institute of Political Science (AIPS).
UQ's Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay said: 'These awards recognise the outstanding contribution our researchers have made to their various fields and reinforce the University's reputation as a key centre for research and development'.
The AIPS was founded in 1932 as in independent, non-partisan organisation designed to help promote political, social and economic issues. In 1998 they founded the Queensland Tall Poppy Awards.
AIPS Chairperson Dr John Best said the institute hoped that by recognising Australian scientific and intellectual excellence, it would promote a greater appreciation of the achievements of all Tall Poppies and encourage younger Australians to follow in their footsteps.
'We have an amazing breadth of talent across the state and the Young Tall Poppy Awards encourage young people, which is part of the Government's Smart State strategy,' Minister for Innovation and Information Economy Mr Paul Lucas said.
Nominations for the awards were received from various Queensland research institutions and included researchers from areas such as psychology, chemistry, biomedical engineering, rheumatology and cancer research.
As a senior lecturer at UQ's Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr Nielsen has established a biological engineering program to examine tissue and metabolic engineering. He has also developed novel bioreactors for use in bone marrow transplants and his framework for studying complex organogenic dynamics has been adopted at leading research institutions worldwide.
Dr Thomas, an academic rheumatologist and Deputy Director of UQ's Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research, has gained an international reputation for her work on dendritic cells in rheumatoid arthritis and recently developed methods to alter the function of dendritic cells.
As Director of UQ's Centre for Nanotechnology and Biomaterials, Dr Trau oversees research into artificial human tissue engineering and the development of devices for rapid DNA sequencing, genetic screening and drug discovery.
Media: For more information, contact Dr Nielsen (telephone 07 3365 6960 or email: larsn@cheque.uq.edu.au), Dr Thomas (telephone 3240 5365 or email: rthomas@medicine.pa.uq.edu.au), Dr Trau (telephone 07 3365 3816 or email: trau@chemistry.uq.edu.au) or Joanne van Zeeland at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 7045 or email: communications@mailbox.uq.edu.au )
