2006 New South Wales Award Winner

Dr Alaina Ammit

University of Sydney Alaina is a researcher on airway smooth muscle in inflammation and airway remodelling. Her work has implications for combating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In Australia asthma affects one in four children and one in ten adults. Alaina’s research is conducted on a cellular level and is essential to the development…

Read More »


Dr James Curran

University of Sydney James builds systems for computers to understand, store and manipulate human languages.  Some of the applications for this research are search engines in which you can type a question and get an accurate answer (instead of a list of links that may or may not be what you were looking for) and…

Read More »


Dr Nathan Daczko

Macquarie University Nathan’s research ranges from studies in deep crystal processes in areas undergoing mountain building to processes operating at active oceanic spreading margins. He is particularly interested in active plate boundary zones in tectonically active regions including Fiordland, New Zealand, Macquarie Island and Papua New Guinea. Metamorphic Petrology Earth Science

Read More »


Dr Louisa Degenhardt

National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre UNSW Louisa’s research on trends in illicit drug use identified the Australian heroin shortage and the increasing use in methamphetamine and ecstasy. She has developed the ‘Party Drug Initiative’, a national project documenting the patterns of use and harms associated with this new drug use. This work has been…

Read More »


Dr Kirstie Fryirs

Macquarie University Kirstie is an environmental scientist and a recognised leader in rivers research. Kirstie has developed a framework for assessing river condition and recovery potential which has been used as a river management tool across many areas of Australia. The River Styles Framework was trademarked in 1999. Kirstie’s outreach activities focus on communication of…

Read More »


Dr Andrew Harris

University of Sydney Andrew’s research is in sustainable hydrogen, phytomining (sustainable mining using plants to recover metals) and large-scale manufacture of carbon nanotubes, one of the materials of the future. His research has the capacity to revolutionise the energy industry and provide a viable alternative to fossil fuels. Chemical Engineering Chemistry

Read More »


Dr Andrew Hopkins

University of Sydney Andrew studies galaxy evolution: the role of star formation in galaxies and how galaxy morphologies arise and evolve. Investigating the connections between nearby galaxies, and distant galaxies can help us understand more about how galaxies work and how our own Milky Way fits into this grand scheme. His particular interest is cosmic…

Read More »


Dr Adam Micolich

University of new South Wales Adam works in the area of semiconductor nanoelectronics, focusing on how the quantum mechanical nature of electrons affects the way that electronic devices operate when they are incredibly small. Semiconductor microelectronics underpin our modern information technologies, from computers and playstations to mobile phones and internet. Adam has been involved in…

Read More »


Dr Geraldine O’Neill

The Children’s Hospital Westmead Geraldine has made a most significant contribution to cancer cell research. When cancer spreads it becomes harder for doctors to treat and often becomes more resistant to the therapies, like chemotherapy, that we use to treat them. Geraldine’s research uses cutting edge cell biology techniques to work out how the cancers…

Read More »


Dr Leigh Sheppard

University of New South Wales Leigh researches and develops sustainable energy solutions. He looks specifically at solar-hydrogen, a form of energy which is generated in a sustainable manner by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. Leigh has worked specifically on developing environmentally sustainable semiconductors used in the conversion of water into hydrogen and oxygen. Solar…

Read More »