Dr Michelle Dunstone
Monash University Michelle’s research focuses on understanding the structure and function of proteins involved in human immunity. She investigates the structure and molecular mechanism of Membrane Attack Complex / Perforin (MACPF)-like proteins, a family of molecules that perform key roles in humans such as eliminating virally infected cells, pre-cancerous cells and certain types of bacteria….
Read More »Dr Alison Funston
The University of Melbourne When materials, for example metals, become very small, their properties change considerably – for example, nanometre sized gold is red. To give an indication of size, the prefix “nano” stands for 1/1,000,000,000 of a metre. Alison’s research involves the investigation of the unique, interesting and often useful properties of materials at…
Read More »Dr Chris Manzie
The University of Melbourne Chris seeks to improve the performance, economy and emissions of transportation systems. His models for fuel consumption assist in improving fuel efficiency in today’s increasingly complex vehicles, and he has also made advances in reducing emissions by ensuring catalytic converters operate at maximum efficiency, reducing the amount of polluting gases emitted…
Read More »Dr Daniel Ierodiaconou
Deakin University Daniel leads a team using sonar technologies and remotely operated video systems to map over 120,000 hectares of Victoria’s seafloor, revealing its stunning natural features for the first time. These include ‘gardens’ of invertebrates dominated by magnificently coloured sponges, seaweed forests, off-shore seagrass meadows, and submerged river systems and lagoons that would have…
Read More »Dr Daniel Price
Monash University Daniel explains that although stars like the Sun are common throughout the universe, with hundreds of billions of stars in galaxies like our Milky Way, we have relatively little idea of how stars are actually made. While we can get clues by observing nearby “stellar nurseries”, our only hope of understanding the process…
Read More »Dr Elaine Wong
The University of Melbourne Elaine’s research centres on fibre-to-the-home access networks, which are optical networks that directly connect end users in homes, schools and office buildings to the core optical network. In order to span long distances, long links in Australia are amplified by high-powered amplifiers to maintain connection. Elaine concentrates on investigating practical issues…
Read More »Dr Jake Baum
Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research Malaria is one of humanity’s most prevalent diseases. It causes hundreds of millions of infections annually and is the single largest cause of infant mortality in huge areas of Africa and South East Asia, killing a child every thirty seconds. Work in the Baum laboratory at WEHI aims to develop…
Read More »Dr Michael Kearney
The University of Melbourne – Victorian Tall Poppy of the Year 2009 One of Michael’s research topics tackles the question – “why give up sex?” He studies grasshoppers, stick insects and geckos from the Australian arid zone, which have given up sex and reproduce instead by cloning. By understanding what makes these asexual species successful,…
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