| August 2009: Discovery
of mechanism for differentiation of follicular helper T cells, by
ANU PhD graduate Dr Di Yu in a collaboration between teams of Dr
Carola Vinuesa and Prof Charles Mackay at Garvan Institute in Sydney,
featured in publication and commentary in the prestigious international
journals Immunity and Science. |
|
| July 2009: Professor Chris Goodnow elected as
a Fellow of the prestigious UK and Commonwealth academy of science,
The Royal Society. His election as a Fellow to The Royal Society
puts him alongside current Fellows including Stephen Hawking and
Tim Berners-Lee. Past Fellows have included Sir Isaac Newton and
Charles Darwin. The honour recognizes the significance of research
by Prof Goodnow and his students and colleagues, which has pioneered
the use of mouse molecular genetics to reveal key mechanisms regulating
the immune system, in particular its ability to differentiate between
our own ‘self’ tissues and invading foreign microbes
so that autoimmune disease is minimised while immunity to infection
becomes strong. |
|
| May 2009: Dr Carola Vinuesa awarded Gottschalk
Medal for research in the medical sciences, at a ceremony held at
the Australian Academy of Science. The award recognizes Dr Vinuesa’s
discovery of key mechanisms controlling antibody formation and quality
in germinal centres. http://www.science.org.au/awards/2009awards.htm |
 |
| March 2009: Immunology Program researchers lead
successful grant applications to support the purchase of a new high-speed
cell sorter, irradiator facility, and peptide synthesizer. The new
equipment will add to the state-of-the-art research facilities available
to ANU staff and students. |
 |
| March 2009: Immunology Program researchers move
into fantastic new laboratories, office space and meeting rooms
in Phase 2 of the new JCSMR Building. In May 2009, the new laboratories
were officially opened by the Prime Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd. |
 |
| December 2008: Research by Zuopeng Wu, a PhD
student with Gerard Hoyne and Chris Goodnow, in collaboration with
Prof Gottfried Otting’s group in the ANU Research School of
Chemistry, featured on the cover of the prestigious international
journal, Immunity, and in an editorial accompanying his research
article. Dr Wu’s research discoveries have earlier been recognized
by his winning an Outstanding Scholar award from the International
Cytokine Society to present his work at the 2007 Annual Meeting
in SanFrancisco |
|
| December 2008: At a ceremony and lecture at JCSMR,
Dr Di Yu - who completed his PhD research with Dr Carola Vinuesa
and Prof Chris Goodnow - was awarded the 2007 Frank Fenner Medal
for the most outstanding PhD thesis submitted in the JCSMR during
a calendar year, and also the 2007 Dewar Milne Prize for Immunology,
awarded to the student who has carried out the most significant
piece of research during the course of their doctoral research in
The John Curtin School of Medical Research in the field of Immunology.
This recognition comes on top of Di’s external recognition,
including the 2006 Australasian Society of Immunology New Investigator
Award, the 2007 Young Investigator Award from the International
Lupus Congress in Shanghai, and travel awards to present his research
at meetings of the Federation of Immunology Societies of Asia-Oceania.
Di now leads a research program as a NSW Cancer Institute Fellow
in Sydney with Prof Charles Mackay at the Garvan Institute. |
 |
| December 2008: ANU Immunologists organized and
hosted an outstandingly successful meeting of the Australasian Society
for Immunology at the Canberra Convention Centre. A highlight of
the annual meeting of Australasia’s peak immunologists and
students is the Lafferty Debate, celebrating the spirit of enquiry
and discourse that led previous JCSMR Director and ANU immunologist
Prof Kevin Lafferty to develop his Sandoz Prize-winning concept
of “co-stimulation” for induction of immune responses
and graft rejection. This year the winning debate team was awarded
a commemorative “Lafferty’s Way” trophy designed
by Drs Charmaine Simeonovic and Geeta Chaudhri in the JCSMR Immunology
Program. |
 |
| The dubious honour of the Bursa of Fabricius Trophy, recognizing
the best immunological limerick composed and read at the meeting’s
annual dinner, was awarded to Prof Chris Goodnow and his colleagues. |
|
| November 2008: First class honours for 4th year
research students in the Immunology Program: (details needed from
Esmee) Stephanie Chan (supervised by Dr Ed Bertram and Chris Goodnow);
|
|
| October 2008: At a gala science evening at Parliament
House addressed by the Prime Minister, Dr Carola Vinuesa was awarded
the Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year,
recognizing her discoveries in the field of immunology. For text
and a film-clip on Dr Vinuesa’s work, go to: https://grants.innovation.gov.au/SciencePrize/Pages/Doc.aspx?name=previous_winners/SM2008Vinuesa.htm |
 |
| February 2008: Dr Edward Bertram, Team Leader
in the Immunogenomics Laboratory, will lead a new joint research
centre with China conducting leading-edge research into treatments
for Avian Influenza (Bird Flu). The new Australia-China Centre for
Phenomics Research, funded by the Chinese and Australian Governments,
will be located in The John Curtin School for Medical Research at
the ANU. The joint undertaking – thought to be the largest
funded program in biosciences between China and Australia –
was instigated by the University’s Dr Edward Bertram (pictured)
following his involvement in a China-Australia exchange program
supported by Australian Technological Sciences and Engineering and
the Australian Academy of Science. |
 |
| December 2007: Dr Amanda de Mestre, who completed
her PhD with Prof Chris Parish in the Immunology Program, was awarded
The Frank Fenner Medal on Friday the 7th December at an awards ceremony
in the Finkel Theatre. The Frank Fenner Medal is awarded annually
for the most outstanding PhD thesis submitted in The John Curtin
School of Medical Research at the Australian National University.
Amanda was also presented with the Dewar Milne Prize which is awarded
to the student judged to have carried out the most significant piece
of research in the field of immunology during their doctoral candidature
at The John Curtin School of Medical Research. These awards come
on top of Amanda’s winning the 2004 Australasian Society of
Immunology New Investigator Award, and an ASI travel award to present
her research discoveries at the International Congress of Immunology
in Rio de Janeiro. |
 |
| December 2007: At a gala ceremony in Madrid,
Dr Carola Vinuesa was awarded the 2007 Biogen IDEC Spain Prize for
her discoveries in the field of immunology. Expecting her second
child at any time, Dr Vinuesa received the award and gave a presentation
on her work by video-link. For a description of how Dr Vinuesa achieves
a life balance between leading a cutting edge research team, tango
dancing, and raising a young family, see the article at: http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=908 |
 |
| November 2007: First class honours for 4th year
research students in the Immunology Program: (details needed from
Esmee) Charis Teh (supervised by Dr Anselm Enders and Prof Chris
Goodnow) |
|
| November 2007: Immunology Program members, Professor
Chris Parish, Dr Charmaine Simeonovic, Professor Chris Parish, Dr
Craig Freeman and Dr Gerard Hoyne, awarded a NH&MRC/JDRF Special
Program Grant of $3 million over 5 years for work aimed at treating
Type I diabetes. Their work will focus on the enzyme heparanase
discovered by Prof Parish and Dr Freeman, and the role of the basement
membrane in protecting insulin-producing beta cells from immunological
damage. |
 |
| October 2007: Immunology Program members Dr Anselm
Enders and Prof Chris Goodnow named the recipient of the $1 million
Ramaciotti Research Award at a gala ceremony held in Melbourne.
The award will support the establishment of a new laboratory within
the JCSMR, The Ramaciotti Immunization Genomics Laboratory, led
by Dr Enders and aimed at identifying genes and mechanisms controlling
antibody production and long-lasting immunity. |
|
| September 2007: The UK-based Wellcome Trust awards
a $5.2 M Strategic Award grant to Immunology Program Members Prof
Chris Goodnow and Dr Carola Vinuesa to lead an Immunity and Infection
Genomics Consortium with colleagues Prof Warwick Britton and Dr
Bernadette Saunders at The University of Sydney and Centenary Institute,
and colleagues Prof Richard Cornall and Prof Sir John Bell at Oxford
University. The consortium will discover genes and mechanisms for
immunity to tuberculosis, immunization, and autoimmunity using world-class
research infrastructure of the Australian Phenomics Facility, funded
by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research
Infrastructure Strategy. |
|
| September 2007: The US National Institutes of
Health awards a $55M contract to a consortium of researchers led
by Prof Richard Ulevitch and Prof Bruce Beutler at The Scripps Research
Institute in San Diego, Prof Alan Aderem at The Institute for Systems
Biology in Seattle, Prof Garry Nolan at Stanford University in Palo
Alto, and Prof Chris Goodnow at the ANU. The $6.75 M funding for
the ANU forward genetics core of the consortium will identify new
genes, mouse strains and mechanisms for immunity to viral pathogens
that are potential bio-terror agents. It will be led by Immunology
program members Dr Ed Bertram and Associate Prof Guna Karupiah (pictured),
together with Dr David Tscharke in the ANU’s School of Biology.
|
|
| July 2007: Immunology Program PhD students, Michelle
Linterman and Ivan Poon, awarded prestigious travel fellowships
to attend the RIKEN Summer School in Immunology in Japan. |
 |
| March 2007: Dr Adrian Liston, who completed his
PhD with Prof Chris Goodnow in the Immunology Program, was awarded
The Frank Fenner Medal for the most outstanding thesis submitted
within The John Curtin School of Medical Research in each calendar
year. The award comes on top of Adrian’s other achievements
as a PhD student, including the Nature Immunology Young Investigator
Prize 2003, the 2003 Australasian Society of Immunology New Investigator
Prize, the 2003 BD Science Communication Prize, and fellowships
from the NHMRC CJ Martin, Cancer Research Institute and Irvington
Foundation to pursue postdoctoral training on regulatory T cells
with A Rudensky at U Washington USA. After a successful postdoctoral
period in Seattle, Adrian now heads his own research laboratory
in Europe. |
 |
| January 2007: Associate Professor Guna Karupiah
awarded a prestigious NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (SRFB), in
recognition of his research achievements elucidating mechanisms
of immunity to viral infections. |
 |
| January 2007: Dr Carola Vinuesa awarded a prestigious
Viertel Fellowship to support her groundbreaking research in the
control of antibody formation and follicular helper T cells in germinal
centres. |
 |
| January 2007: A 5 year NHMRC Program Grant awarded
to Immunology Program researchers, Prof Chris Goodnow and Dr Carola
Vinuesa, together with immunology colleagues in Sydney, Prof Charles
Mackay, Prof Fabienne Mackay, Prof John Sprent, Prof Antony Basten,
Dr Robert Brink and Dr Stuart Tangye at the Garvan Institute and
Prof Barbara Fazekas at the Centenary Institute. |
 |
| December 2006: Prof Chris Goodnow awarded a prestigious
Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship to support his
research into the genes and signalling mechanisms for antibody selection.
|
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