Our Previous award winners

Our ‘SPIN TO WIN” Young Scientist competition returned this year at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function, held at Lorne Mantra Hotel, 8-12 February 2025.

WATCH VIDEO HERE

Once again, our spinning wheel competition featured the popular $2000 Young Scientist Award. Our winner was announced following the final round on Tuesday evening – Prof Barry Slim could feel it in his bones – some body was feeling lucky tonight !!!

Congratulations to Alexandra Sundman, PhD student (King group) Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland.

Alexandra is currently studying for her PhD at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience in Prof. Glenn King’s lab. Her research focuses on developing peptides derived from spider venom to treat an epilepsy caused by mutations in a potassium ion channel called KCNH1. Ion channels are gates on the surfaces of neurons that allow the passage of electrical signals. Mutations in KCNH1 cause the channel to open too readily, which can result in seizures. Spider venoms are a rich source of molecules that modulate the activity of ion channels, providing a library of potential therapeutics to correct brain overexcitability in epilepsy.

To find potential peptide candidates, Alexandra milks venom from spiders and screens the venoms to identify those that have an inhibitory effect on KCNH1. She then separates out the components of ‘hit’ venoms to isolate the inhibitory peptide, optimises the peptide’s activity with in vitro assays, then works with collaborators who can test these peptides on patient-derived brain organoids, which are like human “mini-brains.”

Alexandra previously worked on the mechanism by which recluse spider venom causes dermonecrotic lesions. She has now shifted to harnessing venoms to develop therapeutics.

“I enjoy understanding the molecular and structural mechanisms underpinning toxicity and disease. After my PhD, I will work as a postdoc to continue my career in biomolecular research” said Alexandra.

Alexandra plans to use her $2000 award to attend the Australian Peptide Conference held this October in Tasmania, which is an exciting opportunity to connect with renowned peptide and venom scientists, share her work, and potentially look for rare Tasmanian cave spiders.

ATA Scientific continues to motivate scientists 

ATA Scientific has established a high reputation for supporting and promoting scientific research within Australia and New Zealand. Our Encouragement Awards are competitions intended to promote the interests of young scientists early in their science career. The Awards provide an opportunity for young scientists to win financial assistance to further their education, including attending scientific conferences and meetings. The Awards were established 11 years ago and since then over 100 winners and runners-up have received financial assistance. We are enthusiastic about our awards program as we can see the practical contribution it is making.

The SPIN to WIN award is part of the ATA Scientific Encouragement award program that is promoted annually to assist scientists that attend the Annual Lorne Proteins structure and function conference.

The intent is to provide financial support to enable further collaborations with peers at scientific meetings and to launch scientific careers. The $2000 award is usually a single prize awarded at the conference at the end of the SPIN to WIN competition.

If you missed out this year, be sure to check us out next year or enter our Encouragement award competition on now!

For more information regarding our award or to enter the next competition, contact us or visit our webpage at https://www.atascientific.com.au/awards-events-training/current-award/

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ATA Scientific would like to thank all those that participated in our September 2024 Encouragement Award promotion.

With the cost of university education continuing to rise and the effect of inflation adding to these costs, it is becoming unaffordable for many who are now more likely looking for careers based on qualifications from other sectors such as TAFE. Typically a University degree was considered to offer better career prospects and higher salary.
Our latest competition asked students whether they thought this may still be true and to discuss if they would consider a different career choice given what they know now, or if their passion for research was more important?
Students were also asked to address the use of AI in their work, research, or thesis and whether the use of AI resulted in any significant innovations or discoveries? What risks or benefits did they expect for their work or research and is there a danger that inaccurate, fake or unedited data could be gradually embedded undetected into a wide range of publications?

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 3 WINNERS!
Three entries were selected to receive our award– first prize at $1500 and 2 runners up at $750 each.

Congratulations to Kevin Winardi, scientific officer from the Laboratory of Ageing and Pharmacology, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney and Northern Sydney Local Health District. Under the supervision of Prof Sarah Hilmer, his work focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms behind drug-related harms in older individuals and whether medication withdrawal offers any molecular reversibility benefits. Building upon the established preclinical murine model, Kevin employed multi-omics and systems biology approaches to study complex age-related drug-drug interactions across various different organs.
Kevin’s goal is to expand his research by integrating pharmacology, ageing biology, and systems biology to contribute to the development of precision medicine strategies that enhances the care of older people.
This fantastic award will support Kevin’s attendance at two bioinformatics conferences. In November, he will attend the Australian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Society (ABACBS) 2024 conference in Sydney, followed by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) BioInfoSummer24 in Melbourne this December.
Attending these conferences will provide a valuable opportunity for Kevin to explore novel bioinformatics tool, connect with leading experts in the country, and develop computational biology skills useful for tackling this major geriatric challenge.

Congratulations to Ariel Jones. a second-year PhD student in chemistry at the University of Melbourne supervised by A/Prof Lars Goerigk.
Her research aims to improve methods in computational chemistry. More specifically, her project has investigated whether current state-of-the-art computational methods are able to accurately model excited-state non-covalent interactions. This investigation will guide the development of new and accurate quantum chemistry methods.
After her PhD, Ariel wishes to continue a career in chemistry as a postdoctoral researcher. Ariel is very grateful for the ATA Young Scientist Encouragement Award which will facilitate her travel to Japan in 2025 for the conference of the Asia Pacific Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry.

“Thank you again for this award. Especially post-pandemic it has been more challenging to secure funding for conference travel, so I am very grateful for this award and look forward to being able to participate in the APATCC-2025 conference”, said Ariel.

Congratulations to Temitope Esther Afolabi, PhD student at the University of Sydney, supervised by Prof Sarah Hilmer. Esther is studying at the Laboratory of Ageing and Pharmacology, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Health.

Her research aims to optimise medication use in older people by codesigning an online patient decision support tool that assists older people with medication management. Committed to the provision of safe, evidence-based, cost-effective interventions and the quality use of medicines to promote optimal health outcomes for all Australians, her career aspirations are to develop and implement innovative solutions for older people that promote the quality use of medications and to build teams of forward-thinking and versatile health professional leaders, well equipped for the dynamic environment of the Australian healthcare system.

This award will go towards covering a portion of my conference registration fees for the Advanced Pharmacy Australia (former SHPA) Medicines Management 2024 Conference in Adelaide, South Australia, 15-16th November 2024. Here I will be giving an oral presentation showcasing the preliminary version of an online patient decision support for older people that my research team and I have developed in collaboration with a project stakeholder committee.

I am most grateful for the opportunity ATA scientific has given me through this award, to present my work, said Esther.

We would like to thank all those that participated. The next Encouragement Award will be posted on our website soon.
For more information or to stay informed of other upcoming promotions please ‘Like us” on Facebook or contact us.

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Congratulations to Stephanie Hedditch!

We were thrilled to announce Stephanie Hedditch as the winner of the Lock and Key Competition at this year’s East Coast Proteins Meeting (ECPM)! The ECPM is held at the Opal Cove Resort in Coffs Harbour. This conference is held jointly every two years by the Sydney and Queensland Protein Groups of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB).

Take a look at the short video as we celebrate Stephanie’s journey to the prize!

Prof Barry Slim was there to provide support with every attempt to unlock the magic box containing the winning cheque for $1000. A big thank you to all the participants who made this competition a success. We look forward to the next ECPM with more groundbreaking discoveries in the future!

About our winner….

Stephanie Hedditch is a student at the University of Wollongong, Molecular Horizons, working under the supervision of Dr Aidan Grosas.

Stephanie’s research group is dedicated to tackling the critical issue of antimicrobial resistance, focusing on the structural investigation of the primary efflux pump MtrCDE from Neisseria Gonorrhoeae. This pump plays a crucial role in the pathogens resistance by extruding diverse antimicrobial compounds before they can kill the cell posing a significant threat to public health. Our project aims to produce, purify and reconstitute the MtrCDE complex and use cryo-electron microscopy to elucidate it’s structure. Doing so will pave the way for the development of inhibitory compounds to block the pumps action thereby contributing to the fight against multi drug resistant pathogens.

This award will significantly bolster our efforts by providing essential resources and assisting with the substantial costs associated with the highly innovative technique cryo-EM.

The award will be spent on the cryo-electron microscopes as this technique incurs significant costs but is pivotal for solving the structure of MtrCDE.

For more information please contact us.

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ATA Scientific would like to thank all those that participated in our April 2024 Encouragement Award promotion.

Our Award questions have received hundreds of fantastic original responses, some academic, some humorous and many highly inventive. Exactly what you would expect from young enquiring scientific minds.

These days it is tempting to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an easy way to respond to our Award questions. The spirit of science is based on honesty and inventiveness. We want you to respond in this spirit. Using an artificial prepackaged response is no substitute for your own imaginative thoughts. However, if AI is used in any way, then as a budding scientist you know that you should provide clear attribution.

Our latest competition asked the question:

Have you used AI in your work, research, or thesis? If so, has this resulted in any significant innovations or discoveries? If you are at the stage of considering using AI what risks or benefits do you expect for your work or research? Is there a danger that inaccurate, fake or unedited data could be gradually embedded undetected into a wide range of publications?

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 3 WINNERS!

Three entries were selected to receive our award– first prize at $1500 and 2 runners up at $750 each.

Congratulations to Dr Nashwa Masnoon, Postdoctoral Research Pharmacist in the Laboratory of Ageing and Pharmacology, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney and Northern Sydney Local Health District.The Laboratory of Ageing and Pharmacology led by Professor Sarah Hilmer undertakes research in the laboratory and clinical settings to optimise medication use in older adults. Nashwa is a part of the clinical research team. Her research looks at ways to reduce medication-related harm in older adults, including use of digital clinical decision support tools to aid medication review.

Nashwa’s career goal is to combine her experiences in research, teaching and clinical practice to lead the field of geriatric pharmacology and ultimately, ensure appropriate medication use in older adults.

“The conference will be a fantastic opportunity for me to network and collaborate with experts in the field and I am very thankful to the ATA Scientific Team for the award”.

The award will allow Nashwa to present her research to national and international academics, researchers and clinicians at the joint conference by the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists, the Asia Pacific Federation of Pharmacologists and the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association in Melbourne (1-4 December 2024).

Congratulations to Dr Yoshika Janapala, a postdoctoral researcher at John Curtin School of Medical Research, Division of Genome Science and Cancer, Australian National University, working as part of team led by Professor Thomas Preiss.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) at the Australian National University, Yoshika focuses on unravelling the complex mechanisms of eukaryotic mRNA translation, particularly the regulatory role of the mRNA 5’UTR. Utilising the advanced Translation Complex Profile Sequencing (TCP-seq) technique, her research aims to illuminate ribosomal dynamics on mRNA, enhancing our understanding of translation processes in disease contexts and treatment responses. Currently, she is part of the Shine Dalgarno Centre of RNA Innovation, where she works to advance RNA therapeutics through methodological innovations.

Passionate about translating scientific insights into practical medical solutions, I am keen to collaborate with fellow professionals in academia and industry partners to advance mRNA technology and innovate healthcare solutions.

The award funds will be allocated towards attending two significant conferences. The primary portion will support participation in the 29th Annual RNA Meeting organised by the RNA Society, to be held in May 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Additionally, a part of the award will be used to attend the Australasian RNA Biology and Biotechnology Association (A-RNA) conference in October 2024, which will take place in Melbourne.

These conferences are crucial for my professional development and will greatly enhance my current research by exposing me to the latest advancements and networking opportunities in the field of RNA biology, said Yoshika.

Congratulations to Anastasiya Potapenko, PhD student at Macquarie University, Motor Neuron Disease Research Centre, supervised by A/Prof Angela Laird and Dr Jennilee Davidson.

Her project is focused on a rare and incurable neurodegenerative disease known as Machado-Joseph disease or MJD. Anastasiya’s research aims to understand the function of the ataxin-3 protein (which causes MJD when mutated) as a deubiquitinating enzyme, and whether we can target this to help treat MJD and other neurodegenerative diseases.

While I am at the beginning of my PhD, in the future I would like to continue unravelling the causes of neurodegenerative diseases such as MJD as a postdoctoral researcher, with the hope that they will one day be treatable. 

I would like to greatly thank ATA Scientific for supporting this award, which will support me attending and presenting at Biomolecular Horizons 2024 in Melbourne.

We would like to thank all those that participated. The next Encouragement Award will be posted on our website soon.

For more information or to stay informed of other upcoming promotions please ‘Like us” on Facebook or contact us.

Contact us

Our ‘SPIN TO WIN” Young Scientist competition returned this year at the 49th Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function, held at Lorne Mantra Hotel, 4-7 February 2024.

WATCH VIDEO HERE

Creating oodles of excitement and anticipation, our spinning wheel competition featured the popular $2000 Young Scientist Award – First prize $1200 and runner-up $800. Two winners were announced following the final round on Tuesday evening – No bones about it – our helper Prof Barry Slim was ecstatic!!!

 

Congratulations to Solace Roche (UQ), winner of the $1200 ‘Spin to Win’ Prize! and Jessica Buchanan (USyd) – winner of the $800 runner-up prize!

Solace Roche is a PhD student at The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, working under the supervision of Associate Professor Michael Landsberg.

Solace and his research team are investigating mechanisms of cellular toxicity and cell recognition associated with the ABC family of pore-forming toxins. Most ABC toxins studied to date appear to be insecticidal toxins, although genes predicted to encode for homologous assemblies have also been found in human pathogens. The group hopes to gain a more complete understanding of how ABC toxins function, which in turn will help elucidate how they cause disease in invertebrate (and potentially also vertebrate) hosts, and how they might be re-engineered for therapeutic or biotechnological purposes.

The award will be used to attend the Biomolecular Horizons meeting (22-26 September 2024) in Melbourne to share his research and facilitate new collaborations with national and international research groups.

 

 

Jessica Buchanan is a PhD student at the School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney working under the supervision of Prof Margaret Sunde.

Jessica’s research group studies natural functional amyloids, a rapidly expanding class of fibrillar protein structures, where novel and advantageous biological function is generated by the assembly of the amyloid. The group is interested in the structure and formation of multiple amyloid proteins and complexes including the fungal hydrophobins as well as those associated with the programmed cell death pathway necroptosis. Amyloids are usually associated with disease and loss of function including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. By studying natural amyloids in nearly all life forms the group wishes to inform the development of therapies for amyloid-associated diseases and guide the design of innovative biomaterials.

Congratulations to our winners!

For more information regarding our award or to enter the next competition, contact us or visit our webpage at https://www.atascientific.com.au/awards-events-training/current-award/

ATA Scientific continues to motivate scientists during Lorne Proteins 2024.

ATA Scientific has established a high reputation for supporting and promoting scientific research within Australia and New Zealand.

Our Encouragement Awards are competitions intended to promote the interests of young scientists early in their science career. The Awards provide an opportunity for young scientists to win financial assistance to further their education, including attending scientific conferences and meetings. The Awards were established 11 years ago and since then over 100 winners and runners-up have received financial assistance. We are enthusiastic about our awards program as we can see the practical contribution it is making.

The SPIN to WIN award is part of the ATA Scientific Encouragement award program that is promoted annually to assist scientists that attend the Annual Lorne Proteins structure and function conference.  The intent is to provide financial support to enable further collaborations with peers at scientific meetings and to launch scientific careers. The $2000 award is usually a single prize awarded at the conference at the end of the SPIN to WIN competition.

At this year’s Lorne event we asked our audience whether they preferred to have a single $2000 prize or instead split this up into two separate awards – $1200 first prize and $800 second prize. By splitting the award it would allow 2 students to win enabling more than one student to benefit from the prize money. We decided to test this hypothesis and the results and smiles on everyone’s faces were spectacular. If you missed out this year, be sure to check us out next year or enter our Encouragement award competition online!

For more information regarding our award or to enter the next competition, contact us or visit our webpage at https://www.atascientific.com.au/awards-events-training/current-award/

Contact us

ATA Scientific would like to thank all those who participated in our Oct 2023 Encouragement Award promotion.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can provide enormous benefits but equally pose huge dangers. Robotics and AI have a lot in common as they both were initially intended to assist humans. The Three Laws of Robotics written by Isaac Asimov in 1942 are iconic in the science fiction world and have become a symbol within the AI and robotics community of how difficult it is to properly design a system that is foolproof.

Our latest competition asked the question:

In Asimov’s three laws, imagine substituting the term “robot” with the term “AI”. Do you think this would make a good set of principles for the further development of AI? If not, can you propose other laws or principles that would ensure the development of AI will be a benefit not a disaster for humanity?

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 3 WINNERS!

Three entries were selected to receive our award– first prize at $1500 and 2 runners-up at $750 each.

Congratulations to Tony Xu, PhD student working with the Anne Bruestle Lab at The John Curtin School of Medical Research Division at the Australian National University. His project is looking to utilise artificial intelligence (AI) on flow cytometry to help detect and monitor diseases in their pre-symptomatic or latent stages, particularly that of Multiple Sclerosis.

After his PhD, he will continue his medical studies at the UWA, and as noted by Tony, “with the aim of finishing before his hair starts greying!” The prize will enable Tony to attend two conferences and purchase some computational components allowing for him to train his AIs with greater ease. In his spare time, Tony enjoys beekeeping, volunteer firefighting (awesome photo Tony!) and playing hockey.

Tony plans to spend his award on a combination of conferences, attending Progress in MS research conference (29 Nov-1 Dec 2023) and Supercomputing Asia (19-22 February 2024).

Congratulations to Michael O’Dea, a PhD student at the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, supervised by Dr Kate Quinlan.

Michael’s lab (Crossley/Quinlan at UNSW) studies the developmental regulation of haemoglobin switching. At six months of age the human body switches from gamma to beta-globin, and reversing this switch is key to therapies for sickle cell anaemia, the most common monogenic disorder in the world. Michael’s project uses base editors (more precise version of CRISPR) to study the role that nucleosome positioning plays in this regulation. 

“While I’m still relatively early in my PhD, long-term I’d like to use my background in genetics and AI to push the frontiers of precision medicine and gain a better understanding of genetic disorders such as Sickle Cell Anaemia and Parkinson’s disease “ said Michael.

“I’m very thankful to ATA Scientific for supporting this award since chances to communicate your research are so valuable for young scientists. I enjoyed the style of prompt – it was a lot of fun to brainstorm and write about a benevolent AI future – and would strongly encourage other students to apply for future awards.”

The award money will go towards attending and presenting at BioHorizons 2024 in Melbourne (22-26 September 2024).

Congratulations to Shivam Vora, PhD student at Mater Research Institute, University of Queensland under the supervision of Professor Brian Gabrielli.

Shivam Vora is a PhD student in the Smiling for Smiddy Cancer Cell Cycle Group at Mater Research. Shivam completed his Master’s in Biotechnology and graduated with a Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence.  His work focuses on polyploidy induced by the inhibition of Aurora Kinase B and the genetic background that determines the outcomes of this inhibition. Shivam hopes to pursue post-doctoral positions in the field of cancer biology with a focus on small molecule inhibitors.

Shrivam plans to spend this award on travel to the Lorne Cancer Conference in February 2024 where he will present an update of his research.

We would like to thank all those that participated. The next Encouragement Award will be posted on our website soon.

For more information or to stay informed of other upcoming promotions please ‘Like us” on Facebook or contact us.

Contact us