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A leading chemist from The University of Western Australia who is studying the roles that carbohydrates play in nature has added another award to his collection.

Associate Professor Keith Stubbs, an Australian Research Council Future Fellow who works in UWA's School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has won the prestigious Athel Beckwith Lectureship by the Organic Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

It's the latest in a string of prestigious awards for Professor Stubbs, who last year won the 2012 Rennie Memorial Medal, also presented by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute for his contribution to the development of a branch of chemical science, and was a finalist in the Scopus Young Researchers Award for 2012 in the Life Sciences & Biological Sciences.  In 2011, he was awarded a WA Young Tall Poppy Science Award.

The Athel Beckwith Lectureship is presented to outstanding recently appointed organic chemists, enabling them to travel around Australia and present the results of their research.  The objective is to provide the opportunity for recipients to achieve broader recognition and exposure at an early stage in their careers.

Professor Stubbs' research is in the disciplines of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Chemical Glycobiology.  His research is focuses on these important areas as carbohydrates are implicated in numerous diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, carbohydrate metabolism dysfunction and antibiotic resistance.

He is also part of a group of researchers from UWA investigating the actions of thalidomide on cancers, including in the liver, blood and bone.  The UWA team received funding from the Cancer Council WA funding earlier this year to carry out research in this area.

Media references

Associate Professor Keith Stubbs (UWA School of Chemistry and Biochemistry)  (+61 8)  6488 2725
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783