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Tuesday, 11 November 2014

Australia's most prestigious mid-career medical research fellowships have been awarded to three talented young scientists who are likely to have an enormous impact on future medical research.

Each year the Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation awards two Senior Medical Research Fellowships but this year decided to award an additional Fellowship.

The 2014 recipients are Professor Ryan Lister (Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia), Dr Marc Pellegrini (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) and Dr Nicolas Plachta (EMBL Australia and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute).

Each Fellow will receive $1.2 million ($245,000 per year for five years) to undertake leading-edge research in their area of expertise, making it the most valuable mid-career medical research award in Australia.

Chair of the Viertel Foundation's Medical Advisory Board Professor Peter Leedman said the outstanding researchers were selected from a very strong field of candidates from all over Australia.

"In recognition of the extraordinary calibre of the shortlisted candidates this year, the Trustees of the Foundation agreed to award a third Fellowship this year," Professor Leedman said.

"I thank the Trustees for supporting Australian science in this way.  This major award will make a significant contribution to their careers and research impact."

The research projects being undertaken by the researchers range from infectious disease and clinical trials in Hepatitis B, to deciphering details of the epigenome and how it can reshape brain function to unlocking the secrets of embryonic deformities.

Professor Leedman, who is also Director of the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, said the Fellowship would allow Professor Lister to head a laboratory at the Perkins Institute.

Professor Lister said he hoped to provide major advances in understanding the role of the epigenome in the human brain, advancing the application of regenerative medicine, and remedying epigenetic dysfunction in disease states.

Dr Marc Pellegrini, a laboratory head at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, said the five-year fellowship would allow him to focus on his research into chronic infections such as HIV, hepatitis B and tuberculosis.

"We have made some significant discoveries about how the microbes that cause these diseases evade the immune system and are now exploring how these discoveries could be applied to eradicate hepatitis B, HIV and tuberculosis.

"Research is a long-term proposition so having the security of the Viertel Fellowship to allow us to move our work through to clinical trials is incredibly important."

Dr Plachta said he was delighted to be selected by the Viertel Charitable Foundation.

"It is crucial that young researchers are given support at the start of their careers and I am thrilled that the Foundation has selected me," he said.

"This support will give me the freedom to conduct ambitious long-term research that would otherwise be very difficult to fund.  I hope that by understanding the dynamics of how cells function in living organisms will ultimately make it possible to understand why embryo deformities occur - something we know very little about at present."

Research summaries:

Professor Ryan Lister, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia

The epigenome is a molecular code superimposed upon the genome that controls how genes are turned on and off, without altering the underlying DNA sequence.  Acting as miniscule chemical signposts added to genome to instruct the cell how to use the genetic information, the epigenome plays essential roles in controlling cell function, development, learning and memory, whilst its disruption is involved in cancer and neurological disorders.  Professor Lister's research aims to decipher the role of the epigenome in controlling stem cell activity and brain function, its disruption in neurological disorders, and to pioneer new tools to precisely edit the epigenome.  This will provide major advances in understanding the role of the epigenome in the human brain, advancing the application of regenerative medicine, and remedying epigenetic dysfunction in disease states.

Dr Marc Pellegrini, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Dr Pellegrini's laboratory focuses on understanding why some infections are not cleared from our body, but persist within cells.  These are called chronic infections.  Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and tuberculosis (TB) are three globally significant chronic infections.  Together they cause more than five million deaths each year and collectively they are the leading cause of years of productive life lost in the world.  New therapies that control or cure chronic infections are urgently required.  His research is revealing how microbes sabotage the processes that normally eradicate infections.  He has discovered several mechanisms that microbes use to avoid our defences and he has developed several drugs that assist our bodies in killing infected cells.  These discoveries have been translated to a clinical trial, commencing in late 2014 which will test a drug that that has potential to treat HBV and other chronic human infections. Dr Pellegrini's goal is to discover and deliver new therapies that can promote clearance of chronic infections.

Dr Nicolas Plachta, Monash University, EMBL Australia and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI)

Dr Plachta will apply advanced live imaging technologies to reveal how cells form the early mammalian embryo.  Each cell in our body must carefully choose its fate, shape, and the way it interacts with other cells, yet it is unknown how these decisions are controlled in real time in living mammalian organisms.  Dr Plachta's research will show how single cells activate different genetic programs and how they regulate their shapes in intact developing mouse embryos.  Understanding these dynamic processes will make it possible to screen IVF embryos for deformities and explain the mechanisms behind tissue formation.

About the Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation

The Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation is one of Australia's largest foundations and distributes more than $7.5 million each year to charitable organisations and for medical research purposes.  The Trustees are: Mr George Curphey OAM, Mr Rex Freudenberg, Justice Debra Mullins and Equity Trustees.  The Foundation has now awarded 38 Senior Medical Research Fellowships since 1995.

Media references

Carolyn Monaghan (Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research)  (+614) 48 021 932
David Stacey (UWA Media Manager)  (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

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