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"Three million kilometres of travelled. A total of 489 visits to 148 cities in 37 countries. More than 4400 official events attended, featuring scientists, school children, rock stars and royalty.

These are just some the raw figures of the odyssey of the University of Western Australia's Professor Barry Marshall and Emeritus Professor Robin Warren, since they won the 2005 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their life-saving discovery of a tiny, ulcer-causing bacterium known as Helicobacter pylori.

According to the first study into the long-term impacts of Nobel Prizes, Professor Marshall and Dr Warren have already saved the WA health system $18 million and international healthcare savings could be as much as $1.67 billion over the next 30 years.

H.pylori, which causes stomach ulcers and leads to gastric cancer, infects half the population and to complete their research and prove a point, Professor Marshall infected himself with the bacteria.

Since their Nobel Prize win, Professor Marshall and Dr Warren have travelled the world to treat patients and deliver public health and educational programs.

With all their touring, they have averaged one official engagement a day, every day for a decade, informing public policy and working to increase data sharing and research exchanges on a national and international level and within WA, to foster scientific achievement.

Closer to home, Marshall is leading the way in research into antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacteria and reaching cure rates of nearly 98 per cent with patients in Western Australia.

The report - Western Australia's Nobel Laureates Leading the Way - was co-authored by Kris Laurie and Marie Howarth and based on data collected by the Officer of the Nobel Laureates, which was established to support Professor Marshall and Dr Warren in their roles as WA's first ambassadors for life science.

"[The report] adds to our understanding of social capital, our insight into the formation of global relationships and our appreciation for the living treasures in our community," UWA vice-chancellor Professor Paul Johnson said.

"Kris Laurie and Marie Howarth make a strong case for why we should increase social investment into science, research and academia to harness Australia's creativity and reshape the national economy."

Article published by WA Today by Maddison Simmonds