CSL Florey Medal

The CSL Florey Medal and CSL Florey Nextgen Awards will be announced on Tuesday 28 November 2022 at the Australian Association of Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) Dinner at Parliament House in Canberra.

The biennial CSL Florey Medal honours Australian researchers who have had significant achievements in biomedical science and/or in advancing human health.

In alternate years, CSL and AIPS recognise promising medical researchers at earlier stages of their careers. The CSL Florey Next Generation Award awarded for the first time in 2018, replaces the CSL Young Florey Medal.

For more information, contact:

  • Tanya Ha on tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0404 083 863
  • Niall Byrne on niall@scienceinpublic.com.au
  • or call the office on (03) 9398 1416.

www.aips.net.au

CSL Florey Next Generation Award

Why autistic children are more likely to have gut problems (Brisbane)

–       Immunotherapy for solid cancers (Melbourne)

–       Using your genes to detect autoimmune disease (Sydney)

–       CSL Florey Next Generation awards announced, Parliament House, Canberra

Chloe Yap. Image credit: University of Queensland

Chloe Yap has debunked a widespread myth that the gut microbiome causes autism. It’s the other way round.

Chloe and her colleagues performed the largest and most in-depth autism microbiome study to date, for the Australian Autism Biobank. They showed that children with autism were more likely to be picky eaters and that this was contributing to gut problems.

Last night, she received the 2022 CSL Florey Next Generation Award, at the annual dinner of the Australian Association of Medical Research Institutes, at Parliament House in Canberra.

[continue reading…]

A lifetime investigating malaria leads to drugs that push back on resistance… And a CSL Florey Medal

Alan Cowman wins $50,000 CSL Florey Medal for Lifetime Achievement for revealing how malaria parasites infect humans, paving the way for new drugs and vaccines for a disease that infects more than 240 million people a year, and keeps communities in poverty.

Past CSL Florey Medallists include Graeme Clark, Ian Frazer, Ruth Bishop, and Nobel Laureates Barry Marshall and Robin Warren.

Professor Alan Cowman. Image credit: WEHI

Melbourne scientist Professor Alan Cowman AC has worked to understand how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum causes disease in humans and how it evolves to outwit antimalarial drugs. He has also created genetic tools to modify the parasite, which have been used by malaria researchers worldwide.

[continue reading…]

When cells forget how to die – a hallmark of cancer

Andreas Strasser and David Vaux win $50,000 CSL Florey Medal for Lifetime Achievement for identifying cell death triggers and using them to fight cancer.

  • Past CSL Florey Medallists include Graeme Clark, Ian Frazer, and Nobel Laureates Barry Marshall and Robin Warren.
Professor Andreas Strasser with Professor David Vaux. Image credit: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

In the late 1980s to early 1990s, two Melbourne scientists, Andreas Strasser and David Vaux, discovered the molecular processes that cause billions of cells in each of us to die every day. They showed that some cancer’s cells can evade this process of programmed cell death and ‘fail to die’. So far, their findings have led to powerful new treatments for leukaemia and opened a new field of research which generates 25,000 papers every year. And, they say, there is still much to learn.

[continue reading…]

Melbourne paediatrician wins 2018 CSL Florey Next Generation Award

Oxygen halves child pneumonia deaths

A Melbourne student researcher and doctor has helped Nigerian hospitals halve the number of children dying from pneumonia—just by improving training and access to oxygen.

Dr Hamish Graham has been awarded with the inaugural $20,000 CSL Florey Next Generation Award for top PhD candidate in health and biomedical sciences. [continue reading…]

2018 CSL Florey Next Generation Award finalists

Canberra, Hobart and Melbourne young health and medical researchers vie for $20,000 top PhD student award

  • Eradicating gut worms: a path out of poverty
  • Oxygen halves child pneumonia deaths
  • Smart blood pressure measurement to cut heart risk

Scientists available for interviews

Media contacts: Tanya Ha, tanya@scienceinpublic.com.au, 0404 083 863;
Niall Byrne, niall@scienceinpublic.com.au, 0417 131 977, (03) 9398 1416

[continue reading…]

Eradicating gut worms: a path out of poverty

Naomi Clarke, Australian National University

Hundreds of millions of children worldwide are infected with intestinal worms, which can stunt their growth and trap them in a cycle of poverty. Naomi Clarke has shown more can be done to reduce these worm infections worldwide.

Global efforts to control intestinal worms are reducing infection rates. Naomi’s research demonstrates that more can be done—simple changes to program guidelines could benefit millions of children and their communities. [continue reading…]

Oxygen monitoring halves child pneumonia deaths

Hamish Graham, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, University of Melbourne

Targeted oxygen therapy could save the lives of thousands of children. Melbourne researcher Hamish Graham says the key is identifying the children who need it most. He found that providing Nigerian hospitals with equipment and training to measure blood oxygen levels has halved the number of children dying from pneumonia.

Hamish, a paediatrician who has worked in Sudan and Nigeria, is now working to make oxygen—a treatment we take for granted in Australia—available to every child who needs it.  [continue reading…]

Smart blood pressure measurement to cut heart risk

Dean Picone, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania

Heart disease is the world’s biggest killer, and high blood pressure is the number one warning sign. Dean Picone is developing a smarter way to measure blood pressure, to save lives and prevent unnecessary treatment.

“We’ve been measuring blood pressure the same way for more than 100 years,” Dean says. He thinks modern technology can do better than the standard inflatable cuff method.  [continue reading…]

2017 CSL Florey Medal – photos from the award night

The Hon Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health presents Professor Elizabeth Rakoczy with her medal (Photo credit: AAMRI/Brad Cummings Photography)

Elizabeth Rakoczy in conversation with Bernie Hobbs. Photographed at the AAMRI dinner event in the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra. 6 December 2017. (Photo credit: AAMRI/Brad Cummings Photography)

Elizabeth Rakoczy in conversation with Bernie Hobbs. Photographed at the AAMRI dinner event in the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra. 6 December 2017. (Photo credit: AAMRI/Brad Cummings Photography)