From the yearly archives:

2008

L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowships – December 2008 Bulletin

5 December 2008

In this bulletin

- The 2009 international FWIS laureates announced
- Update on Australian Fellows – Gouldian finches, black holes and more
- French Fellow studying at QIMR
- Plans for the Australian Fellowships in 2009

International Laureates
The winners of the 2009 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Awards were announced last week.
The five Laureates are:

Africa & the Arab States: Prof. Tebello Nyokong, Professor in [...]

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Left-handed plants; nano-safety; fighting viruses

26 August 2008

The 2008 L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellows are:
* Amanda Barnard, The University of Melbourne
* Angela Moles, The University of New South Wales
* Erika Cretney, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne
* Natalie Borg, Monash University, Melbourne.

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Big ecology: from tundra to rainforest, desert to savanna

26 August 2008

Why are some plant seeds very small and others large? Angela Moles tackled this simple question by compiling information on 12,669 plant species. She discovered that plant seeds in the tropics are, on average, 300 times bigger than seeds in colder places like the northern coniferous forests. She then used these data to follow the [...]

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Are nanoparticles safe?

26 August 2008

After two decades of research the first wave of nanotechnology consumer products are entering the marketplace in applications as diverse as catalysts, surface treatments for glass, cosmetics and drug delivery. But the properties that make them attractive to industry may also have unforeseen consequences. That worries Amanda Barnard, a physicist at The University of Melbourne.
“Many [...]

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Crystallising a career in immunology

26 August 2008

Natalie Borg interview. Download audio interview here (mp3, 1.9MB)
As a child, Natalie Borg tried to grow crystals. Two decades on, she is still growing crystals. But now she is analysing them with synchrotron light, to figure out how our bodies mount a rapid defence when we are attacked by viruses.
“The immune system is complex and [...]

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Unravelling the complexity of the immune system

26 August 2008

Erika Cretney is fascinated by the human immune system. “As we find out more about how it works, it seems to grow in complexity,” she says. “I’m not sure that we’ll ever know everything about it.”
Her interest lies in ferreting out the function of genes, proteins and cell types in the immune system, and identifying [...]

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Clockwise or anti-clockwise: Left-handed plants and big ecology prove Bart Simpson wrong again

26 August 2008

Australian researchers have found that 92% of vines twist anti-clockwise—regardless of their location north or south of the equator.
The work, announced today at the L’Oréal For Women in Science Fellowship ceremony in Melbourne, is a small part of a vast body of work to understand how plants around the world vary and adapt to climate.

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Australian genetics pioneer receives international For Women In Science Award

5 March 2008

Telomeres keep our chromosomes young
Elizabeth Blackburn is one of five women to receive the 10th annual L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Awards For Women in Science.
She will receive the honour, and a US$100,000 cheque, “For the discovery of the nature and maintenance of chromosome ends and their roles in cancer and aging.”
She discovered telomerase — an enzyme that repairs [...]

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Could deadly shellfish venoms fight pain and save lives

5 March 2008

The deadly toxins associated with ‘red tide’ algal blooms are being investigated as potential drugs by a New Zealand scientist who’s in Paris this week for the For Women in Science Awards.
Auckland University researcher Margaret Brimble finds and recreates rare molecules derived from nature that could act as antimicrobial, anticancer or antiviral drugs. It can [...]

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Platypus sex; drugs from shellfish toxins; the secret of ageing; cancer cells cheat death

4 March 2008

Four leading Australian and NZ scientists are in Paris from 5 March for the 10th anniversary of the L’ORÉAL/ UNESCO For Women In Science program.

They’re all available to discuss the latest developments in their research:

* The secret of ageing – telomerase
* How cancer cells cheat death
* How the platypus and wallaby genome are revealing human secrets
* Deadly shellfish toxins that may fight pain and save lives

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