Welcome to the ANZAAS Website
Almost every aspect of our life is touched by science. Without science our way of life would be almost unimaginable and sustainability of life in the future will be impossible. Despite this there is great public suspicion of science. Much of this is based on lack of understanding, but past failures of science to recognise public concerns about the nature and direction of progress contribute to distrust. The future is too important for such attitudes to continue. ANZAAS exists to promote dialogue and understanding between the public, science and government and to advance science and its utilisation for maximum benefit.
next ANZAAS Science Talk, Melbourne
Wednesday 18th September 2024, 6:30 pm
All welcome, free, tell your friends!
Free refreshments after the talk
Bio21 Institute, 30 Flemington Rd, near corner with Park Drive, Parkville
Professor Michael Parker FAA FAHMS
Director, Bio21 Institute
“A tour of the latest in Alzheimer’s research, and of Bio21″
Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease and one of the leading causes of death in the Western world. The major therapeutic approach to the disease over the last decade has been the development of drugs called monoclonal antibodies. Professor Parker will provide a brief tour on the latest developments with these drugs and where the future may lie.
After Michael’s talk there will be another tour: that of the Bio21 Institute. Bio21 is one of the University of Melbourne’s flagship institutes and a leading life sciences institute in Australia. Bio21 hosts ~800 personnel across four buildings and has some of the biggest platforms of scientific equipment in the nation. It is equally famous for its embedded industry tenant model, that capitalises on the discoveries made at the University and its partners in precinct.
Michael Parker is Director of the Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne and Head of Structural Biology, St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. After obtaining his D. Phil. in protein crystallography from Oxford University, Michael returned to Australia to re-establish a protein crystallography laboratory at St. Vincent’s in 1991. His work has been recognised with numerous awards including the 1999 Gottschalk Medal of the Australian Academy of Science, a 2006 Federation Fellowship from the Australian Research Council, the 2011 Lemberg Medal of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the 2011 Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research, the 2012 Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists Award for Research Excellence and the 2016 Bob Robertson Award of the Australian Society for Biophysics for outstanding contributions to biophysics in Australia and New Zealand.
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following ANZAAS Science Talk, Melbourne
Wednesday 16th October 2024, 6:30 pm
Associate Professor Justin Boddey
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
“A new drug that cures and vaccinates against malaria”
A/Prof Boddey will describe a malaria drug development program, in collaboration with Merck USA (MSD), that led to the discovery of a first in class drug to cure disease, that is currently in clinical trials. Justin’s team discovered that this drug aborts malaria parasite infection at the liver phase and simultaneously achieves long-lasting sterile immunity to malaria. This has groundbreaking potential for millions of people living in vulnerable populations and travellers entering these areas. A long-acting injectable formulation of this drug class is being pursued with MSD to cure infections and vaccinate against all species of malaria parasites.
Justin is a Laboratory Head at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) and an NHMRC Leadership Investigator. He received a PhD in bacterial pathogenesis from Griffith University and undertook postdoctoral training on malaria at WEHI focusing on proteases. Justin’s laboratory studies malaria parasites, with a focus on inhibiting proteases that are required for parasite transmission.
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We are pleased to acknowledge the support by CSL and Bio21 for the ANZAAS Melbourne science talks series
Further Info: David Vaux davidlaurencevaux@gmail.com
http://www.anzaas.org.au/victoria/
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Click HERE to see past ANZAAS Science Talks
David Vaux August 2024
Cell death: Bench to Bedside
Peter Cowan July 2024
Xenotransplantation: Custom-Designing Pig Parts for People
Richard Olive May 2024
The West Gate Bridge Disaster – A Failure at the Engineering, Organisational and Personal Levels
Greg Moore November April 2024
Urban trees are vital for sustainable, liveable cities
Rachelle Buchbinder March 2024
Hippocrasy, how doctors are betraying their oath
Daniel Mathews November 2023
Topology and the shape of space
Beth Ebert October 2023
Improving early warnings of epidemic thunderstorm asthma
David Komander September 2023
Playing Tag with Ubiquitin
David Vaux August 2023
A short history of cancer genes
Chris Greening May 2023
The atmosphere as a hidden energy source for life
Jim Goding March 2023
Transistors, the Microchip & the Second Industrial Revolution
Paul Lasky November 2022
A new window on the Universe
Peter Currie October 2022
Regeneration: Myths and monsters and modern medicine
Heather Mack September 2022
Injecting eyes with antibodies to treat problems of the retina
Helen Green August 2022
Dating Australia’s Rock Art
Mahdi Jalali July 2022
Transport electrification and integration of EVs within the electricity grid
Grant McArthur June 2022
Science led inroads into melanoma – Australia and New Zealand’s disease
Alan Duffy May 2022
Darkness visible down-under
Timothy Clark April 2022
The importance of reproducibility and integrity in science: a fishy perspective
Tilman Ruff March 2022
Ending the nuclear weapons era evidence, challenges and pathways
Brian Abbey November 2021
The colour of cancer: could ‘smart’ microscope slides transform tissue diagnostics?
Cameron Simmons October 2021
Creating stop signs in mosquitoes; is this the end-game for Dengue?
Madhu Bhaskaran September 2021
Unbreakable sensors the future is here
Anne Marie Tosolini August 2021
Fossil Leaves from Cretaceous and Paleogene Polar Environments
Geoff Brooks July 2021
Green Steel: Can we decarburise steel production?
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Message from Nobel Laureate Professor Barry Marshall
I would like to congratulate ANZAAS on its reinvigoration and an exciting new website. ANZAAS was born to help launch scientific endeavour in Australia and New Zealand in the late 19th century and has since maintained a powerful advocate for public engagement with science. The new ANZAAS seeks to support and enliven a new phase of public involvement in science – we might call it mobilisation – in support of a sustainable culture for scientific literacy and a solid foundation for international competitiveness. The new path of action for ANZAAS is to stir the community at large into motivating more of our youth to explore the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There are many issues facing our society as we move into the 21st century – new challenges and exciting opportunities in medicine and health, critical decisions to be made with respect to the planet and engineering innovations of which we can only dream in the present. ANZAAS seeks to engage you in vibrant and productive exchanges as together we tackle these future challenges.
I urge you all to join me in actively supporting ANZAAS in its new endeavours.
From the Archives
Douglas Mawson ANZAAS has a long, proud and prestigious history with many eminent scientists as its President. Here from the archives is the 1935 Presidential Address by the great Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson.
We invite you to wonder at Mawson’s suggestions for Prospects for Economic Development on pages 36-37 – from whaling and fur-farming to “As a winter sports ground for diversion in summer, Antarctica would be a thrill to Australians… I see no reason to delay the despatch from our ports of modern liners for summer pleasure cruises amongst the pack-ice.” View PDF
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