Dr Mitali Sarkar-Tyson from the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of Western Australia received the coveted Collaboration Award at the 2020 DMTC Annual Conference.
Dr Sarkar-Tyson with CEO DMTC, Dr Mark Hodge, and special guest dinner speaker Adam Goodes (right)
Dr Sarkar-Tyson has shown an incredible work ethic and commitment to developing our sovereign industrial capability in the medical countermeasures domain over the last several years.
She is currently leading a DMTC project out of The University of Western Australia in collaboration with DST Group, the Peter Doherty Institute, the University of Wurzburg, the University of Exeter, DSTL and now Monash University. This project is developing novel anti-virulence compounds against a range of bio-warfare pathogens. In addition to the highly significant research she has conducted for this project, she has also contributed to 72 scientific research publications across the fields of antimicrobial resistance and molecular biology.
The DMTC Collaboration Award recognises an individual who embodies the spirit of collaboration, and Dr Sarkar-Tyson has truly embodied collaboration through bringing together a network of international researchers and coordinating a multi-disciplinary team that can respond to bio-threat pathogens and the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.
Professor Flavia Huygens received the Project Leadership Award at the 2020 DMTC Annual Conference.
Professor Huygens receiving the Project Leadership Award from CEO DMTC, Dr Mark Hodge (left) and special guest dinner speaker Adam Goodes (right)
Professor Huygens is Associate Director at the Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation (QIMR-Berghofer), a Professor at the School of Biomedical Sciences at Queensland University of Technology and a director of Australian med-tech start-up company, Microbio.
Professor Huygens has shown excellent project leadership over the last year in seamlessly bringing together a multidisciplinary team from academia and industry to develop a rapid diagnostic with her company Microbio, which is helping to address significant issues in the diagnosis of bio-threat pathogens.
She is the pioneer behind the technology of InfectID®, which uses novel and innovative bioinformatic tools to genetically identify blood/plasma borne bacteria. This technology has been shown to distinguish between more than 10 closely related pathogens without the generation of false positives. This type of technology is critical for the military to respond to outbreaks of infection or deliberate biological attacks.
The way Professor Huygens has managed the complexities of working across partners to meet the delivery requirements has been second to none.
Miss Emily Kibble was the recipient of the Early Career Award at the 2020 DMTC Annual Conference. She is currently a PhD candidate in molecular biology at Murdoch University.
PhD candidate and Early Career Research Award winner Emily Kibble with CEO DMTC, Dr Mark Hodge
Emily has produced outstanding work over the last few years in her PhD and contributed significantly to the DMTC collaborative project led by the University of Western Australia, along with DST Group, the Peter Doherty Institute, the University of Wurzburg, the University of Exeter, DSTL and now Monash University. This project focuses on the development of novel anti-virulence compounds against a range of bio-warfare pathogens.
Emily’s PhD research examines the pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, which causes meningococcal disease. In particular, it focuses on the inhibition of a protein called Mip, which appears to be key for the bacteria’s development and infectivity. This inhibition could become a target for viable treatments and is highly important as there has been little research into Mip protein function in this particular pathogen.
In addition to this research, Emily has developed a novel screening mechanism to reduce the time required to test anti-virulence inhibitors against pathogens, increasing the efficiency of the testing process.
As well as receiving this award from DMTC, Emily was awarded the Australian Industry and Defence Network (AIDN) Young Achiever of the Year Award in 2018. Her contribution to DMTC has been significant, and she is very deserving of this award.
