The Prize is awarded to the chief author of the best publication during the preceding 12 months by a postdoctoral researcher working in a laboratory within the Institute of Biomedical Research University of Sydney.

The Inaugural Award for 2004

Dr Janette Burgess, Department of Pharmacology, for her paper: “Detection and characterisation of OX40 ligand expression in human airway smooth muscle cells: A possible role in asthma?”
This paper showed that some cells involved in breathing, that in some people can act abnormally and cause asthma, unexpectedly have on their surface a protein that could be important in changing the way these cells act. This established a new way of thinking about one aspect of asthma, a disease that affects around 25% of children in Australia.
Janette has followed up her studies in this area and has found out more about the significance of this protein, called “OX40” in lung tissue from asthmatics.

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2005

Dr Orthon Gervasio received the prize in 2005 for his paper “Increased ratio of rapsyn to Ach receptor stabilises postsynaptic receptors at the mouse neuromuscular synapse.” Journal Physiology, 562, 673-685, 2005
This paper is an important one because it told us something very new about the way nerves communicate with muscles. This is a process that goes wrong in several diseases.

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2006

Dr Andrea Markus received the prize in 2006 for her paper about a gene that is involved in kidney development and sexual development. She has found another gene that might interact with the first one in causing a type of kidney cancer, Wlim’s tumour.

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2007

Dr Renae Ryan received the prize for 2007.