Bede Morris Fellowship
The Bede Morris Fellowship is awarded on an annual basis to one outstanding Australian scientist undertaking research in France. The Fellowship is in honour of Professor Bede Morris’s contribution to science and French–Australian relations. Professor Morris was a pioneer of immunology in Australia, establishing the first department of immunology in Australia in 1969 at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University.
2012
Dr Denisse Leyton
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Monash University
Dr Denisse Leyton from Monash University was selected as the 2012 recipient of the Bede Morris Fund. Dr Leyton will travel to France for 2 ½ months from October to work with Dr Olivera Francetic at the Institut Pasteur on structural and functional insights into the assembly of type IV pili from enterophaemorrhagic Escherichia coli.
2011
Ms Clare Smith
Menzies Research Institute
University of Tasmania
The 2011 recipient of the Bede Morris Fund was Ms Clare Smith from the University of Tasmania. While in France during July–August 2011, Clare studied the investigation of a novel antimalarial therapy with Professor Odile Puijalon at the Institut Pasteur.
The Bede Morris travelling Fellowship was a fantastic opportunity for Clare to work at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Clare gained some valuable techniques and new ideas for her project as well as the opportunity to work on samples not available in Australia. The results from the lab work in Paris formed an important conclusion for her PhD thesis and some of the work is currently being written up for publication. These results have been presented at the recent Molecular Approaches to Malaria conference, the Royal Society of Tasmania symposium and the Annual Society for Parasitology conference. The fellowship provided an important opportunity to foster collaboration between Clare’s home lab (The Foote lab) and the Malaria groups at the Pasteur Institute. While visiting the Pasteur Institute Clare also had the opportunity to discuss her work with several renowned malaria researchers, who provided fantastic career advice. Overall it was an incredible scientific and cultural experience.
2010
Professor Kerry Hourigan
Division of Biological Engineering
Monash University
Professor Kerry Hourigan from Monash University was selected as the 2010 Bede Morris Fund recipient. Professor Hourigan travelled to France in June–August to work with Dr Thomas Leweke at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique to conduct research on the understanding and control of cardiovascular and respirator flows.
Through the auspices of the Fund, Professor Hourigan was able to access the advanced models of stenosis flow and leukocyte rolling in Dr Leweke’s laboratory, plus dye and particle imaging velocimetry techniques to measure the detailed fluid and cell motions. The development of the techniques for biological imaging, with translation to synchrotron X-rays, and the new insights into cardiovascular flows and cell trajectories have been now published in leading journals. The research arising from the visit has also been instrumental in attracting major funding from the Australia Research Council and the Australia India Strategic Research Fund to extend the studies.
2009
Professor Arne Dahle
Department of Materials Engineering
University of Queensland
The 2009 recipient of the Bede Morris Fund was Professor Arne Dahle from the University of Queensland. Professor Dahle conducted research on the shear behaviour of solidifying aluminium alloys with Professor Michel Suery at the Grenoble Institute of Technology in France during two weeks in February.
2008
Dr Jennifer Stauber
Centre for Environmental Contaminants Research
CSIRO Land and Water
Dr Jennifer Stauber from CSIRO Land and Water travelled to France during September–October as a recipient of the Bede Morris Fund in 2008. Dr Stauber visited Dr Francois Galgani at the French Research Institute for Exploration of the Sea, IFREMER, in France to conduct research on ecotoxicogenomics — the development of molecular biomarkers to assess contaminant impacts on marine biota.
‘Assessment of toxic impacts and genotoxic damage in marine biota and understanding its significance in the context of environmental risk assessment is essential to provide better management of waste discharges.’ The Bede Morris fellowship enabled Dr Stauber to learn new bioassay and biomarker techniques in ecotoxicology to assess the risk associated with the discharge of contaminants in sewage effluents, industrial wastes and mining wastes into coastal waters. Dr Stauber spent one week at the Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía in Spain, followed by a two-week lecture tour visiting research groups at IFREMER, the Centre national de la recherche scientifique and universities throughout France. Dr Stauber visited 15 research institutes and universities and delivered over 20 research seminars. This both showcased CSIRO’s research and enabled her to network with a large group of ecotoxicologists for planning future collaborative research on molecular, biochemical and physiological biomarkers in aquatic biota. A direct outcome of these visits was an ongoing collaboration and international scientist exchange on a joint project through an EU IRSES Marie Curie Action, ‘Use of genomic and proteomic tools for the development of contaminant specific biomarkers for the environmental risk assessment of aquatic ecosystems’. In this project, several marine species are being screened for gene and protein expression in response to low level exposure to contaminants in order to develop biomarkers and bioassays for application in environmental management.
2007
Professor Wendy Jessup
Centre for Vascular Research
University of New South Wales
The recipient of the Bede Morris Fund in 2007 was Professor Wendy Jessup from the University of New South Wales who travelled to France to work with Professor John Chapman at INSERM, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, and Professor Theo van Berkel at the University of Leiden. During October–November, Professor Jessup conducted research on the molecular mechanisms of cholesterol clearance in the reversal of atherosclerosis, based in Professor Chapman’s INSERM Unit at Hôpital de la Pitié and using several knockout strains of mice unique to Professor van Berkel’s laboratory. The work initiated in this visit led to the development of sustained collaborations between the Jessup, Chapman and van Berkel laboratories. To date nine joint papers have been published arising from these collaborations. In addition, a Cotutelle PhD student supervised jointly by Professor Jessup and Dr Lesnik (INSERM) recently graduated from UPMC Paris and UNSW, and a UNSW PhD student spent two months working in Leiden in 2010.
