Two young researchers have each been awarded $1 million in funding for biomedical research in Australia. The Pfizer Australia Research Fellowships were presented by Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Christopher Pyne, and Nobel Laureate, Dr Robin Warren, in Sydney on Wednesday.

Queensland's Dr Denise Doolan and Victorian Dr Stephen Turner will receive five years of funding through the Fellowships.

Dr Turner is a lecturer and National Health and Medical Research Council(NHMRC) RD Wright Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne. His research involves the study of how a subset of white blood cells (called killer T cells), recognise and remove infected cells from an individual.

A special interest is how immune memory is generated and how this can protect an individual against infection. His research has implications for improving vaccine strategies for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, pandemic influenza, malaria and some types of cancer.

Dr Doolan is a visiting scientist at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR).

She is also currently the Scientific Director of the Malaria Program, Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), in Silver Spring, USA.

Her research focuses on the field of malaria - specifically, developing vaccines against malaria, understanding the molecular basis of immunity to malaria, and translating Plasmodium falciparum genomic sequence data for practical application.

The Fellowship will allow Dr Doolan to resume her academic career in Australia after studying in the US.

Pfizer Australia has allocated $11 million in funding to Australian scientists since the Pfizer Australia Research Fellowships were established in 2003.

Through this significant financial support of science, the Fellowships aim to encourage leaders in biomedical research to establish a career in Australia, fostering the continued
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Contact: Adrian Dolahenty
adrian.dolahenty@pfizer.com
61-298-503-488
Research Australia
27-Nov-2006