Two s have been awarded to University of Queensland researchers for their outstanding discoveries in the fields of health and physics.
The top awards for science were presented to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»’s team and the cross-institutional team for their respective work in devising cutting-edge methods for studying how our brains detect gravity and motion, and for uncovering how bacterial pathogens are transferred between cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» researcher is part of the Optical Physics in Neuroscience team which took out the 2018 UNSW Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research.
He said he believed their research would lead to a much better understanding of how movement affects the brain.
“We're interested in how the brain processes movement, but it's difficult to study activity in a moving brain,” he said.
“In our interdisciplinary project, using the physics technique of optical trapping, we've used a laser to move the ear stones in zebrafish model, producing a sensation of movement and eliciting behavioural adjustments, all without moving the animal.
“By tricking an animal into thinking it's moving while the brain remains stationary, we can now use advanced microscopy to study the cells and circuits across the brain responsible for motion processing for the first time.”
The CF Air team, which includes researchers from Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³», won the 2018 Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research.
, from Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»’s and Director of the , said he was excited about the real-world impacts of this research.
“The CF Air team has uncovered the process by which the deadly pathogens causing airway infections are transmitted between cystic fibrosis (CF) patients,” he said.
“This research has attracted considerable attention from the CF community, impacting clinical practice and policy.
“For example, at Children’s Health Queensland, the largest paediatric CF service in Australia, the team’s research has led to patients being housed in separate outpatient rooms, reducing the potential for the transmission of infectious agents.
“Ultimately this work will lead to a reduction in infection rates amongst CF patient groups, greatly improving lives and tackling the $70 million per annum direct costs of CF in Australia.
“It’s just another example of how Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» of Queensland and QIMR Berghofer are yet again leading the way in Australian infectious diseases research.”
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»’s Optical Physics in Neuroscience team members are (), and (both from Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»’s ).
CF Air team’s Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» members are (), (), () and ().
Image above: CF Air team - Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»'s Dr Tim Kidd (second from the left), Dr Luke Knibbs (third from the right), Professor Claire Wainwright (far right).
Media: Associate Professor Ethan Scott, ethan.scott@uq.edu.au, +61 432 798 207; Dominic Jarvis, dominic.jarvis@uq.edu.au, +61 413 334 924.
