Academy awards go to Australia's top scientists

Leading Australian researchers will next week be honoured for their outstanding work in areas as diverse as changing what we know about the Milky Way, the evolution of venomous dragons, and using slugs and snails to create new anticancer drugs.

The Australian Academy of Science will present its highest awards to eminent scientists for contributions to their fields.

Wednesday 4 May, 9.35 – 10.05 am
The Academy's flagship 2011 Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture will feature leading seismologist Professor Brian Kennett of the Australian National University, who was instrumental in establishing the accepted model by which earthquakes are located. He will discuss how waves caused by earthquakes in the sea floor can shed light on how great earthquakes occur.

Thursday 5 May, 9.45 am – 1 pm
Talks by award-winners include:

1. Dr Bryan Fry from the University of Melbourne who will receive the 2011 Fenner Medal for his important work on the evolution of toxins in venomous animals. His talk will focus on the venomous Komodo Dragon.
2. Dr Alicia Oshlack from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research who will be presented the 2011 Ruth Stephens Gani Medal, for advancing the understanding of human evolution by comparing changes in gene expression between humans and apes.
3. Dr Kirsten Benkendorff from Southern Cross University who will receive the 2011 Dorothy Hill Award and will speak about anti-cancer compounds produced by snails, slugs, and other molluscs – one of which is undergoing preclinical trials for preventing colorectal cancers.
4. Professor Bryan Gaensler from the University of Sydney who will be presented the 2011 Pawsey Medal for his pioneering studies of cosmic magnetism and for his stunning discovery that the Milky Way is twice as thick as was previously thought.

Further information and program: science.org.au/sats2011/

Note to media: Media are invited to interview award winners prior to or during the event. Please contact Mona Akbari (below) to arrange.