Three Academy Fellows have been elected to the fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS) today.

They are part of a cohort of 28 top medical and health researchers elected by their peers in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the health and medical research landscape in Australia.

Professor Carola Vinuesa FAA FAHMS—an experimental immunologist, Professor Vinuesa has been contributing to the COVID-19 effort by ensuring Australia has sufficient testing capacity. She led a team to optimise testing platforms using saliva testing and robotics to increase testing throughput. Prior to the pandemic, her work has been instrumental in understanding how the human immune system produces a long-lasting antibody response to disease. She is the Head of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University. More about Professor Vinuesa

Professor Naomi Wray FAA FAHMS—working at the interface of statistics, genetics and neurological disorders, Professor Wray studies complex genetic disease. She has a particular focus on psychiatric disorders and describes her work as a ‘dialogue’ between the development of new methods to analyse data and using mathematical models to describe and interpret that newly available information. Her theoretical work on the prediction of rates on genetic inbreeding has led to changes worldwide in agricultural selection programs. She holds joint appointments at the Institute for Molecular Biology and the Queensland Brain Institute within the University of Queensland. More about Professor Wray

Professor Susan Clark FAA FAHMS—a human cancer epigeneticist, Professor Clark is perhaps most known for her development of DNA methylation and histone modification sequencing technologies that help simplify epigenetic analysis. She has made extensive discoveries relating to DNA-methylation patterns in normal and cancer genomes that have led to commercialisation of new tests for early cancer detection. She is credited with initiating profound questions on the importance of epigenetics in disease and is the inaugural Head of the Genomics and Epigenetics Theme at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. More about Professor Clark

AAHMS President and Academy of Science Fellow, Laureate Professor Ingrid Scheffer, has highlighted that “health and medical science has never been more in the spotlight.”

“The diverse talents and expertise of these Fellows reflects the incredible breadth and depth of Australia’s world class health and medical research. It is this solid base of expertise that has equipped the country to address the pandemic so successfully.”

The Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences work closely on relevant issues and have co-led several Rapid Research Information Forum reports, providing responses to key questions about COVID-19 to politicians and policymakers.

The world’s leading science academies have expressed deep concern about global challenges in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and have made recommendations to G20 leaders on how to find solutions.

The S20, the national academies of science of G20 nations, supports the G20 by connecting it to the international scientific community. Comprising the national academies of the world’s most prosperous nations, it presents policymakers with consensus-based recommendations for the chosen topics of interest in each year.

Recommendations

The S20 recently produced a statement outlining emerging critical challenges in health, the environment and technology, highlighted by the very real occurrence of the globally disruptive coronavirus pandemic. The recommendations in the S20 statement covered topics including pandemics, the emerging digital divide, circular economy systems, and renewables aimed at net zero carbon emissions. 

Academy Fellows Professor Veena Sahajwalla, Professor Rod Tucker and Professor Bob Williamson were members of taskforces put together by this year’s S20 host country, Saudi Arabia. The taskforces provided input to the S20 statement which was presented to G20 leaders for consideration.

Global research community

According to Academy President Professor John Shine, the challenge of COVID-19 has shown how effectively the world’s research community can respond to a crisis.

“The efforts to find a vaccine and other treatments have been a collective global effort, and it is vital that S20 academies and the global research community continue to work together as they are during the pandemic.

“Academies should support inclusive education and literacy programs for all to ensure digital education opportunities, especially for girls and women, minority groups and disadvantaged communities.

“They should also influence G20 countries to reduce fossil fuel use, to find alternative sources of energy, and to aim for net zero carbon emissions.”

Previous S20 meetings have been hosted by Germany (2017), Argentina (2018) and Japan (2019). In 2021, for the first time, Italy will host the S20 meeting and G20 Summit. 

Read the S20 statement presented to G20 leaders

Video: What is a circular economy?

The S20 statement covered topics including pandemics, the emerging digital divide, circular economy systems, and renewables aimed at net zero carbon emissions.

The Australian Academy of Science has committed to reducing its impact on climate change by working towards a net-zero emissions future for the Shine Dome.

The University of Canberra has partnered with the Academy to develop a sustainability plan that will renew or replace environmental systems at the National Heritage Listed Canberra landmark.

Researchers from the University of Canberra's Faculty of Arts and Design have received more than $200,000 in funding for ‘The Sustainable Shine Dome’ project as part of the Commonwealth Government’s National Heritage Grants.

“The plan researches and adopts world leading strategies and innovative approaches to protect and sustainably manage the place’s national heritage values,” said Professor Dr Michael Jasper.

“A sustainability plan responsive to changing technologies ensures the Shine Dome continues to represent the scientific energy and experimentation of the Academy of Science.”

The project began in June, and talks are currently underway with project partners GHD and GML Heritage to assess the current state of the building and explore possible modifications.

The project will see the adoption of world-leading strategies and innovative approaches to ensure progressive energy and emissions reductions while protecting and sustainably managing the Shine Dome’s national heritage values.

As part of the project, the public will have the opportunity to take part in a series of educational activities to improve the awareness of the Shine Dome’s national heritage values, with the first activity beginning in December.

Australian Academy of Science Chief Executive, Anna-Maria Arabia, said the Academy is thrilled that the University of Canberra has been awarded an Australian Government Heritage Grant to develop a sustainability plan for the iconic Shine Dome.

“A sustainability plan to guide what is needed to reduce the Shine Dome’s energy and emissions footprint, is not only good for the environment but also reflects the values and work of the Fellows of the Academy who call the Shine Dome home,” Ms Arabia said.

“The Shine Dome, Australia’s home of science, was the first building to be listed on the National Heritage List and its preservation and protection is important so it can be enjoyed by future generations.”

The project is being undertaken simultaneously with the restoration of the copper covering the dome, which was damaged in a hailstorm in late January. Read more about the restoration of the Shine Dome roof. 

The Shine Dome remains open for business as an event venue during the works and bookings are welcome.

Learn more about the history of the Shine Dome.

With Australia failing to halt species decline and our biodiversity management systems broken, now is the time to establish a new independent agency to manage our nation’s biodiversity data, according to Australia’s leading scientists.

The recommendation by the Australian Academy of Science is part of a brief that has been sent to all Australian MPs and senators ahead of debate, expected in the Senate in November, on the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Streamlining Environmental Approvals) Bill 2020.

The government is arguing that the legislation forms part of phase one of Professor Graeme Samuel’s proposal for reform, with the amendments described as the first tranche of reforms associated with the legislative review of the EPBC Act.

Australian Academy of Science Fellow, Professor Craig Moritz, said the Academy welcomes the interim findings of the Samuel review.

“The Academy holds that all the recommended elements—National Environmental Standards, scientific evidence through high-quality data and analysis tools, and robust and independent assurance systems—are essential to ensure that devolved decision-making retains the confidence of the Australian people,” Professor Moritz said.

“The Samuels report is a comprehensive program for reform and should be pursued systematically and in full. In this context, parliamentary scrutiny to understand the implications of the Bill and the government’s plan for the implementation of the Samuel report is desirable.”

The brief by the Academy states that the governance, accessibility, evaluation and monitoring of Australia’s biodiversity information and data is broken.

“The Academy considers this is an unacceptable situation, one that is not tolerated in other domains such as weather information, biosecurity, health and welfare,” Professor Moritz said.

“The Academy is of the view that it is time to establish a new national biodiversity information system led by an independent agency.

“Such an agency would independently observe, analyse, forecast and warn on the state and trends of Australia’s biodiversity in the way that the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) provides information on Australia’s weather and climate.

“It would need to have a legislative mandate, curate data, work with states and be empowered to enforce national environmental data standards.

“All decisions made under the EPBC Act require scientific evidence backed by reliable data. A transparent, accountable evidence base calls for data to be collected according to common requirements and standards, interpreted and reported, and for that information to be publicly available.

“There is currently no such multi-scale approach, nationally, to creating a data-focused evidence base for transparent and accountable EPBC decisions,” Professor Moritz said. 

A key recommendation of Professor Samuel’s interim report is the establishment of a national environmental data custodian, or a biodiversity information agency.

The three elements of reform proposed by the Academy are:

1. establishing a national environmental analysis body (a ‘Biodiversity BOM’)
2. implementing national data standards
3. developing nationally consistent transparency of evidence.

Read the Academy brief.

The Australian Academy of Science says the 2020–21 Federal Budget is a significant response to the crisis facing Australia’s scientists as a result of the pandemic.    

The additional $1 billion injection of funding in 2021 to support research at Australia’s universities hit badly by the pandemic is welcomed by the Academy.  

An increase in 505 jobs in a cross section of government science agencies will also assist in research recovery.   

The Academy applauds the strategic decision to back proven STEM school education programs by injecting $27.3 million over five years as an investment in the future workforce.  

This includes $9.6 million over five years to support programs delivered by the Australian Academy of Science.  

The Academy also welcomes:   

• $10 million to extend the Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship Program (WISE) and the extension of the term of the Women in STEM Ambassador, both of which will assist in the continuation of the implementation of the Academy’s Women in STEM Decadal Plan.  
• Recognition of the impact of the pandemic on Australia’s national science agencies, in particular CSIRO, BOM and ANSTO, with $965.6 million in additional funding over four years.  
• Continued delivery of the 2020 Research Infrastructure Investment Plan with $36.3 million to upgrade the Sea Simulator at AIMS; $8.3 million for new synthetic biology infrastructure; and $7.6 million to upgrade the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator (ACCESS) as recommended by the Academy’s Climate Science Capability Review in 2017.  
• $1.5 billion for the manufacturing strategy announced by the Prime Minister last Thursday focused on bringing business research collaboration at scale.  
• $41.6 million for a Strategic University Reform Fund.  
• A further $36.6 million provided over two years from 2020-21 to maintain the timeliness of environmental assessments and undertake further reforms under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).  

Additional refinements to the R&D tax incentive are positive, however, given that non-mining investment will fall by over 14.5% in 2021, more is needed to transform Australia’s business investment in R&D.   

President of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor John Shine, says that the Government has made significant strides in addressing the impacts of the pandemic on Australian scientists.  

“Australia has been able to respond well to the pandemic because of the decades of substantial investment in science and research capability. Researchers in a wide range of disciplines including those outside of medical research are critically involved in the pandemic response,” Professor Shine says.  

“In the coming years more work will need to be done to fix Australia’s fragmented research funding system. The funding injection for university research will retain capability in 2021 and goes some of the way to cushioning the blow to the research sector as a result of the pandemic.   

“The Academy calls upon the government to engage all stakeholders to develop a comprehensive roadmap for Australian science and research funding to place it on a sustainable footing over the long term.”  

With business spending in manufacturing research and development (R&D) falling over the past decade, a new focus on science and R&D in the Morrison Government’s manufacturing strategy has been welcomed by Australia’s leading science body.

The Australian Academy of Science says the strategy’s focus on increased collaboration between manufacturing and Australian scientists is important and plays to our nation’s strengths.

The Academy’s Secretary for Science Policy, Professor David Day FAA, says as a nation we have to look to where we have a comparative advantage, not just a competitive advantage, and the Government’s manufacturing strategy promises to do that.

“Resources technology and critical minerals are key priority areas announced in today’s manufacturing strategy and today in his Press Club speech the Prime Minister highlighted the increasing international demand for critical minerals,” Professor Day says.

“The Academy’s 10 year plan for Australian Geoscience, launched in 2018, highlighted the need to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to know how and where to explore for the critical resources needed for Australia’s future.”

One of the proposals in the Academy plan is to develop a ‘downward-looking telescope’ that could look at least 300 km beneath Earth’s surface to unlock Australia’s hidden mineral wealth.

Professor Day says manufacturing is a major funder of R&D in Australia.

“However, business investment in manufacturing R&D has been declining in the last decade from almost $5.5 billion to $4.6 billion (in current prices), so this new investment into revitalising Australian manufacturing, supported by Australian science and technology, cannot come soon enough.

Professor Day says the current and looming job losses from universities and other research institutes are of great concern and it is imperative that opportunities are created within the manufacturing sector to redeploy the early- and mid-career researchers losing their current positions.

"We have invested heavily in these people and they represent an opportunity to turbo-charge the manufacturing sector with fresh people, ideas and innovation.

“As a nation we invest more than $1 billion a year training PhD graduates so we should grasp this opportunity to enrich and develop a new high-tech industrial workforce,” Professor Day says.

The Academy’s Federal Budget submission includes a number measures to take advantage of and complement the Government’s new manufacturing strategy including:

• initiatives to encourage researchers to move into industry, such as internships or investment incentives for the private sector to hire people with PhDs. This could involve implementing a recommendation of the 2016 Review of the R&D Tax Incentive, which argued that incentive should also apply to the cost of employing new STEM PhD or equivalent graduates in their first three years of employment.
• initiatives to encourage researchers to start up their own companies.
• reforms of intellectual property laws to reduce barriers for researchers starting their own companies and capitalising on their research discoveries and inventions.

“If this strategy is to succeed, as an economy we will need to deepen our investment in STEM skills and research collaboration to provide the scientifically literate workforce and ideas to succeed and prosper in a post pandemic world,” Professor Day says.

“A modern, growing, manufacturing sector working hand in hand with Australian science promises to be key to our economic recovery from the recession.”

The Academy looks forward to seeing more detail on the Government’s manufacturing strategy and working with it to ensure it is underpinned and informed by science.

The judges of the scienceXart: spot the maths photographic competition have been announced, with a diverse mix of experts from maths, education and the arts sectors set to bring their complementary perspectives to the panel.

The panel includes representatives of the National Committee for Mathematical Sciences, national mathematics and statistics organisations, the Academy’s education program reSolve, and the National Portrait Gallery.

Nearly 1,000 entries were received for this year's scienceXArt competition. It was developed in consultation with the Academy’s National Committee for Mathematical Sciences, and tailored to align with Australian curriculum learning outcomes under expert guidance from the Academy’s reSolve education program. The 2020 competition marks the centennial anniversary of the International Mathematical Union with its mathematical and statistics theme. More information about scienceXart: spot the maths.

The judges are:

• Karen Quinlan AM, Director of the National Portrait Gallery
• Professor Alan Welsh FAA, Chair, National Committee for Mathematical Sciences
• Rebecca Herbst, Statistical Society of Australia
• Dr Julia Collins, Australian Mathematical Society
• Ruqiyah Patel and Dr Kristen Tripet, reSolve.

Three of the panel members are professional mathematicians or statisticians. Professor Alan Welsh is based at the Australian National University within the Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Statistics. His statistical modelling research has a wide variety of application, including ecological monitoring and sports science. Professor Welsh is Chair of the National Committee for Mathematical Sciences, which supports the Australian mathematics community and serves as a link between Australian and overseas mathematical scientists.

Representing the arts and cultural sector, Karen Quinlan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, is bringing an artistic perspective to the judging panel. The renowned art curator is the Director of the National Portrait Gallery. Before moving to the ACT, Ms Quinlan was the Director of the Bendigo Art Gallery and Professor of Practice at the La Trobe Arts Institute.

Rebecca Herbst represents the Statistical Society of Australia, the peak national body for statisticians. The society provides a vibrant network for those working in statistical research and teaching and aims to further the study, application and good practice of statistical theory and methods in all branches of learning and enterprise.

Dr Julia Collins is a lecturer in mathematics at Edith Cowan University and the coordinator of the CHOOSEMATHS Women in Maths Network. She represents the Australian Mathematical Society, the national society of the mathematics profession. Representing all professional mathematicians in Australia, both pure and applied, the mission of the society is to promote and extend mathematical knowledge and its applications.  

Kristen Tripet and Ruqiyah Patel bring their expertise in maths education to the scienceXart panel. reSolve: Mathematics by Inquiry is a national program designed to promote relevant, rigorous and engaging mathematics from Foundation to Year 10. A program of the Academy, reSolve produces resources for classroom use and professional learning resources for teachers.

Prizes for the winning entries have been curated by the reSolve team, supported by the Australian Mathematical Society and the Statistical Society of Australia (for the statistics category). Entries for the competition closed on 25 September.

STEM is for everybody—this is the message that prominent Australians in science, technology, engineering and maths are championing as part of a joint campaign by the Australian Academy of Science and Little Scientists to promote science education.

The campaign, ‘Solving tomorrow's problems starts today’, highlights the importance of STEM education in building the problem solving and critical thinking skills that are essential for all Australians.

“We really need to prioritise STEM education because there's absolutely huge challenges facing the world: climate change, the challenge to preserve the environment and now with the pandemic, huge health challenges,” said acclaimed mathematician and Academy Fellow Professor Cheryl Praeger, recipient of the 2019 Prime Minister's Prize for Science. “All of this is going to need committed, enthusiastic young people, and they're all going to need strong STEM skills and be passionate problem solvers.”

Professor Praeger, along with celebrated mathematician and presenter Adam Spencer, features in the Academy’s ‘The Latest from Science’ webshow this week. The two mathematicians discussed how maths is shaping this century, and how we can help the younger generation fall in love with STEM.

“Even if you don't see yourself being a lifelong scientist … just bringing out more mathematical thinking and skill into the toolkit that you carry around [in your head] will carry you through the rest of your multi-career professional life,” enthused Dr Spencer, who is a best-selling author and a self-described “maths geek”.

The importance of supporting teachers 

The mathematicians highlighted the importance of facilitating excellent STEM learning outcomes by supporting teachers through STEM education and professional development programs, such as the Academy’s education programs Primary Connections, Science by Doing and reSolve: Maths By Inquiry, as well as Froebel Australia’s Little Scientists program. Little Scientists partners with community leaders in early STEM learning and administers the certification program, Little Scientists House.

A diverse group of Science & Technology Australia STEM ambassadors, awardees of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching, and Little Scientist network partners have also reached out to the Minister for Education and other members of parliament to ensure that investment in STEM education remains a key focus for the government in the upcoming federal budget.

Academy resources invaluable for students

STEM educators Dr Marj Colvill, Dr Ken Silburn and Sarah Chapman, all recipients of the Prime Minister’s Prize, said the Academy resources have been invaluable in assisting educators to provide creative, innovative and engaging learning experiences for primary and secondary students.

“In a year in which we face unprecedented national and global challenges, it has never been clearer how important it is to sustain the STEM pipeline,” said Dr Silburn. “I have seen the awe and captivation that students have when they are presented with science being taught as a hands-on subject by experienced, well-resourced and trained teachers.”

Australia has a historic opportunity to set forward-looking data governance standards to anticipate and respond to the largely unchecked acceleration of data capture, aggregation and analytics in Australian professional sport, according to leading experts.

The lack of oversight in how data is being collected has implications for athletes’ rights and protections, the organisational practices of sporting organisations and third-party tech vendors, and the state and stakes of fair competition in professional sport.

The issue will be examined by an Expert Working Group announced today by the Australian Academy of Science and supported by Minderoo Foundation. The project is being coordinated in collaboration with the newly established Minderoo Tech & Policy Lab at the University of Western Australia, which is directed by domain experts in data in health and sport.

The Expert Working Group and associated sub-groups will establish the current baseline of data collection practices and expectations in Australian professional sport, and set the stage for future recommendations regarding standards, regulation and oversight.

It will include distinguished experts in sport science, data science, law, ethics, social sciences and humanities, and include Fellows of the Academy.

Academy Fellow and UNSW Professor Toby Walsh is Chair of the Expert Working Group. He said despite the rapid increase in the use of performance and other data in professional sport, integrity, privacy, access and other issues around the use of data weren’t being properly analysed.

“While sports data provides many benefits such as improving performance and reducing injury, there are significant risks to the rights of athletes, such as their privacy and the power relationships between athletes and sporting clubs,” Professor Walsh said.

“This certainly isn’t about hitting the brakes on the use of data in professional sport but ensuring its responsible use. Australia is well-placed to be an international leader in this space.”

Co-directors of the Minderoo Tech & Policy Lab are Associate Professor of Law and Technology at UWA’s Law School, Julia Powles, and Associate Professor Jacqueline Alderson, a sports biomechanist who leads national and international data and AI/machine learning in sport projects. They said the establishment of the group will initiate a public policy conversation about an issue as significant as the issue of drugs in sport.

“Currently, there are few formalised processes in place to approve or oversee data collection and use in Australian professional sport,” said Dr Powles.

“The exponential increase in invasive, high-resolution data collection and data-informed practices not only on the sporting field but in nearly every aspect of the everyday life of athletes has dramatic implications throughout and beyond sporting careers.

“A national conversation about these issues is long overdue—both for sport itself, and for larger questions of data use in workplace settings,” said Dr Powles.

Including the athlete perspective will be crucial to the success of the overall project. AFL player Matt de Boer from the GWS Giants said he was excited to be involved in the initiative.

“Data collection and use in modern sport represents a huge part of our professional careers and needs to be carefully managed taking into account multiple perspectives,” said Mr de Boer.

Former Hockeyroo triple Olympian and current AFLW High Performance Manager Kate Starre has witnessed firsthand the rise of data collection and analytics in sport over the past 25 years. “Data is important, but we need to ensure that it always serves athletes and the performance teams around them.”

Read more about the initiative.

The underlying biological mechanisms for how bushfire smoke causes and exacerbates health issues are poorly understood, which limits our ability to help those affected—including pregnant women, who may be more vulnerable.

With the 2020 bushfire season upcoming and the tragedy of the Black Summer bushfires still fresh, experts have called for knowledge gaps on the adverse effects on people’s physical and mental health to be addressed.

The recommendations are part of a bushfire expert brief, After the bushfires: addressing the health impacts, published today by the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS).

The brief was informed by contributions from Fellows from both academies as well as other experts, including through a roundtable organised by AAHMS.

“Pregnant women tend to breathe at a faster rate, which may make them more vulnerable to smoke exposure,” said Professor Caroline Homer, Co-Program Director of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health at Burnet Institute.

“Some research has linked extended exposure to fine particle pollution from fires to unwanted pregnancy outcomes such as pre-term births and lower birth weight, but our understanding of these impacts is currently limited.

Other groups including children, people with a disability, people who are homeless, people with pre-existing health conditions and Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islands communities are also more vulnerable to the health impacts of bushfire.

It is not just our bodies that are impacted: much is to be learnt about mental health impacts, particularly on first responders and vulnerable communities.

A range of psychological factors results from the processing of trauma following bushfire events, with people located at or near a bushfire and those further away experiencing mental health issues.

Some of the common mental health impacts include anxiety, depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Impacted communities may also see heightened suicidal risk, increased substance abuse and domestic violence. Heightened levels of anxiety may also cause acute stress in the broader population.

“Overseas data suggest that long-term mental health outcomes from trauma can be considerable,” said Scientia Professor Helen Christensen, Director and Chief Scientist at the Black Dog Institute.

“However, appropriate long-term follow-up of Australian first responders is crucial if we are to provide adequate support through the full range of mental health impacts, some of which may not emerge for many years.”

“Climate models anticipate more bushfires in coming decades, and that those fires will be more intense than in the past,” said Professor Tony Capon, Director of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, who attended the AAHMS roundtable which formed the basis of this brief.

“There is a pressing need to improve the prevention, preparedness for, and management of bushfires. And, to better mitigate and manage the health impacts of increased fire risk, including the provision of appropriate information and support for patients, health professionals and communities,” said Professor Capon.

This joint brief with the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences is part of a series by the Australian Academy of Science. Earlier briefs are Soil health after bushfires and Monitoring wildlife recovery. Future briefs will cover topics including ecosystem services and remote sensing and data availability.