Current Sections: News >> Awards and MedalsMacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year Awards
The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology's MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year Awards recognise the excellence and innovative spirit of New Zealand's young researchers. A top prize of $10,000 and a trip to attend the British Association's annual Science Festival in the United Kingdom is available. The runner-up and the five category winners will each receive $5,000.
The HRC has been a long-term sponsor of the popular Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing category. The competition is open to all post graduates undertaking research and postdoctoral researchers who have held a PhD for less than five years. There are five categories: Understanding Planet Earth, Science in our Communities, Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing, Future Science and Technologies and Adding Value to Nature.
Young scientists have until 28 March 2008 to submit a summary of their research and academic achievements for the first judging stage. Winners will be announced at a gala dinner function in Auckland in August.
The awards are named after one of New Zealand's greatest scientists, the late Professor Alan MacDiarmid, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000 for the discovery and development of conductive polymers.
Visit the FRST website for information on the awards, including competition guidelines and awards structure.
Get tips on producing a science poster for a lay audience.
2009 Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing category winners
 Dr Nathan Kerr and Carlene Starck |
A passion for science and for helping people resulted in Carlene Starck winning the Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing category of the Awards and a $5,000 prize, for her research that contributes to finding a cure for the most common muscle wastage disease affecting elderly people - protein misfolding in human disease. Carlene is currently completing a PhD in structural biochemistry at Massey University in Palmerston North, and the focus for Carlene's research has been on the myostatin precursor protein, the early, immature form of myostatin, a protein that inhibits excess muscle growth in humans. Her work shows that the myostatin precursor protein could be a factor in the development of sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM), an inflammatory and amyloid disease that leads to progressive muscle wasting and weakness. Click here to view Carlene's poster. Dr Nathan Kerr was runner-up for the Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing category, for his research which is leading to new treatments for optic nerve diseases which cause blindness. Nathan's neuroscience research studied proteins within the gap junctions and investigated whether regulating the predominant protein using medication could effectively treat diseases, such as glaucoma, and prevent blindness. Click here to view Nathan's poster. |
2008 Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing category winners
 Dianne Sika-Paotonu and Hae Joo Kang |
Dianne Sika-Paotonu from the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington won the overall prize at the 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Awards for her research to devise improved cancer vaccines. Dianne's breakthrough strategies that maximise dentritic cell activity, utilising a sea sponge extract, bring her one step closer towards a highly-effective more natural approach to cancer therapy. Click here to view Dianne's winning poster. Hae Joo Kang from the School of Biological Sciences at the the University of Auckland, was the runner up in the Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing category. Hae Joo was recognised for her significant findings that could lead to new treatments to fight the organism that causes Strep throat. This bacterium is also resonsible for other more severe illnesses. Click here to view Hae Joo's winning poster. |
2007 Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing category winners
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Jessie Jacobsen from the University of Auckland won the overall prize at the 2007 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Awards for generating a piece of human DNA containing the Huntington's disease (HD) gene (called a transgene). This was then breed into sheep models and has led to the creation of the world's first large transgenic animal model for a neurodegenerative disorder. Click here to view Jessie's winning poster. |
2006 Advancing Human Health category winners
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Dr Rod Lea from Environmental Science and Research (ESR) won overall runner-up prize at the 2006 awards and was joint winner of the Advancing Human Health category with Pei-Yu Wang. Dr Lea is investigating how a liver enzyme called CYP2A6 metabolises nicotine and influences a person's susceptibility to nicotine addiction and ability to quit smoking. CYP2A6 is a key metabolising enzyme in the liver which is responsible for removing 90 per cent of nicotine from the body. Click here to view Dr Lea's winning entry. Otago University student Pei-Yu Wang is researching the role Mullerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS) plays in creating maleness in the brain to improve understanding of why boys are more likely to develop conditions such as motor neuron disease, while conditions like anorexia more commonly affect girls. Click here to view Pei-Yu Wang's winning entry. |
2005 Health and Medical Sciences category winner
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Dr Mark Hampton, of the Christchurch School of Medicine at the University of Otago won the HRC Health and Medical Sciences Category for his communication of his research into the cancer compounds of cruciferous vegetables. View the winning entry (PDF 1.6MB) |
2003 FiRST Awards
 Dr Martin Jarvis and winning poster |
At the 2003 FiRST Awards (now the MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year Awards) the HRC offered a $1,000 prize for the poster that best demonstrated the potential health significance of the work. A poster by Dr Martin Jarvis bearing the title Hormones Hold Hope in Heart Disease won the HRC award. |
Last Updated : 08 September 2009 09:35:39.
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