Australian Research Council Funding of just over $300,000 a year for five years for a Federation Fellow to work with ANSTO’s Bragg Institute, and $7 million to establish a new leading-edge research centre, where ANSTO will play a collaborative role, was announced yesterday by Dr Brendan Nelson, Minister for Education, Science and Training.
The Fellowship – one of only five offered to non-Australian citizens - will be offered to Professor Jeremy Smith. Professor Smith is a leading researcher in the field of computational molecular biophysics, and is currently Professor of Biocomputing at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
He is recognised as one of the leading biomolecular system modellers in the world, and has established computer simulation as a stepping stone between experiment and analytical theory in the examination of motions in complex biological systems. He has made major contributions to the understanding of a range of areas, including muscle contraction, cancer detection and work towards designing an AIDS vaccine.
By combining advanced neutron and X-ray scattering facilities at ANSTO with molecular simulation, Professor Smith will establish strong research programs into the study of complex biological systems such as proteins. As well as helping scientists to further understand key aspects of molecular-biological research, the program will also help design new drugs for the health and well-being of Australians.
The Centre for Antimatter-Matter Studies will bring together key scientists and their colleagues from eight Australian and eight overseas institutions. Dr Suzanne Smith and Dr Lou Vance from ANSTO Materials and Engineering Science will be ANSTO’s principal investigators.
The centre will undertake state-of the art studies of the nano-world that underlies everyday processes and new technologies, allowing materials such as films, surfaces, gases, polymers and insulators to be analysed in detail, New materials, such as self-healing materials that can repair themselves when damaged, and controlled release materials for improving targeting and reducing adverse side effects of drug treatments, will also be developed.
Dr Smith’s role will be in the design of bioactive compounds and radiotracers to probe the mechanism of action of the new materials, in order to improve strategies in their design.
Dr Vance will use positrons in matter to probe the chemistry influencing the incorporation of radionuclides and stable isotopes from waste streams in crystalline ceramics. ANSTO’s unique range of instruments, such as neutron and X-ray scattering instruments, will be a key part of this project.
Published: 16/06/2005