02 9541 3500SPIN TO WIN at Lorne Proteins 2016
ATA Scientific hosted the ‘SPIN TO WIN” Young Scientist travel prize at the 41st Lorne Protein Structure and Function conference (7-11 Feb 2016). All students and academic staff were welcome to participate. Prizes on the wheel included wine, torches and timers. However, the most popular prize on the board was our $2000 Young Scientist Travel Award.
Fifteen participants were eligible for Round 2 from which three people progressed to the final round. The audience watched with anticipation after a nerve-wracking finish as the winner was rewarded!
Congratulations to Dr Richard Berry, Research Fellow at Monash University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – winner of the $2000 Travel Award ‘Spin to Win’ Prize!
Dr Richard Berry completed his PhD at the University of Manchester, UK and subsequently moved to Monash University (Melbourne) under the supervision of Prof. Jamie Rossjohn. Since moving to Australia, his research has focused on using a variety of techniques, including X ray crystallography, SAXS and single particle electron microscopy to determine the structure of immune receptors and their ligands. Richard’s research highlights include the elucidation of the mechanism of action of the pre-T cell receptor, which avoids the need for a ligand by forming a super-dimer on the cell surface, and determination of the structure of the Ly49 natural killer cell receptor bound to the viral immunoevasin molecule m157.
The Rossjohn laboratory at Monash University studies the hypervariable receptor displayed on T cells. Using X-ray crystallography the structure of these receptors is investigated in order understand how T cells recognize invading pathogens.
Dr Richard Berry has nominated his colleague Ben Gully as the recipient of the award as per the conditions. The ATA Scientific young scientist award is open to PhD candidates and scientists aged 30 years or younger. By setting an age limit we give early career scientists access to financial assistance to enable them to collaborate with peers at scientific meetings such as the Lorne Proteins conference, and to launch their careers within their field of study.
The ATA Scientific Young Scientist Travel Award, which was started in 2011, was set up to offer young scientists financial assistance to further their education and to attend scientific conferences and meetings around the world.
Over the past 5 years ATA Scientific have awarded the Young scientist travel prize to more than 35 winners from multiple Universities and research organisations around Australia and New Zealand. For more information regarding our award or to enter the next promotion contact us or visit our webpage at www.atascientific.com.au/eventsandtraining/awards.