Professor Mark Baker is among the Macquarie staff who have recently been recognised for their expertise, having been appointed the new Chair of the global Human Proteome Project (HPP).

Every month we recognise some of the impressive achievements and appointments within the Macquarie community. Congratulations to the following…

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Report on academic freedom to be part of United Nations review
Department of International Studies Lecturer Kevin Carrico’s report on academic freedom issues in Hong Kong is to be submitted as evidence in the upcoming Universal Periodic Review process at the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, which assesses the rights situation in all member states.

The report emphasises that academic freedom is guaranteed in Hong Kong under the Basic Law that serves as the city’s constitution post-1997. However, the central role that academics and students played in the Occupy Central protests of late 2014 pushing for democratisation has produced top-down retributive attempts to curtail academic freedom in the city since 2015.

The policy brief is one output from Kevin’s 2017 field research in Hong Kong funded by a Macquarie University New Staff Grant, looking at social, cultural, and political tensions emerging in the city’s integration into the People’s Republic of China.

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AIHI research leads to action on child safety
Associate Professor Rebecca Mitchell from the Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) has welcomed the new National Injury Prevention Strategy announced in the federal budget to reduce the risk of injury for Australian children.

Mitchell and a team of researchers, clinicians and trauma specialists, had been calling for a national plan to be established, supported by the results of their decade-long study of preventable hospitalised injuries of children aged 16 years or less. The team’s study was published in Injury Prevention and a subsequent report in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

Results of this study attracted widespread interest and resulted in opportunities for Mitchell to speak to government, media and interested bodies such as Women’s & Children’s Healthcare Australasia.

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Macquarie selected for international entrepreneurship program
Macquarie University has been selected to participate in the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT REAP).

MIT REAP announced its sixth cohort of international regional teams from Italy, Denmark, China, Ecuador, USA, UK, Mexico, Norway and Australia.

The team, led by Professor David Wilkinson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Corporate Engagement and Advancement) is the only team from Australia in this cohort.

Professor Wilkinson said Macquarie is well-placed to participate in the entrepreneur program as host of the Incubator, a space designed to nurture, equip and accommodate budding entrepreneurs, and as a founding partner of Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID).

The teams will travel to MIT for the first of four workshops from October 2018 to learn the MIT REAP frameworks they can use to create impact in their region.

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Professor Mark Baker appointed Chair of the Human Proteome Project
The Human Proteome Organisation has appointed Professor Mark Baker from Macquarie’s Department of Biomedical Sciences as Chair of the global Human Proteome Project (HPP).

Professor Baker steps into the role, previously held for a decade by Distinguished Professor Gil Omenn from the University of Michigan, USA.

Launched in Sydney in 2010, the HPP uses cutting-edge next-gen discovery methods to map at least one isoform of every protein in the human proteome, which are imperative in understanding the roles of the products of genes (proteins) in human health and disease.

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Macquarie graduate secures ABC Media Cadetship
SBS & NITV Media Mentorship graduate Dayvis Heyne has secured one of 12 ABC Media Cadetships.

Competing against 1220 applicants, Heyne impressed the panel with his fantastic attitude and work examples.

Back in 2015 when Heyne began his Bachelor of Arts Media degree at Macquarie University, he also applied for the SBS & NITV Media Mentorship program. A young indigenous man, Heyne was mentored in a culturally safe space at NITV with Producer Ben Smith and developed skills in creating graphics for various programs.

“The SBS and NITV Media Mentorship definitely helped me to secure the Cadetship. It provided me with the opportunity to gain real experience throughout my degree,” Heyne said.

The ABC Media Cadetship is a twelve-month full-time position that will offer Heyne work placements within the ABC; comprehensive training; a mentoring program; the opportunity to work on his own production project and the potential for a career with the ABC.

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Macquarie wins University BioQuest Champion Identifiers Team Trophy
During April, Macquarie University participated in the University BioQuest, a competition between universities to locate and identify plants and animals on and around campus.

The University’s 27-person team came first for species identifications and placed fourth for the number of species spotted.

Biological Sciences Associate Professor Jenny Donald also scored the top individual species sighting for the Eastern Bristlebird, which is listed as endangered under State and Commonwealth legislation.

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Partnership puts new focus on sensory disabilities
Macquarie University has entered into a new partnership with the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) to foster research and education in the fields of hearing and vision disabilities.

A new postgraduate program in special education delivered by staff from the Renwick Centre at RIDBC offers specialisations in deaf and hard of hearing, and vision impairment and sensory disabilities. This complements Macquarie University’s current Master of Special Education.

Over the next few years, RIDBC will relocate its offices, teaching spaces and demonstration schools to the Macquarie University campus, in addition to its existing presence at the Australian Hearing Hub since 2013.