Pictured L to R: Professor Nicholas Fisk, Professor Dan Johnson, CRA chair Belinda Robinson
Our excellence in industry collaborations recognised
At Cooperative Research Australia’s annual Awards for Excellence in Innovation dinner on 11 July, Macquarie was recognised for its excellence in promoting collaboration between research and industry. Professor Dan Johnson, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Enterprise), accepted the Research Institution Leadership in Industry-Research Collaboration Award on behalf of Macquarie. The award formally recognises and celebrates university leadership excellence in industry-research collaboration and engagement.
One of the key contributors to this achievement was the University’s partnerships in the field of hearing. Macquarie has established a long-lasting partnership with Cochlear Australia, resulting in the establishment of the Australian Hearing Hub in 2013. Additionally, the University recently partnered with Google as part of its Digital Future Initiative.
$800,000 grant for Crohn’s research
A research team led by MQ Health gastroenterologist Professor Rupert Leong has been awarded a grant of $800,000 from the McCusker Charitable Foundation, with the possibility of additional funding in the future. The study will explore microbial metagenomics and develop a clinical trial on microbial manipulation to treat Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s is classified as an inflammatory bowel disease associated with intestinal microbial dysbiosis, inciting dysregulated immune responses resulting in chronic inflammatory gut damage. The McCusker Charitable Foundation is a prestigious supporter of Australian medical research.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders changing the world
Professor Bronwyn Carlson, Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies, has been named as part of Cosmos magazine’s prestigious list of the top 52 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders changing the world. The list was developed in consultation with the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) and the five members of ACOLA. Professor Carlson’s research interests include Indigenous engagements on digital platforms, Indigenous identities and Indigenous futurisms. She has a wide publication record and is the founding and managing editor of the Journal of Global Indigeneity and the Director of the Centre for Global Indigenous Futures. Professor Carlson is also an active member of the Australian Sociological Association and an editorial board member for the Journal of Sociology.
Pictured: Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee
Sharing our expert knowledge on newborn hearing screening
The Honourable Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, recently announced that Macquarie was awarded $150,000 from the National Foundation for Australia–China Relations in the 2022–23 grants round. Building on a history of collaboration between audiology experts in Australia and China, the foundation will support Macquarie in deepening its connections with China by funding a delegation exchange to promote shared learning. Experts from the Australian Hearing Hub and the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee will visit China to showcase Australia’s world-leading Newborn Hearing Screening program, encourage research and clinical exchange, and inform the development of resources for practitioners in Australia and China.
The University has also secured $50,000 from the NSW Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade to invite and host delegations from Southeast Asia to visit Australia. The first delegation from Thailand will visit on 17 July. The program is guided by an expert working group chaired by Professor Catherine McMahon, Head of the Department of Linguistics – and Professor Greg Leigh, Director of the NextSense Institute, and Conjoint Professor of the Macquarie School of Education.
Pictured L to R: Associate Professor Noushin Nasiri and Professor Karu Esselle with members of the MetaSteerers Team from UTS, Dr Khushboo Singh and Dr Dush Thalakotuna
Macquarie 2023 Eureka Prize finalists
Congratulations to Associate Professor Noushin Nasiri, School of Engineering, who was announced on 19 July as a finalist in the 2023 Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher – an award coincidentally sponsored by Macquarie.
Associate Professor Nasiri invented Sun-Watch, a smartphone-connected, wearable device designed to alert users to UV radiation overexposure in real time. The device relies on a nanostructure that allows a large surface area within the minuscule design and can be customised to individual skin types. Sun-Watch will soon enter its next research evaluation stage.
Congratulations to Macquarie’s Professor Karu Esselle and the multi-institution MetaSteerers team, who are finalists in the Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia. Their low-profile antenna system allows the Australian Defence Force to remain hidden while transmitting large volumes of data or tracking suspicious radio activity across a wide bandwidth.
Winners will be announced at the Eureka Prizes award ceremony at the Australian Museum on 23 August. Best of luck to our finalists.
Alastair Heron Prize
Associate Professor Carly Johnco, School of Psychological Sciences, has been awarded the 2022 Alastair Heron Prize from the Australian Psychological Society College of Clinical Psychologists. This biennial award encourages and rewards clinical psychologists for their work in adult ageing. As the population ages, there is a growing need to understand the processes and consequences of human ageing and develop appropriate therapies for addressing psychological problems among older people.
ABC TOP 5 Media Residency Program
Dr Geraldine Fela, Department of History and Archaeology, has been selected as a participant in the ABC TOP 5 Media Residency Program in the humanities category. Each year, the program calls upon Australia’s higher education sector and research organisations to find the top five early career scholars across three categories: humanities, science and the arts. The selected researchers-in-residence can spend two weeks working alongside ABC’s award-winning journalists and producers, gaining first-hand experience in delivering content through radio, television and digital platforms. Dr Fela’s research expertise lies at the intersection of labour history, gender and sexuality history, and social history.
Book prize for environmental academic
Associate Professor Emily O’Gorman, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, has been named the joint winner of the inaugural Environmental History Book Prize from the Australian and Aotearoa and New Zealand Environmental History Network for her publication Wetlands in a Dry Land: More-Than–Human Histories of Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin, published in 2021. The two winning books received high praise for the extraordinary scope and depth of their research, imaginative and lucid writing, and innovative approaches.
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