Congratulations Martina and Natasha

Inaugural Royal Society of Queensland Awards, North Queensland Festival of Life Sciences The Inaugural Royal Society of Queensland (RSQ) Awards were presented during the closing ceremony of the 11th North Queensland Festival of Life Sciences held in Townsville on the 4th November 2014.  The Festival was the best attended event in its 11 year history with a record number of poster entries.  The RSQ Awards were presented for the best posters in the fields of biomedical sciences and molecular and cell biology by the Dean of the College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences at James Cook University, Professor Peter Leggat, AM, who is a member of the Society. Professor Leggat introduced the Society as the new award sponsor during both the welcome for the Festival and the closing ceremony.  The awards comprise a $100 prize and two years’ RSQ membership for each of the two recipients. The winners of the inaugural awards were:

• Martina Koeberl and her team for a poster entitled “Food allergen quantification – mass spectrometry as alternative to biologicals methods” (ref.1)
• Natasha Williams and her team for a poster entitled “The rat autoimmune valvulitis model: An animal model for investigating the pathogenesis of rheumatic heart disease” (ref. 2.)

Council later resolved to continue its sponsorship of the awards for a further four years, as a particular service to members in the north who cannot conveniently attend meetings in South East Queensland.
References

1. Koeberl M, Clarke D, Lopata A. “Food allergen quantification – mass spectrometry as alternative to biological methods”. Poster 4. North Queensland Festival of Life Sciences. Townsville, Australia. 4 November 2014.
2. Williams N, Rush C, Govan B, Sikder S, Ketheesan N. “The rat autoimmune valvulitis model: An animal model for investigating the pathogenesis of rheumatic heart disease”. Poster 12. North Queensland Festival of Life Sciences. Townsville, Australia. 4 November 2014.