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Our researchers make nation's top 10 'Bright Sparks'

10 October 2007

Monash University researchers Stuart Batten and Arthur Christopoulos have been selected in the top 10 Cosmos Bright Sparks, which recognises the work of the country's top scientists aged under 40 as selected by Cosmos magazine.

"Australia produces some of the finest scientists in the world, and many of them show exceptional talent early in their careers. The Bright Sparks Awards is our way of giving this excellence the recognition it deserves," said Wilson da Silva, Editor-in-Chief of Cosmos.

"These young men and women will have a resounding impact on society for generations to come."

Each of the 10 winners -- selected by the magazine's Editorial Advisory Board (including Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin) are profiled in the Oct/Nov 2007 issue of Cosmos.

The profiles of Stuart Batten and Arthur Christopoulos are presented in this edition of Monash Memo as they appear in the current edition of Cosmos.

Stuart Batten
Age: 38
Job title: Senior lecturer of chemistry, Monash University, Melbourne
Degrees: BSc (Hons), PhD, GCHE
Born: Moyhu, Victoria
Resides: Melbourne, Australia

Writer: Erica Harrison, COSMOS magazine

Stuart Batten loves his job. "You can come in on a Tuesday morning and do something that nobody else on the planet has ever done before, then have lunch," he says.

Batten is breaking new ground in the field of crystal engineering: the analysis and design of crystal structures with the aim of controlling the way molecules assemble into solids. That will allow chemists to finely tune physical properties such as structure, magnetism, electrical conductivity and colour.

To explain the concept, Batten draws an analogy: "arranged one way, carbon atoms make diamond, the hardest material known to man. Arranged a different way, they make pencil lead soft enough to rub off on a page. What we're trying to do is the same thing -- not using atoms -- but using molecules to tailor the physical properties of things."

A particular area of interest in the field is the design of porous materials for use in emerging green technologies: to improve the energy density of stored hydrogen gas, or to sequester the carbon dioxide produced by coal-fired power plants, for example. Other work focusses on precision-design of pharmaceuticals, with properties such as solubility and purity carefully controlled.

"The ultimate aim," says Batten, "is to gain enough control and understanding of the solid state so that we can tune the properties of materials for any application we like." At the moment, however, most of Batten's research is deliberately at the fundamental level. "Applications are a bonus, but they're not what drives us," he says.

Batten's most important work to date has been devising a system to describe the way polymers sit inside each other, or 'interpenetrate', in crystal structures. His team has also discovered an entirely new family of magnets, providing fundamental insights into how magnetism and crystal structure relate.

In an ideal world, says Batten, scientists would be free to wonder and imagine without the constraints of some ultimate purpose in mind. "Applied research will only give you incremental gains," he says. "Revolutions come from research that explores the fundamental nature of things."

Arthur Christopoulos
Age: 39
Job title: Professor of pharmacology, Monash University, Melbourne
Degrees: B Pharm, PhD
Born: Melbourne, Australia
Resides: Melbourne, Australia

Writer: Erica Harrison

It was a choice between rock 'n' roll and science, but a high school chemistry teacher inspired Arthur Christopoulos to pursue a career in research. "He wasn't just there to teach, he was enthralled by the subject matter and that's stayed with me ever since," he says.

Music remains a passion, but Christopoulos is well on his way to becoming a superstar in his chosen field of pharmacology. In recent years, his research team has made major breakthroughs that promise to minimise the side effects caused by therapeutic drugs.

Their studies focus on G-protein-coupled receptors, a family of proteins involved in almost every physiological process, and the most common drug targets for the pharmaceutical industry.

The problem with most drugs is that they bind to these proteins at sites that are shared by non-target proteins. So while they produce the desired therapeutic effect, they also cause undesirable side effects. And as Christopoulos points out, "in many diseases the side effects are just as bad as the thing you're trying to treat".

By locating more specific sites on target proteins, and designing molecules that bind only to these sites, Christopoulos and his team are markedly improving drug selectivity.

Treatments for schizophrenia are one example. Most antipsychotic drugs on the market are what Christopoulos refers to as 'dirty drugs': they bind to targets on proteins all over the body. Now his team has discovered a molecule that binds to sites found only in the brain proteins requiring treatment, with potential to dramatically reduce side effects.

Christopoulos' fresh approach to drug discovery has created a buzz in his field, with major pharmaceutical companies investing heavily in programs that use his methods.

His ultimate goal? "I'd like to see far more effective therapeutics than the dirty drugs we have now," says Christopoulos. "Discovering a drug that will touch so many people's lives is the best reward you could hope for."