4 June 2007
Understanding how the human body fights viral infections has led to a high commendation in the 2007 Premier's Award for Medical Research for PhD student Fleur Tynan (BSc 2001).
Currently completing her doctoral studies at Monash University's world class Protein Crystallography Unit, Ms Tynan said her work will be important in helping scientists gain a greater understanding of how body's defence system operates in response to viral threats.
The research, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and Queensland Institute of Medical Research, focuses on how proteins in the body interact with each other in response to viral infections.
Her research uses X-ray crystallography to determine the 3D structure of proteins involved in identifying and destroying infected cells.
She hopes that her efforts may pave the way for developing new drugs that assist in the anti-viral immune response.
"Understanding how these molecules interact will be vital for the understanding of viral defence, and invaluable to the design of anti-viral therapeutics in the future," she said.
"This type of work will progress faster when the Australian Synchrotron opens mid year as its research is heavily dependent upon synchrotron radiation."
Her efforts have already rewarded her with publications in high profile journals including Nature Immunology and the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Ms Tynan recently won a Victoria Fellowship from the Victorian Government to travel to Stanford University to learn advanced cellular imaging techniques that show close up how proteins react to viruses.
For further information, please contact Steve Pogonowski, Media Communications, on 9905 1253.
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