Professor Michael Cowley recognised for work on obesity, diabetes and heart disease

Prof. Michael Cowley from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Science, has been awarded the Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year. This award is the nation's highest honour for scientific research, and includes a prize of $50,000 and a silver medal.

The prestigious award is granted to an internationally-renowned scientist who has completed their PhD within the last 10 years, and whose research has the potential to advance human welfare or society.

Professor Cowley's research has shown that neural circuits in the brain sense blood glucose and fat levels in the body. However a broken "internal regulator" can impair appetite regulation and lead to obesity, increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Professor Cowley has gone on to develop a combination anti-obesity drug called Contrave that can reactivate the fat "sensor" in obese patients and help them lose weight.

In a large clinical trial in the US, participants who took Contrave lost between five and 10 per cent of their body weight in one year, with minimal to moderate side effects. Contrave combines new formulations of two existing drugs: Bupropion, an antidepressant; and Naltrexone, an addiction medication.

Professor Cowley's award caps off a bumper year. In 2009 he also received a Pfizer Australia Senior Research fellowship, Austin Doyle Lectureship, and Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation Fellowship.

Professor Cowley is the inventor of 85 patents, co-founder and former Chief Scientific Officer of US-based biotechnology company, Orexigen Therapeutics, and has published 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Congratulations Professor Cowley, from all your research colleagues at Monash.