‘Fionas’ lead in science

Two recent Australians of the Year, Professor Fiona Stanley and Dr Fiona Wood, head the list of influential people in the field of science and technology.

Being named Australian of the Year provides an instant boost to public profile and provides a platform for these people to promote their causes and interests.

Dr Wood, who shot to public prominence in 2002 for her work with the burns victims of the Bali bombing, is the 2005 Australian of the Year.

As a founder and director of listed company Clinical Cell Culture, she is seeking to turn her medical research, in the field of ‘spray-on’ skin, into commercial success.

Professor Stanley, the foundation director of the Telethon Institute for Children’s Health Research, has been publicly more vocal since being named the 2003 Australian of the Year.

Her great passion is children’s health and she has used her profile to agitate for improved public policy in this area.

She also has been able to get high profile backing for the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, officially launched by Prime Minister John Howard and with its board chaired by Wesfarmers managing director Michael Chaney.

Another accolade for Professor Stanley was being named last December by Ernst & Young as the Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

Commenting on the award, Mr Chaney said: “While she has been so articulate on how traditional research paradigms haven’t delivered on the big issues facing children and youth, what makes her stand apart is her drive to do something about it.”

Professor Ian Constable is the founder and managing director of the Lions Eye Institute and is world-renowned for his research activities.

His influence extends more widely, including through his role as chairman of the Premier’s Science Council.

One of the perennial challenges in the science field is turning research success into commercial success, and in that regard WA has a patchy track record.

Critics believe the Gallop Government has focused too much attention on science teaching and pure research and not enough on commercialisation.

The impact of Premier Geoff Gallop’s decision this year to transfer the science portfolio to Environment Minister Judy Edwards remains to be seen.

One government-backed research organisation with a very clear commercial focus is the WA Energy Research Alliance, located at Technology Park.

A measure of its success was its ability to attract funding worth a total of $60 million from the State Government, Woodside and Chevron.

The chairman of WA ERA is Gordon Martin, who was the founder and continues as the major shareholder of Coogee Chemicals.

He has invested some of his own money in energy research, through subsidiary company Coogee Resources.

Mr Martin was also the founding chairman of Perth’s own venture capital firm Foundation Capital.

Speaking after his appointment as chairman of WA ERA in January, Mr Martin said “it has the potential to become one of the world’s leading centres of oil and gas research and technology development and add real value to the state’s petroleum sector”.

WA ERA is built on joint input from CSIRO, Curtin University and the University of WA, with backing from government and industry, and this is seen as an attractive model for other research organisations.

Curtin University’s pro vice-chancellor research & development, Professor Barney Glover, who also sits on the WA ERA board, is helping to drive linkages between the university and external organisations.

A related aspect of his work is support for the commercialisation of new technologies, a task managed by Curtin’s director of IP commercialisation, Conrad Crisafulli.

Curtin and Murdoch University, which gained financial backing from superannuation fund West-scheme, are seen to be the more enterprising universities in the area of commercialisation.

At Edith Cowan University, one of the most prominent researchers is Professor Linda Kristjanson, who works in the field of nursing and palliative care.

It’s a field that seems far removed from business ventures, yet Professor Kristjanson won the national 2002 Telstra Business Women’s Award.

She is the Professor of Palliative Care at ECU and has also been involved in the establishment of a number of research institutes, including WA Centre for Cancer and Palliative Care and the Institute for Radiochemical Engineering.

She has been supported on some ventures by Michael Henderson, who has the rare distinction of being named an adjunct professor at three universities in Perth.

Mr Henderson’s ‘day job’ is executive chairman of architecture firm Sandover Pinder but he spends a lot of time supporting a range of philanthropic and research activities.

With a wide network, Mr Henderson brings commercial and financial support to research organisations.

He is chairman of the Institute for Radiochemical Engineering, the National Networked Tele-Test Facility and the Micro-photonics centre of excellence, and is a board member of the Cancer Council.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

•           Prof Fiona Stanley
            Founding director, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

Chief executive, Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth. Member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.

            Australian of the Year 2003.

•           Dr Fiona Wood

            Head of Burns Unit, Royal Perth Hospital. 

            Director, Clinical Cell Culture.

            Australian of the Year 2005.

•           Prof Ian Constable 

Foundation Director, Lions Eye Institute.
Chair, Premier’s Science Council.

•           Gordon Martin

            Chairman: Coogee Chemicals, Foundation Capital, WA Energy Research Alliance.

•           Dr Barney Glover

            Pro vice-chancellor, Research and Development, Curtin University.

•           Michael Henderson

            Adjunct Professor at Edith Cowan, Curtin and Murdoch universities.

Chairman: Australian Institute for Radiochemical Engineering, National Networked Tele-
Test Facility, Micro-photonics Centre of Excellence.

•           Prof Linda Kristjanson

            Professor of Palliative Care, Edith Cowan University.