For nearly a decade, Professor Michael Kassiou from the University of Sydney was on the hunt for small molecules that could enter our brains and mimic oxytocin, known as the love hormone, given its association with moments of human intimacy.

The goal was to develop new drugs that could help treat social anxieties, psychiatric and neurological disorders. More than 3 million Australians suffer from these disorders, which cost society more than $66 billion a year.