Three Melbourne women win top global science prize

AS BUSINESS leaders call for an urgent boost to the number of women entering science and tech industries, three Melbourne researchers are leading the way.

IT is a startling statistic. Women in Australia make up only 16 per cent of professionals with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) qualifications .

And, in one of the most male-dominated STEM fields, engineering, women account for only 12 per cent of the workforce, according to Engineers Australia data released last month.

Just this month the powerful business and government group Male Champions of Change warned that alarmingly low numbers of women taking up careers in the vital future employment fields of STEM required urgent action to get more women doing jobs the economy needs.

The group conducted research that identified critical areas of action to boost “severely low levels of women in education, employment and senior leadership positions in STEM fields” — a serious development for girls going through education today as it is estimated 75 per cent of future jobs will require “STEM literacy”.

Enter the L’Oreal-UNESCO Science for Women Fellowship, a global award program helping promote the work of top women scientists and researchers around the world.

The 2017 prizes were announced this week, with three of the four Australian women receiving the sought-after fellowships based in Melbourne. They are role models and inspirations for the next generation.

Weekend tells their stories and salutes them.

Jaclyn Pearson is a Melbourne scientist and one of the winners of the 2017 L'Oreal-UNESCO science fellowships.

DR JACLYN PEARSON

Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and Monash University microbiologist researching the link between gut bacteria and irritable bowel syndrome

DR Jaclyn Pearson came to her heavy-hitting career in microbiology via a detour that gave her plenty of life experience to bring along — a career as a rock drummer so successful her band, Lash, had a song in the Lindsay Lohan movie Freaky Friday.

The Perth-born Doherty Institute researcher — whose work investigating the gut bacteria that contribute to irritable bowel syndrome has been published in the prestigious journal Nature — was studying science when she took a musical detour.

“I was halfway through my science degree and left to do a music degree — the opportunity came up for a record deal by a major label and I took that opportunity,” Pearson says.

“We toured with some large bands at the time (the early 2000s), recorded an album, which was really fantastic, but then I thought I needed brain stimulation again so decided to go back to uni. That was really important to me.”

She has spent the past eight years researching at the Doherty Institute — a joint venture of Royal Melbourne Hospital and the University of Melbourne — but has just accepted an offer of a fellowship at the Hudson Institute/Monash University, where she will head her own research team.

Pearson says technological advances are helping researchers better identify gut bacteria that can interact with the immune system, causing the very common irritable bowel syndrome.

“The gut is the biggest immune organ in the body, it has the most immune cells — protected by mucus and epithelial cells — and when bacteria comes into contact, the immune system, if alerted too much, can have a heightened response.”

She says many people have mutations that may mean they have a heightened response to gut bacteria, which may be the underlying basis of chronic inflammatory diseases of the bowel.

“I want to work out which ones (mutations) are the most important cause for people to be the most sick,” Pearson says, putting her research into layman’s terms.

Dr Jaclyn Pearson is researching the link between gut bacteria and irritable bowel syndrome.

“My interest is in identifying those parts of the immune system important for maintaining calm, regular balance in the gut; there are many we don’t know about, I want to try and fill those gaps,” she says.

“In the long term, my goal, once we have more knowledge of these processes, is to develop a system of more personalised medicine.”

She is hopeful her findings can help the many Australians who live with conditions such as irritable bowel to decipher the diet, lifestyle and other environmental conditions that are contributing to their debilitating condition, and to make changes that will improve their health.

Pearson’s L’Oreal-UNESCO fellowship will allow her to continue her quest to unravel the mysteries of gut bacteria and immunity.

Melbourne scientist Dr Stephanie Simonds is one of the recipients of the 2017 L'Oreal Unesco women in science fellowships.

DR STEPHANIE SIMONDS

Monash University researcher exploring cardiovascular disease in women

AUSTRALIAN women used to have a built-in health advantage that saw them less susceptible to the nation’s greatest killer: cardiovascular disease.

But in recent years, the “gap” in the common curse has started to close.

As Australia gets heavier, and many women who are already struggling with excess weight gain more after menopause, researchers such as Dr Stephanie Simonds are trying to work out why post-menopausal women are developing potentially deadly disease — and she is making significant headway.

The Monash University researcher made the breakthrough discovery that there is a link between the fat-derived hormone leptin and dangerously high blood pressure — a major contributor to heart disease and stroke — in obese people.

Now she is trying to decipher why more post-menopausal women are more susceptible.

Her research seeking part of the answer to the riddle of why women are catching up to men in the cardiac disease stakes, especially after menopause, could help save lives, and millions from the national health budget.

“We now know when you put on a substantial amount of body fat, leptin levels increase … it is continually secreted from fat cells in proportion to the amount of fat cells we have,” says Simonds, who heads her research project.

Many women gain weight around and after menopause, and Simonds is exploring why this, combined with a drop in their oestrogen levels, is apparently making them prone to worryingly high blood pressure and potentially fatal damage to hearts and arteries.

“We’re now looking at the interaction between leptin and oestrogen in the brain, and if can you manipulate it and develop treatment to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease,” she says.

Simonds was drawn to a career in scientific research through a fascination with physiology.

The joy of doing what she does is that when she reads of a problem posed to human health she can look for answers through her research.

“We’re working on real-life things. I can read the newspaper (and see a worrying health issue highlighted) and go, ‘Oh, I wonder if they’ve looked at this or that’. You think of the big picture — is there a link there, why is the heart pumping faster when you give that drug?,” she says.

“It is really fun getting to turn up to work every day and ask questions, and say, ‘How are we going to go about (addressing) this, to answer and then solve it?’

“My question with female cardiovascular disease was: why aren’t females developing high blood pressure the same way we see in males, when females have a greater composition of body fat (which releases leptin)? But then after menopause and the decline of oestrogen, the issue becomes more apparent.”

The L’Oreal-UNESCO fellowship will allow Simonds to purchase critical equipment for her lab as she develops her independent research program, accelerating her scientific research while also enhancing her exposure and career progression.

Melbourne scientist Deborah Williamson, one of the winners of the 2017 L'Oreal Unesco women in science fellowships.

Melbourne scientist Dr Deborah Williamson is researching the potential impact of global, unrestrained prescription of antibiotics.

DR DEBORAH WILLIAMSON

Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity research examining the potential impact of global, unrestrained prescription of antibiotics

THE global overuse of antibiotics has been dubbed an “existential threat” to humankind
by leading researchers, who warn that as more deadly strains of bacteria become resistant to traditional treatment, the chances of containing serious communicable disease are waning.

Doherty Institute researcher Dr Deborah Williamson believes the health threat is so serious that every microbiologist should be involved in trying to address it. She is studying the increasing resistance of common bacteria to antibiotics, a problem that is seeing formerly manageable infections turn potentially deadly.

“As a doctor, I’ve used antibiotics extensively in the past, and in the early stages of my medical career we did it without much regard to consequence in terms of antibiotic resistance,” Glasgow-born Williamson says.

“As time went on, and I increasingly saw patients with resistant infection, the enormity of the problem really struck me.

“This is not just important as a medical practitioner, it is everybody’s problem.

“As a global citizen as well as having a child yourself, you want to make sure it is addressed.”

Williamson’s concerns echo those of international experts.

Deborah Williamson is one of the recipients of the 2017 L'Oreal-UNESCO science fellowships.

“Of the risks posed (to human health), there is no doubt that antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, animal health and food security,” she says.

A “growing list of infections formerly pretty common”, from skin to chest infections, are becoming so resistant to once-useful drugs that doctors are running out of options. In some cases, there are no drugs that still work.

In some parts of the world, we are heading for a “post-antibiotic era” where common medical treatments are under active threat.

Williamson says the issue is being taken seriously by the global scientific community, with a number of governments realising the scale of the problem in the past five years.

Countries including Australia have put together plans to deal with microbial resistance.

Her research focuses on the common infection staphylococcus aureus, known as golden staph, which often causes skin infections but can also lead to life-threatening pneumonia and blood infections.

Williamson is examining how common products such as antiseptics used to disinfect surfaces in hospitals and as an ingredient in hand-sanitising products may be boosting microbial resistance.

She strongly advises girls to consider STEM careers. Hers has taken her around the world.

“If you really want to make a difference to humanity, I would advise a career in STEM,” she says.

It is an exciting time to be researching this vital field: “We are at the cutting edge of genomic technologies (that assist us) to try and work out the mechanism of resistance of staph.”

The L’Oreal-UNESCO fellowship will give Williamson support to complete her research project, employing a research technician and enabling her to fast-track the work.