Work summed up in necklace

Despite her incredible achievements in the scientific field, Ruth Frances Bishop remains humble.

Ruth Bishop is being awarded an AC as part of the Queen's Birthday honours. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

For Ruth Frances Bishop, her life’s work can be summed up in a necklace while Alan Frederick Cowman considers malaria an old friend.

The two Victorians will both be appointed as Companions to the Order of Australia today for their groundbreaking contribution to their scientific fields.

Ms Bishop’s work led to the discovery of rotavirus and the development of a world first vaccination against the virus that causes acute and often deadly gastroenteritis in children.

Ms Bishop, who was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Florey Medal and has a Murdoch Children’s Research Institute named in her honour, remains humble.

“I am honoured and grateful to receive this award,” she said.

“But to be honest, I’d say it feels embarrassing for me to be given this credit for what so many contributed to achieving.”

“I feel that others are not receiving due acknowledgment for the skills and expertise they had and I did not.”

Ms Bishop still has a silver necklace in the shape of the rotavirus, which she was gifted by colleagues in 1973.

“My proudest achievement is to have led a group of talented people whose successful aim was production of a vaccine against this life-threatening disease,” she said.

Alan Frederick Cowman thinks of malaria as an old friend.

He’s spent the better part of his life working to eradicate the disease but said he will miss the parasite when it’s gone.

“I think it’s really exciting that we are getting close to eradicating malaria,” he said.

“But also really getting to understand the malaria parasite … it sort of feels like an old friend.”

“But obviously you don’t want to be around but when it goes you’ll miss it because it’s such a fascinating organism.”

Mr Cowman has published almost 300 scientific papers on malaria and co-heads the infection and immunity division of Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. He served as President of the World Federation of Parasitology for four years.

Mr Cowman said when he and the other scientists working around the world finally give malaria the boot he’ll almost miss the disease but is sure he’ll find something else to work on.

“It would be an amazing outcome to not have a job anymore because you don’t have a disease anymore.”