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Help the Breaking Good team win $1m Google grant. Vote now

9 October 2018
By supporting Dr Alice Williamson's team, you can help them win the $1 million Google Impact Challenge and take their Breaking Good chemistry program to public schools across Australia.
Dr Alice Williamson

Dr Alice Williamson

A research and scientific outreach team led by the University of Sydney’s Dr Alice Williamson is a finalist in this year’s Google Impact Challenge.

‘Breaking Good’ is a citizen science project that aims to empower high-school and undergraduate students to be active researchers in projects that will improve human health.

“It’s all about making molecules that matter,” Dr Williamson said.

As one of 10 finalists the Breaking Good team has won $250,000 to help develop its project.

If chosen as one of four overall winners, the team will receive a total $1 million to roll out its outreach program to public schools across Australia.

You can vote to support Breaking Good at this link.

“The whole idea is to engage young people in science that makes a difference. We involve students with real research projects as part of our open-source drug-discovery consortium,” Dr Williamson said.

The consortium, led by the University of Sydney, includes Professor Matthew Todd, chair of drug discovery at University College London and Jose Gomez-Marquez, who leads the Little Devices Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.

Breaking Good gained worldwide attention two years ago when students from Sydney Grammar School developed the toxoplasmosis and HIV treatment drug Daraprim for as little as $2 a dose shortly after 'pharma bro' Martin Shkreli hiked the price of the drug to $US750 a dose.

“We are thrilled to be finalists in the Google Impact Challenge. It really means so much to us,” Dr Williamson said.

Members of the public have until 30 October to vote in the People’s Choice award.

It is simple to vote and takes just one click here at this website.

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