Pioneers recognised in Australia’s top science prizes
Dr Tess Reynolds was named Outstanding Early Career Researcher, while Professor Manfred Lenzen, Professor David Raubenheimer, Dr Arunima Malik, Dr Mengyu Li and Navoda Nirmani Liyana Pathirana were awarded the Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research prize.
The awards were presented at a ceremony at the Australian Museum on 31 August.
The Eureka Prizes are Australia’s most comprehensive and prestigious national science awards, honouring excellence across the areas of research and innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science.
Outstanding Early Career Researcher
Dr Tess Reynolds, from the Faculty of Medicine and Health, is leading a research program to transform robotic imaging systems to de-risk surgery through two world-first projects.
The first project significantly expands the currently limited surgical field-of-view, to capture long anatomical sites, like the spine and the aorta, in their entirety.
The second project addresses the challenges of generating high-quality intraprocedural images for guidance and verification during surgery – a process complicated due to patient motion.
Dr Reynolds’ new 3D imaging technology, Adaptive CaRdiac cOne BEAm computed Tomography or ACROBEAT, calculates heart movement to select the best possible time to acquire clear images, allowing surgeons to check that valves and pacemakers have been accurately placed.
Both technologies can be used during complex procedures, eliminating the need for corrective surgeries, providing patients with the best possible health outcomes.
Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research
From left: Navoda Nirmani Liyana Pathirana, Professor David Raubenheimer, Dr Arunima Malik and Dr Mengyu Li.
Experts in physics, nutrition, sustainability and business from across the University collaborated on two breakthrough findings, which indicate how our eating habits drive up carbon emissions through food transport, and how the nutrient composition of our diets affects the environment and economy.
The integration of data from this research will support decision-making that addresses public health and environmental objectives holistically.
The team includes: Professor Manfred Lenzen, Professor of Sustainability Research at Integrated Sustainability Analysis, from the Faculty of Science, Professor David Raubenheimer, Leonard P. Ullman Chair in Nutritional Ecology at the Charles Perkins Centre, and from the Faculty of Science, Dr Arunima Malik, from the Faculty of Science and the University of Sydney Business School, Dr Mengyu Li from the Faculty of Science and Navoda Nirmani Liyana Pathirana from the Charles Perkins Centre and the Faculty of Science.