Prizes and Awards
Student Prizes
DR JACK WARCUP MEMORIAL PRIZE
The Australasian Mycological Society established the Dr Jack Warcup Memorial Prize to honour its first patron and to encourage students to present their work at the Society's conferences. The prize of $250 and is awarded for either the best talk or poster presented by a student.
Recent winners:
2012 (Awarded at the AMS Scientific Meeting, Cairns, 26-28 September)
Shilpa Patel, Center for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead Hospital, University of Sydney. Isolation and Identification of Scedosporium spp. in Cystic Fibrosis Patients. S. Patel, W. Meyer, TC Sorrell, C. Halliday , K. McKay, D. Andresen , P. Middleton , P. Cooper & SC-A Chen
Shilpa completed an MBBS and MD (microbiology) in India then worked for several years in the field of diagnostic microbiology. She then came to the University of Sydney in 2010 and undertook the M. Med. (Infection and Immunity) before commencing her PhD in March 2011. Her research project is investigating filamentous fungal infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. She is especially interested in the clinical risk factors, impact of fungal infection on lung function and significance of pathogen–pathogen interactions in CF patients. Part of her study involves comparing conventional and molecular methods for diagnosis of fungal infections. Shilpa intends to pursue a medical degree in infectious disease after completing her PhD and hopes to combine her research with diagnostic and clinical practice.
Shilpa’s conference presentation reported on the isolation and identification of Scedosporium spp. in cystic fibrosis patients. Respiratory samples from 177 children and 81 adults with CF were cultured. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the ITS1/2 region was used to identify Scedosporium species. Scedosporium colonization was evident in 11.1% adults and 11.8% children by culture, 4.9% adults and 6.2% children were colonized with S. prolificans whilst Pseudallescheria boydii complex (Scedosporium teleomorph)were recovered in 7.4% adults and 6.2% children. Based on the ITS-RFLP analysis of 54 isolates, 35.1% were S. aurantiacum, 20.3% were P. boydii/S. apiospermum and 44.4%, S. prolificans. DRBC was necessary for the isolation of this fungus and ITS-RFLP accurately identified Scedosporium species and distinguished S. aurantiacum from other species of the P. boydii complex.
2012 (Awarded at the AMS Scientific Meeting, Cairns, 26-28 September)
Melinda Greenfield, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University. Biocontrol of Weevil Borers in Cavendish Bananas by the Endophyte Beauveria bassiana. MJ Greenfield, I. Newton, N. Dillon, D. Astridge & SE Abell-Davis
Melinda grew up in a small town called Oakville on the outskirts of Sydney and attended Windsor High School, leaving when 16 years old to work as a legal secretary. After a number of years working in the legal world Melinda decided to finish her schooling at TAFE by completing a Tertiary Preparation Certificate. In 2006, Melinda moved to Cairns to study at James Cook University where in 2010 she completed a Bachelor of Science with honours. Over the next two years she worked for “Eliminate Dengue”, a research project investigating the biological control of the dengue virus in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Melinda recently commenced PhD studies through the University of Queensland that aim to investigate Banana Bunch pests and options for their biological control.
The results of Melinda’s honours project were the subject of her presentation at the 2012 AMS conference. This project aimed to establish if Beauveria bassiana growing endophytically in bananas has potential as a biological control agent of banana weevil borer (Cosmopolites sordidus). Four locally collected isolates of B. bassiana were used to inoculate tissue-cultured Cavendish banana plants. Beauveria bassiana was successfully reisolated from various plant parts for up to nine weeks after inoculation. Colonisation was greatest in the corm compared to the root, pseudostem and leaf and over time, colonisation decreased in all plant parts. Overall colonisation differed between the isolates tested. This is the first time B. bassiana has been artificially introduced into the Cavendish subgroup of bananas and the first time ithas been reisolated from banana leaves. Bioassays performed on C. sordidus established that levels of virulence exist between these isolates.Two isolates of B. bassiana have been identified for further research and development as a potential biological control agent of C. sordidus.
2010 (Awarded at the Joint AMS and ASM Meeting, Sydney, 4-6 July)
Rachel Graham, Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments, University of Southern Queensland. Mycorrhizal Associations of the Vulnerable Epiphytic Orchid, Sarcochilus weinthalii. Rachel Graham and John Dearnaley.
AUSTRALASIAN MYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY POSTER PRIZE
2010 (Awarded at the Joint AMS and ASM Meeting, Sydney, 4-6 July)
Michael Sivell, School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney. Differential Expression of Proteins in Cryptococccal Lung Infection. M. Sivell, B. Herbert, M. Padula, M. Krockenberger and D. Carter
EUKARYOTIC CELL YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD
2010 (Awarded at the Joint AMS and ASM Meeting, Sydney, 4-6 July)
Eve Chow, Centre for Infectious Disease Research, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland. Gene amplification as a Mechanism of Microevolution in the Subteleomeres of Cryptococcus neoformans. Eve Chow, Carl Morrow and James Fraser.
DANIEL McALPINE MEDAL
The Daniel McAlpine Medal is sponsored by the International Mycological Association (IMA) and is awarded to an outstanding young mycologist from the Australasian region. The award is intended for a mycologist in the early stages of his or her career (within 10 years of receiving their PhD). Individuals must be nominated for the Daniel McAlpine Medal by an IMA member. Please send all nominations by e-mail to AMS president Diana Leemon (diana.leemon@deedi.qld.gov.au).
Recent winners:
2011
Dr Ceri Pearce, Senior Plant Health Scientist, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.
Dr Ceri Pearce was selected by the Australasian IMA Regional Mycological Organization for nomination for the IMC9 Daniel McAlpine Medal based on her research and her major contributions to the mycological community. Her PhD research, which centred on the biology and taxonomy of Australian fungi, resulted in authorship of a book on the Phyllachoraceae of Australia. More recently, with her research now focusing on the increasingly important area of biosecurity, she has been involved in the development of diagnostic and emergency response systems for exotic and introduced pests in Australia. Ceri made major contributions to the mycologicsl community through her roles on mycology councils, which includes executive councillor and librarian of the Australasian Mycological Society from 1998-2002, executive councilor for Australasian Plant Pathology Society from 2005–2007, and co-chair of the Regional Councillor Working Group of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society from 2005–2008. In addition, she won the bid and successfully co-organised the 8th International Mycological Congress in Cairns in 2006, which was the first time that this congress was held in the Southern Hemisphere. Ceri has also been involved in numerous mycological education and training programs, both within her organization and to agricultural industries, peers and school students.