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Professor Mark Walker, a microbiologist from the University of Wollongong’s School of Biological Sciences, has been selected as one of the six finalists in the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes People’s Choice Awards and his research will be featured on a special program of Catalyst on ABC-TV on Thursday August 14 at 8pm.

The Australian public is being encouraged to vote on-line for their favourite piece of research with voting now under way and closing at midnight on August 17. The winner will be announced at a gala award dinner in Sydney on Tuesday August 19. The Eureka Prizes Award Dinner is often likened to the “Academy Awards of Science”.

Already the previous recipient of an Alexander Von Humboldt Fellowship and a Fulbright Senior Scholarship, Professor Walker is one of Australia’s leading researchers in recombinant DNA technology to improve our understanding of infectious diseases and improve the effectiveness of vaccines. Finalists in the Eureka Prizes People’s Choice Award were selected from hundreds of entries.

He is conducting research into the flesh eating bacterium known as Streptococcus pyogenes which is a serious disease-causing microbe affecting the northern Australian Aboriginal population. His research specifically examines the interactions of Group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes GAS) with human tissue.

Relatively little is known about the triggers of the flesh-eating disease necrotising fasciitis, which is an infection that attacks the deep layers of tissue and is caused when an invasive strain of GAS infects an opening in the skin. For unknown reasons, the strain becomes very aggressive and releases molecules that quickly and irreparably destroy flesh and muscle.

Doctors often must remove skin, large groups of muscle, or entire limbs to save a sufferer's life. Using a molecular approach, Professor Walker is seeking to discover and characterise streptococcal properties to understand how this disease begins and in order to identify potential vaccine antigens to combat the disease, which will have a positive impact upon public health.

In 2005, a World Health Organisation (WHO) report classified GAS within the top 10 infectious disease killers of humans. Professor Walker’s research has the potential to save thousands of people’s lives.

If you would like to see a Wollongong scientist win the Eureka Prize People’s Choice Award go to the following website and vote for free at www.australianmuseum.net.au/eureka The site is equipped with personal profiles, videos and a special “Q&A” section where voters can ask the scientists questions. Prizes are on offer to those voting. Schools are being particularly encouraged to participate as there are not only prizes to give away but opportunities for teachers to set school projects based on the website content.

Professor Mark Walker . . . enough online votes will see him receive the Eureka Prize People’s Choice Award

Bernie Goldie