Caitrion Fay

Perpetual, as trustee of the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundations, has revealed the 2015 recipients of the respected Ramaciotti Awards for Biomedical Research. Distributing almost $1.5 million in total to seven biomedical researchers, $1 million of the philanthropic funds will go towards research that has the potential to reduce the cost of medicines worldwide.

With past Ramaciotti winners having been responsible for the development of the world’s first cervical cancer vaccines and the Cochlear implant, the awards highlight the significant impact that philanthropy can have on the health and wellbeing of millions of people.

The biennial Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award, worth $1 million, has been granted to Professor David Craik of The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience and Professor Marilyn Anderson of the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University.

The award will support Professors Craik and Anderson to establish the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Facility (CVRF) for Producing Pharmaceuticals in Plants. The CVRF will be a state-of-the-art facility to develop technologies to produce potent next-generation medicines inexpensively. The new drugs may even be incorporated into novel plant products such as bio-pills (seeds), medicinal teas and foods, potentially improving the lives of patients who cannot afford current medications or cannot tolerate the side effects.

“We are thrilled to receive the Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award for our work on using plants as ‘biofactories’ for producing next-generation pharmaceuticals,” said Professor Craik.

“This research has great potential to provide medicines inexpensively to patients in both the developed and developing worlds. However, this type of blue sky research falls outside the realm of work typically funded by government or industry so we are particularly grateful to the Ramaciotti Foundations for their support.”

Professor Carola Vinuesa of the Australian National University was selected as the recipient of the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research, an annual award of $50,000 to honour an outstanding discovery in clinical or experimental biomedical research. Professor Vinuesa’s discovery of the ROQUIN family of proteins has opened up new avenues to diagnose and treat autoimmune diseases.

Up to $150,000 will also be allocated to each of the four recipients of the Ramaciotti Health Investment Grants. The grants are awarded to autonomous early career scientists to support health or medical research with a potential path to clinical application within five years.

The recipients of the 2015 Ramaciotti Health Investment Grants are:

• Dr Nikola Bowden: University of Newcastle (NSW), Repurposing traditional chemotherapy to prime advanced melanoma for immune therapy
• Dr Evelyn Smith: University of Western Sydney (NSW), Obesity, inflammation and cognition: examining their relationship within a randomised controlled trial of cognitive remediation therapy
• Dr Matt Petoe: Bionics Institute of Australia (VIC), Advanced prosthetic vision: improving patient performance with a second generation Bionic Eye
• Dr Elin Gray: Edith Cowan University (WA), Circulating tumour DNA to predict and monitor treatment response and detect acquired resistance in patients with metastatic melanoma

Commenting on the significance of the awards, Perpetual’s National Manager of Philanthropy and Non Profit Services, Caitriona Fay, said: “The Ramaciotti Foundations are one of the largest private contributors to biomedical research in Australia and have provided essential support to some of our most remarkable scientists since 1970.

“As trustee of the Foundations, we have witnessed the life changing impact that philanthropy can have on millions of people. Thanks to Vera Ramaciotti’s vision and the legacy she has created, she has helped shape the futures of not only the recipients, but people worldwide who will benefit from their work,” Ms Fay said.

Professor Derek Hart of The University of Sydney led the Ramaciotti Scientific Advisory Committee which directed Perpetual in selecting the grant recipients.

On the work of Professors Craik and Anderson, Professor Hart said: “Some science just captures your imagination. The concept of a new type of drug called cyclic peptides that could be produced in plants was irresistible to the Committee and we hope that this early recognition and funding will make a big difference.”

“The Committee considered Carola Vinuesa an outstanding scientist whose work on antibody production continues an extraordinary set of Australian contributions in fundamental immunology,” he remarked on the winner of the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research.

“The Health Investment Grants cannot be underestimated in the assistance they provide to our best young researchers as they move their work into practical clinical application. The potential contribution of some of these projects is enormous,” Professor Hart added.

This year the Foundations are awarding a total of $1,407,829 to biomedical research through the distribution of the biennial Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award, the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research and the Ramaciotti Health Investment Grants. These grants bring the total funds distributed by the Ramaciotti Foundations to almost $56 million since 1970.

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