Four members of the Department win awards
07/02/2011
Associate Professors Catherine Day and Peter Dearden, Dr Liz Duncan, and Mrs Kaye Wilson won major awards at the recent Otago School of Medical Sciences Awards ceremony. Catherine Day won the OSMS Distinguished Researcher of the Year, Kaye Wilson won the Distinguished Teaching Fellow, and Peter Dearden and Liz Duncan won the Best Paper of 2010 Award.
From the press release:
Associate Professor Catherine Day - OSMS Distinguished Researcher of the Year.
Catherine is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and also the Associate Dean Research for the OSMS. Since 2005 Catherine has produced 26 publications, almost all in high impact journals including: Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), Molecular Cell, Cell Death and Differentiation, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Molecular Biology, Cancer Cell, The Biochemical Journal, Cell Death and Differentiation, Structure, and Plant Physiology. This is an outstanding achievement by any criteria and for most of these publications Catherine has been the prime initiator and driving force. As her papers gather more and more citations so her international standing grows and it is no surprise to see her consistently asked to deliver plenary lectures or write reviews. Her recent (2010) accomplishments alone include 7 publications in high-ranking journals plus two reviews, the award of an HRC grant of almost one million dollars on regulation of apoptosis, recipient of the NZ Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Life Technologies Research Prize, and invitations to speak at conferences in Melbourne, Busan (Korea) and Auckland. Catherine also plays a very active role in promoting and evaluating research both on campus and nationally; notably as, Associate Dean Research (OSMS), Health Sciences Divisional PBRF panelist and current member of the HRC BMAC Assessment Committee. Indeed she is in demand as a reviewer of both grants and manuscripts and is a member of the Editorial Advisory panel for the Biochemical Journal. All of these accomplishments attest to a highly regarded, internationally recognised researcher, and a worthy applicant for this award.
Kaye Wilson - Distinguished Teaching Fellow/PPF 2010
The OSMS is fortunate in the quality of its staff and Kaye epitomises this quality and commitment to excellence. She is a Professional Practice Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and is a pivotal member of their teaching team. In addition, Kaye for many years was a senior judge in the Otago Science Fair and has made significant contributions to “Hands on Science” and other educational initiatives that interface with the secondary sector.
Associate Professor Peter Dearden (Department of Biochemistry) - OSMS Best Paper Award 2010
L Duncan and P Dearden (2010) Evolution of a genomic regulatory domain: The role of gene co-option and gene duplication in the Enhancer of split complex. Genome Research 20: 917-928.
This paper describes the evolution of a remarkable complex of genes in insect genomes. The Enhancer of split complex (E(spl)-C) is a well known complex of genes in the genome of fruit flies that responds to Notch signalling and is a key mediator of cell fate determination in many situations during development. The E(spl)-C is remarkable because, unlike most other complexes of genes, it is made up of multiple types of genes, all of which respond to Notch signalling, each type of gene acting in different was to modulate or effect Notch cell signalling. This paper explains the evolution of the E(spl) complex, describes the complex in a number of species and shows that its function in Notch signalling is conserved at least in bees. The paper also shows that genes in flies and bees that are inserted into the E(spl)-C come to be expressed like the other E(spl) genes. This supports the idea, shown by others in flies, that the complex is regulated as a whole, acting as a genomics regulatory domain. The existence of such a ancient genomic regulatory domain allows us to hypothesize that such domains may provide a mechanism for the co-option of novel genes into ancient cell signalling pathways.
Genome Research is the top journal in this area with a high impact factor. This journal has a broad readership and is a excellent vehicle for new ideas and hypotheses such as that presented in this paper.
Impact Factor. 11.342