Resonance Health is proud to announce that its Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Tim St Pierre is a 2010 recipient of an ATSE Clunies Ross Award from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
This has become one of the pre-eminent awards for scientists, technologists and innovators across Australia and identifies scientists who have, often against difficulties and always with persistent commitment, made important contributions to science and its application for the economic, social or environmental benefit of Australia.
He follows in the footsteps of past winners such as Dr Fiona Wood, inventor of spray-on skin; Prof. Ian Frazer, inventor of the cervical cancer vaccine; Prof. Stuart Wenham, a leader in photovoltaics research, and Dr Barry Marshall, who discovered the bacteria causing stomach ulcers.
Professor St Pierre’s recognition has come as a result of his development of FerriScan, a magnetic resonance imaging-based analysis of iron overload in the liver, delivered through central image analysis facilities in Perth.
Professor St Pierre said “I am thrilled to receive this accolade. It has taken a lot of hard work and dedication from a number of people to make FerriScan available to those who need it. We are very proud to be able to improve the health outcomes of people around the world from the Resonance Health base in Western Australia, where the FerriScan technology was invented.”
Iron overload is particularly associated with diseases such as sickle cell disease, thalassaemia, and myelodysplastic syndrome where a proportion of patients require regular blood transfusions. This causes an accumulation of iron which the body has no way of removing, storing it primarily in the liver, where it can cause fibrosis or cirrhosis. Ultimately, iron may also accumulate in the heart, leading to possible cardiac complications or failure. Of particular significance in Australia is the iron loading disorder haemochromatosis, which occurs when too much iron is absorbed from the diet.
FerriScan has enabled specialists in Australia and over 20 countries worldwide to monitor their patients' liver iron concentrations and implement suitable programs of chelation therapy to remove excess iron from the body.
It is significant that this technology has remained West Australian based, in a field where the majority of locally developed technologies are sold to and developed by overseas interests.
Professor St Pierre is a Professor in the School of Physics at the University of Western Australia. His research interests are in the area of magnetic resonance imaging, pathological mineralisation of iron, iron overload, liver diseases and biomagnetic technologies.
Information on the ATSE Clunies Ross Awards can be found at http://www.cluniesross.org.au/
For further information contact Wendy Wardell 08 9286 5302 / mob 0422 924 197 |
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