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And the winner is...

PhD researcher Amanda Rickard has won the competitive 2007 Quantum Award for Scientific excellence.

The award is open to PHI students and recognises Amanda’s research findings which she presented in May 2007 at the 33rd International Aldosterone Conference Toronto, Canada.

4 years ago, following an undergraduate degree in Townsville, Amanda was working in a Yarra Valley winery and was undecided about her next career step. Whilst working in the Yarra Valley it was a chance encounter with Professor John Funder, a former PHI Deputy Director, that inspired her to pursue a career in medical research rather than as a representative for a pharmaceutical company or even a nutritionist.

Her decision to dedicate herself to science at the bench, commence a PhD at PHI and pursue a hard working approach have led to an impressive body of findings and awards for such a young researcher.

The research, under the supervision of Dr Morag Young, is identifying some of the different factors responsible for inflammation and permanent scarring of the heart, a serious condition which can lead to heart failure and death. In all its forms, heart disease affects some 3.7 million Australians.

Amanda usually gets up at 5am to jog along the Melbourne Bay esplanade and spends her days in the lab exploring how the combination of salt and hormones can lead to inflammation and permanent damage to the heart. She has been able to target one of four cell types within the heart that she is investigating in her PhD and demonstrate that if this cell is modified in the laboratory, the inflammation and damage can be halted.

Whilst there are already several drugs on the market which are used to treat and prevent this heart condition, Amanda’s work brings closer the possibility that more targeted, tissue-specific treatments may be developed with fewer side effects.

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