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Gene data guru and stormwater expert win top prize

Date: November 22 2012

Bridie Smith

THINK not of him as a policeman preventing scientists from going down the wrong research road. Instead mathematician Terry Speed opens new paths of investigation for researchers by highlighting trends or anomalies buried in dense data.

''A lot of people perceive me as being the policeman but I don't like being cast in that role,'' he said. ''I would rather be the person who illuminates things and unlocks information.''

For his trouble Professor Speed was awarded the $50,000 Victoria Prize for life sciences at a ceremony at the State Library on Wednesday.

Biology experiments generate masses of data. Things get complicated quickly and it doesn't take long for scientists to call in the experts.

That's where bioinformatics comes in. A biologist can present Professor Speed with a question or problem - such as finding the difference between a normal breast cell and a cancerous breast cell - and it's his job to unlock the genetic secrets hidden in the data.

''It's often the case that genes which shouldn't be being expressed are, or genes which should be being expressed aren't,'' he said. ''We need to find which it is. But there are 30,000 genes and we don't want to look through each one, one at a time.''

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute's resident statistician creates tailored algorithms and programs to hunt out the answers to specific questions.

''The amount of data is enormous … It's like a telephone book of data. And inside that is important stuff … so I formulate a way to scan that phone book to find the nuggets.''

Ana Deletic became the first woman to receive a Victoria Prize in the award's 14-year history when she was awarded the $50,000 prize for physical sciences.

Professor Deletic from Monash University's Centre for Water Sensitive Cities is the brains behind some of the city's rain gardens, which harvest stormwater and filter polluted water to be reused in irrigation.

''Heavy metals such as copper, lead and zinc which come from vehicles are totally removed,'' she said. ''The community loves these green stormwater systems, too. They improve livability and promote community engagement.''

Her stormwater treatment techniques have been adopted in Israel, Singapore, New Zealand, Britain and France.

Innovation Minister Louise Asher said the awards pointed to the health of research in Victoria. ''The diversity of the work undertaken by Victoria Prize winners and fellows highlights the depth of Victoria's research base - and how it is driven by skilled, talented and creative people,'' she said.


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