Prior to the mid-20th century, a type 1 diabetes diagnosis was a death sentence. Although we still have no cure for diabetes, advancements in insulin therapy have meant that the lives of diabetics aren’t cut tragically short. The discovery of insulin and its role in treating diabetes, and the development of ways to provide patients with regular doses of it were decades in the making.
Australia’s recent decision to reschedule MDMA and psilocybin for therapeutic use represents a seismic shift in drug policy. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved the prescription of these substances for specific psychiatric conditions, acknowledging their potential therapeutic benefits and enabling their use in a controlled medical context.
When we think of pollution in streams and rivers, we tend to think first of rubbish in water; the litter traps along the Yarra River in Melbourne’s CBD that are often overflowing, or the empty plastic bottles along the Moonee Ponds Creek. But water pollution takes many forms, from physical trash to invisible chemicals that accumulate in our waterways.
The Society is delighted to congratulate Dr Christopher Draper-Joyce, the 2021 recipient of the Phillip Law Postdoctoral Award, and the first to be awarded in the new category of Biomedical and Health Sciences. Christopher’s postdoctoral work extends his analytical and molecular pharmacology skillset into the field of structural biology, shedding new light on the molecular mechanisms of drug-receptor action.
