DOCSLIB.ORG

Pharmacology at the University of Sydney: a Brief History

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

PHARMACOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY:
A BRIEF HISTORY

  • Rudiments of pharmacology were first taught in
  • of appointment be made to Adrien Albert (who was

later to become Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Australian National University). The offer of the Chair was declined, so the position was advertised, attracting thirteen applications, but was then re-advertised at new salary rates in the hope of increasing the number of applicants. Meanwhile, Dr Hales Wilson, another distinguished medical graduate of the University, was appointed to lecture in Pharmacology. Hales Wilson gave one lecture per week for one term in each of two years to medical students, largely ex-service personnel, who were described as 'very likeable and keen to learn'.
1883 in the newly-founded medical school, whose degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Doctor of Medicine were established by Royal Charter in 1858. The discipline was described as Materia Medica, and its first lecturer was Thomas Storie Dixson, from 1883 to 1917. The establishment of a Chair of Pharmacology was then recommended, and, in 1918 the first Professor of Pharmacology, Henry George Chapman, was appointed. Chapman had taught in the Department of

  • Physiology but was not
  • a
  • specialist in

pharmacology; he resigned to become Professor of Physiology in 1920. The Chair of Pharmacology then lapsed for twenty-eight years. The previous position of Lecturer in Materia Medica was reestablished, and filled in 1921 by John MacPherson, a Sydney graduate who was a leading Australian authority on Materia Medica and therapeutics. After MacPherson retired in 1934, Pharmacology was taught by members of the Physiology Department, resulting in some dissatisfaction among the medical students.

  • Roland
  • Thorp
  • and
  • the
  • Department
  • of

Pharmacology

Roland Thorp was selected from the applicants for the Chair, and offered the position. He arrived in Australia to take up his appointment and set up the new department in 1949. Thorp was well trained in Pharmacology. He had joined the Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories in 1936 as an assistant to the Chief Pharmacologist. At that time, medicines such as digitalis leaf and insulin had to be standardised biologically so that their potencies could be worked out and accurate drug doses calculated. Thorp

  • In December 1938
  • a
  • Senate sub-

committee reported that the students' complaints were justified. In the resulting re-shuffle of teaching in the medical school, pharmacology became linked with therapeutics. In 1946, the Senate requested the senior medical professors to report on future developments in physiology and pharmacology. This they did within one month and part of the recommendation was that the Chair of Pharmacology be re-established and that an offer

  • had
  • worked
  • with
  • many
  • distinguished

pharmacologists on the development and testing of analgesic drugs, and in studies of their clinical

  • pharmacology.
  • He was also involved in the

Page 2 monitoring of pharmacological aspects of production control and biological standardisation of insulin, vitamin D and organic arsenicals. Between 1946 and 1949, Thorp had established Wellcome's biological assay laboratory at Dartford. medical students. An important aspect of the medical course has been the opportunity for selected medical students to undertake a Bachelor of Science (Medical) degree in pre- and paraclinical subjects. The degree was introduced

  • in 1949 and in the following year, two students
  • Thorp was
  • a
  • man of considerable

intellectual calibre and was interested in a wide range of University issues beyond those to do with his academic discipline. His appointment was as 'Professor of Pharmacology and Director of Pharmacy'. The Pharmacy course was partly conducted by the University and partly as an apprenticeship programme. Registration as a pharmacist was contingent upon the successful completion of a University course as well as on passing examinations conducted by the Pharmacy Board. Thorp worked to upgrade the academic standing of Pharmacy and was, in large measure, responsible for the introduction of the Pharmacy degree course by the University. He also played an important role in the formation of a separate Department of Pharmacy, initially under the direction of the late Professor S.E. Wright.

  • enrolled in Pharmacology:
  • Barry Firkin, who

became Professor of Medicine at Monash University and William Barclay, who became NSW State Director of Psychiatric Services. They were followed by others who have also achieved professional and academic distinction, such as the late Victor Chang, who pioneered cardiac transplantation in Australia, and Stephen Leeder, who is Dean of Medicine at the University of Sydney.
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was introduced by the University in the early 1950s. Within the Department of Pharmacology, it was awarded in 1956 to Sydney Wright and Tom Watson, (both later to become Professors in the Department of Pharmacy), to Michael Rand in 1957, Anne Stafford in 1959, Bruce Cobbin in 1960 and Jocelyn (Pennefather) O'Neil in 1961 and to many other distinguished scientists.
At the time of Thorp's appointment, enrolment in Medicine was swelled by World War 2

  • ex-service personnel.
  • There were over 450
  • During the 1950s and 60s, many

students in fourth year, where Pharmacology lectures were given in a temporary 'fibro' theatre distinguished visitors from overseas were invited to contribute to the teaching in the Department, thanks to the generosity of the pharmaceutical industry. The first was Professor Frank Winton from University College, London, followed by Professors Gaddum, Robson, Keele, Vogt and

  • known as 'The Barn'.
  • In addition, with the

assistance of one Lecturer (Bruce Cobbin), Thorp had to organise the instruction of 180 Pharmacy students.

  • To aid the development of Pharmacology
  • Perry.
  • These leaders in Pharmacology gave

as a discipline in its own right, the subject was introduced into the Faculty of Science where it could be selected as a career subject. Since the early 1950s, a constant stream of scientists has continued to flow from the Department and some, such as Michael Rand, Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne (1965-1992), have achieved international reputations. The early growth of the Department was assisted by the provision of research fellowships and scholarships by pharmaceutical companies, notably Burroughs Wellcome, Drug Houses of Australia, Nicholas Laboratories and Roche Products. The Australian Jockey Club also funded a research fellowship.
The teaching of Pharmacology as a lectures to undergraduate students, seminars to teaching and research staff and postgraduate students, and advised on research projects. They also assisted our research graduates to obtain postgraduate posts to further their training in the United Kingdom.
The research activities of the Department

  • in the 1950s and 60s included
  • a
  • large

cardiovascular component. This commenced with studies on cardiac glycosides, defining optimum growing conditions for Digitalis species, methods of separation and analysis of component glycosides from this genus, their metabolism and diverse non-cardiac actions. A major parallel activity was the study of drug action on electrophysiological properties of cardiac muscle. Research activity received a boost in the decade from 1962 when Smith, Kline and French provided the funds to establish a Research Institute in the service course was extended to the Faculties of Veterinary Science in 1953 and Dentistry in 1967.

  • The
  • earlier
  • part-time
  • teaching,
  • part-time

apprenticeship Diploma in Pharmacy was changed to a full-time degree course in 1960, since when the quality and quantity of pharmacological instruction to these students, as for students from the Faculty of Science, has exceeded that given to

  • Department of Pharmacology.
  • This generous

support provided research positions, support staff and running costs. The major areas of activity were a study of endogenous cardiac stimulants
Page 3 and the pharmacology of substituted adenyl nucleosides and nucleotides on platelet
Thorp's retirement. Johnston, a chemistry graduate from the University of Sydney brought very significant research experience in medicinal chemistry and expanded the Department's research activity and interest in central nervous system pharmacology. aggregation and coronary haemodynamics. Changing fortunes led to the closure of the Institute in 1969. In the 1960s, the Australian Universities Commission provided funds to build the Bosch Building complex, which included extended accommodation for Pharmacology, particularly undergraduate laboratories. The Department now occupies much of the ground floor of the Blackburn Building, and part of the ground floor and all of level 2 of the Bosch IB building, but has far outgrown its office and research space as noted by a series of departmental reviews.
Research in respiratory pharmacology and mediators of inflammation was strengthened, and also its clinical applications. The Department succeeded in attracting much new research funding, particularly from government sources but also from other grant-giving sources, and a significant number of collaborative research projects with industry and other institutions have been established. The number and quality of senior research personnel in the department has greatly benefited both research and teaching, although the expansion in personnel and research activity has placed considerable strain on laboratory space and other facilities.
Owing to ill health, Thorp retired at the beginning of 1975. Associate Professor Diana Temple was appointed Head of the Department and continued in that position until a new appointment was made in 1979.

  • Clinical Pharmacology
  • John Shaw was Head of the Department of

Pharmacology from 1979 to 1982, while Graham Johnston held this position from 1983 to 1990.
In 1985, on the initiative of Bruce Cobbin
During the 1970s, there was recognition of the need to develop clinical pharmacology in medical schools. Efforts to establish Chairs of Clinical Pharmacology were supported by the Commonwealth Department of Health and the Australasian Society for Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists. In fact, there had earlier been a Wellcome Research Fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology in the Department of Medicine at this medical school, occupied for five years from 1964 by M.R. Playoust. the Department established The Roland H. Thorp Prize for the most proficient student in the third year science course. Roland Thorp received an honorary DSc from the University of Sydney in 1986. He died suddenly in 1987.
In 1987, the 10th International Congress of
Pharmacology, a triennial event, was held in Sydney. Many members of the Department were heavily involved, and this Department together with that at the University of New South Wales was host to about 3000 overseas pharmacologists. Post-congress satellite meetings on research in dopamine, respiratory pharmacology and serotonin were also arranged by several members of staff.
In 1978, Reckitt and Colman Australia Ltd, a firm which had close ties with the Department, was persuaded by the Dean of Medicine, Professor Richard Gye, to endow a Chair of Clinical Pharmacology within the Department. Reckitt and Colman's generosity now meant there were two Chairs to be advertised. Consequently, the Senate appointed John Shaw, a medical graduate from the University of Sydney, as Professor of Clinical Pharmacology in 1979. Changes to the medical curriculum were negotiated to increase the time allocated to Pharmacology, particularly to allow teaching of Clinical Pharmacology. John Shaw added expertise to cardiovascular areas of the Department, and established its clinical teaching.
The 1990s
The Department's expertise in medicinal chemistry was recognised by the naming of The Adrien Albert Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, where Adrien Albert had worked during the 1940s and where tacrine was first synthesised. The laboratory was to be officially opened by Albert in January 1990. Unfortunately, his health suddenly deteriorated and he died in Canberra on 29 December 1989. As he fell ill, he learned also that he had been awarded an honorary DSc by the University of Sydney on the nomination of the
The 1980s
The research activities of an already productive Department were greatly strengthened with the appointment of Graham Johnston to the Chair of Pharmacology that had been vacant since
Department. posthumously in March 1990.
Paul Seale, a medical graduate from the
University of Sydney, was appointed Head of
This degree was conferred
Page 4
Department in 1991 and Professor of Clinical Pharmacology in 1992. He served as Head of Department until Macdonald Christie, a PhD graduate of the Department in 1983, was appointed Head of Department in 1999.
Melbourne in 1992 and was made a Pro Vice Chancellor in 1999. David Jackson (PhD 1970 and long time member of staff) became Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Otago in New Zealand in 1998. John Skerritt (PhD 1984), who received the first university medal in pharmacology at the University of Sydney in 1980 and published 34 papers as a PhD student, was appointed Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research in 1999.
Members of the Department helped

th

organise the very successful 13 International Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry in Sydney in 1991 and a satellite meeting on Amino Acid Neurochemistry in the Hunter Valley, reflecting the Department's strength in neurochemistry.
Dorothy Thorp was remembered for her long time commitment to the Department by the establishment in 1998 of the Dorothy Thorp Prize awarded for excellence in science communication by a student in the Honours course. Continuing the tradition of Roland and Dorothy Thorp, staff of the Department served the scientific and wider communities in many ways. Two have been made Members of the Order of Australia: Diana Temple for 'service to medical and scientific research, particularly in the field of respiratory pharmacology, as an advocate for the role of women in science and in promoting an understanding of science by the general public'; and Graham Johnston for
Continuing the development of clinical pharmacology, Gillian Shenfield was appointed as a Clinical Professor in Pharmacology at Royal North Shore Hospital in 1993. Judith Black (PhD 1980) was appointed to a personal chair in pharmacology in 1997 in recognition of her research work in respiratory pharmacology, another major research strength in the Department. She formed The Respiratory Research Group with Carol Armour (PhD 1981), who subsequently was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Pharmacy at the same time

  • maintaining the collaborative activities of the
  • 'services
  • to
  • bio-organic
  • chemistry
  • and

  • group.
  • Graham Starmer established
  • a
  • pharmacology, to scientific organisations and to

  • science policy development'.
  • Psychopharmacology Unit at Rozelle Hospital with

a special interest in the effects of drugs on driving. Collaborative links with medicinal chemists at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy were established, which saw the exchange of staff and students between Copenhagen and Sydney.
At the end of the 1990s, the Department has record student numbers with its third year science numbers being larger than those choosing

  • third year chemistry.
  • The Department has

developed great research strengths in CNS and respiratory pharmacology, and in medicinal chemistry. It is to be hoped that this growth in student numbers and research performance will lead to the provision of new facilities commensurate with the very high quality of our staff and students.
Graduates of the Department continued to be appointed to senior positions. Colin Gibbs (PhD 1962) became Professor of Physiology at Monash University in 1991. James Angus (PhD 1974) succeeded Mike Rand (PhD 1957) as Professor of Pharmacology at the University of

This brief history of pharmacology at the University of Sydney is based on the article by Associate Professor Bruce Cobbin in 'The Centenary Book of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Sydney' (eds. JA Young

th

and AJ Sefton) in 1984 and updated by Professor Graham Johnston in December 1999 to mark the 50 birthday of the Department. We thank Jane Hanrahan for the logo. This is a 'working document', so please send details of errors, omissions and further information to Graham Johnston at the Department of Pharmacology - phone 02 9351 6117; fax 02 9351 2891; e-mail [email protected]

The Department of Pharmacology web site is at: http://www.usyd.edu.au/pharmacology

Recommended publications
  • Professor of Microbiology, John Curtin School of Medical Research, 1949 to 1967: Administrative and Domestic Arrangements

    Professor of Microbiology, John Curtin School of Medical Research, 1949 to 1967: Administrative and Domestic Arrangements

    55 Chapter 5. Professor of Microbiology, John Curtin School of Medical Research, 1949 to 1967: Administrative and Domestic Arrangements Europe, July 1949 to February 1950 As described in the previous chapter, Sir Howard Florey had made arrangements for the first three professors appointed to the John Curtin School of Medical Research to meet him in Oxford early in August 1949. Adrien Albert (Medical Chemistry) was working in the Wellcome Laboratories in London and Hugh Ennor (Biochemistry) had come over from Melbourne. Bobbie and I arrived in England on 2 August. She stayed with my friend Cecil Hackett and his wife Beattie at Northwood, just out of London. I went up to Oxford and spent a very busy four days talking about the future of the School with my new colleagues (it was the first time that we had met) and with Florey. With the help of Florey©s colleague, Gordon Sanders (who later came out to Canberra for a few months to help us with the planning), among other things we decided on an H-shape for the JCSMR building, with the main laboratories on the south side of each wing, to avoid direct sunlight, and rooms for special facilities on the north side, with narrow passages, to make cluttering with equipment difficult. The spine of the H was reserved for School requirements, with the library on the top floor, a lecture theatre and seminar rooms, administrator©s offices and a tea-room on the ground floor, and stores on the bottom floor. Since there were no laboratories in Canberra at the time, the ANU had arranged with Burnet to make available two laboratories at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute until we were able to move into laboratories in Canberra.
  • David R. Curtis 171

    David R. Curtis 171

    EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Giovanni Berlucchi Mary B. Bunge Robert E. Burke Larry E Cahill Stanley Finger Bernice Grafstein Russell A. Johnson Ronald W. Oppenheim Thomas A. Woolsey (Chairperson) The History of Neuroscience in" Autob~ograp" by VOLUME 5 Edited by Larry R. Squire AMSTERDAM 9BOSTON 9HEIDELBERG 9LONDON NEW YORK 9OXFORD ~ PARIS 9SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO 9SINGAPORE 9SYDNEY 9TOKYO ELSEVIER Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier Elsevier Academic Press 30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, Massachusetts 01803, USA 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, California 92101-4495, USA 84 Theobald's Road, London WC1X 8RR, UK This book is printed on acid-free paper. O Copyright 92006 by the Society for Neuroscience. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier's Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, E-mail: [email protected]. You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://elsevier.com), by selecting "Support & Contact" then "Copyright and Permission" and then "Obtaining Permissions." Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2003 111249 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 13:978-0-12-370514-3 ISBN 10:0-12-370514-2 For all information on all Elsevier Academic Press publications visit our Web site at www.books.elsevier.com Printed in the United States of America 06 07 08 09 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Working together to grow libraries in developing countries www.elsevier.com ] ww.bookaid.org ] www.sabre.org ER BOOK AID ,~StbFC" " " =LSEVI lnt .....
  • Liversidge Research Lecture No

    Liversidge Research Lecture No

    Liversidge Research Lecture No. 15 1964 HETEROCYCLIC CHEMISTRY, AND SOME BIOLOGICAL OVERTONES ADRIEN ALBERT The Royal Society of New South Wales Liversidge Research Lecture No. 15, 1964 Royal Society of NSW 1 Adrien Albert This photograph is reproduced by permission of the Australian Academy of Science 354 2 Royal Society of NSW Liversidge Research Lecture No. 15, 1964 Liversidge Research Lecturer No. 15, 1964 ADRIEN ALBERT 1907-1989 Adrien Albert was born in Sydney on 19 November 1907. After matriculation from Scots College (Sydney) in 1924 he undertook an apprenticeship in Pharmacy, attending the University of Sydney part-time. He became a registered pharmacist in 1928, but was drawn to pure science and returned to the University, graduating B.Sc (1st. class Hons.) with the University Medal in 1932. After working for short periods in the Pharmacy Department, University of Sydney, and then in a fabric dying firm, he went to London to work under W.H. Linnell at the College of the Pharmaceutical Society (London University) on aminoacridines, and graduated Ph.D. (Med) in 1937. He returned to Australia in 1938, and took a temporary teaching position in the Pharmacy Department, University of Sydney, and then a similar position in the Organic Chemistry Department of that Institution. He remained there during the Second World War, becoming involved with the war effort as part of a team supervised by Dr. Konrad Gibian of the Chemical firm Timbrol Ltd. During that time he prepared large scale amounts of both proflavine and the antimalarial "Atebrin"; in due course proflavine was replaced by 9-aminoacridine, a new compound first made by Albert as part of a research project that he had initiated.
  • Albert a & Serjeant E P. Ionization Constants of Acids and Bases: A

    Albert a & Serjeant E P. Ionization Constants of Acids and Bases: A

    This Week’s Citation CIassic~________ Albert A & Serjeant E P. Ionization constants of acids and bases: a laboratory manual. London: Methuen, 1962. 180 p. - [Australian National University. Canberra, and Univeraity of New South Wales, Sydney, Australial The book is a practical manual intended (or those dition, we incorporated methods for determin- who, without previous experience, wish to determine ing the stability constants of the complexes ionization constants (PKa values). More advanced that metal cations form by chelation with instruction is also provided for those who wish to organic ligands. The second and third editions extend theirrange of techniques. flhe SCl~indicates of the book were retitled The Determination that this book has been cited in over 3,130 1 2 publications.) of Ionization Constants. We took pains to writeour book in simple language so that any chemist or biochemist Adrien Albert who needed a hitherto unrecorded ionization Department of Chemistry constant could quickly and easily learn how Australian National University to determine it. Because no previous experi- Canberra, ACT 2601 ence is necessary in determining ionization Australia constants, researchers have often used the book for this purpose. It has also served well February 9, 1987 forthe in-service training of those technicians In the first half of the 1940s mass production and technical officers who are required to of glass-electrode potentiometer assemblies provide an institute with an ionization (also known as “ion activity meters” or “pH constant service. The book offers help in kits”), followed by production of the selecting apparatus, setting out the experimen- ultraviolet spectrometer, made it easier to tal results, making the calculations from these determine ionization constants accurately and results, and finally, checking them for quickly.
  • Maurice Wilkins Centre

    Maurice Wilkins Centre

    MAURICE WILKINS CENTRE New Zealand’s Centre of Research Excellence targeting human disease Annual Report 2011 Maurice Wilkins Centre The Maurice Wilkins Centre is New Zealand’s Centre of Research Excellence targeting major human diseases. It focuses on cancer, diabetes and infectious disease. New Zealand has an outstanding reputation for biomedical research. The Centre aims to harness this expertise to develop cutting-edge drugs and vaccines, tools for early diagnosis and prevention, and new models of disease. In addition to translational research that directly targets human disease, the Maurice Wilkins Centre encourages innovative fundamental science that has the potential for high impact on human health. The Maurice Wilkins Centre is a multidisciplinary network that brings together leading biologists, chemists and computer scientists. By the end of 2011 it comprised 109 investigators throughout the country, and over 115 early-career affiliates, linking researchers from six Universities, three Crown Research Institutes and a private research institute. These investigators represent most of New Zealands expertise in discovering new drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tools that proceed to clinical trials. As the national hub for molecular biodiscovery the Centre provides a point of contact for a broad range of local scientific expertise. It cultivates collaborations with international researchers and research institutions and also engages with industry and the medical profession. It is committed to building the economy and building scale in the New Zealand biomedical sector. For more information see www.mauricewilkinscentre.org For more information on New Zealand Centres of Research Excellence see www.acore.ac.nz Director’s Report ............................................... 2 Contribution to National Goals .........................
  • By Subject PDF 1.35 MB

    By Subject PDF 1.35 MB

    Cumulative 2003–2015 subject index – Chemistry in Australia Abbe diffraction limit 2015 Feb, 14–15 Abbott, Francis, spectrum analysis 2010 Dec, 32–3 Aboriginal ochre, chemical signature 2012 Jun, 20–3 absorbent hygiene waste, recycling 2013 Nov, 8 acacias, yellow pigments 2014 Oct, 39 academic–industry linkages mixing forensic science and academia 2013 May, 30–1 to improve knowledge transfer in chemistry 2007 Nov, 6–11 academic social responsibility, and science literacy 2013 May, 24–5 accreditation of chemical testing laboratories 2004 Apr, 10–11 of research and development 2007 Oct, 14–16, 26 supporting regulation 2004 Sep, 4 ACE Electromaterials Symposium, Wollongong, report 2009 Jun, 26–9 acetaldehyde photochemical roaming pathways 2015 Mar, 14 photo-induced isomerisation 2011 Aug, 6, Sep, 11 acetazolamide 2009 Jun, 39 acetic acid synthesis, new catalyst 2003 Oct, 32–3 acetylene and calcium carbide 2014 Feb, 6, Sep, 6–7 production 2006 Sep, 39 acid aerosols, and rain 2004 Oct, 37 acid and metalliferous drainage, mining industry 2008 May, 25–8 acid–base chemistry, linking to redox chemistry 2012 Aug, 30–1 acid catalysts, light-controlled 2015 Dec/2016 Jan, 15 acid sulfate soils, dimethylsulfide from 2007 Mar, 26 acoustic cavitation bubbles, lifetime of 2007 Aug, 33 acquired immunological tolerance 2007 Apr, 7 ACRES (Australian Chemical Registration and Evaluation Scheme) 2008 Oct, 46 acridines for cancer therapy 2007 May, 3–5 Acrux secures pharmaceutical deal 2004 Apr, 35 signs agreement with Organon 2007 May, 36 acrylamide dietary
  • Volume 83, No 4, October 2019

    Volume 83, No 4, October 2019

    ISSN 0110-5566 (Print) ISSN 2624-1161 (Online) Volume 83, No.4, October 2019 Laboratory recreations of Titan’s cyanide sky Chemical speciation models: simplifying the complexity of the ocean Determining the provenance of the water source by measuring strontium isotope abundance ratios in beer and cider made in Dunedin, New Zealand From ugly duckling to real swan: transformation of the Science I chemistry laboratories into the new Mellor Laboratories at the University of Otago Celmisia, New Zealand’s alpine daisies: assessing a sticky situation to “trichome” up with some answers Happy 50th anniversary, Jim! Davy and the voltaic pile Published on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry in January, April, July and October. The New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Printed by Graphic Press Incorporated PO Box 13798 Disclaimer Johnsonville The views and opinions expressed in Chemistry in New Zealand are those of the individual authors and are Wellington 6440 not necessarily those of the publisher, the Editorial Email: [email protected] Board or the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry. Whilst the publisher has taken every precaution to ensure the total accuracy of material contained in Editor Chemistry in New Zealand, no responsibility for errors Dr Catherine Nicholson or omissions will be accepted. C/- BRANZ, Private Bag 50 908 Copyright Porirua 5240 The contents of Chemistry in New Zealand are subject Phone: 04 238 1329 to copyright and must not be reproduced in any Mobile: 027 348 7528 form, wholly or in part, without the permission of the Publisher and the Editorial Board. Email: [email protected] Publisher Rebecca Hurrell Email: [email protected] Advertising Sales Email: [email protected] The International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry On behalf of the local organising committee, you are invited to participate in the International Symposium on Supramolecular and Macrocyclic Chemistry (ISMSC-2020) to be held in Sydney, Australia from July 12 – 16, 2020.
  • Annual Report 2005

    Annual Report 2005

    THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND Private Bag 92019 THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND Auckland 2005 2005 New Zealand www.auckland.ac.nz ANNUAL REPORT Annual Report Annual Report The University of Auckland The University of Auckland CONTENTS CHANCELLOR’S INTRODUCTION 1 VICE-CHANCELLOR’S REVIEW 3 AIMING HIGHER 6 KEY FACTS AND FIGURES 8 UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE 10 UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE 13 COUNCIL MEMBERS 14 FOCUS ON TEACHING AND LEARNING 16 TEACHING, LEARNING AND RESEARCH REPORTS 18 ARTS 18 BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS 20 CREATIVE ARTS AND INDUSTRIES 22 EDUCATION 24 ENGINEERING 25 LAW 27 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES 28 SCIENCE 29 SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY 31 TAMAKI CAMPUS 31 THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND AT MANUKAU 32 AUCKLAND UNISERVICES LTD 32 DEVELOPING TEACHING AND LEARNING 34 STATEMENT OF SERVICE PERFORMANCE 36 PEOPLE 36 TEACHING AND LEARNING 38 RESEARCH AND CREATIVE WORK 41 TREATY OF WAITANGI 43 RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST 44 INTERNATIONALISATION 47 EQUITY 48 ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT 49 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE 50 STATEMENT OF RESOURCES 51 TEACHING AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 52 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 55 STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY 56 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES 57 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 60 STATEMENT OF MOVEMENTS IN EQUITY 60 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION 61 STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS 62 NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 63 COST OF SERVICE SUMMARY 75 REPORT OF THE AUDIT OFFICE 76 CHANCELLOR’S INTRODUCTION The University’s new Strategic Plan was a major item on the Council’s agenda in 2005. We discussed successive drafts on several occasions, and approved the final version in August. We were impressed with the diversity and quantity of input provided by members of the University community, and appreciated the amount of insight and careful thought that was evident.
  • Adrien Albert Award: How to Mine Chemistry Space for New Drugs and Biomedical Therapies

    Adrien Albert Award: How to Mine Chemistry Space for New Drugs and Biomedical Therapies

    RESEARCH FRONT CSIRO PUBLISHING Aust. J. Chem. 2015, 68, 1174–1182 Account http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/CH15172 Adrien Albert Award: How to Mine Chemistry Space for New Drugs and Biomedical Therapies David Winkler Cell Biology Group, Biomedical Materials Program, CSIRO Manufacturing Flagship, Bag 10, Clayton South MDC, Vic. 3169; Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Parkville, Vic. 3052; and Latrobe Institute for Molecular Science, Bundoora, Vic. 3108, Australia. Email: [email protected] It is clear that the sizes of chemical, ‘drug-like’, and materials spaces are enormous. If scientists working in established therapeutic, and newly established regenerative medicine fields are to discover better molecules or materials, they must find better ways of probing these enormous spaces. There are essentially five ways that this can be achieved: combinatorial and high throughput synthesis and screening approaches; fragment-based methods; de novo molecular design, design of experiments, diversity libraries; supramolecular approaches; evolutionary approaches. These methods either synthesise materials and screen them more quickly, or constrain chemical spaces using biology or other types of ‘fitness functions’. High throughput experimental approaches cannot explore more than a minute part of chemical space. We are nevertheless entering into an era that is data dominated. High throughput experiments, robotics, automated crystallographic beam lines, combinatorial and flow synthesis, high content screening, and the ‘omics’ technologies are providing a flood of data, and efficient methods for extracting meaning from it are essential. This paper describes how new developments in mathematics have provided excellent, robust computational modelling tools for exploring large chemical spaces, for extracting meaning from large datasets, for designing new bioactive agents and materials, and for making truly predictive, quantitative models of the properties of molecules and materials for use in therapeutic and regenerative medicine.