AFAS Victoria / AFAS FEAST-France Fellows – 2004-2016
The inaugural presentation of three AFAS FEAST-France Fellowships was made in 2004. In presenting the awards, Alain Moulet, Scientific Counsellor at the French Embassy, indicated that the fellowships were symbolic of the French commitment "to increasing our investment down under, especially as Victoria is considered to be at the forefront of innovation and research."
The three inaugural Fellows were Serryn Eagleson, Rick Barber and Micah Atkin.
For her work in urbanisation with the help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Serryn Eagleson was put in contact with the French Government Agency DATAR, responsible for urbanisation and regional planning, as well as a couple of companies involved in space applications.
For Rick Barber and Micah Atkin, both undertaking research in micro-nanotechnology, visits were arranged to one of the world leaders in micro-fabrication, Léti in Grenoble, together with introductions to the French Micro-Nanotechnology Network (RMNT).

Pictured Left to right – John Acton, AFAS Victorian President, Serryn Eagleson, Pierre Seillan,
Deputy Head of Mission - French Embassy, Hon John Brumby, Minister for Innovation, Rick Barber and Micah Atkin
On 3 July 2009, Micah Atkin was presented with the INNOVIC International Next Big Thing Award™ 2009 for the handheld medical diagnostic system subsequently developed by him. For information on this ground-breaking diagnostic tool, please refer to the article which appeared in The Australian newspaper of 18 July 2009.
2005 Fellows
The AFAS FEAST-France Fellows for 2005 were Thanh Tam Chau, Hayley Newton and John Papandriopolous.
2006 Fellows
The AFAS FEAST-France Fellows for 2006 were Bryan Fry, Hadi Lioe and Paul Stoddart.
The AFAS FEAST-France Fellows for 2007 were Bryony Nayagam, Simon Craig and Andrew Walter.
The AFAS FEAST-France Fellows for 2008 were Adrian Orifici and Amy Richards.
Amy Richards
Lipids for the Future : From Agro-resources to Human Health
Fats and oils are a major and essential component of food. They play a significant role in its texture, sensory characteristics and nutrition. There is a move toward reducing the saturated and trans fat content in food and replacing it with healthier fats and oils. It is also important to maintain the food quality and stability to which consumers are accustomed. However, this requires a better understanding of the structural properties of these healthy fats, their physical characteristics during food preparation and storage, and their resistance to rancidity.
Amy's fellowship has given her the opportunity to participate in the 5th GERLI Lipidomics Meeting, held in France on 21-23 October 2008, as well as to develop collaborative links with the French Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
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2009 Fellows
The AFAS FEAST-France Fellows for 2009 were Sally Gras, Martin Leahy and Joanne Devlin.
The AFAS Victoria Fellows for 2010 are Suzanne Ftouni and Baohua Jia.
Suzanne Ftouni
Motor Vehicle Collisions and Drowsiness
Feelings of drowsiness and fatigue while driving have been found to affect a driver's ability to safely maintain control of a vehicle due to performance decrements that become apparent as the driver's vigilance deteriorates. With increased sleepiness, drivers show an increased likelihood of experiencing micro sleeps, periods of inattention, longer and more frequent eye closures and falling asleep at the wheel.
Suzanne Ftouni, who is undertaking research within the School of Psychology and Psychiatry at Monash University into the contribution of sleep loss and disruption to the incidence of motor vehicle collisions, plans to use her Fellowship to visit the Sleep Clinic of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) at the Université Bordeaux II. This clinic is equipped with a state-of-the-art, real-time system for measuring driving performance in a natural setting. Suzanne plans to use her visit for exploring alternative methods of assessment of driving performance.
Baohua Jia
Nanoplasmonic Solar Cells
Baohua Jia is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Micro-Photonics, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, at Swinburne University. The focus of her research is on developing innovative nanostructures and nanomaterials through manipulating light for a wide range of applications, including all-optical communications and photovoltaic solar cells. In particular, she has developed a novel solar technology called nanoplasmonic solar cells, which promises to yield dramatic improvements in the efficiency of solar cells and concurrently to lower their cost. The new technology is regarded as underpinning the next generation of high-performance solar photovoltaic products.
Baohua Jia plans to use her Fellowship to present a paper at the SPIE (Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers) Eco-Photonics Conference in Strasbourg in March 2011, followed by visits to the Institut de Science et d'Ingénieurie Supramoléculaires (ISIS) in Strasbourg and the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Toulouse.
The AFAS Victoria Fellows for 2011 are Jaclyn Pearson and Dr Jean-Pierre Veder.
Dr Jean-Pierre Veder
Development of a rigorous nanocharacterization scheme for electrochemical systems.
for his outstanding research and development contribution in the development of a rigorous nanocharacterization scheme for electrochemical systems.
We will also afford him a similar opportunity over the coming year to better explain himself!.
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The AFAS Victoria Fellows for 2012 are Assoc. Prof. Hai Vui and Sharath Sriram.
Sharath Sriram
Transforming micro-nano-science into sensing technology
Terahertz technology is the use of a high frequency radiation for analysing and imaging materials. Unlike the widespread X-ray technology, terahertz is low energy and non-ionising, representing a safe technology with significant potential for security and healthcare imaging, such as airport screening, cancerous tissue imaging and biochemical sensing. His recent work has demonstrated advanced terahertz devices applied to terahertz metamaterials, thin film sensors, and mechanical strain sensors. The proposed research visits to two leading French research laboratories with advanced terahertz* detection and imaging equipment and facilities will enable collaborative projects for specialised characterisation of future devices for security and sensing.
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The AFAS Victoria Fellows for 2013 are Dr Arthur Nasis and Dr Jennifer Pilgrim.
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Dr Arthur Nasis
Novel Imaging Techniques for Diagnosis of Coronary Disease & Myocardial Ischaemia
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Australia. Cardiomyopathy, one of the most common causes of heart disease, is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and eventually scarred by a process called fibrosis. This causes weakness of the heart muscle and often leads to heart failure. It is estimated that at least 300,000 Australians are living with heart failure and every year around 30,000 Australians are newly diagnosed with the condition. Detection of fibrosis (or scarring) is important, not only for diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, but also as a potential treatment target.
Arthur’s study mission is to conduct research into the role of the first clinically applicable, robust, noninvasive method to detect and quantify heart fibrosis using a cutting-edge cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique called equilibrium-contrast imaging. He plans to attend the “Cardiac MRI & CTClinical Update 2014”, to be held in Cannes, France in April 2014. The meeting is accredited by the European Board for Accreditation in Cardiology and will enable Dr Nasis to acquire the latest techniques in cardiac MRI image protocols and post processing as well as practical knowledge regarding clinical scan interpretation. Arthur also plans to visit Institut Coeur Paris Centre (Heart Centre), which is a cardiac centre of excellence in Paris that boasts a team of heart experts delivering the most advanced cardiac services available in France. The centre has a cardiac imaging department including cardiac MRI scanner. Arthur hopes to be able to develop collaborative links with the Centre for future collaboration in research and perhaps even overseas exchange of clinical fellows.
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Dr Jennifer Pilgrim
Transforming micro-nano-science into sensing technology
The Toxicolist project will establish the first-ever international evidence-based resource for toxic concentrations of over 100 commonly used drugs in humans. This database will provide an invaluable resource to death investigators in the global investigation of drug-associated deaths, by improving the interpretation of drug analysis and the estimation of deaths attributed to drugs. Importantly, this data will help identify opportunities for death prevention and the safer use of prescription drugs; an imperative issue due to the growing number of deaths attributed to these agents worldwide. Although the international component of this project is in its early stages, there have been numerous groups around the world who are eager to contribute their mortality data, in order to increase the global accessibility and usability of the database, and to be involved in such cutting-edge research. Professor Henrik Druid, project leader in Sweden, has already engaged forensic toxicologists in Germany and the USA, as well as in France: Bruno Mégarbane and Frédéric Baudat at Hôpital Larboisière, Paris, with potential to also involve Associate Professor Pascal Kintz, from the Institute of Legal Medicine of Strasbourg, France. Mégarbane and Baudat have a particular interest in opioid toxicity and a wealth of human toxicology data from acute intoxications analysed on a daily basis in their laboratory. Kintz is widely known in the international forensic toxicology community, especially for his research in illicit drugs and experience in interpreting toxicology analysis of hair.
Associate Professor Pascal Kintz, from the Institute of Legal Medicine of Strasbourg, France has expertise and data which could be very useful to this project and accordingly, it is important that Dr Pilgrim visits his lab in France to discuss a potential ongoing collaboration.
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The AFAS Victoria Fellows for 2014 are Dr Gregory Knowles and Dr Jacqueline Flynn.
Dr Jacqueline Flynn
Understanding how HIV spreads infection among immune cells
With more than 35 million people world-wide reported to have HIV and a further 700 new cases reported in children each day, there is a critical need to develop an effective vaccine and antivirals. A key to developing such preventative therapies is an understanding of how HIV spreads infection among immune cells.
This study mission to the UK and France will provide Dr Jacqueline Flynn with specialist training in performing cell to cell HIV infection assays between macrophages and T cells. It will be an invaluable skill that can be incorporated into Victoria's HIV research capabilities.
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The AFAS Victoria Fellow for 2015 is Danielle Ingle.
Danielle Ingle
Track outbreaks of infectious diseases
Danielle's PhD work has focussed on the application of state-ot-the art technology to thoroughly track outbreaks of infectious diseases, providing a ground-breaking approach to public health.
The 2015 AFAS Fellowship will support Danielle's upcoming visit to the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, allowing her to further train in the latest knowledge and technologies relevant to her research.

The AFAS Victoria Fellow for 2016 is Dr Christian Gunawan.
Dr Christian Gunawan
Synthesize and purify diary lactone
The study mission will enable Dr Gunawan to synthesize and purify diary lactone in industrial quantities at a pilot scale plant at AgroParis Tech, in France, to assess the viability of this approach. If successful, diary lactone could be produced locally from a renewalable source for use by cheese and diary confection makers to enhance the flavour of food products.
Dr Gunawan received his Victoria Fellowship for Physical Sciences on 29th November, pictured here with the Minister for Small Business, Innovation & Trade, the Hon. Philip Dalidakis MP and Mr Pierre Tolé, President of AFAS-Vic.

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