Merryn Fraser from the Australian National University is the winner of the seventh Falling Walls Lab Australia event, hosted online by the Australian Academy of Science in partnership with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Canberra, DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service and EURAXESS Australia and New Zealand.
Merryn’s work explores the biology of Plasmodium parasites which cause malaria, using modified cholesterol molecules to sneak antimalarial drugs past the parasite’s defences.
Second place went to Clara Jiang from the University of Queensland, whose idea of repurposing drugs which share similar gene expression fingerprints, like statins and anti-depressants, could save time and money.
Mars Buttfield-Addison from the University of Tasmania took third place, with her idea of using existing sensors such as astronomical radio telescopes to track space debris.
The three Australian winners will represent Australia in the hybrid Falling Walls Conference 2022 alongside the other 97 global winners, and the top 10 global finalists will compete in the Falling Walls Pitches on 7 November in the Emerging Talents category.
The question of every Falling Walls Lab is: Which walls will fall next?
Three-minute pitch
Each participant had three minutes to highlight their research work, business model or unique initiative to the jury of distinguished academics and industry representatives chaired by Academy President Professor Chennupati Jagadish.
The ten contestants presenting at the Australian finale event were selected in heats held at Falling Walls Lab Sydney, organised by DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service and EURAXESS, and Falling Walls Lab Brisbane, organised by the Queensland University of Technology.
Finalists
The ten finalists who presented their break-through ideas:
- Mars Buttfield-Addison from the University of Tasmania: Breaking the Wall of Space Debris Prevention
- Tess Brading from Queensland University of Technology: Breaking the Wall of Paediatric Chronic Pain
- Merryn Fraser from the Australian National University: Breaking the Wall of Drug Resistant Malaria
- Clara Jiang from the University of Queensland: Breaking the Wall of Treating Depression
- Chanchal Kurup from the Australian Catholic University: Breaking the Wall of Borders in Nursing
- Danielle Lee from Griffith University: Breaking the Wall of Antifungal Resistance
- Oliver Lotz from the University of Sydney: Breaking the Wall of Medical Device Bioactivity
- Martino Malerba from Deakin University: Breaking the Wall of Hidden Carbon Emissions in Agriculture
- Nipuni Peththa Thanthrige from Queensland University of Technology: Breaking the Wall of Crop Loss
- Fiona Harshini Roy Desmond Godfrey from Monash University: Breaking the Wall of Decarbonising the Planet
