We've always known Professor Jennie Blackwell was special but now the whole country knows it too. She has been made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, an honour reserved for the very best scientists in the country.
Jennie was given the highly prestigious honour for her more than three decades worth of research into neglected tropical diseases, in particular her work on visceral leishmaniasis. Visceral leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites, which infects about 2 million people and kills tens of thousands every year.
Through genome-wide analysis, Jennie discovered that genetic risk for visceral leishmaniasis lies at the heart of eliciting T cell immunity. Her discovery has led to the development of innovative new vaccines designed to prevent at-risk individuals from contracting the disease. The vaccines are currently in trial using models of human disease.
About the Fellowship:
For those of you who don't know, this is a very big deal. Australian Academy of Science Fellowships are only given to the nation's most distinguished scientists. Twenty fellows are elected each year by their peers, for outstanding research that has pushed back the frontiers of knowledge in natural science.
Find out more about Jennie's fellowship