THE Australian National University’s Professor Carola Vinuesa has been awarded the inaugural CSL Young Florey Medal for her research into how the immune system produces antibodies to fight disease.

Professor Vinuesa’s work has led to the discovery of genes important for immune regulation and is paving the way for the development of new drugs to fight autoimmune diseases such as lupus, juvenile diabetes and certain cancers.

The inaugural national award is run by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) and carries a $25,000 cash prize sponsored by CSL. The 2014 medal is an expansion of the biennial CSL Florey Medal, which has honoured some of Australia’s top biomedical researchers since 1998.

The award will be presented as part of the Annual Dinner of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) in Canberra tonight.

AIPS General Manager Camille Thomson said the CSL Young Florey Medal aimed to shine the spotlight on early career scientists who have had made significant discoveries in human health advancement and that have shown a passion for communicating their research beyond the walls of their laboratory.

“We have an incredibly talented pool of emerging scientists in Australia who are making groundbreaking discoveries and becoming leaders in their fields,” Ms Thomson said.

“We are proud to present our inaugural award to Professor Vinuesa, whose work will have long-standing impacts in many fields of medical immunology, spanning infectious diseases, vaccination and autoimmunity.”