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Dr Matthew Griffith, Dr Thomas Tu and Dr Caitlin Cowan were all recognised for their contributions to STEM. As Young Tall Poppy Science Award recipients, they will work to promote interest in science among school students and teachers and increase understanding and appreciation of science in the broader community.聽

The Young Tall Poppy Awards recognise and celebrate excellence in research and enthusiasm for communicating science beyond the walls of the laboratory. The Awards are widely considered to be an early indicator of Australia鈥檚 future scientific leaders, identifying excellent early career scientists.

Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Kathy Belov AO congratulated the newly appointed Young Tall Poppies:鈥淚鈥檇 like to congratulate Matthew, Thomas and Caitlin for the recognition they have earned as Young Tall Poppies.

鈥淭heir dedication to finding solutions to the world鈥檚 problems represent the future of research across their聽disciplines.聽Their work will inspire young people and the broader community to appreciate the role that science plays in our lives and to consider pursuing careers in scientific research.鈥�

顿谤听Matthew Griffith聽from the聽Faculty of Engineering听补苍诲听The University of Sydney Nano Institute聽has led an NHMRC聽funded project to create an artificial 3-D printed retina with the world-first聽potential聽to restore colour vision to 200 million people.

He is also聽part of聽an international consortium聽creating聽flexible X-ray detectors which聽could revolutionise聽radiotherapy treatment for cancer by聽allowing real-time聽measurement and assessment of radiation levels absorbed by the patient鈥檚 body聽to reduce聽side-effects from misaligned beams.聽

Beyond the field of biomedical engineering, Dr Griffith's use of printable electronic inks to create functional devices has been used by Lane Cove Council for the installation of public solar cells that power lighting to a park.聽

His work is published in the top 5 percent of materials science journals and has聽led to several commercial applications. His bio-printing tools have been made available to Australian researchers through聽the Australian National Fabrication Facility.聽

Dr Griffith's achievements were also recently recognised when he was presented with the聽University of Sydney鈥檚聽Vice Chancellor鈥檚聽Award for Outstanding Research Engagement and Innovation in 2021.

顿谤听Thomas Tu聽from the聽Faculty of Medicine and Health聽and the聽聽is a leading researcher on the Hepatitis B virus - an incurable disease that infects 300 million people, killing 887,000 people annually through liver cancer and cirrhosis.聽

Dr Tu has committed his career to understanding the virus, as he himself lives with chronic Hepatitis B.聽

His research focuses on translatable, effective, and practical outcomes, motivated by the belief that 鈥渋t鈥檚 not enough that research be published; it must also have an impact on society鈥�.

Dr Tu鈥檚 research into liver cancer and Hepatitis B virus have led him to be considered a world-leader in sensitive and specific detection of Hepatitis B viruses.

He currently leads a research group at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research in the Storr Liver Centre where he links molecular biology expertise with cell culture models and patient samples from the adjoining Westmead Hospital to answer clinically-relevant aspects of Hepatitis B pathogenesis.

顿谤听Caitlin Cowan聽from the聽Faculty of Science聽is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Investigator who takes a translational approach to the study of the microbiota-gut-brain axis.聽

As a psychologist and neuroscientist, Dr Cowan is researching how the聽microbiome聽(gut flora) can聽influence human emotions and behaviour.聽

She is especially interested in early childhood, when the microbiome and brain are both still growing, researching whether some microbes can predict a happy, healthy toddler, or if there are microbes related to anxiety, hyperactivity, or other behaviour problems.聽

Once more is known about these relationships, testing will be performed to find out whether treatments that enhance the microbiome, such as dietary changes, supplements, or some of the bugs themselves, have any effect on behaviour.聽

Ultimately, the goal of Dr Cowan's research is to improve mental health in young children to give them the best chance of growing into happy, healthy adults. 聽

Dr Cowan鈥檚 PhD, which she completed at UNSW under the supervision of Professor Rick Richardson, examined the use of a probiotic formulation to improve behavioural, neural, and physical markers of development in stressed rats.

She continued her research as a Marie Curie postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Professor John Cryan and Professor Ted Dinan at the APC Microbiome Ireland, where her work focused on the importance of the early life microbiota in shaping neurodevelopmental outcomes.聽