Sawyer Medal 2016 Recipients

Haiyin is a third year PhD student in the Mintern/Villadangos laboratory. Her PhD investigates ubiquitin-mediated regulation of molecules and how this impacts immunity and disease. Haiyin was the first author of a manuscript published in Journal of Experimental Medicine in 2016. Her manuscript  was titled "Ubiquitin ligase MARCH 8 cooperates with CD83 to control surface MHCII expression in thymic epithelium and CD4 T cell selection". Haiyin was awarded a prize for her oral presentation at the Immunology Group of Victoria Roadshow and for her poster presentation at the 2016 Australian Society of Medical Research Victoria Student symposium.

Ashish is in his fourth year of a PhD in the Gooley laboratory. His PhD examines ligand interactions with Relaxin receptors using solution NMR. This research is important for the design of small molecule agonists and therapeutics against acute heart failure. Ashish was the first author of a manuscript titled "The complex binding mode of the peptide hormone H2 relaxin to its receptor RXFP1" published in Nature Communications in 2016. He was also awarded a poster prize at the Lorne Protein Conference in 2016.

Aaron is a third year PhD student in the Mosely laboratory. His PhD investigates the association of rabies virus P3 protein with the cellular microtubule cytoskeleton and its importance in viral immune evasion and disease. Aaron was the first author of a paper in Scientific Reports published in 2016. His paper was titled "Quantitative analysis of the microtubule interaction of rabies virus P3 protein: roles in immune evasion and disease". He also gave the student talk in the Plenary Session of the Lorne Infection and Immunity conference and an oral presentation at the Japanese Society of Virology in 2016. Aaron was also the co-Chair of the 2016 Victorian Infection and Immunity Network Young Investigators Symposium.