Leading pain research innovator, University of Queensland’s (UQ) Professor Maree Smith, has received a 2012 Life Sciences Queensland Industry Award for Excellence.
The Award is presented to individuals who have made “significant contributions to the performance and success of the Queensland life sciences industry” and “demonstrated a breadth of impact across the sector in Queensland”.
Professor Smith, Executive Director of the Centre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development (CIPDD) and Head of the Pain Research Group in the UQ School of Pharmacy said that what drove her was the desire to improve health outcomes for patients.
“I am deeply honoured and would like to say thank you to all the people who had helped me along the way,” Professor Smith said.
Continuously recognised for her contribution to the field, Professor Smith is at the forefront of research and development into new pain-relieving medicines, including a recent clinical trial of a new product to help relieve chronic nerve pain in shingles sufferers.
Congratulating Professor Smith on this latest honour, UniQuest Managing Director, David Henderson, acknowledged the profound impact her ground-breaking research will have on pain therapies in the future.
“New drugs based on Professor Smith’s discoveries are close to market-ready, and that’s not only because of the quality and volume of her scientific endeavour; it’s also because she has played an active and integral role in the global biotech industry to accelerate access to a whole new approach to pain management,” Mr Henderson said.
Professor Maree Smith has pursued life sciences translational research at UQ for over 20 years.
The award was presented in the presence of Her Excellency, Ms Penelope Wensley AC, The Governor of Queensland and the Patron of LSQ at the Life Sciences Queensland Limited Globally Engaging Network Event (GENE).
Media enquiries: Professor Maree Smith, m.smith@tetraq.uq.edu.au or 07 3365 2554
About Professor Maree Smith
Professor Smith is the co-founder and Executive Director of the UQ Centre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development (CIPDD)/TetraQ, and a Professor of Pharmacy at UQ.
In 2008, she received the Women in Technology Biotech Outstanding Achievement Award and in 2009 she was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine (ANZCA). In 2011, she was elected a New Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
About the UQ Centre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development
The CIPDD is a joint venture of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health Sciences involving four Schools (Pharmacy, Medicine, Chemistry & Molecular Sciences, Biomedical Sciences) and a collaboration between its four founders, Professors Maree Smith, Ron Dickinson, Istvan Toth and Rod Minchin.
The translational research-focused organisation has a proven platform of preclinical capabilities, leading edge research infrastructure and an accredited quality management system that are critical for translating and commercialising new molecules into approved therapeutics.
