Kellion Award Winner 2006
Professor David James
The Australian Diabetes Society is proundproud to announce that the winner of the 2006 Kellion Lecture is awarded to Professor David James from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
Professor James trained in Australia under the mentorship of Professors Edward (Ted) Kraegen and Donald Chisholm at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. He then undertook post-doctoral research in the USA under the mentorship of Professor Paul Pilch at Boston University Medical School, before becoming an Assistant Professor at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis It was in these positions that he made two pivotal discoveries. In two landmark papers published in Nature (vol. 333: 183-185, 1988; vol. 338: 83-87, 1989), he described the insulin-regulatable glucose transporter subsequently termed GLUT4. These papers have together been cited over 1000 times and, since, there have been over 2,500 published papers relating to GLUT4 biology.
In 1994, Professor James moved back to Australia where he not only continued to produce work of exceptionally high standard, but he has carried the banner of Australian diabetes research at many international meetings, being an invited speaker at the American Endocrine Society or American Diabetes Association meetings for 7 of the last 9 years (including 2006), an enviable achievmentachievement for anyone from anywhere in the world. In 1999, Professor James was awarded the Glaxo-Wellcome Australia Medal for his impressive research achieve ments.
Professor James has always remained “patriotically Australian”. His mentorship extends beyond those directly associated with him at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, where he is now the Director of the Diabetes and Obesity Research Program. He has been fervent in improving the quality of diabetes research in Australia. Soon after he returned here, he took on the Chairmanship of the ADS Program Committee, at a time when he was already burdened with establishing his own department. He has also been very conscious of Australia’s position in the Asia-Pacific region and the desirability for Australia to lead in this area. To that end he, with Professor Masato Kasuga from Japan, recently established the Asia-Pacific Diabetes and Obesity Research Group, which will meet annually.
Although David James has had many demands on his time, he has always made himself available to the diabetes movement in Australia, for example as a spokesperson and lecturer for Diabetes Australia, and to fellow-scientists, students and others seeking his knowledge and wisdom. This quality to interact generously with others, particularly younger scientists, is always evident including at the ADS annual scientific meeting. It is these outstanding personal qualities that make Professor David James a worthy winner of the 2006 Kellion Australian Diabetes Society Award
