Royal Society of New South Wales Early Career Research And Service Citations

The Council established these Early Career Citations in 2023 to commemorate the Society’s Bicentenary.

Each year, three citations together with a complimentary year of Associate Membership of the Society, are awarded to recognise outstanding contributions to research and service to the academic and wider community. Applicants must on 1 January of the year of nomination be no more than 5 years after the award of their PhD or equivalent by a university or other research institution in NSW or the ACT.

Winners will be expected to deliver a short presentation of their work at a general meeting of the Society in February or later of the year following that in which the award was made, and also submit a paper to the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales.

Royal Society of NSW Early Career Research and Service Citations 2024

Dr Fei Deng is currently a researcher in the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, UNSW Sydney, receiving his PhD degree (Biomedical Engineering) in 2021 from UNSW Sydney.

His research interests include point-of-care biosensing devices, CRISPR biosensing devices, and in vivo biosensing devices. Dr Deng has published over 30 articles in high-impact journals that include Nature Communications and Advanced Functional Materials. In addition, he has secured, either individually or as a chief investigator in a larger team, over $10M in research grants from sources that include Australia’s Economic Accelerator, CRC Projects, NHMRC, and theARC. His biosensor research has been well recognised by industry, leading to a startup company (Casbio) of which he is a co-founder, and as a research consultant to Avicena Systems.

Dr Jennifer Matthews is a Lecturer and Chancellor’s Research Fellow in the Climate Change Cluster research institute at the University of Technology Sydney. She graduated with a PhD in marine biology from the Victoria University of Wellington NZ in 2021 and holds a research Masters in ecology, evolution and conservations from Imperial College London, and a BSc (Hons) in biology from the University of Bath.

Currently, Dr. Matthews is the Deputy Team Leader of the UTS Future Reefs Group. Her research has transformed our understanding of coral nutrition and the physiology of corals in NSW, which is vital for local policy. Collaborating with Traditional Owners, she develops practical solutions to coral ecosystem challenges. With more than 50 invited presentations and 17 awards like the 2023 NSW Tall Poppy Award, her global impact is clear. Jen Matthews has published 32 papers (H-index 14) and has secured 13 grants exceeding AU$3.4M. For her commitment to science communication and mentoring, she was recognised in 2021 as one of the Science Technology Australia Superstars of STEM.

Dr Cynthia Turnbull is a postdoctoral researcher at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) of the Australian National University (ANU). Her PhD with Professor Carola Vinuesa focused on the role of genetic mutations in severe autoimmune disease. She discovered that the anti-fungal protein DECTIN-1 is a regulator of the immune system and can exacerbate the severity of autoimmune disease. Currently, she works in the laboratory of Professor Si Ming Man and studies the role of innate immunity in pro-inflammatory diseases. Her highly collaborative nature and keenness for cross-disciplinary research have resulted in 4 publications in high-impact journals; Nature, Nature Immunology, Science Advances and the Journal of Experimental Medicine, with over 350 citations. Outside of the lab, Cynthia has a passion for teaching and science communication. She has provided guest lectures at ANU, been invited to present at Australian and international research institutes and conferences and has featured in several media articles and radio talk shows.

Royal Society of NSW Early Career Research and Service Citations 2023

Since 2021, Dr Jacinta Martin has been a Lecturer and postdoctoral researcher in the University of Newcastle (UoN) College of Engineering, Science and Environment and the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) Infertility and Reproduction Research Program. She works with a multidisciplinary group of researchers using human and animal models to characterise the processes of gamete maturation — the process by which oocytes and spermatozoa are formed. The goal of her research is to improve the understanding of factors that lead to infertility and pregnancy loss in women.

After graduating from UoN with a PhD in 2019, Jacinta has established a strong academic record that includes 24 research articles and nearly $1 million in research funding. During her PhD, Jacinta received the “Best HDR Publication Award” in 2016 and 2018 and received a number of travel grants that allowed to to present her work at major international meetings. Following her PhD, she undertook post-doctoral research at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada from 2019–2021. Dr Martin’s academic career extends beyond her personal research performance into the development of her discipline. She has served the Society for the Study of Reproduction (USA) on the Board of Directors as their trainee representative and has had significant professional roles at McGill University, HMRI, and the University of Newcastle as a facilitator, chair, adjudicator, and committee member.

Dr Abhimanu Pandey is a postdoctoral researcher at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) at the Australian National University, following the completion of his PhD at JCSMR in 2022 and undergraduate studies in India prior to that. He works in the research group of Professor Si Ming Man FRSN which studies innate immunity and inflammasomes. At the time of the application for this award, he has 15 peer-reviewed publications, nine of which were generated during his PhD, and has been awarded three early career research grants. In his research, he has identified a novel biomarker for bowel cancer that can sense DNA and inhibit the development and progression of bowel inflammation and cancer. The identification of precise structural locations within the immune protein that are druggable, using small molecule drugs, is expected to be transformational in the improvement of treatment outcomes in patients with inflammation and cancer.

In addition to his research profile, Dr Pandey has demonstrated leadership within his profession. Within JCSMR, he organised the first School HDR Student Conference in 2022, while within the wider University, he volunteers and raises funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Mega Swim event, and serves as a mentor for undergraduate science students. Externally, he is a reviewer for five international research journals.

Dr Shoujin Wang is a Lecturer in Data Science at the University of Technology Sydney, following the completion of his PhD at UTS in 2019. His research interests are in data mining, machine learning, recommender systems, and fake news mitigation, and in the past five years, he has authored 60 publications that have received 2,400 citations. His research record includes a number of IEEE awards and a growing research grant profile.

His research activities have a range of real-world applications and impacts, notably his pioneering work on fake news mitigation via recommendation that is helping to mitigate disinformation on the web. His work addresses challenges faced across a range of sectors including infrastructure, banking, accounting, and agriculture, and involves collaborators that include EY, Sydney Water, Suncorp, and Agriweb. His work with Sydney Water has led to a novel prediction model that automatically and effectively provides early detection of water quality issues in reservoir catchments.

List of Past Recipients of Royal Society of NSW Scholarships

Year	Citation Awardees
2023	Dr Jacinta Martin (University of Newcastle) Dr Abhimanu Pandey (Australian National University) Dr Shoujin Wang (University of Technology Sydney)
2024	Dr Fei Deng (UNSW Sydney) Dr Jennifer Matthews (University of Technology Sydney) Dr Cynthia Turnbull (Anustralian National University)