In the 1980s, Professors Cory and Adams switched their attention to the genetic errors that provoke lymphomas and leukaemias. They discovered that the chromosome translocation associated with Burkitt's lymphomas activates an oncogene known as myc, which promotes cell proliferation. With colleagues David Vaux and Andreas Strasser, they later made the surprising discovery that bcl-2, the oncogene activated by chromosome translocation in human follicular lymphoma, stops cells from dying. Their research remains focused on the pathways that control cell death.

Professor Cory said it was a great honour to receive the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize. "I am thrilled be awarded this prize and to be acknowledged alongside women such as Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Nicole Le Douarin, for whom I have enormous professional and personal respect," Professor Cory said.

"So many women have made vital contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge but too often in the past, as in other fields, they have been under-recognised. To have awards such as the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize to recognise their achievements is of enormous significance and provides great encouragement to women to take up a career in science."

Source: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute