Murdoch’s Professor of Computational Medicine and Premier’s Fellow in Phenomics,Elaine Holmes, has been named one of 20 winners at the esteemed Women in Tech [+] 20 WA Awards (WiTWA) held in Perth on 24 October 2019.
Professor Holmes received the award from a diverse field of 187 nominees, which included women from digital and software development backgrounds through to STEM educators and coders. She was recognised for her achievements in technology and science, as well as her excellent work in mentoring young scientists.
“I am honoured to have received a WiTWA technology award. I wholeheartedly support the progression of women in STEM areas and believe that helping to shape the knowledge and experience of the younger generation is one of the most important things we can do," she said.
Her important research focuses on applying metabolic profiling and computational modelling of biological samples to progress research on maternal and infant health, liver and gastrointestinal disease and metabolic diseases such as diabetes and dementia. Her award is recognition of her commitment to mentoring more than 20 female scientists, as well as outreach and community engagement.
Professor Holmes joined Murdoch in early 2019 having previously worked at Imperial College London where she headed the Division of Computational and Systems Medicine. She is the author of more than 400 peer reviewed papers and has won several other awards including the Royal Society of Chemistry Interdisciplinary Award and Lifetime membership of the Metabolomics Society.
She was instrumental in setting up a metabolic profiling laboratory in the Gambia for MS-based screening for hepatitis B and HCC and also co-founded the Latin American Metabolic Profiling Society (LAMPS) in 2014. She created an online e-learning course for clinicians for the NIHR (2018) and is actively involved in outreach programs such as Springboard and Techtrails and other STEM activities.
Professor Holmes is one of four Murdoch University women to be nominated this year, including Associate Director in Digital Innovations Julie Whitlock, forensic scientist Dr Paola Magni and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance manager Dr Sam Lodge.