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Elizabeth Finkel

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Elizabeth Finkel
Other namesElla Finkel
CitizenshipAustralian
Alma materMonash University
University of Melbourne
Occupation(s)Author, journalist
SpouseAlan Finkel

Elizabeth "Ella" Finkel AM (née Sher) is an Australian science journalist, author and communicator. A former biochemist, she has been broadcast on ABC Radio National, and written for publications such as Science, The Lancet, Nature Medicine, The Bulletin, New Scientist, The Age and The Monthly. In 2005, Finkel co-founded the popular science magazine COSMOS, served as Editor in Chief from 2013 to 2018 and she remains its Editor at Large. In 2016 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her science communication work and philanthropy.[1] In 2019, Finkel was awarded a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Monash University and the Medal of the Australian Society for Medical Research.[2] She now serves as a Vice Chancellor's Fellow at La Trobe University[3] and on advisory committees for La Trobe University Press, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) and the Melbourne Zoo.

Education

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Born in 1956 in Warsaw, Poland, Ella migrated to Melbourne in 1957. She attended Princess Hill Primary School in North Carlton, St Kilda Park Primary School, Caulfield Central, and the MacRoberston Girls’ High School. In 1978 she completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours at Monash University, with a thesis on ‘Regulation of the mitochondrial genome’. Ella then embarked on a PhD in biochemistry at University of Melbourne's Department of Medicine titled ‘Studies of the 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor’.

In post-doctoral research, she spent one year in Professor John Baxter's laboratory at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), working on the regulation of the human growth hormone gene. This was followed by four years in Professor Patrick O’Farrell's laboratory at UCSF, investigating the genes that sculpt a fruit fly egg into an embryo – work that was published in Nature.

Career

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Upon returning to Melbourne, Finkel turned to freelance journalism in both radio and print media. She has been described by former editor of COSMOS Wilson da Silva as "researching topics to within an inch of their lives",[citation needed] efforts that have been rewarded with numerous awards (see Selected awards below).

Personal life

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Ella has been married to neuroscientist, entrepreneur and former Chief Scientist of Australia Alan Finkel since 1982.[4] They have two sons and live in Melbourne. Through the A & E Finkel Foundation[5] the Finkels support diverse projects centred around education, research and quality journalism.

Selected awards

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1994 Michael Daley Award for best radio feature broadcast on Ockham’s Razor: ‘Nitric Oxide’

2005: Winner Queensland Premiers literary award for Best Science Writer, for ‘Stem Cells: controversy at the frontiers of science’

2005: Eureka Award for promoting the public understanding of science (finalist) for ‘Stem Cells: controversy at the frontiers of science’

2007: Winner Bell Award for best Analytical Writer

2007: Winner Bell Award for best Feature

2010: Shortlisted Queensland Premier's Literary Award for ‘The Trouble with Genes’ and ‘Black Harvest’ published in Cosmos

2011: National Press Club's Higher Education Journalist of the Year[6]

2015: Eureka Award for Science Journalism for ‘A statin a day’, Cosmos

2016: Order of Australia (AM)

2019: Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Monash University

2019: Medal of the Australian Society for Medical Research

Selected publications

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Books

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Stem Cells: controversies at the frontiers of science[7]

The Genome Generation[8]

The Best Australian Science Writing 2012 (ED)[9]

Articles

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2021 ‘Countdown to iBlastoids’, The Monthly[10]

2019 'Chasing the miracle of gene therapy', The Monthly[11]

2018 Lines in the sand: Coming to terms with Patricia Piccinini[12]

Cosmos magazine articles

sciencemag.org articles

‘Two-tiered regulation of spatially patterned engrailed gene expression during Drosophila embryogenesis,’ Nature, 1988[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Cosmos editor-in-chief receives Queen's Birthday honour". Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  2. ^ "ASMR 1The Australian Society for MedicalResearch2019QUEENSLAND HEALTH & MEDICAL RESEARCH AWARDS" (PDF). Australian Society for Medical Research. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  3. ^ "La Trobe welcomes Dr Elizabeth Finkel". La Trobe University. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  4. ^ Wilmoth, Peter (23 March 2019). "Two of us: Inside the marriage of top scientists Alan and Elizabeth Finkel". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  5. ^ "The Trustee For The A & E Finkel Foundation Trust". CharityGuide. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Journalism Awards". National Press Club of Australia. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  7. ^ Finkel, Elizabeth (1 April 2005). Stem Cells: Controversy at the Frontiers of Science. ABC Books. p. 192. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  8. ^ Finkel, Elizabeth (2012). The Genome Generation. Melbourne University Press. p. 274. ISBN 9780522856477.
  9. ^ Finkel, Elizabeth, ed. (2012). The Best Australian Science Writing 2012. NewSouth. p. 256. ISBN 9781742233482. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  10. ^ Finkel, Elizabeth (1 June 2021). "Countdown to iBlastoids". The Monthly. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  11. ^ Finkel, Elizabeth (March 2019). "Chasing the miracle of gene therapy". The Monthly. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  12. ^ Finkel, Elizabeth (20 March 2018). "Lines in the sand: Coming to terms with Patricia Piccinini". Queensland Art Gallery. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  13. ^ DiNardo, S; Sher, Elizabeth; Heemskerk-Jongens, J; Kassis, JA; O'Farrell, PH (14 April 1988). "Two-tiered regulation of spatially patterned engrailed gene expression during Drosophila embryogenesis". Nature. 332 (6165): 604–609. Bibcode:1988Natur.332..604D. doi:10.1038/332604a0. PMC 2753417. PMID 3282172.
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