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Katharina Gaus

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Katharina Gaus
Born(1972-07-12)12 July 1972
Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Died3 March 2021(2021-03-03) (aged 48)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
SpouseProfessor Justin Gooding[2]
AwardsElizabeth Blackburn Fellowship, 2013; Gottschalk Medal, 2012
Scientific career
FieldsCell receptors and membrane biology, signal transduction and medical biochemistry[1]
External videos
video icon Katharina Gaus - Extreme Close-up on Immunity, AboutUNSW

Katharina Gaus (12 July 1972 – 3 March 2021)[3] was a German-Australian immunologist and molecular microscopist. She was an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow[4] and founding head of the Cellular Membrane Biology Lab, part of the Centre for Vascular Research at the University of New South Wales.[5] Gaus used new super-resolution fluorescence microscopes[6][7][8] to examine the plasma membrane within intact living cells, and study cell signalling at the level of single molecules to better understand how cells "make decisions".[9] A key discovery of Gaus and her team was how T-cells decide to switch on the body's immune system to attack diseases.[10][11] Her work is of importance to the development of drugs that can work with T-cells in support of the immune system.[9]

Education

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Gaus studied physics and mathematics at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and a MPhil (1996) and PhD (1999) from the Institute of Biotechnology[12] at the University of Cambridge.[1] While there she created a biosensor to detect protein-protein interactions and a ligand library, useful as a diagnostic tool.[12]

Career

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Following her studies at the University of Cambridge, Katharina joined the Cell Biology Group at the Heart Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, led by Roger Dean and Wendy Jessup.[13] Around 2002, she moved with Wendy Jessup's group to the Centre for Vascular Research at the University of New South Wales.[12]

She received several fellowships, spending three months of 2001 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working with Enrico Gratton before returning to Australia to take up an Australian Research Council postdoctoral fellowship.[14] In 2005 Gaus was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship and spent six months at the Max Planck Institute for Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany,[14] working in the laboratory of Kai Simons.[13]

As of 2005, Gaus founded the Cellular Membrane Biology Lab, part of the Centre for Vascular Research at the University of New South Wales.[12][13] As of 2009 she became a senior research fellow and associate professor of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in Australia.[13]

Gaus was a member of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, founded in 2011, which is based at the University of New South Wales.[15] She was also deputy director and a chief investigator of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging.[16]

Gaus was active in encouraging girls to enter scientific fields.[17]

Gaus was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS) in 2015.[18]

She died on 3 March 2021 aged 48.[19][20]

Awards

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  • 2013, Elizabeth Blackburn Fellowship – Biomedical 2013 (NHMRC Research Excellence Award)[4][9]
  • 2013, NSW Science and Engineering Award for Excellence in Biological Sciences,[2] from the New South Wales Government[21]
  • 2012 Gottschalk Medal for outstanding research in the medical sciences, from the Australian Academy of Science[6]
  • 2010, Young Investigator Award from the Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology[4][12]
  • 2005, Tall Poppy Award, encouraging young Australian scientists[22]
  • 2005, ARC Early Researcher Award[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Professor Katharina Gaus". University of New South Wales. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b Gough, Myles (4 November 2013). "UNSW shines at science and engineering awards". UNSW Media Office. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Prof. Dr. Katharina Gaus". Traueranzeigen Deutschland (in German). Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Cooper, Alexis (11 June 2014). "Top researchers recognised with NHMRC Excellence Awards". National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Government. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Cellular Membrane Biology Lab". University of New South Wales. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Career research awards". Australian Academy of Science Awardees for 2012. Australian Academy of Science. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Katharina Gaus". Single Molecule Science. UNSW Australia. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Working with Industry – July news from the Imaging Centre of Excellence". Science in Public. ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  9. ^ a b c "Katharina Gaus: Elizabeth Blackburn Fellowship – Biomedical 2013". National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Government. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  10. ^ Cave, Peter (6 June 2011). "Super microscope discovers the secrets of immune cells". ABC Radio - AM program. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Supermicroscope pins immune 'switch'". Australasian Science. No. June 2011. Control Publications Pty Ltd. 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d e Wylie, Fiona (2010). "ANZSCDB Young Investigator Award : Kat Gaus, Pushing the boundaries is all in a day's work" (PDF). Newsletter. No. June 2010. Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  13. ^ a b c d "Professor Katharina Gaus". UNSW Medicine.
  14. ^ a b "Dr. Katharina Gaus". Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS). Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  15. ^ "ACN Members and Associate Members". Australian Centre for NanoMedicine (ACN). Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Chief Investigators". Centre for Advanced Molecular Imaging. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  17. ^ "Inspiring the next generation of female scientists". Single Molecule Science. UNSW Australia. 22 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health & Medical Sciences - October 2015" (PDF). Australian Academy of Health & Medical Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  19. ^ a b "Vale Scientia Professor Katharina Gaus". NSSN. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Katharina GAUS Death Notice - Sydney, New South Wales". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Awards". NSW Government Department of Industry. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  22. ^ "2005 New South Wales Award Winners". Tall Poppies. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
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Scholia has an author profile for Katharina Gaus.
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