Our cities produce more water than they need, but we’re still at risk of running dry. Academy Fellow Professor Ana Deletic explains the technology that can save water, reduce heat … all while improving property prices along the way.

Academy Fellow Professor Eduardo Nebot from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics talks to Anthea Batsakis about automated cities, artificial intelligence and robotics and where all this is headed.

Managing Director of Energy, Resources and Manufacturing at Aurecon and Academy Fellow, Dr Alex Wonhas, breaks down the debate on renewable energy in Australia and describes alternate futures for the country.

Catherine Tanna FTSE, Managing Director of EnergyAustralia, delivered the annual Academy Oration in Melbourne on 23 November 2018.

Australia has joined the space race with the launch of the Australian Space Agency. Head of the Agency and Academy Fellow Dr Megan Clark explains why we have a head start.

Jon Jutsen, Chair of the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity and a Fellow of the Academy, says energy efficiency shouldn't have a low profile in national energy debates.

Two of our Fellows debate the issue. Hear from University of Western Australia's Professor Simon Biggs and Swinburne University of Technology's Professor Bronwyn Fox.

As more devices become connected to the internet, huge amounts of data about the real world is being created. Imagine the wealth of information that can be generated from smart cars, smart infrastructure and, importantly, smart bodies.

Hear Professor Hugh Bradlow FTSE, Academy President, explain how machine learning can navigate Big Data, deriving patterns from data with no obvious mathematical causal relationship, and so redefining healthcare.

David Glanz talks to Professor David Huang, 2018 Clunies Ross Knowledge Commercialisation Awardee, and collaborators Associate Professor Peter Czabotar and Associate Professor Guillaume Lessene.

The three researchers, along with Professor Andrew Roberts, are recognised for their role in the development of a novel, potent anti-cancer drug called venetoclax.

The drug, discovered in collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and AbbVie, was recently approved for use in the US, Europe and Australia to treat certain forms of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

Derived from a basic research discovery in the late 1980s at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, the team’s findings helped to solve a problem that eluded international research efforts: inhibiting a family of pro-survival proteins called BCL-2.

The solution involved expertise from each collaborator: Professor Huang led research unravelling the basic biology of the protein family; Associate Professors Lessene and Professor Czabotar focused on drug design and discovery; and Professor Roberts led translational and clinical research to establish its effectiveness in patients. They demonstrated that BCL-2 inhibitors had the potential to be exploited as an anti-cancer treatment.

Pioneering clinical trials of venetoclax began in Australia in 2011 and saw outstanding results for patients. Some 79 per cent of people involved in two early phase clinical trials reported in 2016 had a promising result to the treatment. Both studies saw remissions in patients with advanced CLL for whom conventional treatment options had been exhausted.

The social impacts of this drug will be enduring, benefiting patients and the health system and fuelling further investment and employment in the research sector – basic and translational.

In July 2017, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research completed a landmark deal, selling a part of its royalty rights in venetoclax for up to $US325 million. A portion of this income is being used to enhance and accelerate the discovery of new medicines, ensuring more cutting-edge medical research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute can be translated.

The drug is now undergoing clinical trials to test its effectiveness in treating other types of cancer, with the hope it will benefit more patients in the future.

David Glanz talks to 2018 Clunies Ross Innovation Awardee, Dr Jim Aylward.

Dr Aylward is the inventor of Picato, a novel anti-skin cancer drug developed from a folklore remedy that has been used to treat more than one million patients. Picato is a prescription drug with worldwide sales and major competitive advantages, and has become part of the arsenal for dermatology clinics.

Dr Aylward discovered the drug after observing how sap from a weed successfully treated sunspots and isolating the active ingredients: an ingenane diterpene family of molecules, including ingenol mebutate. The drug requires only two to three days of treatment and no disfiguring surgery, protracted therapy or damage to DNA.

The ex-CSIRO research scientist and entrepreneur co-founded Peplin Pty Ltd in 1998 to commercialise his invention, which was later sold to Leo Pharma A/S for around $306 million in 2009. Leo Pharma has set up an Australian office, employing more than 100 Australians and expanding the number of Australians skilled in pharmaceutical manufacture and clinical trial management.

Dr Aylward’s support for translational research and development is ongoing. He established Oncolin to mentor start-up companies and served on the Advisory Panel for the University of Queensland’s iLab Incubator from 2006-2011. He also serves as a non-executive director of Wesley Medical Research.

For his work, Dr Aylward was a state finalist in the Senior Australian of the Year awards and a joint winner of the 2012 Life Sciences Queensland Award. Now, he supports innovative companies through the State Government Mentoring for Growth initiative, and in 2012 he was awarded a certificate in appreciation of his commitment and support for growing Queensland businesses.

He is also a member of a number of commercialisation committees at University of Queensland institutes, providing advice and support to encourage a new generation of entrepreneurs.