The ASC has reached an agreement with Inspiring Australia to communicate their activities and outcomes to our members. The aim is to encourage discussion which will further raise awareness of and engagement with the Strategy. This marks our first posting of news about Inspiring Australia.

Inspiring Australia Update

The Unlocking Australia’s Potential grants from Inspiring Australia that were announced in June are beginning to take shape. In fact, there have already been a number of events held, including:

• The first of the 2012 University of New South Wales Medicine Dean’s Lecture Series: ‘Stem Cells in Medicine: Opportunities and Challenges’.

The evening included presentations from Professor Alan Trounson, President of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine in San Francisco and a pioneer of IVF, as well as Dr Bernadette Tobin, Director of the Plunkett Centre for Ethics at Sydney’s St. Vincent’s Hospital. You can catch it all via vodcast.

•  And in Launceston, the Australian Society for Parasitologists (ASP) held the first of their three major public science engagement events.’Parasite Encounters in the Wild’ delivered a series of talks and activities for all ages, addressing issues ranging from the facial tumours afflicting Tasmanian Devils to the significance of parasites in biodiversity. The ASP has posted the event to YouTube.

We will soon be including a dedicated Inspiring Australia section on this site to keep members advised on how the funded projects are developing and to keep you up-to-date on upcoming events.

With lots more science engagement activities lined up for the latter half of 2012, there should be more than a few things to pique your interest.