User:JulieMay54/sandbox/Marguerite Evans-Galea

Marguerite Evans-Galea is a scientist and strong advocate and mentor for women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine). Her research is focused on gene therapy and neurodegenerative diseases.

Early life and Education
Evans-Galea grew up in Mackay, Queensland. She was mostly raised by her mother after her parents divorced. She credits her mother with encouraging her to "go find out for yourself...she started me on a research career very, very young" In High School she learned clarinet and discovered classical music. After school she originally planned to be a music therapist and work with children with autism but she was "bitten by the science bug" in her third year of university.

In 1994 she graduated a double degree from the University of Queensland BSc/BMus. This was followed by a PGDipSc (Postgraduate Diploma in Science) in 1995 also from the University of Queensland and a PhD from the University of New South Wales in 1999. Her doctoral thesis in molecular biology was titled Characterisation of the response to lipid hydroperoxide stress of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Career
From 1999 to 2007 Evans-Galea undertook postdoctoral research in the USA. In 2000 she was undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Utah but was terminated when she became pregnant. In 2001 she obtained a post at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

On her return to Australia in 2008 Evans-Galea joined a clinical team at the Bruce Lefroy Centre for Genetic Health Research at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) that allowed her to connect her research on yeasts with medical research. This has led to a career in research to develop cell and gene therapies and identify therapeutic targets for Friedreich's ataxia a neurodegenerative disease which affects children from around 10 years of age.

She has been an Honorary research scientist at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute since 2008 and Honorary Fellow, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne since 2009.

She served on the Immune Responses Committee of the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy and is a past member of executive committee of the Australasian Gene and Cell Therapy Society.

She is an Ex-Officio member and was Chair from 2016 to 2017 of the executive of the Australian Science and Innovation Forum, a partner of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Evans-Galea is committed to empowering early and mid-career researchers and a leading advocate of gender equality. She regularly mentors PhD students, researchers and faculty. She developed graduate mentoring programs in the USA. and was the founding chair of the Early-Mid Career Researcher (EMCR) Forum with the Australian Academy of Science from 2011 to 2013. She is a committee member and member of the Expert Advisory Group of the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Forum.

She is Executive Director of the Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) at the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. IMNIS connects motivated PhD students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics with high level industry mentors for a one-year industry mentoring program. In October 2018 about 300 PhD mentees were involved in the MTP (medical technologies, biotechnology and pharmaceutical) program in five states and 17 organisations.

Additionally, Evans-Galea is Program Coordinator for the IMNIS Energy-Minerals Programs nationally and the CCRM Australia-IMNIS International Mentoring Pilot internationally. She is co-founder and CEO of Women in STEMM Australia.

Awards and Honours
2006 - Travel Award, American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, USA

2009 - New Investigator Award, Friedreich Ataxia Research Alliance, USA

2009 - Panos Ioannou Young Investigator Award, Australasian Gene and Cell Therapy Society

2010 - Leadership Award, Murdoch Children's Research Institute

2012 - Travel Award, Ataxia Investigators Meeting, National Ataxia Foundation USA

2012 - Travel Award, Theo Murphy High Flyers Think Tank, Australian Academy of Science

2013 - Australian Leadership Award

2014 - First Prize, Health Hack for Medical Research

2015 - Travel Award, International Ataxia Research Conference, UK

2017 - an inductee and Ambassador with the Victorian Honour Roll of Women