Kirsten Benkendorff

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Kirsten Benkendorff is a marine scientist who works on molluscs, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory properties and cancer fighting properties. She was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 2000 and a Dorothy Hill Medal for Science in 2011.

Contents

Kirsten Benkendorff
Born1973
Alma mater University of Wollongong Macquarie University
OccupationMarine Scientist
TitleProfessor
Scientific career
Institutions Southern Cross University
Thesis Bioactive molluscan resources and their conservation: Chemical and biological studies on the egg masses of marine molluscs
Website https://www.scu.edu.au/marine-ecology-research-centre/people/kirsten-benkendorff

Early life and career

Benkendorff obtained a Bachelor of Science from Macquarie University in 1994, followed by a PhD at the University of Wollongong in 1999. She was a career consultant for the Shellharbour Council in New South Wales, before becoming a lecturer in Marine Biology at Flinders University in South Australia, from 2006 to 2010, and then working at Southern Cross University. [1] [2]

Benkendorff has conducted research on a combination of medical and marine research, investigating the anti-cancer extracts from the Australian marine life including the whelk. [3]

Benkendorff is a Professor of Marine Science, and the Co-Deputy Director of the Marine Ecology Research Centre at Southern Cross University. She is also a Councillor, within the Malacological Society of Australasia as well as an Associate Editor Scientific Reports and Marine Drugs. [4]

In 2011 she was awarded the Dorothy Hill Medal for her research on marine science, molluscs and their medicinal properties. She was awarded the Young Australian of the Year, in 2000, for Science and Technology and NSW Australian of the year, in 2001, for her contributions to the environment.[ citation needed ]

Publications

Select examples of Benkendorff's publications are as follows:

Prizes and awards

2011Dorothy Hill Medal from Australian Academy of Science.
2008SA Young Tall Poppy Award. [8]
2001NSW Young Australian of the Year Award - Environment Category.
2000Young Australian of the Year Award in Science and Technology. [9]

Media

Benkendorff has published in The Sydney Morning Herald , [10] [11] and The Conversation, on her research into the cancer fighting properties of molluscs. [12] [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benthos</span> Community of organisms that live in the benthic zone

Benthos, also known as benthon, is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the bottom of a sea, river, lake, or stream, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine or freshwater sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medicinal chemistry</span> Scientific branch of chemistry

Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and development of new chemical entities suitable for therapeutic use. It also includes the study of existing drugs, their biological properties, and their quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holoplankton</span>

Holoplankton are organisms that are planktic for their entire life cycle. Holoplankton can be contrasted with meroplankton, which are planktic organisms that spend part of their life cycle in the benthic zone. Examples of holoplankton include some diatoms, radiolarians, some dinoflagellates, foraminifera, amphipods, krill, copepods, and salps, as well as some gastropod mollusk species. Holoplankton dwell in the pelagic zone as opposed to the benthic zone. Holoplankton include both phytoplankton and zooplankton and vary in size. The most common plankton are protists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common starfish</span> Species of starfish

The common starfish, common sea star or sugar starfish is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic. Belonging to the family Asteriidae, it has five arms and usually grows to between 10–30 cm across, although larger specimens are known. The common starfish is usually orange or brownish in color, and sometimes violet; specimens found in deeper waters are pale. The common starfish is found on rocky and gravelly substrates where it feeds on mollusks and other benthic invertebrates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine invertebrates</span> Marine animals without a vertebral column

Marine invertebrates are invertebrate animals that live in marine habitats, and make up most of the macroscopic life in the oceans. It is a polyphyletic blanket term that contains all marine animals except the marine vertebrates, including the non-vertebrate members of the phylum Chordata such as lancelets, sea squirts and salps. As the name suggests, marine invertebrates lack any mineralized axial endoskeleton, i.e. the vertebral column, and some have evolved a rigid shell, test or exoskeleton for protection and/or locomotion, while others rely on internal fluid pressure to support their bodies. Marine invertebrates have a large variety of body plans, and have been categorized into over 30 phyla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mollusca</span> Phylum of invertebrate animals

Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks. Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The number of additional fossil species is estimated between 60,000 and 100,000, and the proportion of undescribed species is very high. Many taxa remain poorly studied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmosterol</span> Chemical compound

Desmosterol (Cholesta-5,24-dien-3β-ol) is a lipid present in the membrane of phytoplankton and an intermediate product in cholesterol synthesis in mammal cells. Structurally, desmosterol has a similar backbone to cholesterol, with the exception of an additional double bond in the structure of desmosterol.

<i>Cominella adspersa</i> Species of gastropod

Cominella adspersa, the speckled whelk or kawari in Maori, is a predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cominellidae.

<i>Cominella virgata</i> Species of gastropod

Cominella virgata is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cominellidae.

<i>Mohnia abyssorum</i> Species of gastropod

Mohnia abyssorum is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radiole</span> Feather-like tentacle found on some polychaetes

A radiole is a heavily ciliated feather-like tentacle found in highly organized clusters on the crowns of Canalipalpata. Canalipalpata is an order of sessile marine polychaete worms consisting of 31 families. These benthic annelid tube worms employ radioles primarily for alimentation. While their primary role is to function as an organ for filter feeding, radioles also serve as respiratory organs. Because of their role in gas exchange, radioles are often referred to as "gills".

Science & Technology Australia (STA), formerly known as the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS), is an organisation representing the interests of more than 90,000 Australian scientists and technologists, and promoting their views on a wide range of policy issues to the Australian Government, Australian industry, and the Australian community.

The hypobranchial gland is a glandular structure which is part of the anatomy of many mollusks, including several different families of gastropods, and also many protobranch bivalves. This gland produces mucus as well as biologically active compounds. The cephalopod ink sac is a modified hypobranchial gland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bromide peroxidase</span> Family of enzymes

Bromide peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.18, bromoperoxidase, haloperoxidase (ambiguous), eosinophil peroxidase) is a family of enzymes with systematic name bromide:hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase. These enzymes catalyse the following chemical reaction:

<i>Kelletia</i> Genus of gastropods

Kelletia is a genus of large sea snails, whelks, a marine gastropod molluscs in the whelk family Austrosiphonidae.

Jeremy K. Nicholson is a professor and pro vice chancellor of Health Sciences at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, where he leads the Australian National Phenome Centre. He is also an emeritus professor of Biological Chemistry at Imperial College London and was the director and principal investigator of the MRC-NIHR National Phenome Centre until 2018.

<i>Kelletia lischkei</i> Species of gastropod

Kelletia lischkei is a species of large sea snail, or whelk, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Austrosiphonidae.

Mary Jean Garson is a British-Australian organic chemist and academic. She is an Emerita Professor in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Queensland.

Themiste cymodoceae is a species of unsegmented benthic marine worm in the phylum Sipuncula, the peanut worms. It is native to shallow waters around Australia and in the South China Sea where it lives in a cavity it creates among seagrass roots and in empty oyster shells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loisette M. Marsh</span> Canadian born Australian marine biologist (1928–2021)

Loisette M. Marsh (1928–2021) was a Canadian-born Australian marine biologist.

References

  1. Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology. "Benkendorff, Kirsten - Person - Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation". www.eoas.info. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  2. "Kirsten Benkendorff". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  3. newsdesk (10 May 2011). "Flinders congratulates Dr Kirsten Benkendorff". News. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  4. "Kirsten Benkendorff - Southern Cross University". www.scu.edu.au. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  5. Benkendorff, Kirsten; Davis, Andrew R.; Bremner, John B. (1 August 2001). "Chemical Defense in the Egg Masses of Benthic Invertebrates: An Assessment of Antibacterial Activity in 39 Mollusks and 4 Polychaetes". Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 78 (2): 109–118. Bibcode:2001JInvP..78..109B. doi:10.1006/jipa.2001.5047. ISSN   0022-2011. PMID   11812113.
  6. Benkendorff, Kirsten; Davis, Andrew R.; Rogers, Cary N.; Bremner, John B. (9 March 2005). "Free fatty acids and sterols in the benthic spawn of aquatic molluscs, and their associated antimicrobial properties". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 316 (1): 29–44. Bibcode:2005JEMBE.316...29B. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2004.10.001. ISSN   0022-0981.
  7. Benkendorff, Kirsten (25 January 2010). "Molluscan biological and chemical diversity: secondary metabolites and medicinal resources produced by marine molluscs". Biological Reviews. 85 (4): 757–775. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2010.00124.x. PMID   20105155. S2CID   19942649.
  8. "Dr Kirsten Benkendorff". AIPS. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  9. Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology. "Benkendorff, Kirsten - Person - Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation". www.eoas.info. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  10. Debelle, Penelope (30 May 2008). "Scientists oppose SA desalination plans". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  11. Park, Nicky (5 May 2011). "Australian dog whelk in cancer fight". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  12. "Kirsten Benkendorff". The Conversation. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  13. Benthotage, Chamara; Benkendorff, Kirsten; Cole, Victoria. "Leaf oysters: the unsung heroes of estuaries are disappearing, and we know almost nothing about them". The Conversation. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  14. Creagh, Sunanda. "Could molluscs cure cancer?". The Conversation. Retrieved 12 April 2022.