A Newcastle-based computer scientist, Professor Pablo Moscato, is a nominee for the prestigious Rotary Humanitarian STAR (Science, Technology, Aerospace, Robotics) Award.
Recognised in two different categories of Health and Medical and Knowledge Sharing, Pablo was nominated for his application and development of mathematical models and computer algorithms for some of the most challenging problems in biology and biotechnology research.
The nomination for the Knowledge Sharing category is also based on the introduction of a technique called memetic algorithms. Pablo’s published work on memetic algorithms has created a new field of mathematics that has gained worldwide reputation.
Pablo said in some ways his life has come in full circle.
“I was awarded by Rotary International in 1987 a Scholarship to study overseas, and I went to the California Institute of Technology. There I started a field called memetic algorithms which now has its own dedicated scientific journal. Thirty years later, a nomination, again by Rotary International, is a great honour to my professional trajectory, one that started in Argentina, took me around the world, and then found its new mission in the Hunter for the past 16 years,” Pablo said.
Among his achievements, Pablo led the team that was the world’s first in identifying a panel of proteins, allowing for a longitudinal test that predicts the onset of Alzheimer’s several years in advance.
He said this research has been well received in the Hunter.
“In the Hunter I have been pleased to receive support for my Alzheimer’s Disease research by anonymous donors that contacted my institution wanting to know more about my research. I was also supported by the incredible people of the Maitland Cancer Appeal, a group with vision, one that helps me to try innovative techniques for the analysis of data on the performance of drugs. We are inventing new types of Artificial Intelligence methods to help us discover which mechanisms may explain the response of some cancer cells to particular drugs.
“My research lab has hugely benefited by the collaboration of the Hunter community and I hope to continue developing a partnership with it to address some challenging problems in many fields.”
The Rotary Humanitarian STAR Award recognises outstanding scientific and technological achievements that significantly improve lives and positively impacts humanity.
The Third Annual Rotary Humanitarian STAR Awards will be held today at the University Club of Pasadena in California.
Pablo is a University of Newcastle Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computing. He is currently completing a book in the area of business and consumer analytics.
IMAGE | Professor Pablo Moscato is a nominee for the Rotary Humanitarian STAR Award.
