A mathematician has won the 2019 Prime Minister's Prize for Science for her contributions to pure mathematics. Her work went on to influence how we keep information secure on the internet.

Emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger of the University of Western Australia received the $250,000 prize at Parliament House this evening alongside other award winners in research, innovation and teaching.



Full list of winners: Prime Minister's Prize for Science ($250,000) — Emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger, for her fundamental work in group theory and combinatorics.

($250,000) — Emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger, for her fundamental work in group theory and combinatorics. Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation ($250,000) — The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute team, for the development of the leukemia drug venetoclax.

($250,000) — The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute team, for the development of the leukemia drug venetoclax. Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year ($50,000) — Professor Laura Mackay, for her leadership in the field of immunological memory.

($50,000) — Professor Laura Mackay, for her leadership in the field of immunological memory. Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year ($50,000) — Associate Professor Elizabeth New, for pioneering new chemical imaging tools to observe healthy and diseased cells.

($50,000) — Associate Professor Elizabeth New, for pioneering new chemical imaging tools to observe healthy and diseased cells. Prize for New Innovators ($50,000) — Dr Luke Campbell, for inventing the nuraphone, headphones that adapt to an individual's unique sense of hearing.

($50,000) — Dr Luke Campbell, for inventing the nuraphone, headphones that adapt to an individual's unique sense of hearing. Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools ($50,000) — Mrs Sarah Finney, for introducing hundreds of children to the joys of studying science.

($50,000) — Mrs Sarah Finney, for introducing hundreds of children to the joys of studying science. Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Teaching in Secondary Schools ($50,000) — Dr Samantha Moyle, for transforming interactive learning beyond the classroom.

"Receiving the Prime Minister's Prize for Science is a wonderful statement about how important mathematics is. It recognises the achievements of me, my colleagues and students in the mathematics of symmetry," Professor Praeger said.

Much of her work has been in the field of group theory, a branch of pure mathematics which deals in part with questions of symmetry.

"I think symmetry is something we're all familiar with, from the spiral galaxies to the tiny spiral shells on the beach," Professor Praeger said. "In mathematics we measure symmetry via groups."

These groups — collections of abstract objects that can include regular numbers and which coalesce into designs and geometric shapes — underpin critical systems of modern life.

They're crucial to public-key cryptography — the way you communicate over the internet or with your bank to keep information secure.

"No-one foresaw what enormous impact this [early work in group theory] was going to have on our ability to understand symmetric structures in symmetry, in nature, in mathematics and in science," Professor Praeger said.

Another of her major contributions to mathematics, in a body of work spanning decades and more than 400 journal publications, is the development of algorithms used in mathematical computer systems worldwide.

One of Australia's first female maths professors

Born in Toowoomba, Queensland, Professor Praeger's love of mathematics began in primary school. But it was almost blown off course by a career adviser at the end of her school years.

"Unfortunately, the adviser suggested that girls didn't do maths and that I should consider a different career," she said.

"I was so cross and stubborn I got some different advice and ended up being able to study mathematics and science at university."

At the University of Queensland, Professor Praeger didn't realise that women were out of the ordinary in mathematics at the time.

"In my university courses I had two women teachers, at the University of Queensland ... I wasn't aware this was unusual. So I was perhaps wilfully ignorant, or luckily ignorant about this — though I did notice it was a little more difficult to gain acceptance," she said.

Professor Cheryl Praeger was one of the first female professors of mathematics in Australia. ( Supplied: Prime Minister's Prizes for Science )

She later won a scholarship to study at Oxford and became one of the first female professors of mathematics in Australia in 1983.

"It was extraordinary - it changed the whole of my life and my career," Professor Praeger said.

"I was invited to take part in many different programs and committees — the curriculum development council of the Federal Government, which was just being instituted at the time. I had a huge involvement in mathematics education as well as my mathematics research and teaching."

Among her students was Professor Akshay Venkatesh, winner of the 2018 Fields Medal. Professor Praeger taught and mentored Venkatesh when he was a 13-year-old undergraduate.

Quantum computing heralds future challenges

Looking to the future, Professor Praeger's excited about the possibility of a quantum computer and the challenges it will bring for mathematics.

"If we are faced with a quantum computer, the mathematical challenges will be completely different from what they have been in the past and we will need really strong skills to face them. I look forward very much to this new change in our society," Professor Praeger said.

"I would encourage any young people, girls and boys — if you're interested in maths and science, to run for it."

"There are so many exciting careers and more and more problems will be coming up in the future which will need your expertise and commitment. Australia really needs you to help it through to a great future," she said.

A drug that 'melts' cancer

The second major award of the evening – the Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation – was presented to a group of four scientists from Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for their work on venetoclax, a drug used to treat leukemia. Professor David Huang, Professor Peter Czabotar, Professor Guillaume Lessene and Professor Andrew Roberts will share the $250,000 prize.

Professor Huang said the story of venetoclax began in the 1980s, with a discovery made by then PhD student David Vaux — now a professor and deputy director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

"The experiments he was doing were on cancer cells and he happened to neglect them over a weekend," Professor Huang said.

Professor David Huang, Professor Guillaume Lessene, Professor Peter Czabotar and Professor Andrew Roberts of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute ( Supplied: Prime Minister's Prizes for Science )

"On his return to work, he realised these cells were still alive when they should all have been dead."

Uncovering the protein that kept the cells alive — a protein called BCL-2 — kicked off decades of work in anti-cancer treatments. If scientists could interfere or counteract the BCL-2, they might 'flip the switch' and kill the cancer cells.

"That's what venetoclax is designed to do. It specifically works on turning off the activity of BCL-2. BCL-2 is often overactive in cancer – if you can switch it off, one hopes you could induce these cancer cells to die," Professor Huang said.

From bench to bedside

Proving that idea and developing a drug that could achieve it safely took many years — but venetoclax is now available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for the blood cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (after at least one prior therapy).

"Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is the most common leukemia in Australia and the commonest in the western world," Professor Huang said.

"What we were able to see even in the first few patients, and subsequently confirmed in the bigger clinical trials, is that this is a drug that will work in this disease for chronic lymphocytic leukemia."

The drug has shown to be effective in scientific trials, with fewer side effects compared to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Professor Huang said the prize spoke to the importance of collaboration in science and the importance of basic scientific research.

"I think what we're doing with basic research is to try to understand these diseases much better, so we can develop much better, more specific, better tolerated and less toxic therapies," he said.

"Many thousands of researchers globally, including ones in Australia, are making a huge impact in this field. And I think we need to continue to encourage that."