18 Aug 2016
Cutting-edge scientist, now an Olympic Silver medallist!
Balancing a rigorous Olympic training program with studying for a medical degree has paid off for rower and University of Melbourne medical student Joshua Booth, winning a Silver Medal in the Mens Four at the Rio Olympics.
Josh recently completed a 12-month research project at the Doherty Institute, in the Purcell Lab, immediately before his selection into the Australian Olympic team.
He worked with Dr. Georges Khoury and David Yurick to develop a new method to accurately measure the level of cellular persistence of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), a prevalent infection in remote indigenous communities.
HTLV-1 is a blood-borne virus and that is associated with chronic inflammatory diseases. It can be associated with adult t-cell leukaemia. It’s a lifelong infection with no cure available.
“Josh conducted a successful basic molecular virology research program on clinical samples from Alice Springs in between his training schedule for the Australian Olympic rowing squad,” Doherty Institute lab head, Professor Damian Purcell said.
“Josh was a highly ranked B.BioMed Sci. student who majored in Microbiology and Immunology as an undergraduate student in 2012 before commencing the Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Melbourne the following year. His study program was guided by the elite athlete program of the University of Melbourne.
“The Purcell lab are very proud of his achievements in research and at the Olympics!”