The Australian Synchrotron's Science Advisory Committee (SAC) was established by the Australian Synchrotron (ASCo) Board to advise the Board on the strategic scientific direction of current and future scientific programs to ensure that these are of the highest quality and of continuing relevance to the requirements of the Australian scientific community.

The SAC held its inaugural meeting on 30 May 2008. It is currently chaired by Professor Ted Baker, Professor of Biological Sciences, the University of Auckland.

International members

• Prof. Hongjie Xu, Director of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Member Chinese Synchrotron Radiation Special Committee
• Prof. Soichi Wakatsuki, Director, Photon Factory Synchrotron Radiation Facility Tsukuba, Japan
• Prof. Janet Smith, University of Michigan Medical School, Life Sciences Institute, USA
• Prof. Michael Hart, Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of Manchester, UK
• Assoc. Prof. Lisa Miller, National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA.

Australia/New Zealand members

• Prof. Ted Baker, Professor of Biological Sciences, the University of Auckland, NZ
• Prof. Mitchell Guss, Professor of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney
• Prof. Brendan Kennedy, Professor of Chemistry, The University of Sydney
• Prof. Keith Nugent, Professor of Physics, The University of Melbourne.

Prof. Ted Baker (Chair)

Ted Baker pioneered the establishment of structural biology in New Zealand, and has made international contributions in many areas, including protein structure refinement, hydrogen bonding, and the function of proteins involved in infectious disease such as TB. A recent highlight was his publication in Science in 2007 of the structure and assembly of a protein that forms pili on streptococci. His laboratory pioneered New Zealand’s use of overseas synchrotron facilities, including remote data collection, and provides a national resource in structural biology.

Ted is a former president of the International Union of Crystallography and has served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of BIOXHIT, a multi-country European project aimed at developing high-throughput synchrotron capabilities in structural biology. He is on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Protein Data Bank. In 2006, he was awarded the Rutherford Medal, New Zealand’s highest science award. Ted is currently Distinguished Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Auckland.

Prof. Michael Hart

Michael Hart’s distinguished career includes research, management and advisory appointments in engineering and physics at Cornell, Bristol, London, Manchester, De Montfort and Warwick universities, NASA Electronics Research Center and Daresbury Laboratory. He was Chairman of the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory from 1995-2000. A Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Michael was appointed Commander of the British Empire for services to physics in 1992.

Prof. Brendan Kennedy

Brendan Kennedy obtained his PhD from Monash University in Melbourne and is currently the Professor of Solid State Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney. He has over 20 years experience in x-ray and neutron diffraction of inorganic materials, including studies of phase transitions, and is the author of over 230 refereed scientific publications. He played a leading role in the design of the powder diffractometers at both the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne and the OPAL research reactor in Sydney. Brendan is currently President of the Australian Neutron Beam Users Group.

Assoc. Prof. Lisa Miller

Lisa Miller is the Life and Environmental Sciences group leader at the National Synchrotron Light Source and an adjunct Associate Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University. A biophysical chemist, she obtained her PhD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In 1999, Lisa became a staff scientist at BNL, where she is currently focusing on applications of synchrotron x-ray and infrared imaging to diseases such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Lisa’s work has two primary research areas: (1) examination of the chemical composition of bone tissue in diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, and (2) correlation of metal ion content and protein structure in brain tissue in protein-folding diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and scrapie. She is also spokesperson for Beamline U10B and X27A. Beamline U10B specialises in mid-infrared microspectroscopy of materials such as biological tissues, polymers, coated and corroded surfaces, soils, minerals, and plants. Beamline X27A specialises in x-ray fluorescence microprobe analysis of trace metals in similar materials.

Prof. Keith A. Nugent

Keith Nugent is on his second term as an ARC Federation Fellow and is a Professor of Physics at the University of Melbourne. He is Research Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science (CXS), a multi-institutional and interdisciplinary research program involving the University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, Swinburne University, Monash University and Griffith University.

Keith’s awards include the Pawsey Medal from the Australian Academy of Science, the Boas Medal from the Australian Institute of Physics, a Centenary Medal, and the 2004 Victoria Prize, along with the Anne and Eric Smorgon Memorial Award for the support of his research. He has received two RD100 awards for his technical innovations. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2001. Keith sits on the Board of the publicly-listed company IATIA Ltd and a number of other advisory boards, including the Bragg Institute Advisory Committee and the X-ray Microscopy and Imaging Advisory Committee to the Advanced Photon Source.

Hongjie Xu*	Soichi Wakatsuki	Janet Smith

 *Photo by Sandra Morrow.