Lumen Winter 2014 - Flipbook - Page 26
1990s Alumni Voice
Dr Ines Atmosukarto
Science course proves an inspiration
Dr Ines Atmosukarto is an internationally recognised scientist who has
won numerous awards for research into finding new treatments for cancer
and infectious diseases. Now the CEO of medical technology company Lipotek,
Dr Atmosukarto graduated from Adelaide with a Bachelor of Science degree
with First Class Honours in Biochemistry in 1995 and a PhD in 2002.
It is hard to believe that more
than two decades have passed
since that late February 1992
day when our Garuda flight landed in
Adelaide. I still remember how I felt so
privileged to be one of the high school
graduates to receive a prestigious World
Bank-funded scholarship—a program
spearheaded by the then Indonesian
Minister of Research and Technology
aimed to enable approximately 120
students to undertake studies overseas
before returning home to take up positions
in key R&D organisations and strategic
government-owned enterprises.
The experience that an overseas student
had in Adelaide in the ‘90s was, I suspect,
rather different to what students may have
these days. Coming from a crowded city
such as Jakarta, the sense of space was
most welcome. I immediately decided to
take up residence at Aquinas College, a
decision I feel made it easier to adjust to
life in Australia. It forced me to practice
my English and introduced me to Aussie
staples—Tim Tams, AFL and cricket—and
made me feel part of a community.
From those days I have fond memories
of sitting on the grass near the River
Torrens book in hand, strolling through the
Botanical Gardens, Saturday mornings
at the Central markets and day trips to
Hahndorf and the Barossa.
I had enrolled in a science degree and
had my heart set on studying biomedical
related subjects which were, at the time,
not offered back home. Three years went
rapidly and I met my husband who was
training to be a commercial airline pilot. I
was inspired by young lecturers such as
Professor Peter Rathjen of the Department
2 4 Lumen | Winter 2014
of Biochemistry and decided that
biomedical research was my passion.
My first hurdle was to complete an Honours
degree at the end of which I was pleased
to receive the Brian and Heather Foster
award. I frantically applied for a number
of scholarships to continue post graduate
studies and had to decide between
offers made from Adelaide, Melbourne or
Canberra. I had fallen in love with Adelaide
and decided I liked the lifestyle and what
the University had to offer.
Those next four years were busy ones. We
were married and had our daughter by the
end of my third year. Juggling motherhood
and a PhD thesis was surely
a memorable experience.
As life has it, it is during
those tough times that I
forged lifetime friendships
and built a professional
network. The education I
received in Adelaide shaped
the rest of my life.
Upon returning to Indonesia,
I set up and built a research
group at the Indonesian
Institute of Science and was
very fortunate to be the first
Indonesian recipient of an
international UNESCO-L’Oreal
Fellowship for women in
science which took me to
the USA. This received a
lot of interest nationally
and served as a stepping
stone for the establishment
of funding programs to
encourage science education
and scientific research by
women in Indonesia.
It was with great joy that we celebrated the
10th anniversary of these programs last
year and it was humbling to meet with the
various recipients, most of whom could
remember a lot of the interviews I had done
to promote science as a fulfilling career.
Science has taken me back to Australia
where I now run a small biotechnology
company and it is hard to believe
I am about to see my daughter
make her own way in life.
By Dr Ines Atmosukarto
Dr Atmosukarto with family at her PhD graduation
