1990s Alumni VoiceDr Ines AtmosukartoScience course proves an inspirationDr Ines Atmosukarto is an internationally recognised scientist who haswon numerous awards for research into finding new treatments for cancerand infectious diseases. Now the CEO of medical technology company Lipotek,Dr Atmosukarto graduated from Adelaide with a Bachelor of Science degreewith First Class Honours in Biochemistry in 1995 and a PhD in 2002.It is hard to believe that morethan two decades have passedsince that late February 1992day when our Garuda flight landed inAdelaide. I still remember how I felt soprivileged to be one of the high schoolgraduates to receive a prestigious WorldBank-funded scholarship—a programspearheaded by the then IndonesianMinister of Research and Technologyaimed to enable approximately 120students to undertake studies overseasbefore returning home to take up positionsin key R&D organisations and strategicgovernment-owned enterprises.The experience that an overseas studenthad in Adelaide in the ‘90s was, I suspect,rather different to what students may havethese days. Coming from a crowded citysuch as Jakarta, the sense of space wasmost welcome. I immediately decided totake up residence at Aquinas College, adecision I feel made it easier to adjust tolife in Australia. It forced me to practicemy English and introduced me to Aussiestaples—Tim Tams, AFL and cricket—andmade me feel part of a community.From those days I have fond memoriesof sitting on the grass near the RiverTorrens book in hand, strolling through theBotanical Gardens, Saturday morningsat the Central markets and day trips toHahndorf and the Barossa.I had enrolled in a science degree andhad my heart set on studying biomedicalrelated subjects which were, at the time,not offered back home. Three years wentrapidly and I met my husband who wastraining to be a commercial airline pilot. Iwas inspired by young lecturers such asProfessor Peter Rathjen of the Department2 4 Lumen | Winter 2014of Biochemistry and decided thatbiomedical research was my passion.My first hurdle was to complete an Honoursdegree at the end of which I was pleasedto receive the Brian and Heather Fosteraward. I frantically applied for a numberof scholarships to continue post graduatestudies and had to decide betweenoffers made from Adelaide, Melbourne orCanberra. I had fallen in love with Adelaideand decided I liked the lifestyle and whatthe University had to offer.Those next four years were busy ones. Wewere married and had our daughter by theend of my third year. Juggling motherhoodand a PhD thesis was surelya memorable experience.As life has it, it is duringthose tough times that Iforged lifetime friendshipsand built a professionalnetwork. The education Ireceived in Adelaide shapedthe rest of my life.Upon returning to Indonesia,I set up and built a researchgroup at the IndonesianInstitute of Science and wasvery fortunate to be the firstIndonesian recipient of aninternational UNESCO-L’OrealFellowship for women inscience which took me tothe USA. This received alot of interest nationallyand served as a steppingstone for the establishmentof funding programs toencourage science educationand scientific research bywomen in Indonesia.It was with great joy that we celebrated the10th anniversary of these programs lastyear and it was humbling to meet with thevarious recipients, most of whom couldremember a lot of the interviews I had doneto promote science as a fulfilling career.Science has taken me back to Australiawhere I now run a small biotechnologycompany and it is hard to believeI am about to see my daughtermake her own way in life.By Dr Ines AtmosukartoDr Atmosukarto with family at her PhD graduation
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