Adam Hyland and Peter Franke have set up a new venture in the field of intellectual property protection; Franke Hyland based in North Ryde, Sydney. Adam and Peter were formerly principals of Watermark Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys.

Adam in particular has a long history in the food industry, having spent many years working in the industry as a technologist before entering the patent attorney profession ten years ago. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) degree (with Honours) from the University of NSW and a Graduate Diploma in IP Law from the University of Melbourne. Since 2003 he has been a registered patent attorney in Australia, and is also registered to practise in New Zealand. Before entering the patent profession, Adam spent ten years working in research and development and technical management roles in major food processing organisations. Adam is a fellow of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys (IPTA) and a member of the AIFST and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

Peter has a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science, with a major in physics, from The University of Melbourne. He qualified as an Australian Patent and Trade Mark Attorney in 1990, and is also registered to practice in New Zealand. Peter was first employed as a trainee attorney at Edward Waters & Sons in 1987. The firm became known as Watermark, and Peter was made a principal in 1991. Peter’s practice has included a wide range of technologies and industries. Peter is a Fellow of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia, an active member of International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPP) and a member of FICPI of which he is president of the Australian group.

Dr Neville Howard, President, Diabetes Australia-NSW has announced that Professor Jennie Brand-Miller is the recipient of the 2009 Sir Kempson Maddox Award. This award is given by Diabetes Australia-NSW each year to a person who has made a significant contribution to the diabetes movement and towards helping to improve the lives of people living with diabetes.

Professor Brand-Miller received the award for her contribution to the diabetes movement on both a national and international level. A Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Sydney, Jennie’s research interests focus on all aspects of carbohydrates including diet and diabetes, insulin resistance and glycemic index (GI). Her team of researchers are internationally recognised for their work on nutritional aspects of food carbohydrates while she has become one of the world’s leading authorities on GI.

This work has seen the creation of the GI food labelling system. A low GI diet has in recent years been found to help lower blood glucose levels in people with diabetes.

Professor Brand-Miller has also co-authored a number of books for people with diabetes helping people to manage diabetes and pre-diabetes using the glycemic index.

The Diabetes Australia-NSW Sir Kempson Maddox Award has been awarded since 1986 and is named in memory of Sir John Kempson Maddox, a founder of The Diabetic Association of Australia and a pioneer in diabetes treatment in the 1930s. Sir Kempson Maddox was knighted for his services to medicine in 1964.

Jennie won the AIFST Award of Merit in 2004.