Posted June 12, 2017 00:16:15

Western Australia's chief scientist Peter Klinken said he was "gobsmacked" when he found he had been made a Companion of the Order of Australia.

Professor Klinken has been recognised for service to medical research and biochemistry through his contributions to understanding the genetics of diseases.

He had also been recognised for promoting science and innovation in WA.

Professor Klinken said the Queen's Birthday honour was unexpected.

"Gobsmacked to be honest, it was just mind-blowing when I got the information. I had to read the letter several times to actually get it to sink in. It is such an honour," he said.

"I didn't go into what I'm doing now with the expectation of receiving accolades, but hopefully what I've done has contributed to the good of our society and I'm just blown away by this honour."

Professor Klinken was born in Singapore, and educated in Perth, where he did a PhD.

He said it was when he went to the United States in the 1980s to do some studies at the National Cancer Institute that he became interested in cancer genetics.

"I spent the vast majority of my scientific career trying to identify these genes that go wrong," he said.

"Working out why they go wrong and how you can try and fix them up in leukaemias and certain cancers."

Professor Klinken said this area of research marked out the achievements he was most proud of.

"Actually identifying that cells, which were apparently committed to one particular function or one job, could actually change their functions change their job description, so to speak," he said.

"At that stage, that was unheard of.

"I was able to introduce a couple of genes into these cells and turn them from what were essentially antibody producing cells into macrophages, which are scavenger cells, and that just broke all the dogma at the time.

"I'm particularly proud of the genes that we've discovered that can go wrong in cases of leukaemias and slowly trying to work out, well, how do they go wrong? What are the steps we can take to try and prevent them from causing cancers and leukaemias?"

After he returned to Perth, Professor Klinken took up a position at RPH, and in 1998 became the director of the WA Institute of Medical Research [later the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research].

In 2014, he was asked to be Western Australia's chief scientist.

"It has been a remarkable opportunity, a rare privilege ... to see the breadth and depth and quality of science in Western Australia and play a small role in trying to shape it and explain it to policymakers ... to get them to value science and innovation and how important it is to the state," he said.

"And also to spread the word within the community about how science is such an integral part of our life that we sometimes take it for granted."

Topics: awards-and-prizes, science-awards, perth-6000

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Chief scientist Peter Klinken recognised for work in disease genetics - ABC Online