PathWest (Forensic Biology) and ChemCentre win the 2025 WA Government Innovator of the Year Award

We congratulate our PathWest (Forensic Biology) team, who jointly with ChemCentre, have been named the 2025 Western Australian Government Innovator of the Year.

The Award, announced recently by Science and Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson at the 19^th annual Western Australian Innovators of the Year Awards, recognises world-first research by ChemCentre and the PathWest (Forensic Biology) Research & Development team led by Dr Marie Rye.

This ground-breaking work centres on using the proteins in hair for human forensic identification.

While DNA analysis remains the gold standard for identifying individuals, evidence such as hair shafts often contain insufficient DNA for analysis.

A single human hair comprises a combination of protein variants which can be used to infer DNA sequence information.

As part of the research project, data will be generated to identify genetic variants representative of the genetic diversity of the WA population, which could be used in forensic analysis.

Dr Rye and her team are working closely with PhD candidate Aaron Hamilton and Associate Professor Brendan Chapman from Murdoch University, who are playing a key role in generating this data, which aims to compare reference DNA profiles to ChemCentre’s hair protein sequence.

This innovative project opens new possibilities for solving complex and historical cold cases and strengthening future forensic investigations, not just in the criminal justice system, but also in coronial investigations.

The project is being led by ChemCentre, working in collaboration with PathWest (Forensic Biology), WA Police, Murdoch University, Edith Cowan University, and an international research team based at the University of California, Davis.