ASBMB

The Eppendorf Edman ECR Award

The Eppendorf Edman ECR Award is awarded to an ASBMB member with no more than 7 years postdoctoral experience (or equivalent taking any career disruption into account), in recognition of their outstanding research work. The Award provides funds to assist the recipient to attend an overseas conference in a field associated with biochemistry or molecular biology or to visit briefly a research laboratory in Australia or elsewhere to access specialised equipment or to learn new research techniques. Applicants must have been members of the Society for at least 2 years before the year in which the application is to be considered, or must have taken out a 3 year membership in the year of the application. The contribution to travel expenses is provided through the courtesy of Eppendorf South Pacific.

To view a list of previous awardees please click here.

Application Information
- All applicants should have been members of the ASBMB for a minimum of 2 years
- All applications should include at least 2 supporters who should have been members of the ASBMB for a minimum of 2 years
- Applicants should prepare an application document to include all information detailed on the Eppendorf Edman ECR Award Application Template. This document should be saved as a single PDF file ready to be uploaded as part of the online application form.
- Applicants should have a letter of reference for each of your 2 supporters saved ready to be uploaded as part of the online application form.

When you are ready to begin your application, please click the button below.

The Eppendorf Edman ECR Award Application

2026 Award Recipient

Pamali Fonseka
La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences
La Trobe University

Pamali Fonseka completed her PhD in Biochemistry at La Trobe University in 2018 and has since established herself as an emerging leader in extracellular vesicle (EV) biology and translational cancer research. Following her PhD, she undertook postdoctoral training under the mentorship of Professor Suresh Mathivanan, progressing rapidly to Group Leader (2024) while developing an independent research program focused on EV-mediated communication and therapeutic innovation.

With less than six years of post-PhD experience (accounting for 13.5 months of career disruptions), Pamali has built a strong and competitive research profile. She has secured more than $875,000 in competitive funding as sole Chief Investigator, including NHMRC Investigator Grant (EL1-2023), Jack Brockhoff Foundation Early Career Grant (2021) and CASS Foundation Medicine/Science Grant (2019), reflecting both her scientific vision and her capacity to lead high-impact research. Her work has resulted in 33 publications (H-index 21, >6,650 citations, Google Scholar) in leading journals such as Nature Communications, Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, Nucleic Acids Research and Nature Immunology. Notably, half of her publications rank among the top 10% most cited globally, and her co-first and co-corresponding author papers in Nucleic Acids Research have been recognised as ESI Highly Cited. She has been awarded many competitive research awards, including the Theo Murphy Initiative Participation Support Grant (2026), FAOBMB YSP Fellowship (2025), ISEV2024 Conference Award (2024), The CASS Foundation Travel Award (2023), La Trobe Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research (2022), ANZSEV Young Investigator Award (2021) and the ASBMB Fred Collins Fellowship (2021).

Pamali currently serves as Deputy Director of the Research Centre for Extracellular Vesicles, where she leads multidisciplinary collaborations spanning cancer cell biology, immunology and molecular biology. Her research aims to harness the unique properties of EVs to develop alternative therapeutic strategies for aggressive and treatment-resistant cancers. EVs, secreted by nearly all cell types, carry diverse bioactive cargo protected by a lipid bilayer, enabling the horizontal transfer of molecular information that shapes cellular behaviour and disease progression. Leveraging this biology, Pamali’s recent work demonstrates that systemically delivered EVs can protect and transport tumour suppressor genes to metastatic sites in vivo, significantly reducing tumour burden and lung metastasis while improving survival without detectable toxicity.

Beyond her research achievements, Pamali is strongly committed to training and mentorship. She is the primary supervisor of two PhD students and has co-supervised five PhD and three Masters students to completion. As an early-career researcher, she continues to drive innovative translational science aimed at improving therapeutic outcomes for patients with metastatic cancer.