Paediatrician Melissa Wake is recognised for her work in ‘population paediatrics’ – what universal and secondary care systems will make a difference to the health of our children, and the adults they will become? She creates and drives large-scale platforms to change the nature of paediatric research and rigorously tests new interventions to change the quality of children’s care. She is currently leading a national intergenerational biorepository to better understand the genesis of noncommunicable disease. Awards include the 2009 Australian Health Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Health & Medical Research and consecutive NHMRC Excellence Awards (2009-12, 2013-16) as top-ranked Australian Fellow.