Stephen O’Leary is a surgeon scientist who has dedicated his career to the treatment of hearing loss, especially the prevention of hearing loss during surgical interventions to the inner ear such as cochlear implantation. His experimental finding that steroids protect the ear during cochlear implantation has lead to clinical trials. His team’s development of intraoperative monitoring of hearing directly from the cochlear implant’s electrode is now in global trials and commercial development. Stephen has also explored neural engineering and regenerative medicine approaches to improving cochlear implant performance, developed VR simulators to improve surgical training and contributed to Indigenous ear health.

Professor Patrick McGorry, Australian of the Year 2010, is Executive Director of Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health. He is also Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and founding member of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation (headspace) board. Professor McGorry and Orygen have put Australia at the forefront of research and innovation in the prevention and treatment of mental illness. With its strong focus on early intervention and educating the community about the early signs of mental illness, Professor McGorry’s research has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of young people the world over.

Professor Kwan is a medical specialist in neurology with particular expertise in epilepsy and molecular precision medicine. His research combines basic and clinical studies, with emphasis on translation of scientific discoveries into clinical practice. He has published >160 peer reviewed papers and book chapters in the world’s top medical journals including, first author, the most highly cited original article in clinical epilepsy in record. His work covers the outcomes, genomics, pharmacogenomics, and mechanisms of drug resistance in epilepsy. To enable widespread implementation of precision medicine he is engineering point-of-care molecular diagnostic devices for application in neurological diseases and other conditions.

Mark Cook has demonstrated a sustained contribution and leadership in medical research over a 25-year period. He is highly regarded internationally for his research excellence in neurology, and in the field of epilepsy in particular. He has made significant contributions to health science through his research, clinical, administrative, and educational roles at both St. Vincents Hospital and University of Melbourne. Cook actively engages in community awareness and advocacy regarding epilepsy, as Chairman of the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria, a major community not-for-profit organisation, and participates regularly in public discussion of medical research via the media and public forums.

“Discovery and dissemination of the concept of allosteric sites on receptor proteins as a novel avenue for drug discovery”.
Professor Christopoulos has demonstrated how this approach can be used to identify, validate, quantify, and facilitate preclinical translation of small molecules with an allosteric mode of action for all classes of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), the largest group of drug targets. His research is highly cited (top 1% in discipline), has made it into the textbooks, been acknowledged via the highest honours from the Australian, USA, UK and world (IUPHAR) Pharmacological Societies, and transformed the way GPCR drug modulators are discovered.