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Fellowship

The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences elects the best and brightest minds in the field of medical and health sciences as Fellows.

Fellows are elected in recognition of their outstanding achievements and exceptional contributions to the sector. The Fellowship are acknowledged for their clinical, non-clinical, leadership, industry and research contributions.

About Fellowship with AAHMS

Find Fellows of the AAHMS

To find Fellows of our Academy either use the search form below or download the full list of current Fellows here.

Name

Position

Level

Elected

State

Professor Alison Kitson

FAHMS
Vice President, College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Flinders University
2015
SA

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Professor Alison Kitson
FAHMS

Alison is an internationally renowned Translational Health Scientist and Nursing Leader. Her sustained work over the last 25 years has resulted in significant breakthroughs in our understanding of how evidence spreads (or doesn’t) through health systems. She has influenced thousands of practitioners and hundreds of researchers, post-doctoral and PhD students through her research and scholarship and she has also led a number of practical implementation studies demonstrating to clinicians and academics alike how to transform everyday practice settings. Alison regularly engages with the local community, discussing innovations in healthcare and leads Knowledge Translation (KT) innovations at international and national level.

Professor Matthew Kiernan

AM FAHMS
Bushell Professor of Neurology
University of Sydney
2015
NSW

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Professor Matthew Kiernan
AM FAHMS

Professor Matthew Kiernan is a clinical neurologist and neuroscientist at the forefront of research into human neurophysiology. His pioneering work in nerve excitability techniques has produced novel insights into disease mechanisms, and based on these developments he has instituted new treatment trials. His research innovations have delineated properties of central and peripheral nerves and their susceptibility to disease. His research innovations have been translated into a cutting–‐edge diagnostic tool for clinicians in the diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease and for other neurological disease that is now recognized and implemented worldwide.

Professor Anthony Kelleher

FAHMS
Director
The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
2015
NSW

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Professor Anthony Kelleher
FAHMS

Professor Kelleher is a clinician scientist whose work has significantly advanced our understanding of interactions between HIV and the immune system. Focused on human T-cells and their manipulation by therapeutics, he’s made seminal contributions to the field including in relation to co-evolution of HIV and immune responses and development of a novel way of virus silencing when it is embedded in the host’s genes and inaccessible to the immune system and existing therapies. His outstanding profile is evidenced by research leadership roles and many invitations to speak at leading Australian and international symposia.

Professor John Kaldor

FAHMS
UNSW Scientia Professor
Kirby Institute, The University of New South Wales
2015
NSW

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Professor John Kaldor
FAHMS

John Kaldor is an internationally-renowned and esteemed public health researcher whose work in Australia and the Asia-Pacific has focused on the development of infectious disease control strategies. He established public health surveillance systems that provided key support for once controversial initiatives in HIV prevention, such as a needle and syringe distribution, by demonstrating effectiveness. Also, his work in Aboriginal health led to the first comprehensive analyses of the occurrence of curable sexually transmitted infection in remote communities and health service interventions aimed at reducing the burden and impact of these infections.

Professor Ricky Johnstone

FAHMS
Executive Director, Cancer Research; Head, The Sir Peter Maccallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne; Group Leader, Senior Faculty
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
2015
VIC

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Professor Ricky Johnstone
FAHMS

Professor Ricky Johnstone is a recognised leader in the area of cancer epigenetics and therapeutics. He has developed sophisticated pre-clinical models to elucidate the mechanisms of action of small molecule histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) and mechanisms of intrinsic and acquired tumor cell resistance to HDACi. Professor Johnstone has developed, tested and validated rational combinations of small molecules targeting epigenetic enzymes,transcriptional regulatory proteins and signal transduction pathways to enhance the anti-tumor effects of these agents and reduce associated toxicities. With his clinical colleagues, he has successfully translated his laboratory-based findings through early phase clinical trials resulting in new treatments for patients with leaukemia and lymphoma.

 

Professor Philip Hugenholtz

FAHMS
Director of Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
The University of Queensland
2015
QLD

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Professor Philip Hugenholtz
FAHMS

Professor Hugenholtz is a microbiologist who has made landmark contributions in the field of culture-independent analysis of microorganisms. He discovered and characterised numerous previously unrecognised major bacterial and archaeal lineages each with greater evolutionary divergence than animals and plants combined. He has been instrumental in the development and application of metagenomics, the genome-based characterisation of microbiomes, which has revolutionised our understanding of microbial ecology and evolution. His contributions are well recognised in medical and health science because they have increased our knowledge and helped to raise public awareness of the human microbiome and its role in health and disease.

 

Emeritus Professor John Hopwood

AM FAA FAHMS
Former Director, Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology; SAHMRI Board member; Affiliate of the Nutrition and Metabolism Theme
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute
2015
SA

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Emeritus Professor John Hopwood
AM FAA FAHMS

Professor John Hopwood established and has led the Lysosomal Diseases Research Unit since 1978. The Unit has been continually successful in basic and applied research into lysosomal disorders (LSD), and has made significant contributions to diagnostics and population screening methods for detection of LSD, and developing and applying novel treatments to humans. His leadership has effectively harnessed the capacities of others to achieve success in complex and interactive projects over the long-term that have led to successful commercialisation of two FDA-approved treatments, which are now treating thousands of patients world-wide, and to royalty returns of >$300m invested back into SA health and medical research projects. Hopwood was a key contributor to the foundation of South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute.

 

Professor Gerald Holtmann

FAHMS
Director, Department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Princess Alexandra Hospital, QLD Health
2015
QLD

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Professor Gerald Holtmann
FAHMS

During the last 30 years, Professor Holtmann has been very fortunate to be able to drive a paradigm shift for the pathophysiologic concepts of functional gastrointestinal disorders. While initially considered a ‘psychosomatic disorder’, his work identified genetic risk factors (e.g. the GNB3 polymorphism) and established a now widely accepted concept of minimal systemic inflammation as a driver for the manifestation of these conditions. Based upon these findings novel treatments can be developed that will allow to better treat and ultimately cure patients with these highly prevalent diseases.

Professor Rodney Hicks

AM FAHMS
Professor of Medicine
St Vincent Hospital Melbourne
2015
VIC

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Professor Rodney Hicks
AM FAHMS

Professor Hicks has made major contributions to the care of patients with cancer through his pioneering work with positron emission tomography (PET), which has now become a routine imaging test for selecting and monitoring cancer therapies. By applying this technology in translational research he has helped develop new cancer therapies, especially targeted drugs for malignancies previously without effective treatments. He is also an international leader in the field of neuroendocrine tumours, in which he has pioneered new forms of internal radiation delivery in combination with chemotherapy. He sits on multiple editorial and scientific boards and is Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Imaging. 

Professor Mark Harris

AO FAHMS
Scientia Professor; Executive Director, Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity
UNSW Sydney
2015
NSW

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Professor Mark Harris
AO FAHMS

Professor Harris is highly regarded for his research into the prevention and management of chronic disease in general practice and community health services, vulnerable population (including Aboriginal and refugee health) and access to primary health care. This has given rise to over 300 publications in the national and international peer review research literature and is highly cited. He leads and participates in international collaborative research with researchers in the US, Canada and the UK. His research has been highly influential with his profession including the development of clinical management guidelines and helped inform policy of the Commonwealth and NSW Governments.

 

Our Fellows sit at the heart of everything we do. They represent Australia’s leading minds in health and medical sciences, having been recognised for their clinical, non-clinical, leadership, industry and research contributions.

To be considered for election to the Academy’s Fellowship, a candidate must show exceptional professional achievement in a field related to health and/or medicine.

Fellows contribute to the projects and activities of the Academy and must be willing to be active participants.

Successful Fellowship candidates will have shown:

  • Outstanding leadership in their field.
  • Significant and ongoing involvement with issues of health care, prevention of disease, education, research, and health services policy and delivery.

Candidates for Fellowship should meet the following criteria:

  • National and International recognition for excellence in health and medical science
  • Significant, sustained and ongoing contributions to advance health and medical science in Australia (relative to opportunity)
  • Contribution to the profession through leadership and mentorship
  • Raised public understanding and promoting health and medical science in the broader community

Download criteria for Fellowship

Each year, current Fellows of the Academy are invited to nominate up to four new candidates who meet the criteria and fulfil the required expectations.

To ensure the Academy has a representative and diverse membership, Fellows nominating two new candidates are asked to include only a maximum of one man, and Fellows nominating four new candidates are asked to include only a maximum of two men.

How to make a nomination

Fellows wishing to nominate a candidate for Fellowship should contact the secretariat to confirm candidate eligibility and receive and instructions on how to submit the completed nomination documentation online. 

Fellows wishing to nominate a candidate for a Corresponding Fellowship should contact the secretariat for more information.

Secretariat contact details
Email: [email protected]

Phone: 07 3102 7220

Nomination guidelines for ordinary Fellowship

October 2023
Newly elected Fellows of 2023 are inducted at the Annual Meeting.

18 September 2023- 30 November 2023
Nominations are invited from existing Fellows until the closing date of 30 November.

December 2023
Nominations allocated to Selection Committees.

January – April 2024
Referees’ reports sought.

Early May 2024
Selection Committees meet to consider nominations and provide final recommendations to the Council.

Early-to-mid-July 2024
Council meets to finalise recommendations.

Late July 2024
Full Fellowship invited to comment on recommended new fellows.

August 2024
Election results are shared with proposers and candidates (under embargo).

October 2024
Newly elected Fellows of 2024 inducted at the Annual Meeting.

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