Fellowship ​

Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby has extensive experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of population-based studies and trials. She is a co PI of a large birth cohort that generated knowledge, translated into action, that led to an 80% reduction in sudden infant death syndrome incidence in Australia, from 1.9 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 0.2 live births in 2012. Ponsonby’s recent work combines population epidemiologic approaches with system biology. Ponsonby has an active role in public health translation, most recently in relation to plastic exposure in early life and the human health effects of chemical mixtures.

Professor James Best is a distinguished endocrinologist who has made highly significant contributions to diabetes research including in discovery research and research into clinical problems including in regional Australia, primary care and the indigenous community. He has also been an outstanding leader in academic medicine in Australia and Singapore and is recognised globally as a clinician, academic, teacher and administrator. He has contributed at a senior level to the NHMRC and to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He continues to be active as Director of Research at Austin Health.

Professor Mandana Nikpour, rheumatologist, epidemiologist and NHMRC Fellow at the University of Melbourne is a globally recognised researcher in connective tissue diseases, scleroderma and lupus. Her prize-winning multidisciplinary research has informed understanding of disease aetiology and led to development of outcome measures, screening tests, and clinical trials of novel therapies, shaping international practice guidelines. She leads numerous collaborative research consortia. Her work with patient organisations and industry partners has raised public awareness of scleroderma and lupus, influenced policy, and facilitated research translation. She has an outstanding record of mentoring and building sustainable research capacity in autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Professor Danielle Mazza is an internationally distinguished general practice clinician researcher and Head of the Department of General Practice at Monash University. Her research and leadership have been highly influential in reducing inequities in access and improving the quality of clinical care delivered in general practice in women’s sexual and reproductive health, preventive care, the early detection of cancer and antimicrobial stewardship. A strong proponent of evidence-based care, she has led and contributed to the development and implementation of key general practice guidelines used nationwide and provides expert advice to professional, government and policy groups nationally and around the world.

Professor Sant-Rayn Pasricha is a haematologist, epidemiologist and molecular biologist who leads the world’s most preeminent research program on global health anaemia control, with a record of resolving key evidence gaps, making transformative scientific discoveries, and translating knowledge into policy at the highest international level through multiple WHO guidelines. He has first/ senior author publications in leading journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Global Health, BMJ, Science Translational Medicine, Blood and Nature Communications. Prof Pasricha’s work has been cited ~6100 times and his H-index is 41 (Google Scholar). He received the 2022 Jian Zhou Medal from AAHMS.

Professor Erica Wood is an international authority on blood transfusion and Australia’s leading expert in transfusion practice and research. She Heads Monash University’s Transfusion Research Unit and is consultant haematologist at Monash Health. Her research has generated knowledge to improve transfusion supportive care and built national research capacity benefitting patients, blood donors and the community. Her expertise has been recognised with appointments to 6 WHO expert committees, as RCPA Chief Examiner in Haematology, and the only person to serve as president of the Australian & New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion and the International Society of Blood Transfusion and International Haemovigilance Network.