Professor Geoffrey Lindeman and his team identified breast stem and progenitor cells that generate all ductal tissue in the breast. His group’s discoveries helped define breast development from long-lived stem cells to progenitor and mature epithelial cells, providing a new framework for studying the molecular and cellular events that give rise to breast cancer. His group was the first to identify the culprit progenitor cell responsible for breast cancer in BRCA1 mutation carriers. In parallel, Lindeman has established a leading translational research program, made important contributions to tissue banking for cancer research, and helped advance research and clinical services in hereditary cancer.

Professor Sharon Lewin is the inaugural director of the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne; consultant physician, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; and an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Practitioner Fellow. She is an infectious diseases physician and basic scientist and an internationally recognised expert on HIV disease and pathogenesis. She was previously Head, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital and Monash University (2003 – 2014) and Co-head, Centre for Biomedical Research, Burnet Institute (2010-2014), Melbourne, Australia.

She completed her medical training at Monash University, followed by a PhD in virology at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, The Rockefeller University in New York. Her laboratory focuses on strategies to cure HIV infection, immune reconstitution following antiviral therapy and the pathogenesis of HIV-hepatitis B co-infection.

Professor Lewin has received continuous research funding from the NHMRC since 1993 and funding from the National Institutes for Health, the Wellcome Trust and the American Foundation for AIDS Research. She was the local co-chair of the XXth International AIDS Conference (AIDS2014), which was held in Melbourne July 2014, and was the largest health conference ever held in Australia. She was previously President of the Australian Society for HIV Medicine (2005-2007), is on the leadership team of the International AIDS Society’s Strategy Towards an HIV Cure and a member of the Australian Government Ministerial Advisory Committee on Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Professor Richard Larkins has combined clinical work in endocrinology and general medicine with research into the causes and complications of diabetes, vitamin D metabolism and other aspects of diabetes and endocrinology. As a clinical academic he was the James Stewart Professor of Medicine for 14 years and Dean of the Faculty of MDHS at the University of Melbourne for 5 years. He ceased active medical practice when he became Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University in 2003. Other leadership positions held have included Chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council, President of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, President of the Endocrine Society of Australia, Chair of the Accreditation Committee of the Australian Medical Council and Chair of Universities Australia. He remains active in medical and research policy as Chair of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre partnership, Chair of the Council of EMBL Aust, President of the National Stroke Foundation and Chair of the Australian Synchrotron Holding Company.

Professor Bronwyn Kingwell’s fundamental and clinical research in arterial biomechanics has driven new approaches for the management of arterial diseases. She has pioneered the transition of detailed cellular and molecular studies of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in laboratory models, in particular with regard to glucose metabolism, to a human context. This work has opened major new avenues in HDL therapeutics for treatment of diabetes. Her contributions have also influenced national and international physical activity guidelines. Professor Kingwell has been a leader in defining Australian science policy and is an active mentor.

Although for several decades Professor Kilpatrick contributed to improving health outcomes through clinical practice and research, her key contribution and of relevance to Fellowship of the Academy has been her leadership roles in which she has ensured a strong and sustainable integration between medical research and health care delivery. This has been achieved through articulating a clear vision, relationship building and creating opportunities for integration. As CEO Royal Children’s Hospital, she has taken a lead role in establishing the Melbourne Children’s the partnership between RCH, University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, to ensure research is embedded in healthcare delivery.