The Academy has elected 40 new Fellows, including 19 women, and will discuss the global pandemic threat at its annual meeting.
The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences has elected 40 new Fellows in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the health and medical research landscape in Australia. In addition, the Academy has elected two global research leaders as Corresponding Fellows.
The new Fellows have had a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of Australians and the world – representing a broad range of fields from across clinical and biomedical sciences, including infectious diseases, epidemiology and mental health, through to biomedical engineering, health economics and Indigenous health and wellbeing.
The breadth of expertise among the new Fellows also shows Australia’s exceptional leadership across nursing, midwifery, and the allied health professions, including physiotherapy, psychology and nutrition.
19 of the 40 new Ordinary Fellows in 2019 are women.
The new Fellows will be admitted at the Academy’s fifth annual meeting on 10-11 October at the Harry Perkins Centre for Medical Research in Perth. The annual gathering includes a scientific meeting that will explore Australia’s preparedness for the next pandemic, reflecting on the centenary anniversary of the Spanish Flu reaching Australia in 1919. It will include talks from Nobel Laurate, Professor Barry Marshall AC, and Dr Melanie Saville from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, who will explore how prepared we are globally for ‘Disease X’ – the unknown disease behind a future epidemic.
The Academy’s fifth annual meeting also marks the end of Professor Ian Frazer’s inaugural Presidency of the Academy, when Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO will become the Academy’s second President (and first female President). Professor Frazer was elected as the Academy’s first President when the organisation was established in 2014. He has overseen the organisation’s formative years, during which the Fellowship has grown to today’s figure of the 399 Fellows (as of 10 October).
Outgoing President, Professor Ian Frazer AC, said: ‘It has been an honour to be given the responsibility of serving as the Academy’s inaugural president, and to oversee the Academy’s recognition as Australia’s newest Learned Academy. I recognise the great support from the Academy board members, Council, Executive and Fellowship over the last five years, and warmly welcome Ingrid Scheffer as the Academy’s incoming President.
‘I am delighted at the election of 40 further outstanding researchers to the Academy’s Fellowship, alongside two Corresponding Fellows. This new group of Fellows demonstrates our Academy’s commitment to ensuring diversity of gender, professional discipline, geography and culture within the Fellowship. Our commitment ensures our ongoing ability to advise and inform our community and our government on the impact of health and medical research, across the broad spectrum of health service delivery and community health.’
Incoming President, Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO, said: ‘I am delighted to be taking on the role of President. In establishing the Academy, Ian Frazer leaves a genuine legacy that will benefit Australia far into the future. I look forward to building on his huge contribution and expanding the Academy’s role as an influential voice for the health and medical sciences in Australia.
‘The diverse talents and expertise of our new Fellows – as well as our existing Fellowship – reflect the incredible breadth and depth of Australia’s world class health and medical research.’
The new Fellows include:
- Professor Hala Zreiqat, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney, who has developed a new class of ceramic biomaterials for musculoskeletal regeneration. She has pioneered new techniques to produce ceramics that combine high strength and bioactivity, and has developed the technology to fabricate these biomaterials as 3D-printed patient-specific implants.
- Professor Karen Canfell, Director of the Cancer Research Division at Cancer Council NSW, internationally recognised for her work on optimising cervical cancer screening in the era of HPV vaccination. Based on her work, the Australian National Cervical Screening Program changed its approach to screening for cervical cancer – a move that has seen Australia projected to be the first country to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health issue.
- Professor Stephen Jan, Program Head at The George Institute for Global Health, a global authority in the field of health economics in the context of noncommunicable diseases. His research has informed decisions around investment in health programs nationally and internationally, and has contributed to global conversations around universal health coverage.
- Professor Katherine Kedzierska, Professor and Lab Head at the Doherty Institute, whose work in immunology has helped reveal why some groups, including Indigenous Australians, the elderly and patients with co-morbidities succumb to severe influenza disease.
- Professor Ian Jacobs, Vice-Chancellor of UNSW Sydney, who for the last 30 years has headed a research team working on early detection and risk prediction of cancer with a particular focus on screening for ovarian cancer.
- Professor Clare Collins, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at the University of Newcastle, whose research is transforming the way medical nutrition therapy is delivered in clinical and public health settings. She develops and validates eHealth nutrition interventions for people at specific life-stages such as pregnancy, and those with non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
- Professor Paul Young, Professor of Virology at the University of Queensland, who has worked to improve the understanding, diagnosis and management of infectious diseases globally. He is recognised for his work on the dengue viruses, having developed a commercial diagnostic assay that is now the global standard for early diagnosis of dengue infection, and a patented vaccine platform technology that is about to go into clinical trials.
Further information on the Academy’s annual meeting is available from our events page.
The full list of new Fellows:
Ordinary Fellows
Professor Minoti Apte OAM FAHMS, Director, Pancreatic Research Group, Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research
Professor John Bertram FAHMS, Professor and Laboratory Head, Monash University
Professor Bruce Campbell FAHMS, Professorial Fellow, Royal Melbourne Hospital
Professor Karen Canfell FAHMS, Director, Cancer Research Division, Cancer Council NSW
Professor Flavia Cicuttini FAHMS, Head of Rheumatology, Monash University
Professor Clare Collins FAHMS, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Senior Gladys M Brawn Fellow, The University of Newcastle
Professor Alan Cowman FRS FAA FAHMS, Deputy Director, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Professor Jonathan Craig FAHMS, Vice President and Executive Dean, Flinders University
Professor Tim Davis FAHMS, Professor of Medicine, The University of Western Australia
Professor Emma Duncan FAHMS, Eminent Senior Staff Specialist, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
Professor Sally Dunwoodie FAHMS, Head, Embryology Laboratory and Head, Chain Reaction Program in Congenital Heart Disease, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
Professor John Findlay AO FAHMS, Distinguished Scientist, Hudson Institute of Medical Research
Associate Professor Prue Francis FAHMS, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Professor Russell Gruen FAHMS, Dean, College of Health and Medicine, The Australian National University
Professor Carmel Hawley FAHMS, Consultant Nephrologist and Assistant Director, Incentre Haemodialysis, MINTS, Princess Alexandra Hospital
Professor Paul Hodges FAA FAHMS, NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
Professor Tammy Hoffmann FAHMS, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare, Bond University
Professor Caroline Homer AO FAHMS, Co-Program Director, Maternal and Child Health, Burnet Institute
Professor Jennifer Hoy FAHMS, Director of HIV Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Monash University
Professor Ian Jacobs FAHMS, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of New South Wales
Professor Stephen Jan FAHMS, Head, Health Economics and Process Evaluation Program, The George Institute for Global Health
Professor David Johnson FAHMS, Director, MINTS and Medical Director, Queensland Renal Transplant Services, Princess Alexandra Hospital
Professor Katherine Kedzierska FAHMS, Professor and Laboratory Head, The University of Melbourne
Professor Richard Kitching FAHMS, Professor, Department of Medicine and Director, Monash University Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash University
Professor Graham Mann FAHMS, Director, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University
Professor Sarah Medland FAHMS, Senior Principal Research Fellow, Head of Psychiatric Genetics, Coordinator Mental Health Research Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
Professor Sandy Middleton FAHMS, Director, Nursing Research Institute, Australian Catholic University
Professor Tuan Nguyen FAHMS, Professor and Laboratory Head, The Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Professor Mark Parsons FAHMS, Director and Professor of Neurology, The Royal Melbourne Hospital
Scientia Professor George Paxinos AO FAA FASSA FAHMS, NHMRC Senior Principal Research Scientist and Conjoint Scientia Professor of Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Research Australia
Professor David Reutens FAHMS, Director, Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland
Professor Gail Risbridger FAHMS, Professor, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University and Head, Prostate Cancer Program, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Professor Pankaj Sah FAHMS, Director, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland
Professor Monica Slavin FAHMS, Head, Infectious Diseases/Infection Control, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Professor Karin Thursky FAHMS, Deputy Director of Infectious Diseases, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Professor Balasubramanian (Bala) Venkatesh FAHMS, Professor and Director of Intensive Care, The Wesley Hospital
Professor Sarah Wilson FAHMS, Professor and Head, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne
Professor Mark Woodward FAHMS, Professor of Medical Statistics, The George Institute for Global Health
Professor Paul Young FAHMS, Head of School, School of chemistry and molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland
Professor Hala Zreiqat AM FAHMS, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Sydney
Corresponding Fellows
Professor Paul Lambert FAHMS, Chair/Director, University of Wisconsin Medical School
Professor Julian Savulescu FAHMS, Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford