November newsletter

Welcome to our November newsletter. In this edition:


Welcome to our 29 new Fellows

The Academy celebrated new Fellows in a ceremony on 26 October as part of our annual meeting. “The Academy is committed to supporting gender equity and championing diversity. It’s wonderful to see so many outstanding individuals join us as new Fellows,” Academy President Professor Ingrid Scheffer said. Meet these 29 health and science leaders in our news story, or see all their citations in our new Fellows booklet. You can view the ceremony in our video library.
 


AAHMS Annual meeting and video library

Thank you to all who attended our 2021 annual meeting, we hope you found it inspiring and informative. Themes included the impact of climate change on health, the interaction between scientists and the media, and integrating research into healthcare. Guest speakers such as Dr Anthony Fauci, Associate Professor Lisa Whop and Professor Sir John Savill led keynotes expertly chaired by Academy Fellows. Recordings of the sessions will be added to the AAHMS online video library in the next few weeks.


Climate change and health

We will be publishing videos from our annual meeting over the coming days and weeks, starting with Dr Nick Watts, Chief Sustainability Officer for the UK NHS, a keynote speaker at the meeting, who told us that “The climate crisis is a health crisis” and described his work in developing sustainable healthcare. His talk is now online in our video library. Climate change and health is a focus area for the Academy, led by an expert steering committee, and due for publication soon.


Honorific awards 

We also celebrated our 2021 honorific awardees at the annual meeting – congratulations again to Jian Zhou medalists Professor Sherene Loi and Professor Di Yu, as well as our inaugural Outstanding Female Researcher winner Professor Georgina LongNominations are now open for both medals, and close early 2022.


Harnessing research for better health

The Academy’s major policy project on better enabling research in health care continues, with several panel discussions at the annual meeting. The project survey will close at the end of November. This project will describe a high-level vision for strategically embedding research – and its effective and efficient translation – into the health system. You can contribute by completing the short survey online now.


Congratulations

Professor Jeffery Braithwaite has been awarded the 2021 Sidney Sax medal for outstanding contributions to the development and improvement of Australia’s healthcare system.

2021 new Fellow Professor Helen Marshall was named the South Australian of the Year.

Professor Ian Hickie has been named a finalist in the 2021 Australian Mental Health Prize.

President Professor Ingrid Scheffer received the F.E. Bennett Award from the American Neurological Association. Professor Hala Zreiqat has been named a finalist in the biotechnology section of the AmCham Alliance Awards.

Professor Glenda Halliday won the Robert A. Pritzker Prize for Leadership in Parkinson’s Research, sponsored by the Michael J Fox foundation.

Professor Caroline Homer is the new chair of Council for the National Health and Medical Research Council. Several other Fellows are also members and chairs.


Fellows in the news


Our 2021 new Fellows were profiled by several institutes:

Brisbane Times mentioned the AAHMS annual meeting in a piece about the CSL Fellows.

Professor Brendan Crabb co-authored an article for The Conversation on ways to keep COVID-19 cases low. The article was republished on SBS. He also spoke about the issue on Radio National’s Life Matters. Professor Crabb also spoke to RN Breakfast about the need for vaccine equity.

Professor Andrew Cuthbertson was profiled in the Australian Financial Review for his work with CSL.

Professor Stephen Duckett wrote for The Age on Melbourne’s health workers and the ending of lockdown.

Professor Sharon Lewin joined ABC’s Dr Karl live on TikTok to talk about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Professor Ian Hickie interviewed former PM Malcolm Turnbull on his podcast Minding Your Mind. He also spoke to ABC Drive about the importance of sleep.

Professor Tony Cunningham commented on COVID-19 booster shots in an ABC News article.

Professor Peter Doherty commented to SBS on the Climate and Health Alliance report released on 29 October.

Professors Richard Scolyer and Georgina Long discussed concerns around a rise in melanoma cases post-lockdown, as early detection may have been missed: 7News.

Professor Pat McGorry discussed the need for more mental health professionals with The Sydney Morning Herald.

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