Graduate researchers shine at the MDHS Dean’s Awards

Awardees with Prof Justine Mintern (Assoc Dean Graduate Research), Prof Mike McGuckin (Acting Dean), and Prof Matt Watt (Assoc Dean Research) (on right).
Awardees with Prof Justine Mintern (Assoc Dean Graduate Research), Prof Mike McGuckin (Acting Dean), and Prof Matt Watt (Assoc Dean Research) (on right).

On Wednesday 15 October, the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences held the Dean’s Awards for Graduate Research.

This year, six researchers received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in the PhD Thesis, while 13 were honoured with the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research.

Each recipient was awarded $1,000 and presented with a certificate and prize, including a copy of First Knowledges: Health, authored by Professor Sandra Eades AO, Professor Shawana Andrews, Deputy and Associate Dean Indigenous, and Professor Fiona Stanley AC, one of Australia’s most renowned epidemiologists in maternal and child health.

Professor Mike McGuckin, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, presented the awards, stating: “We take immense pride in our graduate researchers. These awards not only recognise their exceptional achievements but also highlight the collaborative culture that underpins their success. Their contributions continue to expand the health and wellbeing knowledge base and pave the way for future research excellence.”

Now in its second year, the Dean’s Awards were introduced in 2024 as part of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences’ (MDHS) Graduate Research Revitalisation initiative.

This strategic project aims to enhance the graduate research experience by strengthening development opportunities, communication, representation, community engagement, and recognition across the faculty.

Dean’s Award for Excellence in the PhD Thesis 

Awarded to the top five PhD theses completed in the previous year. Nominations for this award are based on international and widespread recognition of their research, the impact of their research, and their resulting publications and other research outputs.

  • Wuji Zhang, School of Biomedical Sciences:Microbiology and Immunology (Supervisors: Katherine Kedzierska, Oanh Nguyen)
  • Farnaz Sabet, Melbourne Medical School: Paediatrics Royal Children’s Hospital (Supervisors: John Carlin, George Patton, Susan Sawyer, Audrey Prost)
  • Brooke Conley, Melbourne School of Health Sciences: Physiotherapy (Supervisors: Samantha Bunzli, Rachel Toovey, Ivan Lin, Jonathan Bulleen)
  • Adrianna Turner, School of Biomedical Sciences:Microbiology and Immunology (Supervisors: Glen Carter, Ben Howden, Claire Gorrie)
  • Stefanie Bader, Medical Biology (W.E.H.I.)  (Supervisors: Marc Pellegrini, Andreas Strasser, Marco Herold)
  • Karen Oliver, Medical Biology (W.E.H.I.)  (Supervisors: Melanie Bahlo, Sam Berkovic, Ingrid Scheffer)

Wuji Zhang, Farnaz Sabet and Brooke Conley were also the recipients of the University-wide Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in the PhD Thesis.

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research 

This award recognises achievements of enrolled graduate researchers in the previous calendar year across three categories; quality of research publications or outputs; recognition of their work through awards and prizes; and their contributions to, and engagement with, faculty, the university and the broader community.

This year, recipients were divided into two research categories, clinical research and discovery research.

  • Julia Lai-Kwon, The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology (Supervisors: Michael Jefford, Stephanie Best, Claudia Rutherford)
  • Jessica Fairley, Melbourne Medical School: St Vincent's Hospital (Supervisors: Mandana Nikpour, Laura Ross, Andre La Gerche)
  • Ouli Xie, Melbourne Medical School: Infectious Diseases (Supervisors: Steven Tong, Mark Davies, David Ascher)
  • Jess Davies, Melbourne Medical School: Critical Care (Supervisors: Forbes McGain, Stephanie Best)
  • Renee Jones, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health (Supervisors: Kim Dalziel, Harriet Hiscock)
  • Elyssia Bourke, Melbourne Medical School: Paediatrics Royal Children’s Hospital (Supervisors: Franz Babl, Andrew Davidson, Jonathan Knott, Simon Craig)
  • Jesse Gardner-Russell, Melbourne Medical School: Ophthalmology Eye and Ear Hospital (Supervisors: Luis Alarcon-Martinez, Keith Martin, Bang Bui)
  • Lu Zhang, Centre for Youth Mental Health (Supervisors: Sarah Whittle, Vanessa Cropley, Divangana Rakesh)
  • Kah Min Yap, The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology (Supervisors: Paul Beavis, Imran Geoffrey House, Phillip Darcy)
  • Aysha Al-Ani, Melbourne Medical School: Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital (Supervisors: Britt Christensen, James Murphy, Andre Samson)
  • Ritika Saxena, Melbourne Medical School: Paediatrics RCH (Supervisors: Andrew Elefanty, Ed Stanley, Elizabeth Ng)
  • Tejas Menon, School of Biomedical Sciences:Microbiology and Immunology (Supervisors:Katherine Kedzierska, Carolien van de Sandt, Oanh Nguyen)
  • Hongkang Wu, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health (Supervisors: Akhter Hossain, John Furness, Ross Bathgate,  
    Ruslan Pustovit)