Kristy Gardner receives the Yiaga Ngarnga Scholarship for Infection and Immunity

Image: PhD researcher Kristy Gardner (left) and Dr Simon Graham (right) — Recipient of the inaugural Yiaga Ngarnga Scholarship, Kristy Gardner, and her supervisor, Dr Simon Graham.

Kamilaroi woman Kristy Gardner has received the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity's first ever Indigenous health PhD scholarship, the Yiaga Ngarnga Scholarship for Infection and Immunity.

Made possible by the generous support of the Lionel Gell Foundation, the scholarship aims to support Australian Indigenous PhD candidates with an interest in immunology or infectious diseases.

University of Melbourne Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Doherty Institute, said this was an important milestone for the Institute and marks its commitment to research in Indigenous health.

“The Institute is enthusiastic to train the next generation of exceptional Indigenous researchers and actively strives to provide a culturally safe and supportive working environment,” Professor Lewin said.

Kristy is the first Indigenous PhD student to join the Doherty Institute and wants to ensure that Aboriginal people have their voices and experiences heard through research.

“My PhD research will look at how the sexual health workforce perceives Aboriginal young people as clients, and how Aboriginal young people perceive sexual health services, and the impact on service delivery in an urban area,” Ms Gardner said.

University of Melbourne's Dr Simon Graham, National Health & Medical Research Council and Senior Research Fellow at the Doherty Institute, and Kristy’s primary PhD supervisor, said the scholarship is a great opportunity for Kristy as well as for the Doherty Institute.

“Kristy’s research project fits within the Indigenous cross-cutting discipline at the Doherty Institute and focusses on sexually transmitted infections and health services, so it has the potential to have a positive impact in the real world by improving how sexual health services are delivered to young Aboriginal people,” Dr Graham said.

“Kristy is the first Indigenous PhD student to join the Institute and we hope it encourages others to join the Doherty Institute as staff or students.”

The Doherty Institute worked with the Wurundjeri Council to name the Yiaga Ngarnga Scholarship. The translation is ‘to seek meaning and understanding’.