Professor Sharon Lewin awarded BioMelbourne Network Distinguished Leadership Award

Portrait of Professor Sharon Lewin, a woman with a light colour suit, arms crossed and smiling at the camera, with a black background behind her
University of Melbourne Laureate Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Doherty Institute and Director of the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics

Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, has received the 2023 Distinguished Leadership Award from BioMelbourne Network in recognition of her outstanding leadership, integrity and contribution to health and medical research.

Melbourne Laureate Professor Lewin said: “I am honoured to receive this award but want to highlight that science is always a team effort. I thank my mentors, my students, my colleagues and collaborators,”

“I hope our shared work will continue to advance knowledge, improve health and also inspire the next generation of talented scientists. Thank you BioMelbourne Network for acknowledging my contribution to this sector.” Professor Lewin said.

Professor Lewin is an internationally renowned infectious diseases physician and basic scientist, with deep expertise in virology and public health. She is a leading global expert in HIV science and her research focuses on understanding why HIV persists on treatment and developing clinical trials aimed at finding a cure for HIV infection. She is also President of the International AIDS Society.

Professor Lewin played a pivotal role in Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic through her leadership of the Doherty Institute, the Australian Partnership in Research for Infectious Disease Emergencies (APPRISE) and as co-chair of the National COVID Health and Research Advisory Committee.

Professor Lewin was instrumental in securing $400 million funding for the new Australian Institute for Infectious Disease, a major investment in Victoria’s biomedical future. Her vision and leadership were critical to the decision by philanthropist Geoff Cumming to give $250 million and the Victorian Government to give $75 million to the Doherty Institute to establish the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics.

The Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics will invest in new technologies to develop new therapeutics for pandemics and will provide long-term research support to the next generation of scientists.