University congratulates new Fellows and grant recipients
Five researchers from the University of Melbourne community have been elected Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science.
Associate Professor Lee Berger; Professor Linda Blackall; Doctor Andrew Cuthbertson; Professor Aurore Delaigle; and Professor Andrew Roberts have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to their respective fields. The citation for each new Fellow is available on the Australian Academy of Science website.
University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Jim McCluskey said the new Fellows richly deserved their accolades from the Australian Academy of Science.
“This is an honour that recognises a lifetime of hard work and dedication, as well as the world-class expertise that exists in the University community. I extend my sincere congratulations to each new Fellow. I look forward to them continuing to make a sizeable contribution to Australia’s scientific community,” Professor McCluskey said.
This follows significant Federal Government funding announcements in the past week with the latest rounds of funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
Overall, 50 University of Melbourne researchers have been awarded five-year NHMRC Investigator Grants which provide a full-time or part-time salary (if needed) along with a research support package. A further eight MRFF Investigator Grants were also awarded.
“This is an outstanding result for the University which reinforces the importance of our researchers’ work, and their world-class capability,” Professor McCluskey said.
“Most pleasing is the outcome for female applicants who had the highest success rate and received half of the awards made to the University. We owe much to the great support by the Research, Innovation and Commercialisation team and the efforts of Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Professor Mike McGuckin and his team.
“I’d like to congratulate all of the grant winners, especially acknowledging the stellar performance of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Peter Doherty Institute and our close colleagues at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, St Vincent’s Institute, Centre for Eye Research Australia and the Florey Institute.
“We also welcome recent announcements of MRFF funding for Melbourne researchers in projects spanning ovarian cancer, genomics, suicide prevention and mental health pharmacogenomics. Again, this is great news for the University and recognition of the outstanding, impactful work undertaken by the University’s research community,” Professor McCluskey said.