The University of Queensland’s Faculty of Medicine Excellence Awards have turned the spotlight on its outstanding researchers, teachers, clinicians and professional staff for their exceptional work in helping to advance human health.
The sixth annual awards, held in Brisbane, received more than 180 nominations.
The 2019 Faculty award winners are:
Leader of the Year Award (academic) – Recognises an individual who thinks and works strategically, achieves tangible results and drives accountability.
Winner:
Associate Professor Allison Pettit, Mater Research Institute, for her inspirational leadership contributions for women and early career researchers.
Finalists:
Professor Elizabeth Coulson, School of Biomedical Sciences, for her outstanding and passionate leadership that drives culture and process change.
Leader of the Year Award (professional) – Recognises an individual who thinks and works strategically, achieves tangible results and drives accountability.
Winner:
Suzanne Reiger, School of Clinical Medicine, her dedicated effort in bringing together teams across multiple sites and providing her continued leadership and support for all staffing matters.
Finalists:
Dr Harmony Rose, School of Biomedical Sciences, for her initiative to continually improve services and for showing leadership in space management and strategic planning in the facilities portfolio.
Heather Moore, School of Clinical Medicine, for demonstrating expertise, professionalism and excellence in implementing the medical teaching program.
Leader of the Future Award (academic) – Recognises an individual who displays the qualities of a great future leader and who leads and inspires others to strive for excellence.
Winners
Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams, The Diamantina Institute, for her outstanding leadership, which has led to important research discoveries, in addition to her continued commitment to promoting a positive culture for students and staff.
Dr Tracey Bjorkman, Centre for Clinical Research, for her excellent guidance, empowerment and knowledge that inspires others to achieve excellence.
Finalists:
Associate Professor Jason Ferris, Centre for Health Services Research, for his outstanding guidance, support and mentorship - both professionally and personally - to those around him.
Dr Sumaira Hasnain, Mater Research Institute, for her high standard of dedication to the discipline and for her proactive role in developing the next generation of future researchers.
Leader of the Future Award (professional) – Recognises an individual who displays the qualities of a great leader and lead and inspire others to strive for excellence.
Winner:
Dr Laura Carrascosa, Diamantina Institute, for her ability to identify new opportunities and establish meaningful relationships that have a significant impact on research development and the morale of the Institute.
Finalists:
Georgia Jefferis, Faculty of Medicine, for her caring and compassionate leadership that has fostered excellent team morale.
Collaborators of the Year Award – Recognises teams who have embraced and demonstrated collaboration that has led to significant and impactful change and success for the Faculty.
Winner:
The Paediatric Critical Care Research Group, Child Health Research Centre, for growing strong and significant alliances for their research in new ways to apply oxygen therapy in various aspects of a child's illness.
Finalists:
The Health Precinct Team, Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, for their collaborative efforts to develop a live hospital simulation at Open Day 2019 to engage and inspire thousands of prospective students.
Professor Vicki Clifton, Professor Karen Moritz and the Queensland Family Cohort Project, Child Health Research Centre, for leading a major collaborative effort to launch a landmark longitudinal study following the health journeys of 10,000 Queensland newborns and their parents.
Innovators of the Year Award – Recognises teams who have embraced and can demonstrate examples of innovation that have resulted in significant tangible improvements and changes that have led to success for the faculty.
Winner:
Dr Cameron Snell, Mater Research Institute, for his clinical research program in breast cancer pathology that has played a leading role in the identification, development and validation of new cancer biomarkers.
Finalists:
Resident Ready Network, School of Clinical Medicine, for a near-peer mentoring program that addresses the challenges in transitioning from medical student to doctor.
Excellence in Mental and Physical Health Award – Recognises the implementation of innovative and exciting ideas and practices which contribute to the mental and physical health, safety and wellness of our students and staff.
Winner:
Dr Cindy Tan, Centre for Clinical Research, for her enthusiastic commitment to fostering a positive work culture through various mental health and wellness initiatives.
Finalists:
Mary Schneider, Faculty of Medicine, for her suite of lunch-time social activities that have successfully built an inclusive, healthy and supportive culture within the Faculty of Medicine.
Philanthropic Leader of the Year Award – Recognises an individual who has embraced and actively demonstrated an outstanding effort in promoting philanthropic giving that benefits our students, research, programs and wider community.
Winner:
Professor Nick Lavidis, School of Biomedical Science, for his giving through the Anastasios and Evangelia Lavidis Grant in Aid, which he set up and named in honour of his parents, and philanthropic scholarship fund he set up to support other PhD students to realise their educational dreams.
Finalists:
Professor Darrell Crawford, Greenslopes Clinical Unit, for always being willing to engage friends and colleagues, brainstorm ideas, offer support and making things happen for the benefit of students and donors.
Dr Fiona Simpson, Diamantina Institute, for exemplifying the characteristics of philanthropy with her her genuine desire to promote the welfare of others, including creating opportunities to for indigenous students in science, identifying barriers they may encounter and developing strategies to overcome them.
Service Excellence Award – Recognises teams who show an outstanding and significant contribution to delivering excellence in service to students, staff or the wider community.
Winners
Dr Charlotte Young, School of Biomedical Science, for finding new and innovative teaching methods and assisting staff to turn them into successful reality.
Dr Karen Shelly and Rebecca Johnson, School of Public Health for supporting quality curriculum design, student-centred pedagogies and the construction of authentic assessment to enhance teaching and learning practices.
Kate Gadenne, School of Public Health for her passion for public health and for contributing to the growth and development of the school, its staff and its students through her exemplary work ethic.
The MMI Team, Faculty of Medicine for coordinating MMIs for the first time in 2019 with enthusiasm and professionalism to ultimately improve MD graduate outcomes.
Simone Austin, Faculty of Medicine for her outstanding performance in the newly created Governance Support Coordinator role and her contributions to the Business Improvement Team.
Finalists:
Ashleigh Williamson from the Office of Medical Education for her attention to detail and her diligence in problem solving to support students and staff.
Clare Butters from the Rural Clinical School for her knowledge and guidance in overseeing the significant phase 2 changes in the discipline of Rural and Remote Medicine.
Justin Flohr from Information Technology Services for his unwavering dedication to excellent service in IT Support.
