Four research leaders from the Flinders University’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences have been honoured by their peers with fellowships from the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
The Dean of Flinders’ School of Medicine Professor Paul Worley, palliative care expert Professor David Currow, international ophthalmology researcher Professor Justine Smith and Flinders Professorial Fellow, Professor Christopher Baggoley AO, received their honours in Canberra last night.
Professor Baggoley was the first Flinders student to graduate with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (BMBS), and has gone on to become Australia’s Chief Medical Officer. He plays a key, strategic role in developing and administering major health reforms for all Australians.
In addition, Emeritus Professor Nicholas Saunders AO, past executive dean of the Flinders University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and past dean of Flinders’ School of Medicine, was made an honorary fellow of the Academy.
Flinders University Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Parkin congratulated the new fellows, who join more than 130 experts in their fields with AAHMS fellowships.
“We are very proud of their achievements and of their record of outstanding leadership,” Professor Parkin says. “Our students and staff gain inspiration from the achievements of such respected colleagues as Justine, David, Paul and Chris.”
Along with Emeritus Professor Saunders, he said this recognition highlights their “distinguished and continuing professional contributions to health and medical science”.
The fellowships highlight the importance of health and medical research in building Australia as a world leading, efficient and effective health-care system.
The academy promotes the development of quality health care through research leadership, mentoring of future researchers, and provision of expert opinion to the public and government.
The new fellows were drawn from all aspects of health and medical science across clinical practice and allied health care, with strong representation from the new South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute – including the academy’s first overseas fellow, Professor Charles Mullighan.
Academy president Professor Ian Frazer said the latest list of fellowships “reflects the international standing of their contribution to health and medical science through research, through leadership, and through service”.
“Their future contribution to the field will contribute to ensuring that users of the health-care system in Australia are offered the best quality of care using the latest advances in health research,” Professor Frazer said.