Professor Euan Wallace AM awarded Honorary Doctorate
Monash University has conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Laws on Professor Euan Wallace AM, the highest honour the University can bestow on an individual of professional or academic distinction. The honorary degree was conferred on Professor Wallace during a ceremony at the University’s Clayton campus today.
Professor Euan Wallace is an academic obstetrician and gynaecologist, and the current Secretary of the Victorian Department of Health, a position he was appointed to in November 2020. He completed his medical and research training in Edinburgh, Scotland before joining Monash University and Monash Health in 1996. Professor Wallace has more than 30 years of experience in clinical practice and medical research and 15 years of experience in clinical leadership and governance. His research interests are in fetal development, maternal health, stem cell biology and patient safety.
In 2006, Professor Wallace was appointed the Director of Women’s Health at Monash Health, Victoria’s largest women’s health service, and the inaugural Carl Wood Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Monash University. In 2010, he became the Director of The Ritchie Centre at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Australia’s leading perinatal and women’s health research centre, a role he held until 2013 when was appointed Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
In 2013, he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to women’s health and education. In 2015, he was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
While at Monash, Professor Wallace and his team made a number of world-first discoveries, many of which they have patented. The team described changes in placental blood flow that have become a standard test of fetal health now routinely used by midwives and obstetricians; they showed that melatonin protects the fetal brain against in utero injury, potentially preventing cerebral palsy; and they also showed that stem cells collected from the placenta can be used to repair some of the most important health challenges of our time, including adult stroke and the lung disease of very premature babies.
In 2017, Victorian Health Minister The Honourable Jill Hennessy asked Professor Wallace to establish a new healthcare safety agency for Victoria, Safer Care Victoria, of which he was appointed the inaugural Chief Executive Officer. In July 2020, Professor Wallace was seconded to the Department of Health and Human Services as Deputy Secretary and was jointly responsible for COVID-19 case management, contract tracing and outbreak management. It was this role, which led to his current appointment as Secretary of the Department of Health.
Across his clinical career, Professor Wallace has been intrigued and frustrated, in equal measure, by avoidable harm in healthcare, particularly in pregnancy care. He has led several initiatives to improve patient safety, including the development of statewide pregnancy care guidelines, and an education program for midwives and doctors that now trains thousands of healthcare workers a year across Australia. He has also reviewed more than 20 health services across Australia and internationally, including a landmark 2015 review of a Victorian maternity service following a series of baby deaths.
Professor Wallace has also published over 400 original scientific papers and 15 book chapters. He has an h-index of 68 with over 17,000 citations.
Dean of Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Professor Christina Mitchell extended her warmest congratulations to Professor Wallace on the award of the honorary doctorate. “Professor Wallace is an outstanding clinician researcher of the highest calibre, and his contribution to Monash University and to the health and safety of the broader Victorian community has been immense,” she said. “I am very pleased to see him recognised with this well-deserved honour.”
About Monash University
Monash University is Australia’s largest university with more than 80,000 students. In the 60 years since its foundation, it has developed a reputation for world-leading high-impact research, quality teaching, and inspiring innovation.
With four campuses in Australia and a presence in Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Italy, it is one of the most internationalised Australian universities.
As a leading international medical research university with the largest medical faculty in Australia and integration with leading Australian teaching hospitals, we consistently rank in the top 50 universities worldwide for clinical, pre-clinical and health sciences.
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