Celebrating the 2024 Dean’s Awards for Excellence
An innovative blending of biosciences with the clinical nursing curriculum, a significant contribution to the field of women’s sexual and reproductive health and a collaboration with First Nations artists to improve intergenerational wellbeing were among 28 projects, people and teams recognised in the Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences 2024 Dean’s Awards for Excellence, held in a virtual ceremony today.
The awards acknowledge the faculty’s academic and professional staff’s outstanding contributions to health and medical research and education, equity, diversity and inclusion and health, safety and wellbeing. The impressive field of winners highlights the depth and breadth of excellence within the faculty community and recognises their commitment to making a valuable contribution to others through their professional efforts.
Professor Christina Mitchell AO, Executive Dean of Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, congratulated the award winners. “The nature of our work in hospitals, communities, industry and in public health means that we are driven by the desire to make a difference,” she said. “It’s what we do - through critical, lifesaving research, in our education programs and in our university business. It’s my pleasure to endorse the recipients of the Dean’s Awards for Excellence and also congratulate all those who were nominated.”
Our award winners are:
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education
Dean’s Award for Excellence In Education: Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
Individual - Dr Lilani Arulkadacham
Lilani is an exceptional educator and transformative leader. With a dedication to understanding and facilitating student success, she maintains a dynamic research portfolio focused on the scholarship of learning and teaching. Central to her scholarly pursuits is a specialised emphasis on enhancing online student wellbeing, engagement, and retention, recognising the unique challenges and opportunities presented in digital learning environments. Through her leadership, Lilani continues to inspire transformative change and foster a culture of continuous improvement in learning outcomes and student experiences across Monash University and beyond.
Dean’s Award for Excellence In Education: Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
Team - Associate Professor Kiri Beilby and Dr Nicola Rivers
The COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne resulted in a significant reduction in student motivation and engagement as measured through student evaluations (SETU) and attendance in a cohort of postgraduate science students within the Sub-Faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine. These issues not only persisted but worsened in the two years following, long after public health restrictions were lifted and as the cost of living crisis began to rise. To address the problem, an in-depth evaluation of student experience was conducted through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), resulting in a list of recommendations that were implemented and shown to improve student motivation through SETU metrics.
Dean’s Award for Excellence In Education: Teaching Excellence
Individual - Dr Chantal Hoppe
An experienced and pioneering educator, Dr Chantal Hoppe stands at the forefront of educational innovation, leading a revolution in large-course and classroom delivery. She paves the way for authentic assessment strategies, enhancing the learning experience for hundreds of students. Her leadership of teams adopting best-practice authentic assessment strategies has resulted in students experiencing assessments for learning, laboratory skill competency hurdles, the ‘Viva’ oral method, and science communication team assignments, and this over multiple curricula, avoiding rote-learning traditional examination methods. Through such initiatives, she cultivates collaboration where the team can continuously optimise teaching practices, adapting to the ever-changing needs of today's students.
Dean’s Award for Excellence In Education: Teaching Excellence
Individual - Dr Jessica Trevena-Peters
Dr Jessica Trevena-Peters has made an outstanding contribution to quality student learning experiences within the Clinical Neuropsychology PhD program. Jessica inspires trainees to learn through her passion for teaching and clinical neuropsychology, and enhances student experiences by implementing competency-based learning and iterative evaluation to refine her practices. Prioritising student learning, Jessica considers individuals’ needs and integrates evidence-based and experiential learning activities to enhance trainees’ development of competencies. Jessica contributes to the wider progression of neuropsychology training through research on graduate competencies, also collaborating with industry. Driven by her commitment to excellence in education, clinical expertise and research skills, Jessica optimises the student learning experience, striving to produce exceptional graduates.
Dean’s Award for Excellence In Education: Innovation in Learning and Teaching
Individual - Dr Natalie Fonda
Dr Natalie Fonda is an AHPRA registered paramedic and GP with a passion for interprofessional education (IPE). She published an evaluation of an IPE peer-assisted teaching event between undergraduate OT and Paramedic students in 2022 and was awarded an early career education grant by the School of Primary and Allied Health Care for her proposal to run an inaugural IPE event on the management of obstetric emergencies for paramedic and midwifery students. Natalie designed and coordinated the IPE workshop, which ran in May 2023. Students, staff and panel members provided overwhelmingly positive feedback about the event. Natalie subsequently led a research team to produce a mixed-method analysis of the event. The abstract for this research was presented via poster presentation at the Australasian College of Paramedicine conference in September 2023, and the manuscript was submitted for publication in early 2024.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education: Innovation in Learning and Teaching
Team - NUR1112 and NUR1114 Integrated Teaching
Dr Auxillia Madhuvu, James Bonnamy, Dr Andree Gamble, Dr Emma Ashton, Monica O’Halloran, Dr Renee Rogers, Dr Elise Randle-Barrett, Dr Natalie Bennett, Yasmin Zisin, Dr Dylan Fox, Jacinta Pitman, Associate Professor Cliff Connell
The team innovatively crafted and delivered two units blending bioscience with clinical nursing in the first-year curriculum, effectively linking bioscience with nursing to combat student engagement and attrition challenges. This integrated approach addresses students' struggles with biosciences, bridging theoretical knowledge with clinical practice through real-life scenarios in tutorials and simulations. Lecture and textbook content are seamlessly integrated into scenario discussions, practical skill development, and post-class activities via Moodle. Results include improved student engagement and satisfaction, recognition of bioscience's importance in nursing, enhanced academic performance, reduced attrition, valuable feedback for ongoing unit development, and published research. This innovation has spurred educational research projects aimed at impacting higher education.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education: Educational Leadership
Individual - Associate Professor Megan Wallace
Associate Professor Megan Wallace is a teaching and research academic with a diverse suite of senior educational leadership roles. In those roles, she is leading educational changes in undergraduate, graduate and continuing medical education. Associate Professor Wallace has played a pivotal role in developing and introducing the largest new component in the MD degree required for accreditation by the Australian Medical Council. She also coordinates the BMedSc(Hons) degree and an undergraduate research-focused unit BME3082, instilling a passion and enthusiasm for medical research in her students. She is also responsible for developing a highly successful suite of short courses for health professionals, leading continual professional development activities for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In these roles, Associate Professor Wallace plays a key role in driving the vital intersection between teaching and research in the faculty, training and mentoring junior scientists and clinician scientists, promoting evidence-based medicine, and increasing the base of research-active clinicians in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education: Programs that Enhance Learning
Team - Monash Nursing and Midwifery ICU
Dr Pauline Wong , Associate Professor Wendy Pollock, Angelique Clark, Melissa Njoku, Kelly Ottosen, Carly Reinecker
The Monash Nursing and Midwifery ICU team have contributed to a sixfold increase in the successful completion of highly skilled ICU nurse graduates since 2019. Central to the team’s success has been their ability to establish increasing industry partnerships with major healthcare networks across Victoria and peak professional bodies. The high level of engagement in industry partnership activities has contributed to quality student learning and student experiences and has also enhanced Monash’s reputation for world-class education. All team members are actively involved in national peak professional bodies Australian College of Critical Care Nurses and Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society and research and educational pursuits that contribute to strengthening the critical care nursing workforce and ultimately have a positive impact on the health, social and economic outcomes of our community.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education: Industry Education Programs
Individual - Georgia Rejack
Georgia Rejack is responsible for the conception and delivery of the Victorian Heart Institute (VHI) Education Portfolio – a core institute priority and revenue stream. She has worked at Monash University since the foundation of the institute in 2020, playing an instrumental role in the operational team. She has attracted several industry partnerships, including two new MOUs for the university, and led multi-disciplinary national and global teams across business units and organisations to deliver successful education initiatives, including the Monash Malaysia Cardiovascular Summit. Georgia’s achievements consistently exceed expectations. Those who work with her at Monash and external stakeholders in the health industry are met with purpose-led education offerings that deliver true partnership and the inherent associated value. The cardiovascular workforce is stronger for her initiative, innovative thinking and ability to bring the right people to the table with the right attitude.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education: Industry Education Programs
Team 1 - Monash Emergency Nursing
Louise Shorten, Alysha Cowley, Kathryn Pristupa, Professor Julia Morphet, Associate Professor Kelli Innes, Rebecca Winter, Samantha Dix, Dr Tamsin Jones, Associate Professor Cliff Connell
The Monash Emergency Nursing stream teaching team boasts a robust track record of innovation and excellence in emergency nursing education. Pioneering a hybrid teaching model prior to the widespread adoption of online learning during COVID-19, the team has significantly improved the accessibility and quality of emergency nursing education across Australia. Their efforts facilitated the expansion of the program nationally, enabling engagement from students in remote areas. The team's approach integrates real-world clinical experiences, significantly enhancing student outcomes and aligning with Monash’s educational excellence goals. Their continued growth in industry collaboration and educational innovation positions them as a leader in shaping future emergency nursing.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education: Industry Education Programs
Team 2 - TEAM Undergraduate Certificates (Together Educating & Advocating Matters)
Kirsty Pope, Dr Phyllis Chua, Dr Paul Kremer, Seema Dua, Dr Michelle Kehoe, Dr Shiva Vasi, Kaylene Hanlon, Dave Peters, Ingrid Ozols AM, Kirsty Rosie, Jackie Conheady, Dr Eli Ristevski, Dr Meaghan Christian, Dr Pam Harvey, Dr Peta Tehan, Associate Professor Janeane Dart, Associate Professor Bernadette Ward, Dr Michael Leach
The team established the Undergraduate Certificates of Mental Health, Aged Care Health Essentials and Health Care Essentials, enrolling more than 2500 students These innovative courses respond to industry needs, include co-design with industry, consumers and carers, cross-faculty teaching teams, and diverse student groups and have received excellent feedback.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education: Community Education Programs
Monash Rural Health (MRH) Churchill Community Based Placement (CBP) Program - Team
Associate Professor Margaret Simmons, Natalie Donald, Nicola Epps, Jo Kingsley, Sarah Renn, Kylie Halsall, Krystal Kosakiewicz
The Monash Rural Health - Churchill Community-Based Placement Team is responsible for ensuring that approximately 100 graduate-entry medical students participate annually in a uniquely outstanding, highly regarded community placement at approximately 20 health or community organisations across Gippsland. Hours of liaising and planning by the team with new and previous organisations led to a very successful 2023 reinstatement of the program after pandemic interruptions, when students delivered approximately 4000 hours of community service.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research: Engagement and Impact
Individual - Professor Danielle Mazza AM
Professor Danielle Mazza AM FAHMS is a nationally and internationally recognised leader in implementation research and knowledge translation in the general practice setting. She has made significant, sustained and ongoing contributions to advance general practice and primary health care in Australia in the field of women’s sexual and reproductive health and as a proponent of evidence-based quality improvement through guideline development and implementation. Professor Mazza leads the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health for Women in Primary Care (SPHERE). Through Professor Mazza’s leadership, SPHERE’s research and advocacy have informed changes in policy and clinical practice that are focused on improving access to sexual and reproductive health services for women in Australia. These include the introduction of telehealth for accessing medical abortion, deregulation of medical abortion and federal government funding for initiatives that support primary care professionals in the provision of long-acting reversible contraception and medical abortion services.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research: Engagement and Impact
Team - Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre
Professor Jamie Cooper, Professor Rinaldo Bellomo, Professor Carol Hodgson, Professor Andrew Udy
The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre (ANZIC-RC) drives the development, conduct and translation of pivotal, large-scale research projects in critical care, and builds research capacity in the field. Its work has revolutionised practice globally, saving countless lives, improving outcomes and reducing health expenditure. The ANZIC-RC's high-achieving team is one of the most successful research groups at Monash University, with total grant funding exceeding $121 million (Category 1 >$96 million; Categories 2-4 >$25 million; >$40 million 2022-2024), and more than 2,400 publications, with 274 in 2023- alone. The ANZIC-RC's achievement highlights include winning the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA) Trial of the Year Winner in 2022 with the REMAP CAP trial led by Professor Steve Webb, and also in 2023 with the TEAM Trial led by Professor Carol Hodgson.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research: Enterprise and/or Commercialisation
Individual - Professor Ram Nataraja
Professor Ram Nataraja is an academic paediatric surgeon in the Department of Paediatrics in the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health. He is also the Director of Monash Children’s Hospital Simulation Centre and in this role has built the unit to be a self-sustainable model with an increasing portfolio of virtual national and international courses. He is a pioneer in minimally invasive surgery in children and surgical simulation and also designed the first validated paediatric surgical bench trainer model in 2002. He continues to use innovation and incorporation of novel and emerging technology to increase the impact of education. He has an educational and clinical research background with more than 120 peer-reviewed publications. He is also passionate about educational reform in low and middle-income countries, having led various programs in countries including Myanmar, Fiji, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea, including the innovative PIVOTS program.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research: Professional of the Year
Individual - Dr Davina Dadley-Moore
Dr Davina Dadley-Moor AFM(F) leads the Monash BDI research office, which provides support to approximately 500 researchers across 120 groups and an 18-member research executive. She is BDI’s first research manager, and her career in biomedical research, journal and grant editing, research program and product management has enabled her to design a service that is carefully targeted to the needs of biomedical researchers. This approach has contributed to a substantial increase in research fellowship income, particularly for early-career researchers. She has also initiated a suite of capacity-building programs for early and mid-career researchers, which are now cornerstones of BDI’s career development approach. Her unstinting dedication to excellent outcomes for BDI and its researchers, her commitment to individualised support and her continued development of support programs while managing a high volume of operational matters have been integral to BDI’s recent successes.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research: Early Career Researcher of the Year
Dr Macsue Jacques has made significant advances in the fields of ageing health and exercise science just two years after her PhD and despite career interruptions. She has published 28 papers and four book chapters, achieved an h-index of 16, 692 citations and an i10-index of 19, and her work has been showcased in top-tier journals like FASEB, Aging Cell and JCSM. Her findings have been presented at prestigious national and international conferences, including the AuPS Meetings (2019-2021), the Australian Epigenetic Society Meeting (2020), the Muscle Network Meeting (2019), and the Cell Metabolism Conference. She was recently invited to chair a session at the esteemed ARDD conference as well as being part of their organising committee in Copenhagen. Macsue has also organised four conferences and supervised four Master's students. She has been elected twice to the AuPS society.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research: Graduate Research Supervision
Professor Karla Hutt is an NHMRC Investigator, Deputy Head (Research) of the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology and the Co-Head of the Development and Stem Cells Discovery Program at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute. She also leads the Ovarian Biology Laboratory, studying the mechanisms behind loss of healthy ovarian function due to aging, cancer treatments, infection and environmental damage, with the overall goal of optimising women’s health and fertility. She currently supervises 9 PhD students and has supervised 8 PhD, 1 Masters, and 1 external PhD student to completion. She is deeply committed to her students' success, with a mentorship approach focused on understanding and supporting their unique learning processes. By tailoring her guidance to each student's individual needs, she ensures they have opportunities for growth that extend beyond the typical lab experience, helping them reach their full potential.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research: Researcher of the Year
Professor Chris Greening is an outstandingly innovative, productive, and impactful researcher. He has redefined ‘what is life’ through his discovery that many microbes and ecosystems are powered primarily by air, not sunlight. He has led papers published in Nature and Cell, been awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship and also the Prime Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year, and advanced multimillion-dollar transdisciplinary collaborations to enhance health and sustainability through initiatives such as Securing Antartica’s Environmental Future, RISE, and ReCarb). He has translated these discoveries into improving the climate by developing strategies to mitigate emissions, monitoring survival and transmission of pathogens and patenting work creating the first fuel cells run on air and waste gases. He is highly collaborative, with over 50 institutional collaborations and extensive international networks, and is an encouraging mentor who has mentored multiple researchers to independence.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research: Team of the Year
Climate, Air Quality Research (CARE) Unit
Professor Yuming Guo, Professor Shanshan Li, Associate Professor Danijela Gasevic, Dr Rongbin Xu, Dr Samuel Hundessa, Dr Gongbo Chen, Dr Pei Yu, Dr Yanming (Liam) Liu, Dr Shuang Zhou, Dr Wenhua Yu, Dr Tingting Ye
The CARE Unit has conducted a series of innovative and fundamental studies to improve environmental and climate health assessments and to address the inequity of environmental health risks, with new technology, novel approaches, and big data. Initiating the largest multinational study on the health effects of environmental factors, CARE Unit’s work has left an indelible mark. CARE Unit has also pioneered the integration of machine learning techniques to gauge air pollution levels worldwide. In a series of ground-breaking achievements, CARE Unit became the first research group to accurately estimate global daily PM2.5 concentrations and the dispersion of wildfire smoke, which was published on the front cover of Nature. Their ground-breaking multi-disciplinary research has led to a major breakthrough in heat adaptation assessment, for example, they are the first to reveal that people have the ability to adapt to the local climate. The unit’s research has unequivocally demonstrated that extreme weather events and air pollution seriously impact vulnerable populations.
Dean's Award for Excellence in Doctoral Thesis
Dean’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence 2023
Dr Yifang Li
Dr Yifan Li was recognised for her PhD thesis entitled Evaluating the therapeutic effects of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell-based therapies in combination with an anti-fibrotic agent in experimental models of hypertension under the supervision of Professor Chrishan Samuel and Professor Sharon Ricardo, in the Department of Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Science.
Dean’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence 2023 - Faculty Industry Engagement Award
Dr Kathryn Connelly was recognised for her PhD thesis entitled Towards a Novel Treatment Response Measure for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus under the supervision of Professor Eric Morand, Associate Professor Vera Golder and Dr Rangi Kandane-Rathnayake, in the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Individual - Professor Trevor Lithgow
Professor Trevor Lithgow is based in the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, where he heads a research team uncovering strategies to tackle the rise of antibiotic-resistant (AMR) bacteria. In 2020, he established the Centre to Impact AMR and served as its founding director. The trans-faculty centre brings together engineers, social scientists, microbiologists, chemists, computational and evolutionary scientists, and clinicians to find sustainable solutions against AMR. The centrepiece of the centre’s equity and diversity policy focuses on engagement with Indigenous students and staff, and with Indigenous communities broadly. Through collaborative programs focusing on education and research, Professor Lithgow built strong partnerships with the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people, he appointed the first and only Aboriginal Communities Engagement Leader within the faculty and showcased the microbial diversity of Wurundjeri country in the international scientific community, thereby creating meaningful Indigenous engagement in research and education within Monash University and more broadly.
Team - We Are Well – Intergenerational art-moving-wellbeing project team
Dr Aislinn Lalor, Professor Keith Hill
Dr. Aislinn Lalor and Professor Keith Hill, along with the We Are Well team from Monash Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences and Monash Education, collaborated with First Nation artists Aunty Karan Kent, Kylie Colemane and Nikki Browne on an intergenerational art-moving-wellbeing program. Over four weeks, 75 participants, including school children, students, teachers, academics and older adults engaged in workshops with McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery. The impact of the program is evident in the content which is respectful and inclusive of Indigenous knowledge and also showcases authentic Indigenous practices. The collaboration significantly impacted participants by fostering inclusive practices and enhancing the capacity of graduates to be inclusive in their future careers.
Dean’s Award for Excellence - Professional Staff
Dean’s Award for Excellence: Exceptional Performance by Professional Staff
Individual - Dr Alex Fulcher
Dr Alex Fulcher designed and developed the Master’s student intern program at Monash Micro Imaging in order to further aid research groups to investigate new microscopy techniques, and to give budding Masters-level student microscopists valuable core facility experience. Alex has gone above and beyond to drive the program and enhance outcomes for both researchers and students over the past 6 years, with many student interns finding employment with Monash Micro Imaging as a result. As a senior microscopist, Alex has also formed many collaborations with researchers across the faculty, resulting in the co‐authorship of 30 manuscripts since 2011, with approximately 1000 citations and resulting in a h‐index of 19 and i10 index of 25.
Dean’s Award for Excellence: Exceptional Performance by Professional Staff
Team - FMNHS Graduate Research Team
Cassandra Meagher, Dasuni Alwis, Jess Han Hinrichsen, Brooke Snow, Cathleen Nolan, Tricia Quek
The Graduate Research team performs at an exceptionally high level, providing consistent support to the faculty Graduate Research portfolio, which oversees 1700 + students across 11 schools and institutes. Their dedication and expertise have been instrumental in achieving the faculty's strategic goals of recruitment and scholarship success and delivering a high-quality graduate research student experience. The team’s outstanding performance is demonstrated through their attention to detail, their problem-solving abilities and effective collaboration with graduate research coordinators and administrators across the faculty and the Monash Graduate Research Office. They have worked tirelessly to improve and streamline processes, especially during scholarship rounds when they must deliver within tight deadlines. Overall, this has earned the team a solid reputation from all stakeholders across the faculty and University.
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Individual - Dr Amy Brymora
Dr Amy Brymora has applied extensive knowledge, experience and skills to develop a much safer and more compliant culture at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, demonstrating clear impact and ongoing improvement through significant increases in training and education rates, such as nearly doubling attendance in 12 months, an overhaul of the BDI’s OHS committee to provide for greater authority to implement change, and the development of a comprehensive library of over 20 policies, procedures and signage and effective communication and consultation. Amy’s detailed approach, extensive expertise and incredible commitment have ensured all BDI researchers and others can focus on their core business of research, knowing they are doing so in a safe environment.
Team - SPACH Mask Fit Project
Dr Cameron Gosling , Professor Terry Haines, Carlos Garcia, Professor Christian Osadnik, Kerry McManus
Dr Cameron Gosling led a multi-disciplinary team of academics and OHS staff to review how mask-fit testing was implemented across the School of Primary and Allied Health Care. The team identified that cost, time and resources could be significantly reduced if education and qualitative mask checking were demonstrated to be equivalent to costly mask-fit testing procedures. The focus of this project was to reduce the burden on staff, students and budgets. The team identified that when student safety is paramount, mask-fit testing remains as the gold standard approach.
Find out more about the Dean’s Awards for Excellence 2024.
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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