Celebrating 60 Years of Impact: Monash Paediatrics Marks a Milestone
A vibrant crowd of past and present staff, students, and collaborators gathered earlier this month at Monash Children's Hospital to celebrate 60 years of the Department of Paediatrics at Monash University.
The event brought together generations of clinician-scientists, educators, researchers and community partners to reflect on a shared legacy of compassion, discovery and care.
The afternoon opened with the inaugural Professor Arthur Clarke Oration, delivered by Professor Rod Hunt, Financial Markets Foundation Chair of Neonatal Paediatrics at Monash University and neonatologist at Monash Children’s Hospital. His reflections, grounded in decades of pioneering newborn care, honoured many past and present advances at Monash Children’s, while calling on the next generation to continue pushing boundaries in child health.
The oration paid tribute to Professor Clarke, the Department’s Foundation Chair, who in 1965 “found his calling in , bringing a strong humanist ethos to the care of children.” As Professor Nick Freezer, Medical Director at Monash Children's Hospital, recalled:
“Arthur was a pioneer in child-centred care and an innovator. He very much promoted putting the child and the family at the centre of medical care, and through various innovations really transformed the way in which paediatrics was conducted, not just in Australia but around the world.”
The department’s evolution and current future-looking research was explored through a series of displays, stories and tours — from its beginnings at the Queen Victoria Hospital, one of just three hospitals in the world founded and staffed entirely by women, to today’s integrated ecosystem of care, research and education.
Guests heard about the transformational impact of research from the 1980s onwards, including early work on neonatal breathing, the establishment of the Newborn Intensive Care Unit under Professor Victor Yu, and the founding of the Centre for Early Human Development in 1978.
They also saw how today’s clinician-researchers are building on that legacy optimising emergency care, detecting sleep-disordered breathing at home, building a first-of-its-kind clinic for children with developmental regression, developing microbiome-informed therapies for inflammatory bowel disease, and using technology to train clinicians and improve safety in care.
The sense of continuity between past and present was palpable. Today, Monash Paediatrics operates at the heart of a thriving research precinct, delivering world-class care while training more than 500 medical students across Victoria and Malaysia.
Reflecting on this integrated model, Professor Katrina Williams, Head of the Department of Paediatrics, said:
“The Department of Paediatrics is connected to both the clinical service and our partner research institutes, all on the one campus. This connectedness has enabled us to build direct pipelines from discovery to clinical care, delivering meaningful improvements to children and their families more quickly.”
The afternoon also celebrated the spirit of innovation that continues to shape the department's future. Associate Professor Atul Malhotra, neonatologist and researcher, described the unique strengths of the Monash Children’s campus:
“This site is rich with support and infrastructure not present elsewhere... This fertile ground enables research which no one else can do in Australia.”
From life-saving cell therapies to pioneering sleep research, simulation training to inclusive clinical trials, the celebration highlighted the department’s commitment to every child — regardless of background, diagnosis or postcode.
“We have the child as the focus,” said Associate Professor Malhotra. “I want every child who is eligible for my research studies to be included. Irrespective of where they live, what background they come from, what language they speak.”
As the Department looks ahead to its next chapter, the founding ethos of collaboration, curiosity and compassion remains as strong as ever.
“It's a very exciting time for children and families,” said Professor Williams. “The progress we’ll see in the coming decades will outpace everything we’ve achieved in the past 60 years.”
Read more in our 60 Years of Impact article series.
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.
For more news, visit Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences or Monash University.
MEDIA ENQUIRIES