Award for Research Impact (Economic and Social)

Introduced in 2014, this Award recognises excellence by researchers who have achieved, or are currently achieving, outstanding economic and/or societal impact. The award celebrates success in collaborative working, partnerships, engagement and knowledge transfer activities that have led to significant impact. The Award replaces the Innovation and External Collaboration Award and the Award for Research Engagement and Impact (Economic and Social).

2022 Simon Bell

Simon developed New Australian Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Psychotropic Medications in People Living with Dementia and in Residential Aged Care.

The guidelines were developed by an 18-member multidisciplinary group led by Monash University's Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, with input from the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Primary and Allied Health Care and Peninsula Clinical School.

The research impact is: Sustained engagement of consumers, aged care provider organisations, professional associations and governmental organisations to address an Australian National Health Priority Area (Quality Use of Medicines and Medicine Safety) and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

2020 Cornelia Landersdorfer

Cornelia Landersdorfer has developed optimised dosage regimens for life-saving, low therapeutic index drugs across several therapeutic classes. Population optimal sampling design, pharmacokinetic modelling and simulations were essential to select optimised regimens, identify patient factors that impact dose selection, and predict probabilities of therapeutic target achievement.

The Polymyxin B regimens are promulgated via the first International Consensus Guidelines for the Optimal Use of Polymyxins. A novel IgG replacement regimen is FDA and EMA approved and its efficacy, safety and patient satisfaction prospectively confirmed in clinical practice. The FDA prescribing information includes, for the first time, dosing information for children. All regimens are used in clinical practice internationally.

Through this research, neglected groups of patients have access to dosage regimens (polymyxin B and IgG) or drugs (lithium) that were not previously available to them. Partner organisations (NIH, CSL, FDA) have benefitted through improved study designs and time- and cost-savings.

2019 Johnson George

Johnson George has developed a real-world effectiveness trial of an interdisciplinary model of care (RADICALS) for early diagnosis and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the fourth leading cause of death in humans. RADICALS used resources and services readily accessible in primary care, was evaluated in 41 general practitioner clinics and involved 37,600 smokers.

The RADICALS model of care showed statistically and clinically significant improvements over usual care in quality of life. Interdisciplinary models of care involving pharmacists are effective, inexpensive and ideal for primary care.

The main results plus editorials generated media interest, citations in clinical practice guidelines, and led to further NH&MRC funding to expand the model of care to other chronic diseases.

2018 Ben Boyd, Malinda Salim, Gisela Ramirez, Andrew Clulow and Adrian Hawley

Ben Boyd, Malinda Salim, Gisela Ramirez, Andrew Clulow & Adrian Hawley developed a path of a combination antimalarial therapy. The team have elucidated the critical phase behaviour, solid state pharmaceutical behaviour and solubilisation of the two drugs during the digestion of milk and milk-like systems.

The understanding of the polymorphic behaviour of the two drugs have determined how different infant formulas compare in terms of behaviour during digestion and have determined the proportions of different infant formulas required to solubilise the two drugs.

Their predicted optimal formula at their predicted ratio of powder to drug provides infants with better performance with respect to bioavailability, compared with full cream milk.

2016 Tony Velkov with Jian Li, Phil Thompson, Roger Nation and Kade Roberts

Bacterial infections are responsible for millions of deaths each year and antibiotic resistance has evolved into a serious global health concern. Sadly, the ‘magic bullet’ antimicrobial therapies we have gratuitously used over the past decades are rapidly losing their calibre.

Our research has been crucial to generate valuable intellectual property for Monash and significantly progress our NIH funded novel lipopeptide preclinical development program. We expected our research will lead to two clinical candidates that can be commercialised. This will in turn hasten the introduction of a lipopeptide antibiotic for the treatment of infections caused by Gram-negative ‘superbugs’ as a medicine for human use.
Read more about Fighting Superbugs

2015 Chris Porter, Colin Pouton and Peter Scammells

In 2015 Chris Porter, Colin Pouton and Peter Scammells received this award in recognition of their long-standing collaboration and work to improve drug delivery.  Low water solubility is a particular challenge to achieving clinically-relevant oral bioavailability.  A strategy for enhancing drug absorption after oral administration is co-administration with lipids.  MIPS has a leadership position working with poorly water soluble drugs, and this collaboration has developed an innovative, and valuable, ionic liquids technology platform.  In early 2015 MIPS entered into a collaborative, embedded research partnership and technology licensing agreement with Casugel Inc.
Read more about the Capsugel partnership

2014 Michelle McIntosh

In 2014 Dr Michelle McIntosh received this award in recognition of the work she and her team have achieved in developing an inhaled, stable, self-administered, low-cost, oxytocin product for use in resource-poor countries. Post-partum haemorrhage is the single largest contributing factor to maternal death worldwide. It can be effectively treated or prevented with an injection of the drug oxytocin. Currently, access to a stable, oxytocin injection in resource-poor countries is limited.
Read more about our life-saving work on oxytocin