SCS staff receive Dean's Awards for Excellence

The Dean's Awards for Excellence were announced recently and SCS is delighted to report that three staff members have been recognised for their outstanding achievement within the Faculty.   Prof Michael Hickey was awarded "Excellence in Research (Postgraduate Research Supervision)", A/Prof Julie Brimblecombe was awarded "Excellence in Research Impact (Economic and Social Impact)" and A/Prof Ram Nataraja was awarded "Excellence in Education (Innovation in Learning and Teaching)".

Excellence in Research (Postgraduate Research Supervision) - Prof Michael Hickey

Since commencing at Monash University, Prof Michael Hickey has made extensive and varied contributions to postgraduate student supervision in the Department of Medicine and more broadly within the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health. He is recognised for his caring approach to student supervision. Prof Hickey has supervised 11 PhD students to completion with a further 3 ongoing PhD students. He has served as a Postgraduate Study Area Co-ordinator since 2015, acting as Panel Chair for 8 completed students, with a further 5 students under management. In addition, Prof Hickey has acted as a Panel member for numerous students at MHTP and the Biomedicine Discovery Institute. He has held NHMRC funding continuously since his arrival at Monash University, and has been an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow since 2008. He has published 120 primary research publications including senior author papers in Nature Medicine, Nature Communications and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

"It is a great honour to receive this award, particularly in the knowledge of how many wonderful postgraduate supervisors there are in our Faculty. I would like to thank Prof. Eric Morand and Prof. Kate Loveland for encouraging me to apply and supporting my application, and all of my postgraduate students over the years for their hard work and support", said Prof Hickey.

Excellence in Research Impact (Economic and Social Impact) - A/Prof Julie Brimblecombe

A/Prof Julie Brimblecombe has forged a career dedicated to improving the food supply in remote Indigenous communities.  Her research impact has not only been seen directly in the changes she has led to the food supply in partnership with the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA), but also in the support strategies she has leveraged to support other key stakeholders in the remote retail settings to ensure that the impact is sustained and enhanced.  Since arriving at Monash A/Prof Brimblecombe has made significant impacts with her success with a NHMRC project grant, the CRE partnership with Deakin University and a NHMRC Trip Fellowship.

A/Prof Brimblecombe said, "I'm incredibly delighted to receive this Dean's Award of Excellence particularly for my department and the many people and communities I have had the pleasure of working with in tackling food supply issues in remote communities as it takes many for research to have impact". 

Excellence in Education (Innovation in Learning and Teaching) - A/Prof Ram Nataraja

A/Prof Ram Nataraja established MCH Simulation which is a joint Monash University and Monash Health organisation in 2017. This co-ordinates undergraduate and postgraduate paediatric Simulation-based Medical Education (SBME) at Clayton. SBME is the acquisition and mastery of clinical and non-technical skills in a safe environment prior to patient contact. This has become much more relevant in recent times with COVID-19. A/Prof Nataraja is the co-chair of MCH Simulation and also the Director of Surgical Simulation at Monash Children’s Hospital (MCH).  He was instrumental in the acquisition of a $1.44M grant in Philanthropic funds to build the unique surgical simulation centre with A/Prof Chris Kimber. The centre delivers a wide range of educational courses in both paediatrics and surgery which is unique to Australia and this is consolidating Monash University's position as a world-leading institution for innovation, incorporation of technology and the delivery of excellent education. In his various roles, A/Prof Nataraja has designed, implemented and evaluated a complete portfolio of courses for both undergraduate and post-graduate education. He is a world leader in surgical simulation which is the acquisition of technical and non-technical skills in a safe learning environment. His research and practice in simulation has international impact. One of the simulators which he has primarily designed, validated and published was used to introduce a novel technique into Myanmar for the treatment of a common condition intussusception.  Using this skill base as a leader in surgical simulation A/Prof Nataraja developed a portfolio of national surgical courses for the General Surgeons of Australia.