Bangkok, Chicago, Lima, Paris and Port Moresby are among the exotic conference destinations of choice for the winners of Burnet Institute Travel Awards for 2023.
This year represents the first opportunity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for staff and students to take full advantage of the awards to attend and participate in international conferences to advance their research and careers.
Some, including Dr Michelle Scoullar, Principal Investigator with Burnet’s Flagship Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies (HMHB) Program, have already put their award to good use.
“This award has supported a conference I went to in South Africa, and there’s been some interesting connections since that time and some possible opportunities coming as a result of that,” Dr Scoullar, the winner of the Dora Lush Academic Excellence Award, said.
“I’m hoping to have it support another overseas conference in the next few months to present the work that the HMHB team and I have been doing around STIs (sexually transmitted infections) in pregnancy and their effect on birthweight.
“We’re hoping to shift the impression that mycoplasma genitalium is an infection that does not cause harm and help people understand that, in fact, it does.”
Miller Foundation Public Health Award-winner, Jenny Cao, will be attending the Federation of International Obstetrics and Gynaecology Conference in Paris in October.
“My research was on abortion services in the Pacific which I did under Professor Caroline Homer and Dr Alyce Wilson as part of my Masters’ dissertation,” Ms Cao, an International Health Project Officer, said.
“So, post-COVID, I’m very happy to be having this opportunity to go to Paris to present my research and share about abortion in the Pacific.”
Professor Homer, Burnet Deputy Director and Co-Program Director, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, said the judges were pleased to be able to present two Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Travel Fellowships this year.
“I think (Postdoctoral Researcher) Hayley Bullen and (Senior Research Fellow and EC Australia Coordinator) Alisa Pedrana are two brilliant recipients this year and I hope others will apply next year,” Professor Homer said.
Postdoctoral Research Officer Michael Curtis has dedicated his Harold Mitchell Foundation Postdoctoral Travel Fellowship to a packed itinerary that includes events in Montreal, Vancouver, San Francisco, New York and Baltimore relating to his research on the use of prospective survey and linked administrative data to improve the health and well-being of marginalised groups.
Burnet Myanmar Senior Program Manager (Health Security and Malaria) Dr Win Htike, and Ruth Bala, TB Counsellor in Daru, Papua New Guinea, are winners of the Crockett-Murphy award to support national staff in Burnet’s overseas programs for travel to a conference related to their area of expertise.
Dr Win plans to attend the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Conference in Chicago in October.
“As a PhD student it is very important for me to learn new things from other researchers and to communicate and showcase my research on the health system readiness of countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region for malaria elimination,” Dr Win said.
“Attending this prestigious annual meeting with provide me with a good opportunity to learn from others, and it is really important, not only for my PhD studies but also for my professional career as a malaria researcher at Burnet.”
The full list of 2023 Burnet Travel Award winners:
Domestic Travel Award ($1000) – Brendan Harney, Stephanie Munari, Rachel Smith, Coralie Boulet, Aimee Altermatt
Miller Foundation Public Health Award ($1000) – Jenny Cao, Emily Adamson
Miller Foundation Biomedical Research Award ($1000) – Katherine O’Flaherty, Liriye Kurtovic
Geoffrey Stewardson Travel Fellowship ($2000) – Sarah Amir Hamzah
Hon Geoffrey Connard Travel Fellowship ($2000) – Annie McDougall, Clarissa Moriera
Pauline Speedy Biomedical Research Fellowship ($5000) – Dulcie Lautu
Harold Mitchell Foundation Postgraduate Travel Fellowship ($7500) – Ellen Kearney
Harold Mitchell Foundation Postdoctoral Travel Fellowship ($7500) – Michael Curtis
Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Travel Fellowship ($10000) – Alisa Pedrana, Hayley Bullen
Dora Lush Academic Excellence Award ($12,000) – Michelle Scoullar
Margaret Harrison Parental Leave Award ($5000) – Stephanie Levy
Crockett-Murphy Travel Award (up to $2500) – Win Htike, Ruth Bala