Image: Ms Jenny Tatchell presents Eliza Davidson with the Pauline Speedy Biomedical Research Travel Fellowship

Mexico City, Vancouver, Paris, Boston, Baltimore and Prato in Italy are among the destinations of choice for winners of Burnet Institute Travel Awards for 2019, announced by Burnet Director and CEO Professor Brendan Crabb AC.

The Pauline Speedy Biomedical Research Travel Award will give PhD student Eliza Davidson the opportunity to attend her first international conference – the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Conference in Maryland, USA, in November.

“I’ll be presenting some data from the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies project on associations between iron status and adverse maternal outcomes in pregnancy and postpartum,” Ms Davidson said.

“Presenting at the ASTMH will allow me to interact with leading researchers in malaria and get their valuable feedback and ideas and potentially foster collaborations for future projects.

Image: Harold Mitchell Foundation Postgraduate Travel Fellowship winner, Reece Cossar

“I didn’t expect to get the award, it was very competitive as it is every year, but I’m extremely pleased to be able to travel to America.”

The Harold Mitchell Foundation Postdoctoral Travel Fellowship was awarded jointly to HIV public health researcher Dr Kathleen Ryan, and senior research officer, Dr Minh Pham.

Dr Pham is still deciding whether to attend the upcoming STI and HIV World Congress in Vancouver, or the International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science in Mexico City, or both.

“This travel award is my first at Burnet, and it’s come at the right time because I’m in my first year as a post-doc, and it’s time for me to develop my track record and career path,” Dr Pham said.

Image: Professor Brendan Crabb presents Bridget Draper with the Miller Foundation Public Health Travel Award

“It’s important for me to get out there to present my work, but also to get to know new people, meet potential collaborators and expand my network internationally, considering my work focuses on global health, and validating and testing innovative point-of-care tests developed by Burnet.”

PhD candidate Vanessa Veronese took out a prestigious new award, the Dora Lush Travel Fellowship, open to mothers of young children for international conference travel across biomedical sciences, public health or international health.

Ms Veronese’s PhD looks at the HIV epidemiology and risk behaviours among ‘hidden’ men who have sex with men in Myanmar.

The Crockett-Murphy Award, open to support national staff in Burnet’s programs overseas to travel to a conference or other event, was awarded jointly to Ms Ruth Fidelis, Burnet’s Laboratory Technician in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, and Dr Ye Win Aung, Program Manager for Burnet Myanmar. The Award is named in memory of two trailblazing Burnet staff members, Dr Sue Crockett and Ms Clare Murphy.

The full list of Travel Award winners:

• Miller Foundation Public Health Travel Award – Bridget Draper
• Miller Foundation Biomedical Research Travel Award – Jasper Cornish
• Geoffrey J Stewardson Fund Travel Fellowship – Sophia Schroeder
• Hon Geoffrey Connard Travel Fellowship – Dr Hayley Bullen
• Pauline Speedy Biomedical Research Travel Fellowship – Eliza Davidson
• Judith Moore Travel Fellowship – Penny Hill
• Dora Lush Travel Fellowship – Vanessa Veronese
• Harold Mitchell Foundation Postdoctoral Travel Fellowship – Dr Kathleen Ryan, Dr Minh Pham
• Harold Mitchell Foundation Postgraduate Travel Fellowship – Reece Cossar
• Jean Hailes Postdoctoral Travel Fellowship in Women’s Health – Dr Josh Vogel
• Crockett-Murphy Travel Award – Ruth Fidelis, Dr Ye Win Aung