Image: Jim and Margaret Beever Fellow for 2022, Dr Fiona Angrisano

Malaria researcher, Dr Fiona Angrisano has been awarded the Jim and Margaret Beever Fellowship for 2022. Dr Angrisano was among a number of award recipients announced today at Burnet.

Dr Angrisano who works in the Vector-Borne Diseases and Tropical Public Health Group, described the fellowship as a “really exciting opportunity” that has given her the chance to think about what she wants to do next in her research career.

The overarching theme that has dominated Dr Angrisano’s career so far is movement. In her PhD she looked at the movement of parasites, in particular how malaria parasites invade red blood cells.

Following her PhD she took a more translational approach, studying parasite transmission in malaria and how we can develop ways to block transmission, such as transmission-blocking vaccines.

Since she joined Burnet in 2020, she has expanded her research focus to serosurveillance and disease dynamics.

“This serosurveillance work contributes to verifying disease elimination, it can predict potential outbreaks and it helps evaluate the impact of vaccine programs,” Dr Angrisano said.

“Some of the work we’ve been involved in, very closely with our partners at the Institute of Medical Research in Papua New Guinea, looks at respiratory diseases, neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and vaccine-preventable diseases.”

The Beever Fellowship will allow her to undertake a program of work tackling malaria from parasitological, epidemiological and immunological perspectives.

“I’m incredibly grateful to the Beever fellowship for the opportunity to expand my research into identifying the most effective malaria transmission blocking targets,” Dr Angrisano said.

The applicants for the Dora Lush Academic Excellence Award could not be split with the prize being awarded jointly to Dr Win Han Oo and Ashleigh Stewart.

“This is a prestigious award for someone like me from a developing country,” Dr Win Han Oo said, who is part of Burnet’s Myanmar team working on infectious diseases.

“I will use this award wisely and cost-effectively to advance my career forward. So it will be a stepping stone to advance my professional career.”

Ms Stewart thanked the late Dora Lush and her family for “funding this incredible award”.

“I look forward to heading to Boston to further my career and to have the opportunity to contribute to our work with HIV and hepatitis C co-infection,” she said.

AWARD WINNERS

• Jim and Margaret Beever Fellowship – Dr Fiona Angrisano
• Dora Lush Academic Excellence Award ($12,000) – Dr Win Han Oo & Ashleigh Stewart
• Margaret Harrison Parental Leave Grant ($8,000) – Dr Jo-Anne Chan
• Domestic Travel Award ($1,000) – Dr Hayley Bullen
• Miller Foundation Public Health ($1,000) – Dr Annie McDougall
• Miller Foundation Biomedical Research ($1,000) – Dr Grace Androga
• Geoffrey Stewardson Travel Fellowship ($2,000) – Brendan Harney
• Hon Geoffrey Connard Travel Fellowship ($2,000) – Sophia Schroeder
• Pauline Speedy Biomedical Research Fellowship ($5,000) – Brianna Jesaveluk
• Harold Mitchell Foundation Postgraduate Travel Fellowship ($7,500) – Dr Alyce Wilson
• Harold Mitchell Foundation Postdoctoral Travel Fellowship ($7,500) – Dr Marie Habito and Dr Liriye Kurtovic
• Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Travel Fellowship ($10,000) – Dr Rebecca Winter
• Crockett-Murphy Travel Award ($2,500) – Pele Melepia and Akisa Kawe