Last Thursday 20 February we celebrated the 2024 ACvA Excellence in Cardiovascular Research Awards in Brisbane. It’s always such an honour to publicly celebrate and acknowledge the leadership, collaboration and innovation within our sector. It’s also a reminder of the breadth and diversity of the cardiovascular and stroke research spectrum.
We had a wonderful introduction from the Honourable Ged Kearney MP, Assistant Minister for Health & Aged Care who shared how important mentoring had been for her during both her nursing career and early days in parliament. She gave ‘heartfelt’ congratulations to researchers saying, “You are all making a difference. The future is so promising thanks to the brilliant discoveries being made by Australian researchers.”
Australian Cardiovascular Alliance President Professor Jason Kovacic and Implementation & Policy Flagship Co-director and Scientific Advisory Committee member Professor Julie Redfern introduced the Finalists and presented the Awards.
New ACvA CEO Rob Tassie had a chance to speak, relishing the opportunity to both celebrate the sector and meet so many members and stakeholders. He said, “We are proud to recognise and celebrate the groundbreaking research and innovative solutions in our sector that are improving the health outcomes available for all Australians and are a vital part of sustaining our reputation for world-class research.”
The 2024 Game Changer Award was won by Professor John Fraser AO and Critical Care Research Group, headquartered at The Prince Charles Hospital.
This year’s Mentor award recipient was Professor Mark Cooper AO from Monash University.
The winner of the 2024 Translation Award was Professor Nathan Palpant and team – Professor Glenn King, Dr Natalie Saez, Professor Robert Graham, and Professor Peter Macdonald a collaborative effort between the University of Queensland’s Institute of Molecular Bioscience and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.
The winners were chosen from a shortlist of 9 Finalists from across the country who represent the diversity within the cardiovascular and stroke research sector including work on Rheumatic Heart Disease, gut microbes which can reduce blood pressure, the link between heart damage and kidney disease and innovation in precision medicine.
You can read more about their research and all of the 2024 Finalists HERE.