WINNERS & HIGHLY COMMENDED ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2025-26 RESEARCH AUSTRALIA AWARDS
We are delighted to announce the winners and highly commended recipients across our Award categories for the 2025-26 Awards.
Our finalists, winners, highly commended recipients, their nominators and guests joined members of parliament, key sector influencers, and fellow Research Australia members for a night of celebration at the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park.
This national event brought together organisations from across the entire health and medical research pipeline to acknowledge and reward the research, innovation, technology, philanthropy and advocacy that play such a significant part in all our lives.
AND THE WINNERS ARE…
Peter Wills Medal
Flagship Award
🏆 WINNER
Melissa Little AC
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Discovery Award
🏆 WINNER
Dr Caitlin Jones
Research Fellow, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney
⭐ HIGHLY COMMENDED
Dr Angli Xue
NHMRC Investigator Fellow and Senior Postdoctoral Scientist, Garvan Institute / UNSW Sydney
⭐ HIGHLY COMMENDED
Dr Jinni Yan
Lecturer, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney
Health Services Research Award
Sponsored by Bond University Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare
🏆 WINNER
Associate Professor Chris Freeman
Clinical Associate Professor, The University of Queensland
⭐ HIGHLY COMMENDED
Associate Professor Carlos Garcia Esperon
Director, Acute Stroke Services, John Hunter Hospital; Director of Hunter Stroke Services, Hunter New England Local Health District
⭐ HIGHLY COMMENDED
Deakin Distinguished Professor Andrea Driscoll
Chair of Nursing, Monash Health / Deakin University Partnership
Digital & Data Health Innovation Award
Sponsored by Digital Health CRC
🏆 WINNER
A National Infrastructure for Linked Data Innovation
⭐ HIGHLY COMMENDED
Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health
University of Newcastle, The University of Queensland
⭐ HIGHLY COMMENDED
A-Eye: Seeing Brain Pressure Through the Eyes
University of Technology Sydney
Advocacy & Philanthropy Award
Sponsored by AbbVie
🏆 WINNER
Neil and Norma Hill Foundation
Frontiers Award
Sponsored by UNSW Sydney
🏆 WINNER
The Cancer Blueprint
Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe, Chair in Spatial Medicine, Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland
Meet all our 2025-26 finalists
Congratulations to all of our winners, highly commended recipients and finalists — thank you for the work you do to improve lives and strengthen Australia’s health and medical research sector.
Of course none of this would be possible without our wonderful sponsors, to whom we are very grateful.
Best wishes from your Research Australia team
Research Australia