Engagement and impact awards

Lindsay Carey,  Moral Injury Skills Training (MIST)

Awarded 2024 Conspicuous Service Medal in the Australia Day 2024 Honours List (Defence Awards) ‘For devotion to duty in Moral Injury research and the development of resources and training to support Australian Defence Force personnel’.

Pamela Snow, The Science of Language and Reading (SOLAR) Lab

Named at number two in the Australian Financial Review's 'Australia's five most powerful people in education'

Kay Crossley, Advancing the understanding and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions

Kay Crossley was awarded the Australian Council of Deans of Health Sciences: Allied Health Research Impact Award for her 'profound impact on clinical practice'.

Miranda Rose, Contribution to the field of aphasia

Miranda Rose was awarded The Robin Tavistock Award for her 'significant contribution to the  field of aphasia

James Boyd, The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED)

The La Trobe VVED team was awarded the 2024 Australian Financial Review Higher Education Award for Industry Engagement for their 'Pioneering Model to Transform Healthcare'.

James Van Dyke, 1 Million Turtles

Winner 2023 Eureka Prize Innovation in Citizen Science

Chris Maylea, Independent Mental Health Advocacy

Winner 2023 Engagement Australia Excellence Awards: Outstanding Leadership in Engagement

Andrea Carson, Mis/disinformation research and Australian women in politics

Emerging Leadership finalist 2023 Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards

Jennifer McIntosh, Family Violence Triage in Family Courts: Safety, Efficacy and Benefit

Finalist 2023 Engagement Australia Excellence Awards: Outstanding Engagement for Research Impact

Joanna Barbousas and Miriam Tanti,  Nexus Program transforms teacher education

Winner of 'The Future Builder' prize at the 2023 Shaping Australia Awards

Brian Abbey, Belinda Parker, Eugeniu Balaur, NanoMslide

Winner 2022 Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology and Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation in Physical Sciences

Helen McLachlan, Della Forster, Michelle Newton, Pamela McCalman, Fiona McLardie-Hore and Touran Shafiei, Baggarrook Yurrongi’ (Women’s Journey) – Improving the health of First Nations mothers and babies

Winner 2022 Engagement Australia Excellence Award (Indigenous Engagement)

Adam Semciw, Loren Sher and James Boyd, Victorian Virtual Emergency Department

Winner 2022 Australian Business Awards for both Digital Transformation and Service Excellence

Leesa Hooker, Angela Taft, Jess Ison & Kirsty Forsdike, TramLAB: Improving the Safety of Women and Girls on Public Transport

Winner 2022 Victorian Premier’s Design Award Best in Category – Design Strategy

Michael Kingsley and Stephen Barrett, Making every Consultation Count: Exercise Promotion By Hospital Clinicians

Winner 2022 VicHealth Leading Health Promotion Research Award

Yangama Jokwiro, Vaka Health Foundation

Winner 2022 AAMEG Best Workforce & Industry Development Initiative Africa Awards

Zhen He, SPARTA2

Winner 2022 Best Sports Performance and Coaching Technology Award, Australian and New Zealand Sports Technology awards

Pam Snow and Tanya Serry, The SOLAR Lab

Community Engagement finalist 2022 Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards

Associate Professor Josephine Barbaro, Social Attention and Communication Surveillance tool (SACS)

Winner 2022 Autism Spectrum Australia's ARCAP Research to Practice Award

Nora Shields, FitSkills Program

Winner 2021 Victorian Health Promotion Awards Leading Health Promotion Research Award

Nick Bond, Melbourne Water Health Waterways Strategy

Winner 2020 Ecological Society of Australia Ecological Impact Award

Lindsay Carey, Moral injury within the raaf and the role of chaplains

Winner 2019  Weary Dunlop Award

Helen McLachlan, Della Forster, Michelle Newton, Pamela McCalman, Fiona McLardie-Hore and Touran Shafiei, Baggarrook Yurrongi

Winner 2019  Victorian Public Healthcare Award for Improving Aboriginal Health

Associate Professor Josephine Barbaro, ASDetect

Winner 2019 Business Higher Education Round Table (BHERT) Award

Winning team

Kirsty Duncanson and Emma Henderson

Project Title: Addressing the influence of rape myths on jury decision making

This innovative program of interdisciplinary research is dedicated to addressing a pressing global problem by systematically mapping the ways in which rape myths shape the meaning of consent in sexual offence trials, influence jury decision-making, and other legal mechanisms addressing gendered violence. This highly impactful work has influenced policy, advocacy and law reform, and has shaped public discourse in news media, investigative journalism and fictional representations of gendered violence and justice responses.

Winning team

A/Prof Adam Semciw (LTU/Northern Health), Prof James Boyd (LTU), Dr Loren Sher (Northern Health/LTU), Dr Rebecca Jessup (Northern Health/LTU), Dr Jason Talevski (Northern Health/LTU), Dr Jennie Hutton (Northern Health/LTU)

Project Title: Structured Evaluation of the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (SErVED)

For the successful development of the innovative and world leading virtual Emergency Department (ED) in collaboration with Northern Health. It revolutionises healthcare delivery by offering an alternative that emerged during the pandemic, showcasing the potential of tech-driven care models.

Highly Commended Team

The Department of Psychology Counselling and Therapy (DPCT) Childhood Autism Phenotype Team (CAPTeam): Kristelle Hudry, Alex Aulich, Cathy Bent, Cheire Green and Jodie Smith

Project Title: Australian Infant Communication and Engagement Study (AICES) clinical trial and Community Consultation on Very Early-in-Life Autism Support

The CAPTeam are commended for their world-leading research demonstrating how substantial child development gains can be achieved in just 10 in-home parenting support sessions when begun around the first birthday for infants showing early signs of autism.

Winning team

Dr Timothy Jones (School of Humanities and Social Sciences) and team, including Dr Jennifer Power, Prof. Tiffany Jones, Nathan Despott, Dr Joel Anderson, Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli and Percy Gurtler

This team has been recognised for their high impact work on the harm caused by LGBTQA+ conversion practices and the human rights of communities affected by these approaches.
Their work is recognised both in Australia and internationally. It has pioneered new ground in the field by initiating much needed difficult conversations and resulting in tangible and visible societal change. Their multi-disciplinary approach and clear focus has seen them secure Category 1 funding to progress their research and further maximise its impact. The team has been invited to present their research to the UN Human Rights Council, as well as international NGOs and jurisdictions investigating law reform in this space.

Highly Commended

Prof. Jodi Oakman (School of Psychology and Public Health) for her development of a risk management toolkit to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace. The toolkit is now used by over 200 organisations across a range of different sectors.

Winning team

Dr Andrea Waling, Associate Professor Adam Bourne, Associate Professor Anthony Lyons and Gene Lim

This team has been recognised for their impactful work from their research project Understanding LGBTIQ+ Lives in Crisis. The project sought to examine experiences and barriers to accessing acute mental health support services for LGBTIQA+ communities, a population known to face disproportionately high levels of mental ill-health and suicidality. The outputs of the project continue to contribute significant impact occurring at local, state, and national levels regarding mental health and LGBTIQA+ people in Australia.

Highly Commended

• Dr Anne-Marie Laslett for her work in reducing harm from others’ drinking. Anne-Marie’s work has generated change policy that is international in scope.
• Dr Rebecca Chisholm and Dr Joel Miller for their work on COVID-19 modelling, which was rapidly adopted in practice with immediate local, state and national impacts.

You can read more about our 2021 Research Awards and our winners here.

Winner
Dr Dana Wong — Dr Wong’s impactful research leads to better access to evidence-based, cost-effective interventions to improve the lives of survivors of acquired brain injury and their families. Dr Wong’s strategic engagement with various stakeholders at all levels and the dissemination of her work has influenced practice, change clinical skills and knowledge which will lead to lasting impact for clinicians and their patients.

Highly Commended
Dr Tim Jones & Dr Jennifer Power — Dr Jones and Dr Power’s research focuses on improving the health and wellbeing outcomes for LGBT people of faith, through partnership and engagement with stakeholder advocacy groups and policy makers.

Winner
Dr Anita Smith — Dr Smith's research has been the basis of three successful World Heritage nominations in the Pacific region and, working alongside Indigenous communities, she has had significant impact on the protection and management of current and potential World Heritage sites to ensure Australia meets its obligations under the World Heritage Convention.