La Trobe University > Researchers > La Trobe Graduate Research School > Graduate research degrees > Finishing and thesis submission > Nancy Millis Award

Nancy Millis Award for theses of exceptional merit

2015 Nancy Millis awardee This award is named after Professor Nancy Millis, who served as Chancellor of La Trobe University for 14 years from 1992 - 2006.

A 'legend' in the world of science, she was one of only five Australian scientists recognised on the 'Australian Legends' series of stamps in 2002. During her distinguished career, Professor Millis gained a string of scientific and civic accolades, including election to the Australian Academy of Science, an MBE and a Companion of the Order of Australia.

Selection process

The Nancy Millis Medal is awarded to the authors of outstanding doctoral theses. Examiners are asked if they consider the thesis to be in the top five per cent of theses they have examined. Nominated theses are then assessed following the examination process and are considered for award through a selection process that involves the School's Director of Graduate Research. Final recommendations are approved by the Board of Graduate Research.

2021 recipients

The following recipients received their award in 2021.

Awardee	School	Thesis Title
Julie Edwards	Allied Health, Human Services and Sport	Fostering Organisational Identity in a Community Service Organisation: A Jesuit Approach
Garry Disher	Humanities and Social Sciences	The Search for a True Home: a Novel and a Critical Review of Recent Australian Rural Noir
Jessica Peters	Psychology and Public Health	The Role of Visual Attention in Reading: Implications for Developmental Dyslexia
Nathan Ward	Allied Health, Human Services and Sport	Exercise as an Alternative to Traditional Airway Clearance Techniques in Cystic Fibrosis
Jaclyn Swan	Life Sciences	Investigating the Sweeter Side of Fasciola spp: Host Parasite Interactions, Glycosylation Machinery, and N-Glycan Analysis
Lacey Chetcuti	Psychology and Public Health	The Nature and Significance of Temperament Differences for Social-Emotional Functioning in the Context of Autism in Early-Life
Gizem Yildiz	Psychology and Public Health	The Effects of Pictorial Depth Cues on Perceptual Rescaling of Stimuli Inside Ponzo-Like Illusions
Keaton Crosse	Life Sciences	Investigation of the Molecular Mechanisms Underpinning the Broad Antiviral Activity of Viperin

Previous Awardees

2020 recipients

The following recipients received their award in 2020.

Awardee	School	Thesis Title
Jamin Moon	Humanities and Social Sciences	Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Law, The Thirdspace and Decolonisation in Australia, Canada and Aotearoa/New Zealand
Catherine Papadopoullos	Humanities and Social Sciences	Recasting Transgression in Modernity Prohibition, Pleasure and Otherness
Margaret Perrott	Allied Health, Human Services, and Sport	Lumbopelvic Stability in Recreational Athletes
Pramod Subedi	Molecular Sciences	Investigating the Mechanisms to Fold Disulfide Bond Containing Virulence Factors in Salmonella
Karen Lee Twigg	Humanities and Social Sciences	Along Tyrrell Creek: An Environmental History of a Mallee Community
Ashleigh Murszewski	Humanities and Social Sciences	Scales of Geoarchaeological Analysis Applied to the Drimolen Palaeocave System: the Cradle of Humankind (UNESCO World Heritage Area)
Genevieve Blades	Education	Walking Practices with/in Nature(s) as Ecopedagogy in Outdoor Environmental Education: An Autophenomenographic Study
Kaijian Xing	Molecular Sciences	Engineering the Two-Dimensional Hole Gas on Hydrogen-Terminated Diamond by Transition Metal Oxides Towards Diamond Surface Electronics
Angela Burge	Allied Health, Human Services, and Sport	Optimising Home-Based Rehabilitation for COPD
Michael McDermott	Psychology and Public Health	The Affective Politics of Queerbaiting: Fandom, Identity and Representation
Timothy Luke	Applied Systems Biology	High-Value Metabolic Phenotypes for Improved Dairy Cow Health
Jana Batovska	Applied Systems Biology	Enhancing Arbovirus Surveillance with Metatanscriptomics
Brian Devitt	Allied Health, Human Services, and Sport	Aetiology, Diagnosis and Treatments of Anterolateral Rotatory Laxity of the Knee
Denise Jones	Allied Health, Human Services, and Sport	Physical Activity Following Arthroscopy for Hip-Related Pain

2019 recipients

The following recipients received their award in 2019.

Awardee	School	Thesis Title
Golrokh Akhgar	Molecular Sciences	Spin Electronics in Two-Dimensional Surface Conducting Diamonds
Xue Bian	School of Life Sciences	A New Frontier for Behavioural Biology: Quantifying the Key Role of Plant Habitats on the Signalling Strategies of Dragons
Sarah Caruso	Molecular Sciences	Determining the Mechanism of Cell Disassembly during Apoptosis and Its Function in Immune Regulation
Lucy Caroline Davies	Humanities and Social Sciences	Indigenous Mobilities and Colonial Boundaries of Rule: How Papuans' and New Guineans' Travels Shaped Australia's Administration of Papua and New Guinea
Jennifer Gravrok	Psychology and Public Health	How Do Assistance Dogs Help Their Handlers to Live Their Best Possible Lives?
Jessica Horton	Humanities and Social Sciences	Counter-protection: Aboriginal People’s Letter Writing and Networks of Resistance in Victoria 1869 – 1925
Julian Potter	Humanities and Social Sciences	Faustian Modernity: Rethinking Mythos and Logos in German Social Theory after Goethe's Faust
Qiao Xu	Life Sciences	Climate Change Goes Underground: Effects of Elevated CO2 on Rhizosphere Priming of Soil Organic Matter
Son Thai	Engineering and Mathematical Sciences	Size-Dependent Modeling of Small-Scale Structures Based on High-Order Continuum Theories and Isogeometric Analysis
Georgia Kate Atkin-Smith	Molecular Sciences	Elucidating the Molecular Mechanisms and Functional Consequences of Monocyte Apoptotic Cell Disassembly Should be corrected to: Defining the molecular mechanisms of monocyte apoptotic cell disassembly, and its role in cell clearance and influenza infection
Thomas Munyaneza	Humanities and Social Sciences
Nano Nagle	Molecular Sciences	An Investigation of Uniparental Markers as Signatures of the Human Colonisation of Australia and Subsequent Dispersals Within the Continent
Nuala Catherine Dent	La Trobe Business School	A Fractured Landscape: A Systems Psychodynamic Investigation into the Experience of a Partially Distributed Team of Therapists in an Australian Child Protection System
Sebastien Desbois	Molecular Sciences	Molecular Evolution in Quaternary Structure, Function and Allostery of Dihydrodipicolinate Synthase
Richard Brian Turner	Humanities and Social Sciences	Made in Lancashire: A Collective Biography of Assisted Migrants from Lancashire to Victoria 1852 - 1853
Natasha Kate Brockwell	Molecular Sciences	Tumour Inherent Type I IFN Signalling in Immune Reactivity, Metastasis and Therapeutic Response
Heather Julie Wallace	Nursing and Midwifery	Sexual and Reproductive Health Decision Making in Timor-Leste: Hearing the Voices of Timorese Women and Men - An Ethnographic Study
Sagun Parakh	Cancer Medicine	Novel Anti-ErbB Antibodies in the Treatment of Cancer
Daniel Ross Bonanno	Allied Health, Human Services & Sport	Foot Orthoses for the Prevention of Lower Limb Overuse Injuries in Military Personnel

2018 recipients

The following recipients received their award in 2018.

Awardee	School	Thesis Title
Larisa Bardsley	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Returning Home: A Creative Exploration of Self
Andrea Bruder	School of Allied Health	The Role of Exercise in the Rehabilitation of Patients with Wrist Fracture
Miaomiao Cheng	School of Life Sciences	Understanding Cd Phytoextraction by Australian Native Cd Accumulator
Janni Christensen	School of Molecular Sciences	Structure and Interactions of Enzymes Functioning in the Diaminopimelate Biosynthesis Pathway
Kate Laing	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Fighting for a new world order: The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Australia 1915-1975
Daniel Lopez	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Georg Lukács's Philosophy of Praxis
Kerry Nixon	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Yeoman Farming in Rural Nineteenth-Century Victoria: A View of and from the Currie Diary
Elizabeth Orr	School of Allied Health	Messages for Good Practice from Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers and Social Workers in Hospitals in Victoria
Nina Riddell	School of Psychology and Public Health	A Systems Biology Approach to Refractive Errors and Associated Ocular Pathologies
David Snowdon	School of Allied Health	Clinical Supervision of Allied Health Professionals
Rochelle Tixeira	School of Molecular Sciences	Apoptotic Cell Disassembly Regulation and Function in Cell Clearance
Catherine Anne Bent	School of Psychology and Public Health	Factors associated with The Age of Diagnosis of Autism in Australia: Barriers and Enablers to Early Identification
Hannah Leigh Mayr	School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport	The Effect of a Mediterranean Diet Versus Low-Fat Diet on Inflammation and Adiposity: an Intermediate Analysis of the AUSMED Heart Trial for Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease
Stephanie Paone	School of Molecular Sciences	Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Development of Atherosclerosis
Christopher John Taylor	School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences	Double Heyting Algebras
Jason Andrew Wallis	School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport	Physical Activity and Exercise for People with Severe Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis
Elena Wilson	Rural Health School	People, Power, and Participation: The Disconnect Between Regulation, Reality and Ethics
Christopher Smedley	School of Molecular Sciences	Developing Sulfur-Fluoride Exchange Click Chemistry

2017 recipients

The following recipients will receive their award at a special event, held at the Graduate Research School in December 2017.

Awardee	School	Thesis Title
Slade Allen-Ankins	School of Life Sciences	Physiological Mechanisms Underlying Fish Distributions along Elevational Gradients: Estimating Fundamental Thermal Niches
Nang Seng Aye	School of Life Sciences	Impact of Liming Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics in Acid Soils
Amy Baxter	School of Molecular Sciences	Elucidating the Molecular Mechanism of Tumour Cell-Killing by Defensins of the Solanaceae Plant Family
Scott Doidge	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	The Anxiety of Ascent: Middle Class Narratives in Germany and America
Claudia Araceli Garcia-Solis	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Archaeology and Tourism: the Performance of Conservation at the World Heritage Site of Chichen Itza
Andrew Gilbert	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	The Crisis Paradigm: The Concept of “Crisis” and its Limits in Lukacs, Koselleck, Arendt and Habermas
Lisa Hanson	School of Allied Health	Field Exercise Tests Used to Measure Physical Fitness and Functional Capacity in Cardiac Rehabilitation
William Keeton	La Trobe Business School	Managing Community Engagement: A Cross-Case Analysis of Water Organizations in Victoria, Australia
Xuan Mai	La Trobe Business School	Understanding Performance Measurement Practice for Academics from a Social Interaction Perspective-a Vietnamese Case Study
George Mbogo	School of Molecular Sciences	ß-Adrenoceptor Mediated Bim Dependent Apoptosis Inhibitors as Novel Therapeutics for Heart Failure
Alice Mora	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Reconstructing Human Diets at a Fine Scale: Sequential Measurement of Amino Acid D13C Values along Single Hairs of Pre-Columbian Individuals
Amie O'Shea	School of Psychology and Public Health	I’m Just a Rare Girl: Gender and Disability in Life Stories Produced with Young Women with Intellectual Disabilities
Thanh Kha Phan	School of Molecular Sciences	Phosphoinositide-Binding Molecules as Potential Multifunctional Anticancer, Anti-Infective and Immunomodulatory Therapeutics
Jayne Russell	School of Psychology and Public Health	Social Support and the Experience of Living with HIV for Women in Australia
Alex Schenk	School of Molecular Sciences	New Diamond Surface Terminations for Quantum Devices
Deborah Shnookal	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Miami or the Mountains: Operation Pedro Pan and the Children of the Cuban Revolution, 1959 - 1962
Ju Lin Tan	School of Molecular Sciences	Exploring the Role of ClpS in the N-End Rule Pathway in Mycobacterium Smegmatis
Sarah Warby	School of Allied Health	The Effect of Rehabilitation Programs on Multidirectional Instability of the Genohumeral Joint
Jennifer Wood	School of Life Sciences	Ecology and the art of looking: incorporating ecological-frameworks into the analysis of soil- and rhizosphere-microbial communities

2016 recipients

The following recipients received their award at a special event, held at the Graduate Research School in December 2016.

Awardee	School	Thesis Title
Prue Atkins	School of Allied Health	The influence of organisational context in the practice implementation process: identifying influential aspects of design intent in an innovative therapeutic outreach program for child protection clients.
Emma Bland	School of Molecular Sciences	High frequency remote sensing of Pc5 ultra-low frequency waves using the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network
Wendy Bunston	School of Allied Health	How Refuge provides 'refuge' to Infants : Exploring the ways in which 'refuge' is provided to, and experienced by, infants entering crisis accommodation with their mothers after fleeing family violence
Imogen Clark	School of Allied Health	Music to support physical activity in older adults with health conditions
Shannon Couchman	School of Molecular Sciences	A theoretical investigation of novel main group organometallic compounds
Gary Devilles	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	City Sense An Interdisciplinary Approach to Sensing Manila
Joseph Evans	School of Molecular Sciences	The role of TRAFs and RIP kinases in regulating inflammatory signalling in vivo
Leesa Hooker	School of Nursing and Midwifery	Strengthening maternal and child health nursing practice for women and children experiencing family violence
Joe Rae Latham	School of Psychology and Public Health	Trans Men’s Realities : An Ontological Politics of Sex, Gender and Sexuality
Umar Lubanga	School of Life Sciences	Reproductive biology, signalling and sexual selection in the She-oak psyllid Aacanthocnema dobsoni (Froggatt) (Hemiptera: Triozidae)
Alison Lugg	School of Education	Remaking Futures: A Case Study of Pre-service Outdoor Sustainability Education Teachers
Gustavo Portes	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Sacrifice in animation : Psychological development and relationship in the work of Pixar and Hayao Miyazaki
Alin Rai	School of Molecular Sciences	Role of extracellular vesicles in colorectal cancer progression
Mark Scillio	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Making career stories : navigating work life and a sense of security
Holly Sellers	School of Humanities and Social Sciences	A linguistic approach to ethnobotanical plant name classification in southern Lisu
Aryeh Solomon	School of Education	The educational theory of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson