2025 Melbourne Medical School Research Symposium
More than 100 people attended the 2025 Melbourne Medical School Research Symposium on Wednesday 5 November at the Melbourne Brain Centre in Heidelberg. This year’s program highlighted the vibrant and diverse research taking place across the Heidelberg Precinct.
The event opened with remarks from Ms Jodie Geissler, CEO of Austin Health, and Professor Sarath Ranganathan, Head of the Melbourne Medical School. Professor Ranganathan also presented an overview of the Melbourne Medical School’s recent achievements, grant successes and progress on the Advancing Medicine Strategy 2025 to 2030.
The morning program featured an impressive showcase of presentations from the Departments of Medicine, Psychiatry, Infectious Diseases, Critical Care, Surgery and Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health. The breadth and depth of work across the Heidelberg precinct was striking, with topics ranging from pregnancy drug pipelines and perinatal data linkage to Australian Lyme Disease and psilocybin-assisted physiotherapy in FND.
Following the break, attendees enjoyed a stimulating and engaging panel discussion on the strengths and future direction of the Heidelberg precinct. Facilitated by Professor Christobel Saunders (Director of Research, Melbourne Medical School) the panel members Professors Mike McGuckin (Interim Dean, Faculty of MDHS), Sarath Ranganathan, Elif Ekinci (Head, Department of Medicine; Head of Diabetes Research, Austin Health) and Stephen Tong (Director of Research, Mercy Health) explored opportunities to deepen collaboration between the University and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre, strengthen support for clinicians pursuing research careers, and enhance equity and support for graduate researchers across all sites. They emphasised the value of making collaboration easier and aligning priorities more effectively.
A major part of the yearly MMS Research Symposium is to recognise and reward achievements across the School. The following people were recognised with awards:
Melbourne Medical School Publication Prizes
Graduate Researcher Category:
- Dr Dhamidhu Eratne - Department of Psychiatry (Clinician Researcher)
Publication: Plasma and CSF neurofilament light chain distinguish neurodegenerative from primary psychiatric conditions in a clinical setting. - Dr Tu Quan Nguyen - Department of Paediatrics (Discovery Researcher)
Publication: Systematic review and meta-analysis of respiratory viral triggers for acute myocardial infarction and stroke.
Early Career Researcher Category:
- Dr Meena Rafiq - Department of General Practice and Primary Care (Discovery Researcher)
Publication: Clinical activity in general practice before sarcoma diagnosis: an Australian cohort study.
Chancellor’s Prize and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in the PhD Thesis:
- Dr Farnaz Sabet – Department of Paediatrics for her thesis: ‘Evaluating the Outcomes of Participatory Women's Groups for Pregnant Adolescent Girls’.
MMS Awards for Outstanding Graduate Researcher Supervision by Honorary Staff
- Professor Paul Lockhart - Department of Paediatrics
- Associate Professor Penelope Bryant - Department of Paediatrics
Overall, the Symposium highlighted the exceptional commitment to research excellence across the Heidelberg precinct and the strong spirit of collaboration that underpins it. The energy in the room reflected a shared ambition to drive innovation, support emerging researchers and strengthen partnerships across institutions.