Associate Professor Margie Danchin receives Women in Leadership Award

Associate Professor Margie Danchin has been recognised for her work in COVID-19 vaccine preparedness and her focus on effective public health communication in achieving vaccine acceptance.

Associate Professor Margie Danchin received the Board of Directors Award at the recent BioMelbourne Network Women in Leadership Awards. The awards acknowledge and celebrate women who have made exceptional contributions to advancing the biotechnology, medical technology and pharmaceutical sector.

A consultant physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital and clinician-scientist at MCRI, Associate Professor Danchin was recognised for her work involving COVID-19 vaccine preparedness. She leads a research program within MCRI’s COVID-19 initiative around vaccine uptake, focused on education,
communication and building vaccine confidence. The initiative has engaged with different priority and community groups via a series of virtual ‘Town Halls’ and government at both a state and national level.

Associate Professor Danchin is also running the Victorian COVID-19 Vaccine Preparedness Study, with over 5000 survey and 40 qualitative interview respondents to date, to understand peoples’ attitudes and concerns around COVID vaccines, factors that will influence vaccine acceptance and the information
needs and preferred communication channels for different groups. This work will be used to tailor effective communication strategies and target vaccine information in partnership with the Victorian Government.

The BioMelbourne Network Board of Directors Award was introduced to acknowledge leadership and impact amid the pandemic, in particular a woman who had an outstanding impact in healthtech and healthcare that benefited Australian communities. Associate Professor Danchin was acknowledged for her
outstanding leadership, her communication, integrity and decision-making skills, and her ability to inspire others within this rapidly changing environment.