Honour Roll

Congratulations to the 2024 No-Bell Prize winners!

The Melbourne Medical School and Melbourne Dental School are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 No-Bell Prize competition.

Congratulations to Georgina Whish-Wilson (Melbourne School of Health Sciences) on her exceptional presentation and for securing the 2024 No-Bell Prize!

Congratulations also to the two runners-up, Tony Huang (Melbourne Medical School) and Claire Laurie (Melbourne School of Health Sciences), who communicated their research in a clear, accessible and inspiring way.

Nadia Kaunein (Melbourne Dental School) was the People’s Choice Award winner, reflecting her ability to communicate and engage with the audience.

Hosted by Professor Christobel Saunders, (Research Director Melbourne Medical School) and Associate Professor Catherine Quinlan (Academic Lead – Graduate Research, Melbourne Medical School), the event featured ten graduate researchers demonstrating proficiency in communicating their research in clear and accessible language to the audience and a panel of judges.

Associate Professor Tilman Ruff (Nobel Prize winner) awarded the prizes and shared an inspiring message about the importance of good communication.

The audience heard excellent research presentations. Congratulations to all the presenters for their strong presentations.

Photo of winners and Prof Peter Doherty

(L-R) Claire Laurie, Georgina Whish-Wilson, Nadia Kaunein, Tony Huang

presenters with Prof Peter Doherty

(L-R) Ching Yi Wu, Ayobami Esther Olanrewaju, Megan Ball, Claire Laurie, Georgina Whish-Wilson, Jesse Tse, Nadia Kaunein, Arthur Thevathasan.

About our winners

	Georgina Whish-Wilson Department of Physiotherapy, Melbourne School of Health Sciences. Thesis Title: The role of home based exercise for patients with lung cancer Georgina is a senior physiotherapist and clinician-researcher. She is currently a final-year PhD candidate with the CanREX Supporting Recovery and Exercise research team. Her PhD research focuses on the role of exercise in improving patient outcomes among patients having thoracic surgery for lung cancer, with a particular focus on patient experiences and qualitative research methods. Georgina is passionate about science communication, consumer involvement in research, and improving the availability and implementation of exercise-based interventions for patients with cancer and respiratory diseases.
	Tony Huang Department of Surgery, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne Medical School Thesis Title: Development and Validation of a 3D Bio-fabricated Model for Studying Cartilage Repair. Tony is an international MD-PhD student with a passion for orthopedics and musculoskeletal health. As a biomedical engineer and a member of the Integrative Cartilage Research Group, his research involves growing tiny spheres of cartilage in the lab that can (1) serve as an accurate and reliable model of cartilage physiology and (2) function as a regenerative therapy for cartilage defects. In his free time, Tony leads a student research collaborative that promotes early engagement in orthopedic research and is one of the few student-run organizations to have independently published in peer-reviewed journals.
	Claire Laurie Melbourne School of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy Thesis Title: Physiotherapy to improve outcomes in children with musculoskeletal sarcoma Claire Laurie is a clinical physiotherapist working in oncology at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and a PhD student at The University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Claire’s research aims to describe the physical changes that children experience during treatment for this rare cancer, and explore the way physiotherapists can support children before and after surgery to remove their tumor.
	Dr. Nadia Kaunein Melbourne Dental School Thesis Title: Using MicroRNAs to assess the risk of malignant transformation of Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders (OPMDs) into Oral Cancer. Dr. Nadia Kaunein is a dentist, and lecturer at the Melbourne Dental School and the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. She is pursuing a PhD in the field of oral cancer with the Oral Medicine and Oral Cancer research group, led by Prof. Michael McCullough and Dr. Tami Yap. Nadia’s research focuses on the use of microRNAs to predict malignant transformation in premalignant mucosal conditions. She is passionate about developing a novel algorithm using microRNAs to predict oral cancer, which could potentially be used as a screening tool and have a population-level impact. Her areas of expertise include oral cancer research, and dental public health.