Awards and Achievements

Jan-Feb

Congratulations to Dr Luke Perry, DoCC PhD student and Anaesthesia Research Lead, Victorian Heart Hospital and A/Prof Lachlan Miles, awarded a $3.7m MRFF grant for the PUMA Trial. PUMA compares commonly used invasive pulmonary artery catheters (PAC) to less invasive and simpler central venous catheters (CVC). Read more...

A/Prof Lachlan Miles was an invited expert, demystifying anaesthesia for listeners of Radio Nova recently. 'Everything you need to know about going under' is entertaining listening and starts at 1:42 minutes. Listen...

We welcome A/Prof Jai Darvall as Academic Coordinator for Graduate Research. Jai is an anaesthetist and intensivist at Royal Melbourne Hospital and completed his PhD at Melbourne. We extend a huge thank you to Prof Adam Deane who has expertly led the graduate research program at DoCC for the past four years.

Professor Kate Leslie AO FAHMS enjoyed catching up with the 2025 recipient of the Kate Leslie Research Award, Emma Sin, over morning tea in Parkville this week. Emma was awarded the highest mark for her Thesis titled "The Treasure in the Trash: Uncovering Medical Supply Loss in Victorian Healthcare". Emma was supervised by Prof Forbes McGain, Dr Martin Nguyen and Ms Catherine O’Shea.

Mar-Apr

Congratulations to Dr Michelle Chong, awarded the 2026 ANZCA Melbourne Emerging Researcher Scholarship ($25,000). The scholarship will support Dr Chong's PhD project “Phrenic nerve sparing nerve blocks for shoulder joint analgesia - Cadaveric evaluation of a novel combination of suprascapular, axillary and lateral pectoral nerve blocks (SAXI-Pec)”.

Congratulations to Dr Earlene Silvapulle, the recipient of the 2026 ANZCA Melbourne Emerging Anaesthesia Researcher Award ($15,000) to support her project “Secondary Prevention Therapy for Postoperative Myocardial Injury After Noncardiac Surgery (SPECTRE) feasibility trial.” Dr Silvapulle is an anaesthetist at Royal Melbourne Hospital and a PhD candidate in the Department of Critical Care.

May-Jun

It's been such an honour to have Professor David Story, our Head of Department, serving as President of ANZCA for the past two years. While we will welcome the extra time he will now be able to spend on campus, we thank Prof Story for the many hours and trips to Canberra, advocating for anaesthetists, perioperative medicine, and safety and quality of care for patients. Watch Prof Story and incoming President Selek reflect on their handover of leadership.

Professor Alicia Dennis, DoCC Executive member, was the ANZCA Australasian Visitor and Douglas Joseph Professor at this year's meeting. Professor Dennis presented on "The CSAR model of preeclampsia – from curiosity to consolidation" as well as "Critical Emergencies in Obstetric Anaesthesia" and "Inequity, Silence and Truth".
Watch the ANZCA ASM interview with Prof Dennis

Not one but two DoCC members were awarded the Robert Orton Medal at the 2026 ANZCA ASM. The medal is the highest honour bestowed by ANZCA, recognising distinguished service to anaesthesia, perioperative medicine, and/or pain medicine. Congratulations to Professor Andrew Davidson, DoCC Executive member, presented with his medal by Professor Story. Read more...

We are also thrilled that Professor Stuart Marshall, DoCC staff member and Research Committee member was awarded the Robert Orton Medal for his outstanding contribution to anaesthesia and perioperative medicine. A/Professor Marshall developed our Human Factors in Critical Care subject, which he delivers to students annually.

Congratulations to Dr Patrick Tan, awarded the 2026 Gilbert Brown Prize for the best contribution to the free research paper session at the ANZCA Annual Scientific Meeting. Dr Tan recently submitted his PhD and presented "High flow nasal oxygen versus face mask oxygen for pre-oxygenation of pregnant patients with high body mass index - a randomised controlled crossover non-inferiority study". We also congratulate Dr Julia Dubowitz for her presentation.

The W John Russell ANZCA Research Award (for a study in anaethestic engineering, education, or patient safety) was awarded to Dr Steven McGuigan, St Vincent's Melbourne, for his project “Identifying EEG biomarkers that predict postoperative delirium in older adults undergoing anaesthesia and surgery”.

We congratulate Dr Lahiru Amaratunge, awarded the Steuart Henderson Award for excellence and outstanding contributions, scholarship, and mentorship to medical education in the fields of anaesthesia and/or pain medicine. Dr Amaratunge sits on our Curriculum Committee and has made a huge contribution to renewing anaesthesia content for the MD students.

Dr Je Min Suh was the winner of the Open Science Prize for "Leukocytosis and Outcomes in Older ICU Patients After Ischemic Stroke: A Binational Multicenter Cohort Study". Dr Suh has recently enrolled in a PhD in our department, supervised by Professor Laurence Weinberg and Professor David Pilcher.

Jan-Feb

Professor Philip Peyton has been appointed Editor in Chief of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, the journal produced by the Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA). Fellow DoCC member and immediate Past President of the ASA, Associate Professor Suzie Nou, interviewed Philip to find out what he might have in store for the journal.
Hear more

Samantha Bates has recently been awarded three grants: a Diane Chamberlain Research Seeding Grant from the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN), a Plenary Health Grant from Western Health and an Intensive Care Foundation Project Grant. The grants will support Sam's PhD project: enteraL rathEr thAn iNtravenous Electrolyte Replacement (LEANER): an observational study of electrolyte replacement practices.

Professor Adam Deane accepted a Faculty Interdisciplinary Research Staff Award from the Dean, Professor Jane Gunn, on behalf of his research team, for embedding randomised clinical trials into electronic medical records to improve outcomes. Read more

Dr Lucy Modra was presented with a Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research. This award recognises outstanding achievements of enrolled graduate researchers across three categories: quality of research publications; recognition of their work through awards and prizes; and contribution to the university and the broader community. Read more

Mar-Apr

Yugeesh Lankadeva, Lachlan Miles, David Story, Emily See, Yasmine Ali Abdelhamid, Mark Plummer and  Laura Cook, in collaboration with researchers from The Florey and clinical colleagues, have been awarded a $4.9 million grant from the Australian Federal Government’s Cardiovascular Health Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).  Read more

Forbes McGain has received Australia's first NHMRC grant dedicated to sustainable healthcare. He'll lead five projects over two years. The grant will fund initiatives to improve hospital systems by reducing waste and emissions, while enhancing patient care, through simple, evidence-based changes.  Read more

The Australian Academy of Science has awarded Samantha Bates a Douglas and Lola Douglas Scholarship in Medical Science award. Lola Douglas was a great philanthropist with a keen interest in medical research and one of her great wishes was to support young researchers. This award will support Sam's PhD project: enteraL rathEr thAn iNtravenous Electrolyte Replacement (LEANER): an observational study of electrolyte replacement practices.

Haustine Patt Panganiban has been awarded a MACH-Track PhD Scholarship. Through MACH-Track, Mr Panganiban hopes to optimise the EMR further to explore advanced and sophisticated tools to accelerate the conduct of clinical trials.  Read more

Congratulations to Lachlan Miles, Yasmine Ali Abdelhamid and Scott McAlister, all awarded highly competitive NHMRC Investigator Grants in the recent round. We were thrilled that the Department of Critical Care was so well represented with three of the seven grants awarded in the Medical School.

May-Jun

Professor Kate Leslie AO FAHMS is the recipient of the 2025 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Award for Excellence in Research. This prestigious award recognises lifetime achievement in research in anaesthesiology and perioperative medicine. Professor Leslie will receive the award during a ceremony at the ASA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, in October 2025. Professor Leslie is one of the pioneers of international multicentre trial research in anaesthesia and perioperative medicine. During a research career spanning more than 35 years, she has pursued interests including monitoring anaesthetic depth and awareness; preventing adverse postoperative outcomes; and improving diversity, equity and inclusion for research participants and researchers. Professor Leslie has published more than 280 papers, been awarded over A$33M in research funding, and delivered more than 230 invited lectures. She is an editor of the British Journal of Anaesthesia and Miller’s Anesthesia textbook.

Congratulations to PhD candidate Dr Chinh Nguyen, awarded the 2025 Felicity Hawker Medal. The Felicity Hawker Medal is awarded to the trainee who presents the best paper at the College of Intensive Care Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting (CICM ASM). Dr Nguyen’s paper was titled “Enteral when compared to intravenous magnesium replacement in the critically ill: A non-inferiority randomized clinical trial”. He conducted a single centre, open-label, randomized non-inferiority trial of 360 patients. Dr Nguyen collaborated with other Department of Critical Care Higher Degree Research students, Haustine Panganiban and Melissa Ankravs, in undertaking this work.

Congratulations to Professor David Scott who has been appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours for significant service to anaesthesia and pain medicine. David is a Professor in the Department of Critical Care, leading the TRICS-IV Trial, and a senior staff anaesthetist in the department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine at St Vincent's Hospital. A past president of ANZCA, David has held and continues to hold many ANZCA roles including as a member and chair of the ANZCA Safety and Quality Committee and member of the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network Executive. David is an active researcher into perioperative outcomes, especially the neurocognitive effects of anaesthesia and surgery and is chair of the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council.

Jul-Sep

Associate Professor Elliot Long has been awarded $5m from the MRFF for a paediatric sepsis trial. “To improve health outcomes, our adaptive, multidisciplinary platform trial will test several sepsis treatment options at once and make adjustments based on evolving evidence.

Dr Chad Oughton is the 2025 recipient of the ANZCA Melbourne Emerging Anaesthesia Researcher Award for his project titled "Dexamethasone to alleviate and manage post-operative systemic inflammatory dysregulation (DAMP Trial): an exploratory pilot feasibility trial." Dr Oughton is the first awardee from PeterMacCallum Cancer Centre.

Dr Patrick Tan is the 2025 recipient of the ANZCA Melbourne Emerging Anaesthesia Researcher Scholarship comprising $25,000 for his pilot study "Short term haemodynamic effects of high flow humidified nasal oxygen in pregnant patients with hypertension". Dr Tan is based at the Royal Women's Hospital.

Oct-Dec

Congratulations to Dr Elyssia Bourke awarded a Strategic Grant for Outstanding Women.

The recipient of the 2025 Kate Leslie Research Award is Emma Sin. Emma achieved the highest mark for her Honours thesis titled "The Treasure in the Trash: Uncovering Medical Supply Loss in Victorian Healthcare". Emma has been working with the sustainable healthcare team, supervised by Prof Forbes McGain, Dr Martin Nguyen and Ms Catherine O’Shea. We look forward to seeing what Emma does next!

A huge congratulations to Honours student Emilie Ayre who won best poster at the 2025 Australasian College of Emergency Medicine ASM with her study "Efficacy of antiemetic medication in the emergency department: a single centre, prospective observational study." Fellow students Ryan Shen and Andy Kwok also did very well with their oral presentations. Thank you to primary supervisor, Dr Elyssia Bourke.

Professor Jonathan Knott was awarded the 2025 Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria Award in recognition of his pivotal role in advancing PMCV’s mission during his nine-year tenure as Board Chair, in addition to serving on multiple state and national committees. Through his efforts, health services have consistently upheld the rigorous standards required for prevocational doctors. The initiatives he has guided will serve as a lasting legacy of his leadership and impact.

Dr Elyssia Bourke is the recipient of a 2025 Strategic Grant for Outstanding Women. These highly competitive grants support high-performing early and mid-career women to advance towards senior academic and leadership roles. Elyssia is the Director of Emergency Medical Research RMH, Chair of the ACEM Clinical Trials Network, and an executive member of both DoCC and the Paediatric Research in Emergency Medicine International Collaborative (PREDICT) network.

Dr Mohamed Kamal was awarded a Foundation Research Grant from the Intensive Care Foundation at the recent CCR Downunder meeting, for his "Ketones in Critical Care (KICC Trial)". Dr Kamal is an intensivist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and his application was the top ranked of all submissions to the Intensive Care Foundation in 2025.

Dr Harriet Beevor the recipient of an ANZCA Novice Investigator grant for her project titled "Remote Monitoring for patients discharged home after cancer surgery".

A/Prof Jai Darvall has been awarded an ANZCA project grant for "Pre-planned sub-studies of the SNaPP multi-centre randomised controlled trial".

Dr Steven McGuigan has been awarded an ANZCA project grant for "Identifying EEG biomarkers that predict postoperative delirium in older adults undergoing anaesthesia and surgery".

Congratulations to A/Prof Malcolm Hogg (left) who was honoured alongside Prof Jeff Szer with the RMH Melbourne Award. The award recognises his international leadership in pain management and significant contributions over more than 20 years as head of the Pain Management service.

Congratulations to Dr Elyssia Bourke, recently awarded the RMH Next Generation Award. The award acknowledges her contribution to nurturing a vibrant research culture, attracting significant funding, her mentorship, and improving patient care through well-designed, evidence-based projects.