2020 Marles medalists

Congratulations to Professor Sharon Goldfeld, from the Department of Paediatrics, who was recently a recipient of the 2020 Marles Medals, in acknowledgement of the impact and quality of research her research. The Marles Medals, established this year as companion awards to the Woodward Medals, are named in honour of Ms Faye Marles AM, an alumna and first female Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. Ms Marles was the first Victorian Commissioner for Equal Opportunity and a trailblazer in the areas of social welfare and public service.

Up to two medals will be awarded annually to two employees in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM), or Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS for the most significant demonstrable contribution their excellent and original research has made to society, the economy and environment, in the preceding ten years.

Professor Goldfeld was awarded the Marles Medal in Science and Technology in recognition of her suite of breakthrough publications around the ‘right@home’ nurse home visitation project.

The right@home project is a randomised controlled trial following 722 disadvantaged women and their families through two years of home visits by specially trained maternal and child health (MCH) nurses. The trial is the most robust of its kind in Australia, and the resulting social, health and service benefits to families are considered an extraordinary contribution.