Female health researchers receive financial support to advance careers

Congratulations to the five female researchers from Monash Partners Academic Health Science Centre who were recently awarded an AHRA WHRTN Early and Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) Funded Award.

The Australian Health Research Alliance (AHRA) Women’s Health Research, Translation and Impact Network (WHRTN) has provided financial support to women working in women’s health research and translation in a bid to facilitate career advancement and development of those in the early and mid-career stages of their research careers.

The Awards will provide timely and flexible funding for women with diverse needs to engage, train, and connect with women in women’s health research and translation.

Up to $15,000 has been provided to 36 individuals from across Australia.

The winners from Monash Partners will use the Awards to contribute to their research into maternal obesity, cognition and early surgical menopause, prevention in type 2 diabetes prevention and cardiovascular disease in women postpartum, and polycystic ovary syndrome. They include:

  • Dr Emily Camm, The Hudson Institute of Medical Research

“The WHRTN EMCR Award will enable me to conduct pilot studies that will assess the potential mechanisms linking maternal obesity to the long-term health of offspring. Being an Awardee will provide a unique opportunity to engage with an invaluable network of like-minded women who are emerging leaders in their field.”

  • Dr Caroline Gurvich, Monash University, Central Clinical school, Department of Psychiatry

I am delighted to be a recipient of the WHTRN EMCR award. As a mid-career researcher, I am establishing myself as an expert in the field of cognition and women’s health. The financial support from this award will help me successfully launch a research project in the area of cognition and early surgical menopause. The opportunity to join an early-mid career researcher network within WHRTN will help build important networks that will aid my career development.”

  • Dr Anju Joham, Monash University

“This award will support independent career development of an early career clinical academic, working in a priority area in women’s health affecting one in eight Australian women. It will help build my team, skills, leadership capacity, outputs and impact.” 

  • Dr Siew Lim, Monash University and Monash Partners Academic Health Science Centre

My overall research vision is to achieve population impact in type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention in women postpartum in Australia and internationally. This grant allows me to set up a national and an international postpartum consumer reference group and determine a set of consumer-driven research priorities. These priorities will inform postpartum lifestyle research in the coming years. These groups could also provide consumer feedback for other researchers in women postpartum throughout Australia and globally. This allows me to contribute nationally and internationally to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention in women postpartum.”

  • Dr Jillian Tay, Monash University and Monash Partners Academic Health Science Centre

This award will help support my research into the most common, but often neglected and underfunded, hormonal disorder in women of reproductive-age, polycystic ovary syndrome. Winning this award, my first as a post-doctoral research fellow, will significantly boost my confidence and help build the foundation for my early post-doctorate career to enable me to become an independent researcher in the future.”

Congratulations to all 36 Award recipients who represent women working across the breadth of women’s health research, diverse disciplines and broad geographical spread.

Read more about the AHRA WHRTN Early and Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) Funded Awards and see the full list of winners HERE.

L-R: Some of the Monash Partners award recipients: Dr Caroline Gurvich from Monash University, Dr Siew Lim from Monash University and Monash Partners Academic Health Science Centre, and Dr Emily Camm from The Hudson Institute of Medical Research.