Associate Professor Emma Ridley from Monash University and Bayside Health (Alfred Care Group) is a recipient of the 2025 Early and Mid-Career Researcher Award for Excellence in Consumer/Community Engagement. This award recognises early and mid-career researchers for excellence in their field. Emma spoke to us about her research on optimising nutrition across the continuum of critical illness and the significance of this award.
Can you tell us about yourself, your research and career journey to date?
I am an academic dietitian clinician–investigator specialising in critical care nutrition, based at Monash University and The Alfred Hospital. My research focuses on optimising nutrition across the continuum of critical illness, from ICU through to hospital discharge, to improve patient outcomes and experience.
I started as a clinician and quickly became frustrated by how little high-quality evidence existed to guide practice in critical care nutrition. That frustration is what pushed me into research. Since then, I’ve built a program that is now internationally recognised, with a strong focus on addressing real-world gaps and designing pragmatic trials that can directly inform practice and policy.
More recently, my work has expanded into consumer engagement. I now lead this work across our research centre, embedding patient and family perspectives into how we design, conduct and implement research across all nine program areas.
Can you tell us about your achievements in the category of Excellence in Consumer/Community Engagement?
My most significant achievement in this space has been establishing the ANZIC-RC CONNECT program, the first centre-wide, structured consumer engagement framework in critical care in Australia.
Before this, consumer involvement in critical care research was inconsistent and often absent at a system level. Through CONNECT, we’ve built a sustainable model that embeds consumers as genuine partners across all research programs, supported by governance, remuneration and clear processes.
This work has had impact across multiple levels. Consumers have contributed directly to national patient and family engagement guidelines through the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, ensuring lived experience is reflected at the national level. Within ANZIC-RC, consumer engagement is now a mandated and funded part of all research. It has also strengthened our competitiveness, contributing to over $14 million in funding linked to consumer-informed programs.
Most importantly, it has changed how we do research: consumer priorities are now shaping study design, outcomes, and implementation across multiple multicentre trials.
Why is support of early and mid-career researchers so important?
Early and mid-career researchers are where a lot of innovation happens, but it’s also one of the most challenging stages. There’s pressure to build independence, secure funding and establish a program, often alongside clinical work and personal responsibilities.
Without targeted support, we risk losing people at the exact point where they’re most capable of driving new ideas and change.
What kind of support was the most beneficial to you/or you felt you needed as an early and mid-career researcher and what did it mean to you?
Protected research time through fellowship funding has been critical. It gave me the space to build a program and transition to independence.
Mentorship and sponsorship have also been hugely important. Senior leaders across The Alfred, ANZIC-RC and the ANZICS Clinical Trials Group have opened doors, supported opportunities and backed my work.
Flexibility has also mattered, especially during maternity leave and COVID, when balancing clinical demands and family responsibilities.
Finally, investment in team and infrastructure has been essential. That’s particularly true for our consumer engagement program – it simply wouldn’t exist without the support and early investment from ANZIC-RC
Why do you think awards like this are important for Early and Mid-Career Researchers?
Awards like this provide recognition at a key career stage. They help build credibility, increase visibility and strengthen future opportunities for funding and leadership.
What are your future aspirations for your research/career?
My goal is to transform how critical care research is done by embedding consumer partnership and generating evidence that directly informs care across the patient journey.
Ultimately, I want to see consumer partnership become standard practice, and research translate more effectively into better recovery, experience and outcomes for patients.
