Health researchers recognised for their real-world impact

Sax Institute

Three Australian researchers who have achieved real impact in areas as diverse as dental care for Indigenous communities, unintentional river drownings, and young people’s access to healthcare have been honoured in the Sax Institute’s Research Action Awards tonight.

This is the fifth time the Sax Institute has presented the Research Action Awards since setting them up in 2015 to recognise researchers whose work has made a significant impact on health policy, programs or service delivery. Each winner receives a certificate and a prize of $5,000.

Congratulating the winners, Sax Institute CEO Professor Sally Redman said their innovative work demonstrated the power of research to improve the wellbeing of all Australians.

“I’m struck not just by our winners’ focus on delivering high quality research, but by their dedication to making sure their findings result in better health outcomes. All three winners have been determined to see their research make a difference, engaging with health decision makers at every step of the process, often in quite innovative ways,” Professor Redman said.

“In one case, the research design included a policy forum to help ensure that health decision makers were rapidly informed by the findings and in another the researcher worked closely with Indigenous communities to develop approaches that have really made a difference to health. It is really encouraging to see early and mid-career researchers with such talent and commitment to bringing about change.”

The winners were presented with their Awards by Professor Redman and Professor Dame Valerie Beral, Professor of Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, at a ceremony in Sydney tonight. The Secretary of NSW Health, Elizabeth Koff, was also a guest speaker at the event, which was attended by around 150 senior policy makers, research leaders, academics and others.

Professor Trish Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care Health Services at the University of Oxford, and chair of the independent assessment committee that chose the winners, said she was hugely impressed with the quality of this year’s applications.

“What this demonstrates is the strength and vitality of public health research in Australia. It takes real commitment and resilience not just to conduct a long-term research project but to engage with stakeholders and ensure its integration into policies and programs.”

There is widespread agreement among experts that while research can make a useful contribution to health policy development, many opportunities to use evidence in policy are currently being missed. The Sax Institute set up the Research Action Awards as a further means of delivering on its mission, which is to ‘improve health and wellbeing by driving the use of research in policies, programs and services’.

/Public Release.