College of Medicine & Public Health
Thursday 12 December | 1:30pm

Live stream

Ceremony details

Program

Officers, College Vice-Presidents and Executive Deans

Program

Entry of Academic Procession

The Chancellor, Deputy Chancellors, Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, members of the University Council and staff of the University will enter in academic procession.

Indigenous Opening

Australian National Anthem

Opening of Proceedings

Presentation of Graduates

Closing of Proceedings

Departure of Academic Procession

The Chancellor, Deputy Chancellors, Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, members of the University Council and staff of the University will exit in academic procession.

Officers of the University

Chancellor
Mr John Hood

Deputy Chancellors
Ms Elizabeth Perry AM
Mr Douglas Gautier AM

President and Vice-Chancellor
Professor Colin J Stirling

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students)
Professor Romy Lawson

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
Professor Ray Chan

Vice-President and Pro Vice-Chancellor (International)
Mr Sebastian Raneskold

Vice-President (Corporate Services)
Mr Mark Gregory

General Counsel & University Secretary
Mr Marc Davies

College Vice-President and Executive Deans

Business, Government and Law
Professor Michael Gilding

Education, Psychology and Social Work
Professor Deborah West

Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Professor Peter Monteath

Medicine and Public Health
Professor Jonathan Craig

Nursing and Health Sciences
Professor Alison Kitson

Science and Engineering
Professor Alistair Rendell

Graduates (in order of appearance)

Name	Course
Eleanor Elizabeth Anderson	BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Nashmil Dolat Javid	BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Minori Bagya Edirisinghege	BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Thinuka Rachithmal Jayawickrama Withanage	BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Jiawei Jian	BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Huynh Nhu Nguyen	BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Abeer Rahel	BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Cathy Phuong Thanh Vu	BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Arogya Adhikari	BACHELOR OF NURSING
Kien Tran	BACHELOR OF PARAMEDICINE
Lana Mackenzie Turbill	BACHELOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Aaron Clark	HONOURS DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Benjamin Robert Hoy	HONOURS DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Megan Frankenfeld	GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN CLINICAL EDUCATION
Yasmin Khanbhai	GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN CLINICAL EDUCATION
Naomi Margaret Wall	GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN CLINICAL EDUCATION
Ranjita Baniya	GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Sylvia Kulesza	GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Haidee Noonan	GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN REMOTE HEALTH PRACTICE
Xiaoxi Liu	GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY
Arminda Sony Graves	GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN COUNSELLING (BEHAVIOURAL HEALTH)
Amber Leanne Rusby	GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN COUNSELLING (BEHAVIOURAL HEALTH)
Joseph Loielo	GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN INTENSIVE CARE PARAMEDICINE
Quang-Huy Nguyen	GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN INTENSIVE CARE PARAMEDICINE
Fiona Raschella	GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Saumya Arora	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Prakruthi Ravi Bhargav	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Yu Xuan Fong	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Kanchan Ghimire Shrestha	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Mengyu Hu	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Mahejbin Anish Karia	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Sushma Koirala	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Janvi Kamleshbhai Mistry	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Mariya Francis Moonjely	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Madhura Nagaraju	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Jeel Viraj Patel	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Krima Jitendra Patel	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Aastha Ashokbhai Savaliya	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Dimpy Sanjilkumar Sheth	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Gia Han Tran	MASTER OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Carly Anne Jones	MASTER OF CLINICAL EDUCATION (BY COURSEWORK)
Ratnayake Mudiyanselage Yasoda Lahiruni Abeyratne	MASTER OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY
Victoria Daube	MASTER OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY
Diana Jacqueline Nicodin	MASTER OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY
Rachelle Bonus Abante	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Saika Tuz Zoha Chowdhury	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Fiona Cossey	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Charlene D Souza	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Sarah Kathleen Emmett	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Nagpriya Shekar Hangal	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Meena Subhanjali Jeevanbabu	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Doyce Jom	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Anne Kamau	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Navneet Kaur	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Jinhong Lin	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Kathryn Jane Moar	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
James Fergus Guildford North	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Abimbola Abigail Obisesan	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Omotola Ebun Ogunmekan	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Palak	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Sejal Aakash Patel	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Jessica Penglis	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Nishtha Sarpal	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Angela Nassaazi Semanda	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Mohmadarman Mohmadharun Sheikh	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Mia Smudic	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Raheemat Sunmonu	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Amala Elizabeth Sunny	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Lorreta Swincer	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Elizabeth Natalie Tiernan	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Arpita Tyagi	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Jing Wang	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Jinping Wei	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Haydar Yunis	MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Alexandra Martins Coffey-Oates	MASTER OF REMOTE AND INDIGENOUS HEALTH
Rippan Neelkanth Shukla	MASTER OF SURGERY
Neil Singh Arora	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jonathon Cavuoto	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Nishan Chahal	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Isobel Charlotte Ross Chambers	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Aatmaj Dasondi	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Tejaspreet Kaur Ghataura	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Emily Jayne Gloede	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Hamish James Lucas Greenslade	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Ananya Gupta	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jeremy Yu Xuan Kiew	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Sharveena Krishnan	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Richard Le	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Gowri Manesh	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Hamish Mckenzie	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Nadiah Amalina Binte Mustafa	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Daniel Duy Nguyen	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Irvin Chris Ong	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jennifer Pham	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Thuy Trang Teresa Pham	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Sriram Raj	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Chrishma Ravindranath	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Lydia Jasmine Smalls	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jessica Rui Ping Thia	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jin Nuo Joan Tsang	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Claire Jiayi Yun	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Emilie Zhou	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Mohsin Haseeb Ahmad	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Pegah Ahmadiyan Ardestani	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Ginger Kate Akins	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Darya Ali	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Kosta Antolis	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Philip John Arundel	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Svetlana Astashova	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Rumsha Baig	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Andrew James Baldwin	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Joshua Clinton Bates	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Milica Beljic	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Amy Marie Booth	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Chelsea Emma Boylan	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jasmin Alice Branford	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
John Robert Brennan	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Rohan Alan Conway Broadhead	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Samantha Jade Brookman	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Michael Catalanotto	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Pooja Chugh	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Shaun Crouch	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Prabjot Dhaliwal	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Prabhsimran Dhillon	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Kaavvya Divakaran	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Natalie Clare Edmonstone	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Verena Fanous	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Salma Sherif Mohamed Fathy	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Anushka Ghorpade	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Holly Michelle Groome	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Marina Emad Habib	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Andrew Peter Hearl	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Lucy Rose Heil	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Danny Hill	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Gahyun Hong	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jamie Hua	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jack Henry Jeanes	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Kavindya Ishini Kariyawasam	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jorjina Kasparian	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Marjan Khorvash	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Laalithya Konduru	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Reynier Evan Remo Lara	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Kelvin Le	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Andrew Leat	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Madeleine Rose Lemmey	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Michael Domenico Luppino	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Eilish Rose Macauley	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Grace Mackenzie	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Thomas Simeon Mansfield	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Ann Judith McDonald	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Emma Maree McKenzie	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Mohsen Moghimi	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Lauren Marie Mormile	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Agnes Wing Wa Ng	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Thanh Phuong Nghi Patrick Nguyen	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Megan Taylor Francis O'Reilly	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Giang Trung Pham	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Elena Andreea Popa	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Alice Therese Quigley	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Mahadya Rahman	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jonathan Ries	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Alison Laura Rowley	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Michelle Santella	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Afia Schaefer	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Laura Grace Schultz	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Bophavotey Seng	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Emily Claire Shaw	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Gabrielle Edwina Pak-Poy Shea	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Isabella Jane Sheehan	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Marshall Benjamin Smith	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Emily Jane Olivia Squires	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Marat Sverdlov	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Hannah Sweaney	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Su Mon Thin Zar	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Jessica Amy Thomas	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Gabriel Gerard Tramaglino	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Angela Vivish Vazhalanickal	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Madeleine Nicole Veitch	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Abigail Claire Watson	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Eleanor Elizabeth Watts	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Muhammad Ashraf Bin Yahya	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Alex William Zahnleiter	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Mary Liang Zhao	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
Matthew John Giddings	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Naomi Yomana Kanahala Gamage	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Nicholas Pavic	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Benjamin Michael Dean Voyvodic	BACHELOR OF CLINICAL SCIENCES AND DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Joshua Thomas Andrews	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Shannon Rose Capewell-Jones	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Hannah Mary Carter	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Alex James Coleman	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
James Laurence Fowler	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Tessa Gaynor	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Monica Susan Hansen	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Stephanie Anne Louey	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Madison Elizabeth Paula Lowe	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Revania Kalini Pillay	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Stephanie Joan Thomson	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Benjamin Martin Weimann	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION
Daniel Schultz Zaina	DOCTOR OF MEDICINE WITH DISTINCTION

PHD Students

Name	Principal & Associate Supervisor	Thesis	Citation
Robert Adams	Professor Cedric Bardy & Stuart Bierley & Tomothy Sargeant	Relationships Between Bioenergetics, Physiological Activity, and Lysosome Function in Human Neurons	As the average human lifespan grows longer thanks to advances in medical care, the number of people suffering from late age neurological disorders increases. To relieve this increasing burden of suffering, new medical treatments are required. Parkinson’s Disease is one such disorder that has received decades of dedicated research, yet it has no cure. In recent years, a lack of brain energy has been suggested to play an important role in the disease. This research explored how brain cell functions suffer when deprived of energy. Specifically, it investigated how waste clearance mechanisms may become less efficient, and how brain cell to brain cell communication can be disrupted. It also explored restoring brain energy by lowering brain cell activity. Findings present a novel method for restoring brain energy that may hold therapeutic potential, and they improve upon our understanding of how a lack of energy can impact brain function.
Thomas James Altree	Professor Danny Eckert & Associate Professor Sutapa Mukherjee & Professor Peter Catcheside	The effects of reboxetine and morphine on sleep and breathing in obstructive sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.	This thesis assessed the effects of repurposed drugs during sleep in two common respiratory diseases, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Combined noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor and antimuscarinic drugs have shown promise as new treatments for OSA. It is unclear if reboxetine, a noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor, is effective without an antimuscarinic. In a randomized controlled trial, I showed that reboxetine improved OSA severity, and combining reboxetine with an antimuscarinic did not yield additive benefits. People with COPD frequently experience breathlessness. Low dose morphine is used for breathlessness, but there are safety concerns related to breathing and alertness. In a secondary analysis of a large randomized controlled trial, I showed that low dose morphine does not impair sleepiness or alertness over four weeks. In another randomized controlled trial, I showed that low dose morphine did not improve sleep quality in COPD, but lowered the breathing rate and oxygen levels during sleep.
Jayalathge Dona Melanie Samanthi Amarasooriya	Professor Greg Bain & Dr Kimberley Ruxton & Dr Rami Al-Dirini	Assessment of in vivo kinematics of the normal and scapholunate instability wrist using dynamic CT scan	Scapholunate instability (SLI) is the most common carpal instability, accounting for 5% of wrist sprains. The diagnosis of SLI is often missed. Even when diagnosed and treated, the clinical outcomes are far from ideal. Possible reasons for this include the poor understanding of the biomechanics of SLI and objective dynamic assessment not being a major part of its management. In large joints, such as the knee or shoulder, surgical decisions are largely supported by dynamic assessment. The wrist, due to its complex anatomy, precludes such dynamic clinical assessment. In this context, dynamic (4D) CT provides a unique advantage due to its ability to scan the patients' wrist during movement. This doctoral thesis presents concepts and techniques to objectively measure kinematic changes in SLI compared to a normal wrist. These objectively measurable parameters enable better diagnosis, aid in surgical decision making, and provide insights into designing reconstruction techniques for SLI.
Radwan Laurence Ansaar	Professor Robyn Meech & Dr Dong Gui Hu & Dr Julie-Ann Hulin	UDP‑Glycosyltransferases (UGTs) in Anti‑Cancer Drug Resistance	Resistance to anti cancer drugs represents a major hurdle in treating breast cancer. This project sought to understand the role of a drug metabolising enzyme called UGT2B7 in mediating resistance to chemotherapy. Expression of UGT2B7 in breast cancer cells was induced by chemotherapy; and in turn, high levels of UGT2B7 induced resistance to chemotherapy. Thus, UGT2B7 may be a biomarker of drug resistance and also a target for overcoming it. We further identified a mechanism by which co administering complementary anti cancer drugs could overcome the adverse effects of high UGT2B7 expression. This mechanism, referred to as pharmaco enhancement, might lead to the development of more effective chemotherapy regimens. Lastly, using the physiological characteristics of patients, we developed a whole body pharmacokinetic model that can be applied to predict plasma chemotherapy levels. This is a useful tool for determining optimised dosing, potentially paving the way for personalised therapies
Xun‑Nan Chen	Dr Morton Burt & Campbell Henry Thompson & Dr Anjana Radhakutty	Cardiometabolic Effects of Glucocorticoid Excess: Inpatient Hyperglycaemia and in Adrenal Incidentaloma	Glucocorticoids are steroid hormones that produced by the adrenal glands and also used to treat many diseases. Glucocorticoid excess is associated with several adverse cardiometabolic effects. These include high blood glucose, high blood pressure and obesity. This thesis characterised underlying factors that may contribute to cardiometabolic risk in two clinical models of glucocorticoid excess. Firstly, it showed that five clinical factors including weight, sex, HbA1c, diabetes status and diabetes treatment contributed to approximately 65% of the variability in total insulin dose needed to treat high blood glucose in hospitalised patients receiving therapeutic glucocorticoids. Incorporation of these factors could optimise therapy and reduce cardiometabolic risk in this patient group. Secondly, it showed that impaired insulin secretion is a key mechanism that contributes to cardiometabolic risk in patients with benign adrenal gland tumours that secrete low levels of glucocorticoid in excess. Future considerations for diabetes management in this patient group is crucial.
Philip Man Chiu Choi	Professor Maria Crotty & Professor Joseph Selvanayagam & Timothy Kleinig	Acute Ischemic Stroke Assessment: Overcoming Barriers to Effective Therapies	Stroke is a leading worldwide cause of death and disability. The effectiveness of acute stroke treatments is time sensitive, yet despite widespread awareness of this, and despite some quality improvement efforts, key Australian stroke treatment time metrics continue to compare poorly to other advanced health systems. Further, the gap is widening, as stroke reperfusion timeliness has not improved in Australia over the last six years. Optimising and expediting access to evidence based stroke treatments in Australia, would have a substantial population impact on post stroke outcomes. This thesis includes 9 publications from 2016 to 2023, describing the results and learnings of the Box Hill Hospital stroke team quality improvement program (the most time effective acute stroke team in Australia since 2020). Through these processes local stroke service delivery has substantially improved. If widely replicated, these strategies and approaches have the potential to enhance quality acute stroke care across Australian (and other International) stroke centres.
Megan Kate Fowler	Associate Professor Mary‑Louise Rogers & Professor Jill Carr & Frances Theunisen	Endogenous retroviruses and the association with TDP 43 and inflammation in the cause and progression of Motor Neuron Disease	Motor Neuron Disease (MND) is a relentless neurological disorder with limited treatment options. The cause of MND remains unknown but endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) have been implicated in the cause and progression of neurodegeneration that is a hallmark of MND. Based on the involvement of ERVs in MND, the overall aim of my thesis was to investigate the influence of antiretroviral therapy on MND using a mouse model of MND. Also, my thesis aimed to understand the role of ERVs in cell models that recapitulate MND. To achieve these aims, the therapeutic benefit of antiretroviral therapy was assessed through established measures of disease progression and known hallmarks of MND disease pathology such as motor neuron degeneration. Investigating neurodegenerative mechanisms and determining the effectiveness of novel therapies is vital for progression towards MND being a treatable and curable disease
David Lyndon Garne	Professor Lambert Schuwirth & Emeritus Professor Paul Worley & Ian Wilson	Learning to Think Like a Doctor: The Development of Clinical Reasoning in Medical Students During Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships.	Longitudinal integrated clerkships are becoming increasingly accepted worldwide as an alternative pedagogical approach to undergraduate training in medical schools. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students engaged in longitudinal models develop good clinical reasoning, but there is an almost complete lack of robust evidence to support this observation. This research investigated how and why students in these longitudinal models develop a solid foundation in clinical reasoning. Findings from the research showed that there are strong ontological similarities between clinical reasoning and longitudinal integrated clerkships, and this provides a logical explanation for this development. The unique affordances found in longitudinal clerkships combine in complex adaptive ways, and immersing students in these settings has a direct impact on the development of good clinical reasoning, which is also a complex adaptive construct. The research makes an original contribution to this important topic and provides important implications for the future of medical education.
Max Hardwick‑Morris	Professor Mark Taylor & Dr Rami Al-Dirini & Joshua Twiggs	Prediction of Iliopsoas Tendonitis after Hip Arthroplasty	Iliopsoas tendonitis occurs in up to 30% of patients after hip arthroplasty surgery, and is most frequently attributed to impingement between an exposed anterior edge of the acetabular component and the iliopsoas. Despite its relatively high incidence, very little research has been directed towards computational modelling of this phenomenon to prevent its occurrence. Therefore, this dissertation sought to develop and validate a computational simulation that can detect impingement between the iliopsoas and acetabular cup, and then use this simulation to identify preoperative risk factors that exacerbate the risk of iliopsoas tendonitis. The ultimate ambitions for this tool were two fold. First, to be used diagnostically by enabling postoperative assessment of patients who are experiencing groin pain, and facilitate enhanced treatment selection for these patients. Second, this tool has been developed with the intention for it to be integrated into a preoperative planning platform to further optimise preoperative templating for hip arthroplasty surgery.
Georgina Louise Hollitt	Professor Jamie Craig & Dr Emmanuelle Souzeau & Dr Owen Siggs	Understanding Polygenic Risk Testing and Risk Communication for Glaucoma	Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss in the world and is known to be highly heritable, with recognised monogenic and complex inheritance patterns. Recently, polygenic risk scores (PRS) have shown promise in stratifying individual glaucoma risk. However, despite significant advances in the understanding of the genetic underpinnings of glaucoma, important details about clinical implementation are not yet known. This thesis addresses this gap in knowledge, providing early insights into the future implementation of glaucoma PRS testing. My original contribution to knowledge included assessing attitudes of key stakeholders towards glaucoma PRS testing, developing novel PRS reports, and applying PRS testing in several clinical contexts. The outcomes of this thesis will bring glaucoma PRS significantly closer to clinical implementation, and therefore, in reducing global vision loss caused by the condition.
Natansh Deepak Modi	Associate Professor Ash Hopkins & Professor Michael Sorich & Professor Andrew Rowland & Professor Ross McKinnon	Exploring the Value of Shared Clinical Trial Data: Policy, Application, and Impact	Transparent sharing of clinical trial data is important for scientific integrity, patient safety, and medical research advancement. Despite industry commitments, significant data accessibility gaps persist. This thesis demonstrates that while there has been progress, a substantial amount of valuable data from pivotal clinical trials remains inaccessible. Audits of individual participant data availability for high revenue and anticancer medicines emphasize the need for standardized, enforceable policies to ensure immediate data availability upon a medicine’s approval. The practical applications of enhanced data transparency are highlighted through the development of clinical prediction models and the integration of patient reported outcomes into clinical practice. These advancements enable personalized patient care, optimizing treatment safety and efficacy. Ultimately, this thesis advocates for a more transparent and collaborative research environment, honouring the contributions of clinical trial participants and advancing precision medicine.
Richard Fraser Newland	Professor Rob Baker	The Development of Intraoperative Electronic Perfusion Data Processing to Improve the Practice of Cardiopulmonary Bypass.	The acquisition of intraoperative electronic perfusion data (EPD) holds immense potential for enhancing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) practices. Potentially the most important influence that EPD may have on clinical practice is the identification of modifiable predictors of patient outcome, and facilitation of quality improvement with integration into registries. The Australian and New Zealand Collaborative Perfusion Registry (ANZCPR) stands as a pioneer in the integration of EPD. This thesis includes 10 papers published between 2006 and 2022, reporting significant strides in CPB enhancement, including automated CPB quality indicator generation, establishment of the ANZCPR, and investigations into CPB's impact on patient outcomes including acute kidney injury and 30 day mortality. These efforts have influenced international CPB practice guidelines, advocating for EPD integration into registries for continuous quality monitoring and benchmarking. This groundwork paves the way for an international CPB registry, facilitating large scale studies and registry based trials to further refine CPB practices and patient outcomes.
Lauren Alexandra Newman	Professor Andrew Rowland & Dr Zivile Useckaite & Michael Sorich	EVolving the Liquid Biopsy: Extracellular Vesicles for Assessing Liver Function and Disease	Liver cells release small membrane bound particles called extracellular vesicles (EVs) that have roles in communication between cells and disease progression. EVs can be found in bodily fluids, including blood, and carry molecular information reflecting organ function. In contrast to a solid tissue biopsy, EVs enable non invasive assessment and disease diagnosis in a “liquid biopsy”. Despite its promise, EV based liquid biopsy faces several challenges related to isolation from blood and analysis of molecular cargo. This thesis addresses barriers to clinical translation and advances the analytical framework for EV liquid biopsies. By specifically analysing liver derived markers from human blood samples, key metabolic functions of the liver can be assessed for disease staging and prediction of drug exposure and response to treatments. These contributions lay the foundation for personalised treatment strategies in liver disease and beyond.
Yiming Wang	Professor Geraint Rogers & Professor Steve Wesselingh & Dr Steven Taylor	How does our mucus shape bacterial colonization?: Exploring mucosal glycosylation and gut microbiome dynamics	The findings described within this thesis establish an important association between a common human genetic polymorphism, the gut microbiome, and the potential to derive benefit from attempts to modulate host microbiome interactions using probiotics. The insight gained into the influence of genetic polymorphisms and bacterial dynamics have profound and far reaching consequences for the development and interpretation of probiotic interventions.
Michael Alexander Zabolocki	Professor Cedric Bardy Stuart Brierley	Recapitulating human brain electrophysiology with induced pluripotent stem cell patient derived neurons	The human brain is one of the most complex organs in the body, responsible for many aspects of cognitive function and affected in numerous neurological diseases. Despite studies in existing animal models, neurological diseases are still a leading cause of disability and second leading cause of death world wide. This is largely attributed to differences between the brain of human and nonhuman species, especially in network development and electrical activity. Michael Zabolocki's thesis showed that human induced pluripotent stem cell derived neuronal models (minibrains) can recapitulate human specific electrical activity at the single cell level. Further, this work revealed that caudal interneurons are the cell type of origin for paediatric epilepsy. Together, this body of work demonstrated that human electrical activity can be modelled within the lab in a health and disease context. As a result, this is a significant step forward in developing innovative drug targets to treat human neurological diseases, such as paediatric epilepsy.
Jett Zivkovic	Associate Professor Yoichiro Otsuka & Professor Jill Carr	The Thermoregulatory Response to Lithium & its Inhibition of Stress Induced Physiological & Behavioural Changes: A Novel Mechanism of Action & Brain Pathway	Lithium, the gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder, has an unknown mechanism of action. This thesis investigated physiological and behavioural responses to lithium in guinea pigs and rats, inspired by John Cade's discovery of lithium's therapeutic potential in 1949. We revealed a coordinated thermoregulatory response, challenging conventional views of lithium toxicity. Lithium reduced body temperature, brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, and locomotor activity, while inhibiting stress induced BAT thermogenesis, emotional hyperthermia, and hyperlocomotion. These findings suggest lithium directly counteracts mechanisms triggered by psychological stress. We identified two brain pathways for lithium's effects, involving the area postrema and the hypothalamomedullary thermoregulatory network. Our research provides a fresh perspective on lithium's therapeutic mechanisms, implicating specific brain regions involved in psychological stress and stress related psychiatric conditions, which lithium is used to treat, and suggests clinical applications such as using lithium to prevent drug induced hyperthermia and potential strategies for mitigating lithium associated weight gain.

Honorary Doctorates

Name	Award	Citation
Mrs Patricia Vilimas	Doctor of Science honoris causa	2024 marks the 50th year of continuous employment of Patricia Vilimas (Pat) at Flinders University. While this is an outstanding achievement within any organisation, Pat’s achievements are not based solely on longevity. Rather, they are best reflected by her outstanding contributions to both Flinders and to medical research. Pat began work as a technical assistant at Flinders in 1975 within research groups focused on decoding the chemical components of the nervous system and the fundamental pathways they control. She first joined the research teams led by Professor John Furness and the late Professor Marcello Costa, who both became Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science. This team created new ways of studying the gut nervous system. Continuous innovation was required to make this work and much of this work was undertaken by Pat. Pat developed a reputation for her thoroughness and problem-solving capacity to produce data that ultimately informed researchers from across the globe on the form and function of the enteric (gut) nervous system. Pat subsequently became a research assistant in the laboratories headed by Professor Ian Gibbins and Professor Judy Morris. In this 30-year period, Pat was central in undertaking research that was pivotal to the creation of new knowledge in the field of autonomic neuroscience. The excellence of this research is exemplified by the fact that this team was constantly funded throughout this period by peak funding bodies, such as the National Health and Medical Research Council. The quality of Pat’s research was fundamental to this ongoing success in a time when funding rates were, and remain, challenging. What makes her contributions even more remarkable is that for much of her career she worked part-time, to manage family life. Pat currently undertakes a research support role within the College of Medicine and Public Health’s Microscopy facility, where she continues to teach and support students and young scientists in their own research. Based on her humility to remain in the background, Pat chose not to be a co-author on most of her research. However, she is officially ‘acknowledged’ in over 100 peer-reviewed publications, demonstrating her contributions to these works. The impact of this research is illustrated by these publications being cited over 8,000 times by others in the field, a record many Professors will not achieve in their career. Pat’s research career is best highlighted by the words of Pat’s long-time colleague and friend, Professor Ian Gibbins; “In Greek mythology, Hero was a priestess who was famous for her acts of self-sacrifice. If a priestess can be a source of otherwise hidden knowledge, and if living a life of science funded by the vagaries of the granting system counts as some kind of sacrifice, then Pat Vilimas is a true Hero in every sense of the word.” Apart from a Deans Award from the College of Medicine in 2004, Pat’s contribution to Flinders University and scientific research has largely gone unrecognised. We now wish to appropriately recognise this outstanding professional staff member and woman. In recognition of the excellence and rigour of her scientific work within the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University, Patricia Vilimas is awarded a Doctor of Science honoris causa.