2011 Menzies Foundation Annual Review1.23 MB

2011
annual review
Menzies Medallion presentation at the Awards Dinner held at Clarendon Terrace on 24 November, 2011:
Ms Diana Menzies (centre), a director of the Foundation and grand-daughter of Sir Robert Menzies, made
the presentation to Menzies Scholarship recipients (l-r) Dev Tayal, Matthew Pase, Brittany Coff, Jane Galvin,
Eleanor Mitchell and Menzies Centenary Prize winner, Joshuah Wren.
the sir robert menzies memorial foundation limited
www.menziesfoundation.org.au
A catalyst for achievement
REPORT FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
After 30 years of quiet achievement
and leadership, the Foundation made a
strategic decision in 2010 to reposition
itself, to publicise its successes to a
broader cross-section of Australians,
and to seek new funds to help sustain its
scholarship programs and its investment
base.
Overall, 2011 was a very good year for
the Foundation. Applicants for Menzies
Memorial scholarships and fellowships
were again outstanding in all disciplines
and we congratulate those who were
successful. Many high quality applicants
regrettably missed out, whose careers
and life trajectories would have been
changed had funds been available to
support more awards.
The Foundation is also delighted with
the health research achievements, in the
Menzies name, of its three daughter
institutions, now regarded as national
and international leaders in their fields.
Their success has brought them substantial
funding from other agencies, so that the
Foundation now contributes but a small
proportion of their annual budgets.
The Foundation achieved a balanced
budget in 2011. Nevertheless Foundation
assets have been eroded by the effects
of the global financial crisis and the
withdrawal of UK government funds
from the overseas scholarship program.
To help secure the long-term future
of its activities, the Foundation has
strengthened its links with scholarship
alumni and its other supporters, and
recently initiated a bequest program
and a series of informal lunches at
Clarendon Terrace for potential donors
and sponsors.
To help raise our public profile in 2011,
distinguished guests and members of the
public were invited to Clarendon Terrace
in May for the Annual General Meeting;
more than 50 attendees were privileged
to hear Prof Geoffrey Blainey’s address,
entitled “Facing the unfaceable”. He
spoke of the political difficulties faced
by Sir Robert Menzies after he lost
the Prime Ministership in 1941, and
how Menzies persisted to eventually
become our longest serving PM (194966). Prof Blainey linked the difficulties
faced by Menzies to the difficulties
faced in Aboriginal education today, as
documented in the report from the 2010
Menzies workshop Closing the gap in
Indigenous education.
In August the Foundation was pleased
to provide Clarendon Terrace as the
venue to launch the book of letters
from Sir Robert Menzies, Letters to my
daughter, edited by his daughter, Mrs
Heather Henderson. In formally launching
the book, Sir Guy Green explored
personal and political anecdotes from
the Menzies era and from the letters
themselves. His speech was received with
acclamation by the many distinguished
guests and subsequently published by
the Foundation as a memento of the
occasion. Mrs Henderson is generously
donating royalties from book sales to the
Foundation.
In November, alumni, directors and
friends of the Foundation attended the
very successful Menzies Awards dinner
to welcome this year’s scholars, and
to celebrate the achievements of the
alumni. Guest speaker A/Prof David
Morgan was entertaining and thoughtful,
drawing on his medical experiences as
an orthopaedic surgeon and researcher
in the years since he was the Menzies
medical scholar in 1985.
In looking ahead, the Foundation is very
pleased by the breadth of interest in
its proposal to establish a Centre for
Research Excellence in Allied Health
and Integrated Care. This initiative
will help to provide patients, families
and health professionals alike with the
support and information necessary to
navigate through an increasingly complex
care network. The Planning Committee
is progressing the business plan and
seeking funding partners to help turn this
vision into a reality.
We take this opportunity to congratulate
all the Menzies Scholars and the
daughter institutions, and to thank all
those who have supported the Foundation
and taken an interest in its affairs during
2011, whether as members of the Board
or the Council, as committee or panel
members, or as donors or supporters in
the wider community. The Foundation
has done much to perpetuate the ideals
of Robert Menzies in 2011, and it will
continue to do so for many years to come.
The Hon Sir Guy Green,
AC, KBE, CVO
Chairman
Prof John Mathews, AM
Executive Director
The Menzies School of Health Research,
based in Darwin, has an international
reputation for translational and
exploratory research in the areas of
Aboriginal and tropical health. With
around 350 staff in Australia and
overseas, it aims to improve the health of
people in northern and central Australia
and the Asia Pacific region, through
multidisciplinary research and education.
2011 was an outstanding year for
NHMRC grants: 71% of all applications
were successful, bringing in an additional
$17.6m of funding for Menzies in Darwin.
The School was ranked fifth in Australia
out of 26 Medical Research Institutes in
competitive funding, a terrific success for
a small to medium institute.
Menzies continues to maintain its excellent
reputation as a source of quality research
and advice for government, Indigenous
communities, and other stakeholders.
Deloitte Access Economics, in a report
entitled Economic and social contribution
of the Menzies School of Health Research,
quantified the contributions to health
outcomes and to state and national
economies. The report found Menzies
made a social and economic contribution
of $393m to Australia and the Asia
Pacific - $87m to the Northern Territory
alone - from 2002 to 2010.
The total benefit cost ratio was 3.12, so
that a dollar invested in Menzies returned
$3.12 in direct and indirect economic
benefits and health benefits. This was
44% higher than the average $2.17
return on each $1 investment for health
research and development over the
whole of Australia.
Other important successes included:
• Launch of the Centre for Child
Development and Education, introducing
a focus on education, child protection
and families, including research and
policy-based work to support the
Northern Territory Inquiry into the Child
Protection System.
• Strengthening of global health
research, diversifying from Indonesia’s
West Papua into new countries– Sabah
(Malaysia), Vietnam, Timor Leste and
numerous Pacific countries.
• Pathways into research for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander communities
– staff completed documentation
required for accreditation and for the
issuing of certificates for the Menziesdesigned Certificate II in Child Health
Research to eight community workers at
Galiwinku, Northern Territory.
• Twinning with Timor Leste. A
Memorandum of Understanding has
been established with East Timor
Ministry of Health with the aim of
establishing a long term partnership
for health development that fosters
mutually beneficial cooperation.
Menzies staff continue to receive
acknowledgements for their work; just two
of many are:
• Amanda Leach and Peter Morris
received the MJA/Wyeth Award for
best original research article published
in The Medical Journal of Australia.
• Michael Binks received the Australian
Academy of Science Douglas and Lola
Douglas Scholarship in Medical Science
to investigate vitamin D and Acute
Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in
Indigenous children.
The past year has been one of significant
achievements for the Menzies Research
Institute Tasmania.
A capital campaign was launched to
raise the outstanding $5m needed for the
$90m Stage II building project, due for
completion in early 2013. The Institute
was delighted to receive a $2m gift from
philanthropist Mr Graeme Wood and a
further $500,000 from the Tasmanianbased Select Foundation.
In 2011, the Institute won over $13.5m
in research funding. This included
competitive grants of $11.5m, with $2.5m
funding for its first NHMRC Centre for
Research Excellence to address chronic
respiratory disease and lung ageing.
Institute researchers also won six highly
competitive national research fellowships.
The Institute was a major contributor
to a ground-breaking international
collaborative study on multiple sclerosis
(MS), published in Nature. The study
identified as many as 578 genes that
predispose to MS, pointing to a pivotal
role for T cells, ‘the orchestra leaders’ of
the immune system, in causing the disease.
Another important Institute paper on
MS, published in Annals of Neurology
showed that higher levels of Vitamin D
may protect against repeat attacks of the
disease.
A recent finding from the Tasmanian
Familial Haematological Malignancies
Study is that in some families at higher risk
of blood cancer (leukaemia), the diagnosis
appears to be occurring at a younger
age in each successive generation. These
results were recently published in the
prestigious journal Blood.
The Institute also collaborated with
national and international colleagues to
show that obesity in childhood does not
permanently increase cardiovascular
risk if obesity in adulthood is avoided.
These results were published in The New
England Journal of Medicine.
In another research highlight, the Institute
worked closely with international
researchers to find seven regions across
the human genome that had not previously
been known to increase the risk of
prostate cancer. The paper was published
in Nature Genetics. Institute researchers and students
recognised for research excellence were:
• Dr Kristy Sanderson’s research into
depression was featured in the NHMRC
2011 Ten of the Best Research Projects.
• A/Prof Greg Woods and Dr Menna
Jones (School of Zoology) won the 2011
Sherman Eureka Prize for Environmental
Research for their work on the
Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease.
• PhD student Clare Smith was selected
out of 20,000 worldwide applicants
to attend the 61st Nobel Laureate
Meeting in Lindau, Germany.
In December, the Institute was honoured
by a visit from the Governor-General,
Ms Quentin Bryce AC, CVO and Mr Michael
Bryce AM, AE. The Governor-General and
Mr Bryce toured the research facilities
and enjoyed a morning tea with staff and
students.
At the end of 2011the Institute’s Director,
Prof Simon Foote, departed to take up the
position of Dean of the Australian School
of Advanced Medicine at Macquarie
University. His extraordinary contribution
and his leadership have positioned the
Institute to continue on its very impressive
trajectory.
The Sydney University and ANU nodes
of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy
(MCHP) collaborated in 2011 to produce
and publish high-quality analyses of
current health policy issues, to deliver
public seminars and education programs
on a wide variety of health policy topics,
and to undertake comprehensive research
projects on health policy issues.
The Centre continued to communicate its
findings and policy commentary through
peer reviewed papers, conference
presentations and the media.
International scholars visited the Centre
from: Columbia University, USA; Breman
University, Germany; Oxford University,
UK; Spanish National Research Council;
and Shahid Sadoughi University of
Medical Sciences & Health Services, Iran.
Public events in 2011 included the Great
Debate (in Sydney) featuring Labor’s
Carmel Tebbutt, Liberal’s Jillian Skinner
and the Green’s David Shoebridge.
The Emerging Health Policy Research
Conference in August featured Geoff
Gallop speaking on “From research to
politics”, as well as presentations by
emerging health policy researchers. The
ST Lee lecture in 2011, entitled “Taking
aim at noncommunicable diseases in Asia/
Pacific”, was delivered by Prof Robert
Beaglehole in Sydney in November.
Three very successful round tables were
held in Canberra in October/November
by the Serious and Continuing Illness
Policy and Practice Study (SCIPPS)
team. The public events program for
2011 concluded with the Sydney Health
Policy Network’s highly popular two-day
The Serious and Continuing Illness Policy
and Practice Study report captures the
views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples living with chronic
illness and their ‘user experiences’ of
the health sector.
To help close the gap between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous
Australians, the study report offers
practical suggestions about how
mainstream health services might work
more successfully and provide better
outcomes for their Indigenous users.
event on the topic of mental health and
well being, featuring an international
facilitator - Gregor Henderson.
Research projects included a completed
study for the Little Company of Mary
Palliative Care Project with several
important papers published. The
evaluation of the Blue Mountains GP
Network chronic disease self-management
project was also completed and
written-up. Work on the Vision-Hearing
Project continued with several papers
published during the year. SCIPPS
entered its final stages with papers
reporting the important findings. The
evaluation of HealthOne Mt Druitt also
entered its final stages.
The Care Navigation evaluation project
gained momentum during the year and
ANU completed their component of the
Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship project
with Sydney University to commence their
work on the project “Preventing poor
outcomes for people with chronic illness”
in 2012.
The Menzies Oration on
Higher Education
Professor Sally Walker, AM, delivered
the Sir Robert Menzies Oration on
Higher Education in Melba Hall at the
University of Melbourne on 12 October.
The audience was privileged to hear
Professor Walker discuss the challenges
to academic freedom and academic
values in a university sector that is having
to respond to new technology, new
regulations, commercial pressures and
competition, increasing demands from
many students, and high work-loads for
staff.
The annual Menzies Oration on
Higher Education was established in
1991in recognition of the many prime
ministerial contributions of Sir Robert
Menzies to higher education and his
role as Chancellor of the University of
Melbourne from 1967 to 1972.
Mr Brian Doyle, Deputy Chairman of the
Foundation with Menzies Orator, Professor
Sally Walker, AM, who is holding the Menzies
Medallion presented to her by Sir Robert’s
grandson, Mr Alec Menzies.
Proposed Centre for
Research Excellence in Allied
Health and Integrated Care
The Menzies Foundation has supported
scholarships and research in allied
health for many years. More recently
the Foundation is leading an initiative
to establish a Centre for Research
Excellence in Allied Health and
Integrated Care in partnership with the
health industry and universities.
The Hon David Davis, Minister for
Health in Victoria, opened a strategic
roundtable in October 2011 at
Clarendon Terrace, facilitated by
Arup Australia, to discuss the rationale
for the centre and to seek support
from health leaders, policy makers,
researchers and other potential partners.
It was recognised that allied health
professionals would be playing an
increasing role in the integration of
health care in future years.
The proposed centre would need
to address questions about working
arrangements within and between
professions, and the role of emerging
information systems in supporting
evidence-based care and improved
business efficiency, and in providing
patients and families with timely advice
and support to navigate their way
through a health system of increasing
complexity.
In November 2011, a roundtable
of experts met to discuss recent
developments in E-Health that could
be applied to help allied health
professionals to support community
care that is multidisciplinary, integrated,
efficient and effective.
The proposed Centre would provide a
research-oriented service environment
to develop and test new approaches
and new products, and to show how
new technology could be utilised for
the benefit of patients and families as
well as health professionals. Research
outcomes could have a major influence
on the future of the health workforce
and health care delivery in Australia.
The Foundation is developing a business
plan, and would welcome expressions
of interest from additional sponsors.
The Hon David Davis,
Minister for Health Victoria,
opened the strategic
roundtable at Clarendon
Terrace on 7 October
Participants: Kathryn Cook, Meg Morris,
Jenni Smith and Barbara Yeoh
VALE
Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen,
AK, GCMG, GCVO, DCL
Sir Zelman will long be remembered
and appreciated for his outstanding
leadership and advice. He was Patron
of the National Appeal Committee to
establish the Menzies Foundation and
Trust (1979), opened our headquarters
at Clarendon Terrace (1982) and
served on the Foundation Board from
1991-1997. He was a Council member
of the Foundation and trustee of the
Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Trust in
London until his death.
Patron
Key financial results for the year ended 31 December 2011
Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, AC, CVO
Governor-General of the Commonwealth
of Australia
The audited 2011 financial reports are published separately and are available at
www.menziesfoundation.org.au or by contacting the Menzies Foundation.
Directors as at 31 December 2011
Chairman
The Hon Sir Guy Green, AC, KBE, CVO
Deputy Chairman & Secretary
Mr B J Doyle
Treasurer
Mr B Jamieson
Executive Director
Prof J D Mathews, AM
Directors
Mr N B Callinan
Dr M J Estcourt (until November)
Mr R A Illingworth
Mr C P H Kiefel, OAM
Dr E L Laakso
Prof S Maddocks
Ms D L Menzies
Prof R E O’Hehir
Profiles available at menziesfoundation.org.au
Council members
Mr B G Atkinson, AM
Prof M I Bullock, AM
Mr M H Codd, AC
Prof J P Coghlan, AO
Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen, AK, GCMG,
GCVO, DCL (deceased December)
Hon Sir Daryl Dawson, AC, KBE, CB
Prof T Dwyer, AO
Ms B G Gibson
Mr P G F Henderson, AC
Mr R J Hornsby
Dr T H Hurley, AO, CBE
Prof S R Leeder, AO
Prof J D Mathews, AM
Ms E C Menzies
A/Prof D A F Morgan, OAM
Prof K O’Dea, AO
Prof R Porter, AC
Mr A P Sheahan
Rt Hon Sir Ninian Stephen, KG, AK, GCMG,
GCVO, KBE
Mrs J Trethewey, OAM
Prof P L Waller, AO
Mr R J White, AO
Income Statement
Revenue from continuing operations
1,367,704
2010 ($)
666,547
(450,000)
(450,000)
Scholarships and Fellowships
(178,173)
(252,235)
Other Memorial Activities
Salaries and salary on-costs
Other expenses
(77,607)
(373,866)
(252,311)
(94,478)
(352,066)
(206,432)
Total expenses excluding (losses) from financial assets
Unrealised (loss)/gain on financial assets at fair value
through profit or loss
Realised (loss)/gain on financial assets at fair value
through profit or loss
(1,331,957)
(1,355,211)
(2,367,164)
(435,300)
173,787
163,560
Total expenses
(3,525,334)
(1,626,951)
(Deficit)/surplus for the year
(2,157,630)
(960,404)
Total comprehensive(loss)/income for the year
(2,157,630)
(960,404)
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables
Investments
Total current assets
1,029,786
42,646
14,201,375
15,273,807
1,795,335
64,966
15,481,749
17,342,050
Total assets
15,273,807
17,342,050
89,393
181,646
271,039
37,511
156,548
194,059
13,522
13,522
284,561
1,115
1,115
195,174
Net assets
14,989,246
17,146,876
Accumulated Funds
14,989,246
17,146,876
Expenses from continuing operations
Menzies Health Research Centres
2011 ($)
Balance Sheet
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
Provisions
Total current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Provisions
Total non-current liabilities
Total liabilities
THE MENZIES FOUNDATION
ABN 43 008 543 897
The Rt Hon Sir Robert Menzies,
KT, AK, CH, FRS, QC
Prime Minister of Australia
1939-1941 and 1949-1966
The Menzies Foundation was established in 1979 as a
non-political, not-for-profit organisation to perpetuate the
ideals of Sir Robert Menzies, Australia’s longest-serving
Prime Minister.
The Foundation is governed by a Board of voluntary
directors, in accordance with the objectives in its
Memorandum of Association. The day to day business of
the Foundation is managed by a small secretariat and a
part-time salaried Executive Director.
The Foundation is a philanthropic trust listed under
Subdivision 30-B of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
and is registered as a charitable entity in every state
and territory of Australia.
THE SECRETARIAT
Executive Director (part time):
Professor John D Mathews, AM, BSc, MBBS, MD, PhD, DSc Hon
General Manager:
Ms Sandra Mackenzie, OAM, BA, BLitt (Hons)
Administration:
Ms Pam Shearman
The Menzies Foundation
Clarendon Terrace
210 Clarendon Street
EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002
T 03 9419 5699
F 03 9417 7049
[email protected]
menziesfoundation.org.au
menziesvirtualmuseum.org.au
DONATION FORM
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work of the Menzies Foundation.
DONATIONS TO THE MENZIES FOUNDATION ARE
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□ Please forward information on how to make a bequest
to the Menzies Foundation in my Will.
To enquire with the Executive Director please call
03 9419 5699.
MENZIES SCHOLARSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Allied Health Sciences
The Sir Robert Menzies Memorial
Research Scholarship in the Allied Health
Sciences is open to graduates who have
completed the first stage of their doctoral
program at an Australian university.
Ms Jane Galvin, a senior occupational
therapist at the Royal Children’s Hospital
in Melbourne, is looking at the use of
virtual reality as a motivating and
enjoyable tool to encourage children with
repetitive rehabilitation activities after
traumatic brain injury.
Mr Matthew Pase, a tutor in psychology
at Swinburne University of Technology,
Melbourne, is investigating whether a
healthy diet can help to counter the
slowing of brain function with advancing
age.
Engineering and Law
The Sir Robert Menzies Memorial
Scholarships to the United Kingdom are
awarded by the Menzies Foundation in
co-operation with the Sir Robert Menzies
Memorial Trust (UK), the Department of
Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations.
Engineering
Ms Brittany Coff, a water resources
engineer in Adelaide, will study for an
MPhil in Sustainable Development at the
University of Cambridge for one year.
Brittany is passionate about sustainability
and its application to water resources
planning in Australia.
Jane Galvin
Matthew Pase
Brittany Coff
Robert Menzies’ legacy continues to shape the nation
Young leaders from Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide awarded
Menzies scholarships to study in the US, UK, and Australia. Topics included:
The ef fect of diet on brain function; whether vir tual realit y can be used for
rehabilitation of arm movements following traumatic brain injur y; and the role
of engineering in sustainable development— these are just some of the issues
being tackled by this year ’s Menzies scholars.
Mr Anant (Dev) Tayal, an electrical
engineer from Perth, will also undertake
the one year MPhil for Sustainable
Development at Cambridge. Dev wants
to explore the relationship between
engineering innovation, renewable
energy and sustainable development
particularly with respect to the problems
of climate change.
Law
Ms Eleanor Mitchell, a lawyer from
Adelaide and Associate to Justice Jayne
Jagot of the Federal Court, will study
for a Bachelor of Civil Law at Oxford
University. Eleanor has volunteered
with Amnesty International and had an
internship at the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Medicine
The NHMRC/RG Menzies Fellowship
supports postdoctoral medical research
for two years overseas and two years
back in Australia.
Dr Sarah-Jane Dawson, the most highly
ranked of the NHMRC postdoctoral
fellows, is taking up her award at Cancer
Research UK in Cambridge and later
Dev Tayal
Eleanor Mitchell
Sarah-Jane Dawson
at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
in Melbourne. She will measure DNA
markers in blood samples to help with the
early detection and treatment of breast
cancer.
Harvard
The RG Menzies Scholarship to Harvard
is jointly sponsored by the Menzies
Foundation, The Harvard Club of Australia
and the Australian National University.
Miss Angela Lopes, an aerospace
engineer by training, has worked as a
business strategy consultant in Sydney.
She also has interests in climate change.
Angela is taking an MBA at the Harvard
Business School.
Mr Luke Raffin, a Melbourne lawyer
interested in the operation of the
Children’s Court, will study for a Master
of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of
Government.
Ms Julia Smith, a geographer interested
in education access and international
community development, is studying for a
Masters in International Education Policy
at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education.
Angela Lopes
Luke Raffin
Julia Smith
Menzies Centenary Prize
The Menzies Centenary Prize, initiated
in 1994 to mark the centenary of Sir
Robert Menzies’ birth in Jeparit, is
awarded to a Year 12 student from
Dimboola Memorial Secondary College
as a contribution to the cost of the first
and second years of tertiary study.
Joshuah Wren, the
winner of the 2011
Prize, is studying for a
Bachelor of Commerce
degree at the University
of Melbourne.
The $10,000 award is
jointly funded by the
Joshuah Wren
Foundation, the Menzies
Memorial Scholars Association and
the generous support of Sir Robert’s
daughter, Mrs Heather Henderson.
Menzies Allied Health
Sciences Grant
The Foundation offers an early career
grant of $25,000, available on a
competitive basis to Menzies Scholars
in the Allied Health Sciences within 5
years of completing their PhD.
The 2011 grant was awarded
to Dr Anne-Marie Hill, Menzies
scholar in 2008 and one of only
ten Gerontological
Physiotherapists in
Australia.
Anne-Marie will use
the grant to study
how to prevent falls
in older patients
after discharge from
hospital.
Anne-Marie Hill
Past and present Menzies scholars came
to Clarendon Terrace for the 21st MMSA
AGM on November 24 and to thank
Marie Estcourt at her last meeting as
President. Liisa Laakso was elected as
the new President and Dariel De Sousa
as Secretary/Treasurer. The meeting
discussed how Menzies Scholars can
continue to support the initiatives of the
Foundation; new Scholars were admitted
and the Menzies Centenary Prize winner
was announced.
Following the MMSA business meeting,
those attending were joined by directors
and supporters of the Foundation to
hear four fascinating talks, which not
only highlighted the talent and diversity
of the alumni, but also the salience and
social significance of their research and
professional achievements.
Dr Jaci Barrett (AHS, 2006) spoke about
her PhD research on the benefits of
dietary modification for persons with
Irritable Bowel Syndrome which affects
10-20% of the population; Jaci’s
innovative work has great potential
benefit for many Australians.
Menzies Scholars speaking
at the 2011 MMSA AGM
(clockwise from left):
Dr Jaci Barrett, Dr Dan
Siskind, Dr Josie Barbaro
and Dr Misty Jenkins
Dr Josie Barbaro (AHS, 2006) described
her PhD assessment of a screening test to
detect autism in infancy. Cases detected
at an early age by maternal and child
health nurses can now be referred
sooner for expert assessment and for
treatment, leading to improved social
and educational outcomes in childhood
and adult life.
Dr Misty Jenkins (Medicine, 2008) worked
at Cambridge University to understand
how “killer T-cells” search out and
destroy other cells in the body that are
infected with dangerous viruses such
as influenza. Her fascinating video-clip
also showed how such “killer” cells could
also search out and destroy cancer cells.
Misty’s important work is at the forefront
internationally.
Dr Dan Siskind (Harvard, 2003), an
academic and practising psychiatrist at
the University of Queensland, described
his experience in providing psychiatric
support in disaster zones. He emphasized
the need to recognize those at most
risk, and to link into existing networks of
community support.
That evening, new Scholars were formally
welcomed at the Annual Awards Dinner
and launched on their careers as Menzies
Memorial Scholars.