2025 Award Winners
TSANZ Research Awards serve to focus research on much-needed areas and support some of Australia’s greatest minds in lung disease research, with the ultimate aim of improving the lives of people affected by lung diseases. We are pleased to support our members careers and ideas through seed funding, feasibility studies, grants in aid, professional development, and travel awards.
At the TSANZSRS 2025 we presented $400,000 worth of research grants and awards which have been supported by the Society and our partners.
TSANZ would like to congratulate the following Award winners. For information on how to apply for next year’s Awards visit the TSANZ website Research and Awards page.
2025 RESPIRATORY RESEARCH EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS
| Award | Winner(s) |
| TSANZ Janet Elder International Travel Award – Early Career | Mr Rashad Mohammad Mahbub |
| TSANZ Janet Elder International Travel Award – Early Career | Mr Michael Hackmann |
| TSANZ Janet Elder International Travel Award – Mid Career | Dr Wenying Lu |
| TSANZ Ann Woolcock New Investigator Award Winner | Ms Sarah Hug |
| TSANZ Ann Woolcock New Investigator Award Finalists | Ms Sarah Brown, Dr Nur Sabrina Idrose, Dr Lucia Pinilla, Dr Daniel Tan, Ms Olivia Young |
| TSANZ Peter Phelan Research Award | Dr Ayaho Yamamoto |
| TSANZ Past Presidents Scholarship Award | Dr Angela Burge |
| TSANZ Robert Pierce Grant-In-Aid for Indigenous Lung Health | Dr Pamela Laird |
| TSANZ Chiesi Advancing Women in Respiratory Health Award – Early Career Respiratory Professional | Dr Pamela Laird |
| TSANZ Chiesi Advancing Women in Respiratory Health Award – Mid-Career Respiratory Professional | Dr Rhiannon Werder |
| TSANZ Chiesi Future Women Leaders in Respiratory Health Fellowship |
Dr Megan Jensen |
| TSANZ Cure4CF Foundation International Travel Award Early Career | Dr Tamara Blake |
| TSANZ Cure4CF Foundation International Travel Award Mid Career | Dr Elena Schneider-Futschik |
| TSANZ Cure4CF Foundation Career Development Award |
Dr Rhiannon Werder |
| TSANZ and National Asthma Council Australia MCR Fellowship | Dr Jemma Mayall |
| Maurice Blackburn Grant-in-Aid for Occupational Health Disease | Dr Katherine Landwehr |
| Maurice Blackburn Early Mid-Career Grant-in-Aid for Occupational Health Disease | Dr Christian Aloe |
2025 SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP AWARD WINNERS
| Award | Winner(s) |
| Funded by Asthma Australia; TSANZ Asthma and Allergy SIG Award | Dr Hayley Scott for their presentation “Vigorous intensity exercise associates with reduced dietary inflammation potential in asthma.“ |
| Funded by TSANZ; TSANZ Cell, Immunology & Molecular Biology of the Lung SIG Award | Dr Samuel Montgomery for their presentation “Azithromycin significantly alters transcriptomic responses to rhinovirus infection in cystic fibrosis.“ |
| Funded by Chiesi; TSANZ Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease SIG Award | Dr Kurtis Budden for their presentation “Intranasal cigarette smoke extract induces experimental COPD and causes neuroinflammation.” |
| Funded by Cure4CF; TSANZ Cystic Fibrosis SIG Award | Dr Graeme Mattison for their presentation “Heart rate variability: An early biomarker of cystic fibrosis exacerbation.” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; LFA David Serisier Memorial Award for Translational Research in Bronchiectasis |
Ms Brooke Bailey for their oral presentation “Patient satisfaction with non-CF bronchiectasis healthcare and patient reported problems” Mr Craig Schofield for their poster presentation “Pathogenic cystic fibrosis airway neutrophil subset is absent in non-cystic fibrosis paediatric bronchiectasis.” |
| Funded by TSANZ; TSANZ Evidence Based Medicine SIG Award | Dr Lucy McFarlane for their presentation “The next chapter in Pulmonary Embolism.” |
| Funded by PulmonX; TSANZ Interventional Pulmonology SIG Award | Dr Kevin Wen for their presentation “Urine dipstick auto-anlysers as a point of care test for differentiating pleural effusion types: A pilot study.” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ Lung Cancer SIG Award |
Ms Chloe Charlesworth for their presentation “Discordance of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status assessed by patients with malignant pleural effusion, their clinicians and carers.“ |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ Bill Musk Occupational & Environmental Lung Disease SIG Award | Dr Christian Aloe for their presentation “Iron alters the transcriptome and volatile organic compounds in the BAL of silicosis patients.” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ Orphan Lung Diseases, Lung Transplant, Interstitial Lung Disease and Pulmonary Vascular Disease (OLIV) SIG Award | Dr Ling-ling Tsai for their presentation “Diagnostic agreement between interstitial lung disease multidisciplinary-meetings: A bi-national study.“ |
| Funded by TSANZ; TSANZ ASM Best Poster Award | Dr Julia Chitty for their presentation “Pirfenidone reduces poly I:C-induced inflammation in elaste-treated precision cut lung slices.” |
| Funded by ChestRad; TSANZ Peter van Asperen Paediatric SIG Award | Dr James Gibbons for their presentation “Trajectories of airflow obstruction from early childhood to young adulthood in survivors of very preterm birth.” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ Physiotherapy SIG Award | Ms Georgina Whish-Wilson for their presentation “Randomised controlled trial of home based exercise following lung cancer surgery” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ Primary Care SIG Award | Prof Bandana Saini for their presentation “Airing out pharmacists’ roles in minimising the environmental impact of inhalers used by patients with respiratory conditions.” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ John Reid Pulmonary Physiology and Sleep SIG Award | Ms Helen Luo for their presentation “Implications of race-neutral equations on interpretation of lung function in Australia.” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ Respiratory Infectious Diseases SIG Award | Dr Ophir Bar-On for their presentation “Preventing attachment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to respiratory cilia.” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ Respiratory Nurses SIG Award | Ms Pauline Connell for their presentation “Healthy teeth for healthy lungs.” |
| Funded by Lung Foundation Australia; TSANZ Tobacco and Related Substances SIG Award | Ms Kelsey Sharrad for their presentation “Preliminary results of a pre/post evaluation of the Incentive 2 Quit (I2Q) health professional training program.” |
| Funded by TSANZ: Symptom Support and Palliative Care SIG Award | Dr Hayley Lewthwaite for their presentation “Understanding breathlessness in adults with bronchiectasis.” |
| Funded by TSANZ: Nutrition SIG Award | Ms Tamara Blickisdorf for their presentation “A systematic review and meta-analysis.” |
2025 TSANZ Awards by Nomination
TSANZ 2025 President’s Award: Dr Lauren Gardner, Prof Nicola Newtown and A/Prof Emily Stockings
TSANZ Research Medal: Prof Brian Oliver
TSANZ Medal for Education and Training: A/Prof Nicole Goh and Prof Phan Nguyen
TSANZ Society Medal: Prof Hubertus Jersmann