Nominations for the 2027 Society Medal, Education & Training Medal, Research and Advocacy Medal now open
This group of awards is presented to TSANZ members as an acknowledgement of the recipients’ outstanding contributions in research, education, advocacy or the respiratory health sector as a whole. These awards are presented during the Annual Scientific Meeting.
The Society Medal
The Society Medal was conceived as an acknowledgement of excellence in fields other than research, i.e. for the advancement of the practice of thoracic medicine in its widest sense by outstanding teaching or advocacy. The inaugural Society Medal was presented at the annual dinner in Canberra in 1992 to Dr Maurice Joseph, who ably embodied the qualities envisaged by this senior prestigious award.
Eligibility
- Candidates for this medal are put forward by nomination only.
- The Society Medal is open to financial members of TSANZ. Partner Members, Not Currently in Paid Employment Members, International Members and Senior Members are NOT eligible to be nominated for TSANZ Awards by Nomination.
- The nominee must be a financial member for the entire year of their nomination, and for the year they receive the award.
- Both nominators must be financial members in the year the nomination is submitted.
Award
An official notification letter from the President will be sent to the successful candidate. The successful candidate will be invited to receive their award at the Annual Scientific Meeting. The recipient will also receive a specially engraved medal at the award presentation.
Nomination
Nomination Guide for the Society Medal – 2027
Nominations will only be accepted in electronic format.
Please submit to TSANZOffice@thoracic.org.au by 11:59 PM AEDT on Sunday 1 November 2026.
The Research Medal
The Research Medal may be awarded each year in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge in respiratory medicine or science carried out primarily in Australia or New Zealand. The award recognises an individual who has demonstrated sustained excellence in their field of research.
Eligibility
- Candidates for this medal are put forward by nomination only.
- The Research Medal is open to financial members of TSANZ. Partner Members, Not Currently in Paid Employment Members, International Members and Senior Members are NOT eligible to be nominated for TSANZ Awards by Nomination.
- The nominee must be a financial member for the entire year of their nomination, and for the year they receive the award.
- Both nominators must be financial members in the year the nomination is submitted.
Award
An official notification letter from the President will be sent to the successful candidate. The successful candidate will be invited to receive their award at the Annual Scientific Meeting. The recipient will also receive a specially engraved medal at the award presentation.
Nomination
Nomination Guide for the Research Medal – 2027
Nominations will only be accepted in electronic format.
Please submit to TSANZOffice@thoracic.org.au by 11:59 PM AEDT on Sunday 1 November 2026.
The Education & Training Medal
The Education & Training Medal was introduced in 2011 to mark the Society’s 50th Anniversary.
The Education & Training Medal is awarded each year in recognition of outstanding contributions to respiratory education and training in New Zealand or Australia.
This might take the form of formal and informal teaching within a university, hospital or other health care setting; curriculum development at an undergraduate or postgraduate level; using research to enhance the efficacy of educational activities; career mentoring of junior members of the Society; integration of teaching into clinical practice; or advocacy on behalf of medical education as applied to respiratory medicine.
Eligibility
- Candidates for this medal are put forward by nomination only.
- The Education & Training Medal is open to financial members of TSANZ. Partner Members, Not Currently in Paid Employment Members, International Members and Senior Members are NOT eligible to be nominated for TSANZ Awards by Nomination.
- The nominee must be a financial member for the entire year of their nomination, and for the year they receive the award.
- Both nominators must be financial members in the year the nomination is submitted.
Award
An official notification letter from the President will be sent to the successful candidate. The successful candidate will be invited to receive their award at the Annual Scientific Meeting. The recipient will also receive a specially engraved medal at the award presentation.
Nomination
Nomination Guide for the Education & Training Medal – 2027
Nominations will only be accepted in electronic format.
Please submit to TSANZOffice@thoracic.org.au by 11:59 PM AEDT on Sunday 1 November 2026.
The Advocacy Medal
The Advocacy Medal may be awarded annually in recognition of exceptional achievements in advancing respiratory health and the respiratory sciences in Australia or New Zealand, or by an Australian or New Zealander improving health in an overseas location. It honours an individual who has made a significant and sustained contribution to advocacy that enhances community awareness, understanding, and support for respiratory health.
Eligibility
- Candidates for the Advocacy Medal are put forward by nomination only.
- The Advocacy Medal is open to financial TSANZ members. Partner Members, Not Currently in Paid Employment Members, International Members and Senior Members are NOT eligible to be nominated for TSANZ Awards by Nomination.
- The nominee must be a financial member for the entire year that they are nominated, as well as the year they receive the award.
- Both nominators must be financial members in the year the nomination is submitted and must adhere to the same criteria as listed in point two.
Award
An official notification letter from the President will be sent to the successful candidate. The successful candidate will be invited to receive their award at the Annual Scientific Meeting. The recipient will also receive a specially engraved medal at the award presentation.
Nomination
Nomination Guide for the Advocacy Medal – 2027
Nominations will only be accepted in electronic format.
Please submit to TSANZOffice@thoracic.org.au by 11:59 PM AEDT on Sunday 1 November 2026.
2026 TSANZ Awards by Nomination
Professor Sarath Ranganathan
TSANZ Research Medal
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Professor Sarath Ranganathan is an internationally recognised paediatric respiratory physician, clinician-scientist, researcher, and academic whose career has significantly advanced the understanding and treatment of childhood lung diseases. He trained in the UK at The Royal Brompton and Great Ormond Street Hospitals and undertook a PhD through University College London through which he developed lung function tests for assessment of infants, including those with cystic fibrosis. With more than 35 years of experience in medicine, he now serves as the Head of the Melbourne Medical School at the University of Melbourne, while continuing his clinical practice as a consultant respiratory physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, having served as Director of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at the hospital between 2012-2020. He has also served as Group Head of Respiratory Diseases Research with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne.
Sarath’s pioneering work has reshaped clinical approaches to childhood lung disease, especially in the area of detection, recognition and ontogeny of early life disease. He has authored 380 peer-reviewed scientific publications and secured over AUD 70 million in competitive research funding, reflecting his sustained contributions to respiratory medicine and translational research.
A respected leader in medical education and healthcare policy, Professor Ranganathan is a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. He also serves as Deputy Chair of Lung Foundation Australia.
Professor Vanessa McDonald
TSANZ Research Medal
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Professor Vanessa McDonald is a Professor of Nursing at the University of Newcastle and an Honorary Clinical Nurse Consultant in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital. She is Director of the Centre of Excellence in Asthma Treatable Traits and leads the Breathing and Lung Health Program at the Hunter Medical Research Institute.
With more than 25 years of experience, Professor McDonald is an internationally recognised leader in respiratory health, spanning clinical care, research, education, and policy. Her work has transformed the field through the development and implementation of innovative, personalised models of care for chronic airway diseases, firmly placing people at the centre of treatment.
She has authored approximately 300 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has secured substantial competitive research funding. A passionate and influential advocate, she is committed to improving lung health outcomes locally and globally.
Professor McDonald’s work is driven by a clear purpose: to redesign respiratory care through evidence, equity, and empathy—advancing both scientific discovery and the lived experience of people with lung disease.
Dr Christopher Worsnop
TSANZ Education and Training Medal
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I completed my undergraduate degrees at The University of Melbourne and at the St Vincent’s Hospital Clinical School. My formal teaching began in the Department of Medicine teaching medical students. My advanced physician training began at the Western Hospital Footscray, and both Harry Teichtahl and John Hunt gave me further opportunities to teach speaking at our departmental and hospital meetings, and to general practitioners and community groups.
My final two years of advanced training were at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, and I have been there ever since, although the HRH has gradually merged with the Austin Hospital. My teaching tasks accelerated particularly due to the inspiration of Rob Pierce, Christine McDonald and Peter Holmes, and the many opportunities that they provided to me.
Over the decades my teaching has included lectures, workshops and tutorials to medical students, overseas graduates, FRACP basic and advanced trainees, nurses, anaesthetic fellows, general practitioners, physiotherapists, pharmacists, pulmonary rehabilitation patients, patient support groups, and the general community.
More formal appointments have been a Physiology Tutor, developing the computer based learning module in sleep in the Department of Physiology, the Problem Co-ordinating Team for a new Medical Course in 1997, developing a multi-media programme on Sleep for the School of Medicine in 1999, and I developed and wrote the sleep section of the online Master of Psychiatry course, in 2015; and a Professional Practice tutor in the Medical course since 2020.
In 2013 I was made a Fellow of the Melbourne Medical School Academy of Clinical Teachers.
Professor Jane Bourke
TSANZ Education and Training medal
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Professor Matthew Peters
TSANZ Society Medal
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Matthew Peters is a Senior Staff Specialist at Concord Hospital and Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Macquarie University. His defining characteristic is preparedness to push boundaries in search of better training environments, clinical care and outcomes – “If you are prepared to ask a harder question, you are forced to come up with a better answer!” He has contributed to the training of well over 50 Advanced Trainees but it was his support for women in Advanced Training that set him apart at a time when they faced many challenges in the quest for equal opportunity. Only in recent years, in this era of annual appointments, he ensured that NSW trainees, initially at Concord and then elsewhere, could return from parental leave to the position they had left. His support for TSANZ and other major Lung Health organisations is unstinting. Since 2006, he has led the Global Lung Cancer Coalition, bringing lung cancer knowledge, support and advocacy via organisations on every inhabited continent. Just as he has mentored and supervised research programs for Respiratory Scientists, Respiratory and Lung Cancer Nurses, Physiotherapists and Speech Pathologists, he remains a strong supporter of a diverse Thoracic Society as reflected in the spectrum of clinicians in key roles in the Tobacco and Other Substances SIG. These are not simply his followers, they are forging their own path.
Faced from time to time with some adversity, he has done a lot, made more mistakes than many but mostly led the discipline and those we serve to a better place.
Dr Stuart Jones
TSANZ Advocacy Medal
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2025 TSANZ Awards by Nomination
Professor Hubertus Jersmann
TSANZ Society Medal
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Professor Hubertus Jersmann is a Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Specialist. He was born in Germany, and after specialist qualification in Australia, he completed a PhD and spent many years in laboratory-based immune system research. He now practices at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital. At the University of Adelaide, he lectures across all six years of the undergraduate course and was instrumental in introducing climate change into the medical curriculum. He lectures on the topic at both Flinders and Adelaide Universities. As a Respiratory Physician, Professor Jersmann has a special interest in the effects of air pollution on respiratory health. Improving air quality and Australian fuel standards is one of his keen objectives as one of the Directors of the Board of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ).
Professor Brian Oliver
TSANZ Research Medal
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Professor Brian Oliver began his research career at The National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, UK, with Prof Peter Barnes, and then saw the light and moved to Australia. He was initially based at Concord Hospital and was fortunate enough to undertake his PhD (2005) with Prof Judy Black at U Sydney/Woolcock Institute. He has remained a part of the institute, and his substantive position is at UTS. His research is mostly focused on asthma and COPD, with perhaps his most impactful research occurring recently, focusing on e-cigarettes and air pollution. With his team of 25 researchers and collaborators, he has published around 350 papers and 8 book chapters. He will be eternally grateful to the society for the award of the TSANZ Research Medal.
Professor Phan Nguyen
TSANZ Education and Training Medal
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Professor Phan Nguyen is the head of unit of the Department of Thoracic Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he is a long-standing chair of the lung cancer multidisciplinary meeting and director of the thoracic procedure suite. He holds editorial roles with Respirology (senior editor) and Respirology Case Reports (associate editor), is a member of the World Association of Bronchology Continued Education Committee, and co-scientific committee chair of the WABIP Congress to be held in Melbourne in 2026.
Over the years, he has trained multiple respiratory physicians and established a research higher degree program in lung cancer and interventional pulmonology at his institution. He has been convenor of TSANZ-approved pleural and IP courses for SA/NT as well as faculty or speaker at many national and international conferences and workshops. His service to the TSANZ includes being a member of the lung cancer working party, conference chair for the 2018 ASM and convenor of the IP-SIG where he collaborated with colleagues in establishing current competency guidelines. Despite significant clinical, teaching and leadership commitments, he has managed to publish more than 60 peer-reviewed papers. He was recognised with the Lung Foundation Australia’s Lung Legends Award in 2025 for his service to lung health, in particular lung cancer care.
Phan hopes to continue to contribute to education and training for the TSANZ and looks forward to seeing how the current and future generations of respiratory clinicians from all healthcare streams innovate and manage our many patients in the future.
Associate Professor Nicole Goh
TSANZ Education and Training Medal
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A/Professor Nicole Goh is a Respiratory and Sleep Physician at the Austin and Alfred Hospitals in Melbourne, Australia. She is a clinical associate professor within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Melbourne. She started her advanced training at the Royal Melbourne and Austin Hospitals in Melbourne before finishing her training at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. She completed her PhD studies at the University of London and returned to Melbourne in 2008 and set up the Interstitial Lung Disease service at the Austin Hospital.
Nicole’s passion for teaching and education stems from her early medical training years where she was fortunate to be surrounded by many enthusiastic and interested educators; of note is Professor Richard Larkins AC (Companion of the Order) and Professor Michael Pain (her first respiratory boss!). As an intern, Nicole was impressed by Professor Larkins’ kind and gentle demeanour, and his genuine interest in both patients and staff. When asked about her future career prospects, Nicole will never forget Professor Larkins’ comment: “Why do all good female doctors choose to do general practice?” Later, as an advanced trainee, Professor Pain’s infectious interest in physiology and research spurred her on to pursue a PhD despite her statements of “not wanting to do research” during her job interview!
Nicole is a clinician academic and has enjoyed supervising many generations of advanced trainees and teaching medical students. She also supervises PhD students and has firm research links with the Centre of Research Excellence in Pulmonary Fibrosis. She has been on many steering committees for educational events and is the current chair of the Lung Foundation Australia Translation Education and Support (TEDS) group, which creates ILD educational resources for both consumers and health professionals.