Renowned neurological researcher Professor Byron Kakulas – founding director of the Perron Institute – died aged 90 in early January. Many in the medical fraternity remember him as a great teacher, mentor and colleague.
Rita Mejzini, a PhD candidate at Murdoch University and the Perron Institute, where she is working on precision therapies for motor neurone disease, has received a $100,000 grant from MND Research Australia.
Dr Gareth Wahl is the End of Life Care Program’s new clinical lead, replacing Dr Simon Towler who became chief medical officer in September last year. Dr Wahl is an emergency physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and the medical lead for Voluntary Assisted Dying at North Metropolitan Health Service.
Lung cancer researcher Professor Fraser Brims from Curtin University was one of 13 successful grant applicants in the Federal Government’s recent $5.15 million boost to Cancer Australia’s Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme.
Dr James Leigh is bound for Oxford University after winning an ‘Australia at Large’ Rhodes Scholarship to study the use of digital technology to improve health services in rural and remote areas of Australia. The 23-year-old is a junior doctor at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
Curtin University clinical pain researcher Professor Helen Slater has won a 2022 Brilliant Women in Digital Health Award. One of 25 recipients across Australia, Professor Slater was noted for her leadership and work in pain care.