Barwon Health Deakin University Research Symposium Prizes

The Best Paper of the Year Award uses academic peer review to select a paper of outstanding quality, accepted or published between 1 September 2024 and 14 September 2025.

Submission Process

• Applicants submit their research papers for review by a panel of experts.
• The panel identifies the top four papers.
• Shortlisted authors will be required to deliver a 10 min presentation of their findings, followed by questions, at the Barwon Health Deakin University Research Symposium.
• The best research paper according to the judging criteria will receive a prize of $1000.

Key dates

• Shortlisted finalists announced: Monday 20 October 2025
• Finalists deliver presentations at the Barwon Health Deakin University Research Symposium: Tuesday 25 November 2025 
• Winner announced at the Barwon Health Deakin University Research Symposium: Tuesday 25 November 2025 

Application eligibility

Applicants:

• must be either the first or last author on the research paper, or if not, provide justification for inclusion in the competition.
• must have an affiliation with Barwon Health (honorary, employee or student).
• must not have submitted the paper for a 2024 Best Paper of the Year award.
• may submit up to a maximum of 3 submissions for this prize.

Papers:

• must contain at least one Barwon Health affiliation in the author list. Please contact research@barwonhealth.org.au if you are unsure about eligibility.
• must be published by, or accepted in, a peer reviewed journal between 1 September 2024 and 14 September 2025.

For more information

Click here for 2025 Best Paper of the Year Award guidelines.

Click here for 2025 Best Paper of the Year Award judging criteria.

Please click here to submit your application

Please contact research@barwonhealth.org.au with any queries.

Posters are an invaluable opportunity to recognise researcher achievements, communicate findings and stimulate discussion, networking and the exchange of ideas between researchers and their colleagues. The Research Poster Awards recognise the most outstanding research communicated via poster format.

The BH DU Research Poster Awards focus on research undertaken by researchers with an affiliation with Barwon Health, either as an honorary, employee or student, or Deakin University researchers and students working on a BH DU research project. 

Submission Process

• Applicants submit a 250-word abstract about their research in the most suitable research category:
  • Audits
  • Clinical trials
  • Cohort/ population studies
  • Qualitative research
  • Translational research
• Authors of highly rated abstracts will be invited to prepare a PDF poster about their research for consideration for an award.
• The best poster in each category will receive a prize of $500, and will be displayed at the Barwon Health Deakin University Research Symposium.
• Authors may also be invited to deliver a presentation about their research at the Barwon Health Deakin University Research Symposium.
• Abstracts submitted by eligible Barwon Health clinical staff will also be considered for Barwon Health Senior Medical Staff Group HMO Research Prizes.

Key dates

• Deadline for abstract submissions:  11:59 pm, Sunday 14 September 2025 (updated)
• Highly rated applicants invited to prepare posters: Monday 15 September 2025 
• Deadline for poster submissions: 11:59pm, Sunday 19 October 2025 (updated)
• Selected applicants invited to deliver presentation at Symposium: Late October 2025 
• Winners announced at the Barwon Health Deakin University Research Symposium: Tuesday 25 November 2025 

Application eligibility

Applicants:

• must be affiliated with Barwon Health either as an employee, honorary or a student, or a Deakin University researcher or student working on a BH DU research project. Please contact research@barwonhealth.org.au if you are unsure about eligibility.
• may submit up to a maximum of 3 abstracts for this prize.

Highly rated poster abstracts will be invited to produce a PDF poster. Please follow the below guidelines if you are invited to produce a poster.

• Prepare your A1 size poster using the Barwon Health poster template (download here). You may use a different template if you prefer, but please ensure it is A1 size to enable it to be printed should your poster be the winning entrant.
• Save your poster both as a PDF file and also as a PNG image file. File size must be less than 10MB.
• Email both versions of your poster to research@barwonhealth.org.au by 11:59pm, Sunday 19 October 2025.
• All submitted posters will be displayed in a Virtual Poster Exhibition on the Barwon Health research website in early November.

For more information

• Click here for 2025 Research Poster Award guidelines.
• Click here for 2025 Research Poster Award judging criteria.

Please contact research@barwonhealth.org.au with any queries.

Inaugural Barwon Health Research Career Achievement Award

• Professor Mark Kotowicz, Endocrinologist and Clinician Researcher

2024 Best Paper of the Year Award

• Dr Adrienne O’Neil, IMPACT: Clinical and cost-effectiveness of remote-delivered, online lifestyle therapy versus psychotherapy for reducing depression: results from the CALM non-inferiority, randomised trial

2024 Research Poster Awards

• Qualitative research: Dr Sarah Price, Neuropsychologist, McKellar Community Rehabilitation Centre. An Interdisciplinary Group Intervention Program for Persisting Symptoms After Concussion.
• Clinical registry data analysis: Dr Anna Cunliffe, Endocrinology Fellow, Dept of Endocrinology and Diabetes. Prevalence of obesity among hospital inpatients.
• Translational research:  Dr Ian Tang, Paediatric Fellow, Women’s and Children’s Services. Transformative impact of routine screening for family violence on a paediatric ward.
• Cohort/ population studies researc: Tiffany Pe, Public Health Officer, Barwon South West Public Health Unit. Destination micro-elimination: Barwon South West Hepatitis C point-of-care testing uptake.

Best Paper of the Year Awards

• Clinician researcher: Dr Bridgette McNamara, Barwon South West Public Health Unit: Comprehensive case-control study of protective and risk factors for Buruli Ulcer, southeastern Australia
• Scientist: Dr Luba Sominsky, IMPACT and CHeRUB: Pre-pregnancy obesity is associated with greater systemic inflammation and increased risk of antenatal depression

Research Poster Awards

• Basic Science: Trang Truong, IMPACT, Deakin University: Network-based drug repurposing for schizophrenia
• Clinical Registry/ Data Analysis: Dr Tia Smith, Aged Care, Barwon Health: Evaluation of the utilisation and clinical outcomes of an afterhours emergency telehealth service to residential aged care facilities
• Clinical Trials: Allison Bone, ICU Research, Barwon Health: A pilot feasibility randomised controlled trial of bone anti-resorptive agents on bone turnover markers in critically ill women
• Cohort/ Population Studies: Jacob Harland, IMPACT, Deakin University: Bone mineral density and trabecular bone score values in novel subgroups of adult-onset Diabetes
• Qualitative Research: Erin Parker, Social Work, Barwon Health & Maryam Esghaei: Healthcare gaps and barriers to service utilisation within Geelong refugee communities: a co-designed research and service improvement project.
• Translational Research: Dr Samantha Dawson, Food and Mood Centre, Deakin University: The Pregnancy Research and Translation Ecosystem: Improving the proportion of women meeting the dietary guidelines in pregnancy

Best Paper of the Year Award

• Clinician Researcher Category – Professor Eugene Athan and the team from the BH Public Health Unit: Environmental risk factors associated with the presence of Mycobacterium ulcerans in Victoria, Australia. Read the paper here
• Scientist Category – Ms Yuan Gao and the team from the Barwon Infant Study: Maternal gut microbiota during pregnancy and the composition of immune cells in infancy. Read the paper here

Research Poster Awards

• Allied Health/Pharmacy – Ms Erin Parker and the team from BH Social Work: Exploring primary care clinician’s perspectives of the social work role in community health.  View the poster here.
• Basic Science – Mrs Izel Eraslan and the team from IMPACT Trials: in vivo behavioural characteristics of novel RXFP3-acting drugs. View the poster here.
• Medical – Dr Christine Roder and the team from the BH Public Health Unit: Pregnancy -a key moment for engaging women with hepatitis B in care.  View the poster here.
• Nursing – Mr Nathan Herbert and the team from the BH Cath Lab: Impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on a Victorian regional ST-elevation myocardial infarction service. View the poster here.
• Population Health – Dr Naomi Clarke and the team from the BH Public Health Unit:  COVID-19 oral antiviral medication in South West Victoria: patterns, barriers, and use of targeted SMS messaging. View the poster here.
• Surgery – Dr John Kefalianos and the team from BH General Surgery: Does NELA accurately predict mortality in Australia.  View the poster here.

Best Research Paper of the Year Award

• Scientist Category – Ms Kara Anderson, IMPACT & BH Dept of Diabetes & Endocrinology: Normative data for peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) bone parameters in Australian men
• Clinician Researcher Category – Ms Sharyn Milnes, Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research & BH Intensive Care Unit: Values, preferences, and goals identified during shared decision-making between critically ill patients and their doctors

Research Poster Awards

• Allied Health/Pharmacy – Mr Matthew Thackeray: Lean mass as a risk factor for Intensive Care Unit admission: an observational study
• Basic Science – Dr Richard Williams: Tissue Programmed Hydrogels Functionalized with GDNF Improve Human Neural Grafts in Parkinson’s Disease
• Implementation Science – Dr Mary Lou Chatterton: Telehealth service delivery in an Australian regional mental health service during Covid-19
• Medical – Dr Anand Ganes: Early revascularization in NonSTEMI
• Nursing – A/Prof Debra Kerr: Responding to Nurses’ Communication Challenges
• Population Health – Ms Behnaz Azimi Manavi: Is there any association between antipsychotic medications use and bone quality?
• Surgery – Dr Angela Holmes: Intravesical OnabotulinumtoxinA. A wonderful tool but are we underestimating urinary retention?