Professor Helen Reddel AM
Respiratory physician Professor Helen Reddel is one of 29 new Fellows of The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS), recognising innovation and leadership in health and medical research.
Professor Reddel is no stranger to kudos for her work which has included an AM in the King’s Birthday Honours list in 2024 and the TSANZ Medal for research excellence in 2019.
Locally, Professor Reddel is a Research Leader in the Clinical Management Group at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Director of the Australian Centre for Airways Disease Monitoring.
Internationally, she has chaired the Science Committee of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) since 2012, contributing to practice-changing guidance and expert consensus.
Professor Greg Fox
Her Woolcock Institute colleague Professor Greg Fox was also recognised as a Fellow of the AAHMS for his research. He is a respiratory physician at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, a chief investigator at the NHMRC Tuberculosis Centre of Research Excellence and has served as a consultant to the WHO contributing to guidelines on drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Paediatric infectious diseases specialist Professor Barend (Ben) Marais, another chief investigator at the Tuberculosis Centre of Research Excellence and director of the Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, was also recognised as a Fellow of the AAHMS.
Professor Gary Anderson, Director of the Centre for Lung Health Research at the University of Melbourne, was also recognised for his contributions to understanding the molecular mechanisms of disease induction, progression, severity and exacerbation in asthma and COPD.
Prime Minister’s Prize
Meanwhile, Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska, Director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at the Queensland University of Technology, has received the 2025 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science.
Professor Morawska’s research contributions have reshaped the WHO’s global air quality guidelines and helped align the European Parliament’s Ambient Air Quality Directive for cleaner air across Europe.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Morawska led an international group of nearly 240 scientists who showed that the virus spreads by air. Their work prompted health authorities to recognise airborne transmission and change infection control strategies, helping to save countless lives.
As previously reported in the limbic [link here and here] Professor Morawska has previously been named one of TIME magazine’s 100 world’s most influential people in 2021 and received the Australian Academy of Science’s prestigious Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture in 2023.
She was also awarded the 2023 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Laureate for Asia and the Pacific for her research excellence in the field of air quality and its impact on human health.