Research Entry Scholarships
2025 recipients
2025 RACP Fellows Research Entry Scholarship ($45,000)
Recipient: Dr Jacob Cao
Project: Late Complications in Patients with Fontan Circulation: An Evaluation of Physiological and Cellular Changes to Identify Potential Therapeutic Targets
Dr Jacob Cao is a final year Cardiology Advanced Trainee and a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on the long-term complications of Fontan circulation, a unique physiology supporting patients with single-ventricle congenital heart defects. By exploring the physiological and cellular mechanisms underlying these complications, he hopes to identify therapeutic targets that can improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
With a strong foundation in research, including a Master of Clinical Trials Research and a Master of Science in Medicine, Dr. Cao has contributed to studies in congenital heart disease and related fields, sharing findings through peer-reviewed publications and international conferences.
Dr Cao aspires to become a specialist dedicated to the care of patients with congenital heart disease, combining clinical excellence with active research involvement. He is passionate about advancing evidence-based care and building lasting improvements for this unique and growing patient population.
2025 RACP Research Entry Scholarship ($45,000)
Recipient: Dr Joshua Szanyi
Project: Optimising the use of nasopharyngeal pneumococcal carriage studies as a surveillance tool to inform pneumococcal vaccine policy in low- and middle-income countries
Dr Joshua Szanyi is a final year Public Health Medicine advanced trainee, due to obtain fellowship of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine in early 2025. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Melbourne, a Master of Public Health from Lund University, and a Master of Infectious Diseases Intelligence from the University of New South Wales. He has worked in a range of public health roles in Australia and internationally, including at the International Organization for Migration, the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Department of Health, and the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation. Joshua's PhD, which will be completed at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, will aim to address knowledge gaps regarding optimal surveillance methods for Streptococcus pneumoniae, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and improve evidence-based decision making for pneumococcal vaccine program implementation globally.
2025 RACP Research Entry Scholarship ($15,000)
Recipient: Dr Sarah Donoghue
Project: Towards treatment of intellectual disability caused by errors in the mendelian disorders of epigenetic machinery
Dr Sarah Donoghue is a General Paediatrician and Metabolic Physician currently completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne. She completed her medical degree at the University of Tasmania before undertaking her specialty training and earning a Master of Clinical Research through the University of Melbourne.
Dr Donoghue's research focuses on understanding the cellular mechanisms behind intellectual disability, particularly related to mendelian disorders of epigenetic machinery. These disorders, which overlap with metabolic conditions, can affect gene expression by modifying histone residues. Her work aims to identify the metabolomic and RNA sequencing profiles, along with targeted proteins in neural stem cell models and cortical neurons in murine models of the KAT6A gene, a histone lysine acetyltransferase.
Dr Donoghue plans to extend this research by exploring potential disease biomarkers in both murine plasma and human samples, with the goal of translating these findings into human treatment trials.
2025 RACP Research Entry Scholarship ($15,000)
Recipient: Dr Joanne Eng-Frost
Project: Shining a Light on Heart Failure Hospitalisations: Illuminating In-Hospital Deterioration with Near-Infrared Monitoring
Dr Joanne Eng-Frost is an early career cardiologist with special interests in advanced heart failure and cardiogenic shock. She earned a Bachelor of Biomedical Science with First Class Honours from the University of Adelaide, and Doctor of Medicine from Flinders University. She undertook basic physician training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, followed by cardiology advanced training at Flinders Medical Centre and Royal Darwin Hospital. She became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2022. Focused on advancing non-invasive monitoring in acute heart failure, Dr. Eng-Frost’s research explores near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a real-time, non-invasive alternative to cardiac output monitoring, aiming to enable earlier detection of clinical deterioration and improve outcomes. In addition to her research, Dr Eng-Frost maintains an active clinical practice and is committed to furthering her expertise through advanced heart failure and transplantation fellowships.
2025 RACP Research Entry Scholarship ($15,000)
Recipient: Dr Ray Wang
Project: Early notification of low and high inpatient glycaemia with hospital glucose telemetry
Dr Ray Wang is a Melbourne-based fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, having completed his fellowship training in General and Acute Care Medicine in 2022 as well as in Endocrinology in 2023. His clinical and research interests include diabetes technologies, inpatient diabetes care, and diabetic kidney disease. To that end, Ray is currently undertaking PhD studies within the University of Melbourne’s Department of Medicine (Royal Melbourne Hospital) to investigate the application of diabetes technologies within the hospital setting in order to better understand glucose trends in patients at higher risk of adverse glycaemia, as well as to improve inpatient diabetes care.
2025 Jacquot Research Entry Scholarships ($11,500)
Recipient: Dr Hannah Wallace
Project: Improving kidney disease care in Australia - learning from the past and implementing innovative models of kidney disease care for the future
Dr Hannah Wallace is a nephrologist at Western Health and a PhD candidate at University of Melbourne. She completed a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery with first class honours at Monash University in 2015, before undertaking basic physician training at Austin Health. She completed her advanced training in nephrology across Western Health, Austin Health and St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, and became a RACP fellow in late 2022.
Dr Wallace subsequently completed a digital health fellowship with the Centre for Digital Transformation of Health at Melbourne University. Dr Wallace is currently undertaking a PhD with the University of Melbourne and as a visiting student at the George Institute for Global Health, where she also works as a research associate. Her main research interest is in identifying patterns of chronic kidney disease care and exploring models of care to improve detection and implementation of evidence based chronic kidney disease care, with a focus on primary care. She is passionate about medical education and is involved in teaching both medical students and basic physician trainees. She hopes her research work will help to inform models of kidney disease care leading to earlier diagnosis and management, and ultimately improvement in patient outcomes.
2025 Basser Research Entry Scholarship ($45,000)
Recipient: Dr Julie Cayrol
Project: A multi-perspective exploration of childhood cancer care in low-middle income countries: implications for policy and future investment
Dr Julie Cayrol is a Paediatric Oncologist at The Royal Children's Hospital, specialising in the treatment of children with solid tumours and brain tumours. Originally French and Spanish, Julie relocated to Melbourne to pursue her fellowship in Paediatric Oncology. She has a clinical interest in the management of sarcomas affecting children, adolescents, and young adults and has also worked at Monash Children’s Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Julie is passionate about improving childhood cancer care in resource-limited settings. Her research focuses on expanding access to cancer care through policy advancements in low- and middle-income countries.
Julie is one of the previous Global Health Fellows at Melbourne Children’s Global Health (The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute). She is a second-year PhD student at The University of Melbourne in Global Paediatric Oncology. Julie has previously worked as a clinical educator for the University of Melbourne in Laos, PDR. She has recently held roles as a Consultant with the World Health Organization and maintains clinical and education partnerships with colleagues in Lao PDR and Papua New Guinea.
2025 Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation Research Entry Scholarship ($30,000)
Recipient: Dr Wei Hao Lee
Project: Study of Paediatric Appendicitis Scores and Management Strategies (SPASMS)
Dr Wei Hao Lee is an Advanced Trainee in General Paediatrics, Paediatric Emergency Medicine, and Community Child Health in the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) who is committed to improving the health and well-being of children in all settings.
Dr Lee is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Western Australia reviewing the use of clinical prediction scores in the management of paediatric appendicitis for which he received the CAHS Telethon Research Fellowship in 2022 and was awarded the best presentation by a RACP trainee at the 2023 CAHS Symposium. He has a Master of Science (Paediatric Emergency Medicine) from the University of Edinburgh, Master of Global Health/Public Health (Ext) from the University of New South Wales, a Diploma of Child Health from the University of Sydney, and a Graduate Certificate in Health Service Management (Safety and Quality) from the University of Tasmania.
Dr Lee has a keen interest in paediatric emergency medicine and clinical research and is a member of the Western Australian Paediatric Emergency Medicine Network (WAPEMN) and the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) network with involvement in various national and international studies in his role as a clinician at Perth Children’s Hospital.