John Sands Medal

Michael Shanahan is the director of the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN) rheumatology service based in Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia.

Michael is dual qualified as a rheumatologist and occupational physician and a registered and practicing general physician. He leads a busy clinical department that services the rheumatological needs of around 400,000 South Australians.

Michael also works at Flinders University where he has an active role in teaching and supervising medical students and higher degree students. His research is mainly in the areas of musculoskeletal medicine and medical education.

His service roles to the Australasian College of Physicians include two periods on the Adult Training Committee (ATC) for rheumatology  including 9 years as chairperson. He has also served for 9 years on the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental (AFOEM) Board of Censors/Adult training Committee including 6 years as Chief Censor /Chairperson.

Past recipients

2021 | Professor Gregory Crawford 
2020 | Professor Stephen Clarke OAM
2019 | Not awarded
2018 | Professor John Wilson
2017 | Associate Professor Michael Hooper
2016 | Dr John O'Donnell

2015 | Professor David Isaacs
2014 | Dr Stephen Buckley, Dr David Burke, Dr Ki Douglas, Dr Paul Frankish, Dr Johan Morreau, Professor George Rubin, Dr Roger Tuck
2013 | A/Professor Peter Gow, Dr Robin Chase, Dr Anne Robertson, Dr Robert Gillett, Dr Catherine Yelland, Dr Leo Buchanan
2012 | Dr William Stone, Professor Michael South, Professor David Forbes, Professor Don Roberton, Dr Ann Gillett
2011 | Dr Glenys Arthur, Professor Elizabeth Elliott, Dr Bruce Hocking, Professor Craig Mellis, A/Professor Peter Procopis, Professor Ian Scott, Dr Geoffrey Robinson, Professor Brian Darlow
2010 | Dr Peter Greenberg, Dr Wilma Beswick, Dr Balakrishnan Nair AM, Dr David Russell, Dr Martin Searle
2009 | Dr Timothy Bohane, Dr Andrew Rosenberg, Dr Richard Wigley
2008 | A/Professor Richard Chye, Professor Richard Day, Professor Richard Jones, A/Professor Stephen Judd, Professor Peter van Asperen
2007 | Professor Louise Baur, Professor Peter Le Souëf, A/Professor George Skowronski, Dr Andrew Wilson
2006 | Dr Ion Alexander, Professor Dale Fisher, Clinical Professor Trevor Parry, A/Professor Paul Torzillo AM
2005 | Professor Edward Byrne, Dr Peter Holst, A/Professor Frederick Khafagi, Dr Ralph Pinnock, Dr Raymond Raper
2004 | Dr Alan Kerr, A/Professor Jeffrey Prebble OAM
2003 | A/Professor Ivan Donaldson, Dr Maxwell Morris, Professor Frank Oberklaid OAM, Professor Peter Ravenscroft, Dr George Salmond, Professor Neville Yeomans
2002 | A/Professor George Abbott, A/Professor Alexandra Bune, Professor Suphachai Chaithiraphan, Dr Jonathan Douglas, Dr Norman Marinovich, Dr John McNamara, Professor Nicholas Saunders
2001 | Professor John Court, Professor Ian Holdaway, Dr Peter Kennedy, Dr Peter Leslie OBE, Dr Rosie Tse-Tse Young
2000 | Professor Peter Brooks, A/Professor Richard King, Dr Michael Rice, Professor Ian Simpson
1999 | A/Professor Barry Colls, Dr Michael Loughhead, Professor Graham Macdonald, Professor Peter Phelan
1998 | Professor Donald Chisholm, Dr John Learmonth OAM, Dr Michael Quinlan, Dr Alan Walker AM, Dr Gregory Whelan
1997 | Dr Thomas Ferrier, Dr Peter Martin, Dr Peter Rothwell
1996 | Dr David Henderson, Dr Russell Clark, Professor John Horvath, Professor Michael Pain
1995 | Dr Owen Harris, Professor Colin Johnston, Dr Patricia Morey, Dame Norma Restieaux, Dr Paul Roy, Sir David Todd
1994 | A/Professor John Buchanan, Professor Peter Castaldi, Professor Chin Chew Hin, Professor Judith Whitworth
1993 | Professor John Duggan, Dr George Hall, Sir David Hay, Dr William Heath, Dr Marshall Luke
1992 | A/Professor Richard Burns, Dr John Greenaway, Professor John Scott, Dr John Stokes, Dr James Tiernan
1991 | Dr Gaston Bauer AM, Dr John Freeman, Dr Robert McLellan, Professor John North
1990 | Dr Ian Hislop, Dr Roderick Kater, Professor James Lawrence
1989 | Professor Donald Beaven, Dr James Gardiner, Dr R Turnbull, Dr Malcolm Watson
1988 | Professor John Beveridge, A/Professor Peter Ebeling, Professor Barry Firkin, Dr Bryan Gandevia, Dr Gavin Glasgow, Professor John Hunter, Professor Richard Joske, Dr Thomas Robertson
1987 | Not awarded
1986 | Dr Brian Billington, Dr John Landreth, Dr Richard Mulhearn, Professor Eric Saint, Dr Alan Skyring
1985 | Dr James Clarke, Dr John Fitzwater, Dr John Tweed, Sir Ian Wood
1984 | Dr John Billings, Professor Charles Blackburn, Dr Josiah Bonnin, Dr Maurice Clarke, Sir Edward Ford, Dr Harry Garlick, Dr Charles Riley

College Medal

Professor Pamela McCombe | 2024 recipient

Professor McCombe graduated from the Medical School of the University of Queensland.  She trained in Neurology at Prince Henry/Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, and then obtained a PhD from the University of Sydney.  This was the start of her interest in Neuroimmunology . She is currently Neurologist at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research. Her research interests encompass autoimmune diseases of the nervous system as well as immune response to acquired diseases of the brain.  She has published on multiple sclerosis and its animal models, inflammatory neuropathies, motor neurone disease and myasthenia gravis. She has a special interest in the role of gender and of pregnancy in neurological and immune disease. She is Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists and of Neuroimmunology Australia.

Past recipients

2023 | Professor Robert Walker
2022 | Professor Susan Davis AO
2021 | Professor Roderick MacLeod
2020 | Professor Douglas Bridges
2019 | A/Professor John 'Will' Cairns, Professor Stephen Clarke OAM, Dr Jurriaan de Groot
2018 | Professor Judith Savige
2017 | Not awarded
2016 | A/Professor Sanghamitra Guha, A/Professor Susan Moloney, Professor Robert Michael Whitby

2015 | Dr Peter Chauvel, A/Professor Alasdair MacDonald, Dr Barry Taylor
2014 | Not awarded
2013 | Not awarded
2012 | Not awarded
2011 | Dr Peter Colville
2010 | Dr Wing Cheong Chan, Dr Rufus Clarke, Dr Noel Hayman, Dr Thomas Woolard
2009 | Dr Katherine Brown, Dr Vernon Hill, Dr Garry Pearce
2008 | Dr Joseph Sandanam
2007 | Not awarded
2006 | Dr Alexander Cameron, Dr Gabrielle Collison
2005 | A/Professor Robert Ali, Dr Alex Ganora, Dr Richard Gun
2004 | Dr David Douglas, Dr Niki Ellis, Dr Kerry Kirke AM, Dr Elisabeth Murphy, Dr Conrad Winer
2003 | Dr Ian Gardner, Professor Ian Riley, Dr Gerald Ryan, Professor Malcolm Sim

Neil Hamilton Fairley Medal

Professor Roger Reddel AO | 2017 recipient

Professor Roger Reddel is the Director of Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) and Lorimer Dods Professor, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney.

A medical graduate of the University of Sydney, Roger trained in medical oncology and was admitted to Fellowship in 1985. He further completed a PhD in cancer cell biology and undertook postdoctoral research in molecular carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.

On returning to Sydney, Roger set up a lab at CMRI to study cellular immortalisation, an almost-universal characteristic of cancer. He has made many discoveries regarding the enzyme telomerase upon which 85% of cancers depend for their growth, and the alternative mechanism utilised by many of the remaining 10 to 15%. The aim of this research is to develop new forms of cancer treatment.

Roger was awarded the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research and the NSW Premier's Award for Outstanding Cancer Researcher, and elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Past recipients

2012 | Professor Colin Sullivan AO
2006 | Dr Barry Marshall AC, Nobel Laureate (Physiology or Medicine)
1993 | Professor Donald Metcalf, AC
1988 | Professor Austin Doyle AO
1984 | Dr Stanley Goulston AO MC

1979 | Professor Charles 'Ruthven' Blackburn AC
1974 | Dr Ian Wood MBE
1969 | Sir Edward Ford OBE

Eric Susman Prize

Professor Flavia Cicuttini | 2023 recipient

Professor Y C Gary Lee is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Western Australia and a consultant chest physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital where he set up and directs Australia’s first centralized hospital pleural service. He is a world leader in pleural research and heads a translational research group at the Institute for Respiratory Health. His pleural program uniquely integrates clinical, lab and allied health research arms with his clinical pleural service.

His has led several high-profile investigator-led multicentre randomized trials. He has an H-index of 66 (total citations 15000+) from 330 publications including 10+ papers in the New Engl J Med, JAMA and Lancet journals. His publications have been cited in 20+ international guidelines directly impacting global practice.

Professor Lee was the recipient of the Research Medal of the Thoracic Society of Australia & NZ (2021) and of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (2016). He received the UWA Senior Research Award in 2023 and was the Cancer Council WA Researcher of the Year in 2019. He is currently a NHMRC Leadership Fellow after winning successive NHMRC/MRFF Fellowships.  He has delivered ~400 invited lectures on pleural diseases in 32 countries, and has trained 30+ clinical fellows/PhD students.

Past recipients

2021 | Professor Flavia Cicuttini, Professor Stephen Nicholls
2020 | Professor Prashanthan Sanders
2019 | Professor Merlin Thomas
2018 | Professor Ranjeny Thomas
2017 | Professor Christopher Fairley, Professor Andrew Roberts
2016 | Professor Ostoja (Steve) Vucic
2015 | Professor Richard Pestell

2014 | Professor Rinaldo Bellomo AO
2013 | A/Professor Diane Fatkin
2012 | Professor Stephen Clarke
2011 | Professor John Rasko AO
2010 | Professor Stephen Kent
2009 | Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO
2008 | A/Professor Matthew Kiernan
2007 | A/Professor Geoffrey Lindeman
2006 | A/Professor Timothy Hughes
2005 | Professor Jonathan Kalman AO
2004 | Professor Richard Gilbert
2003 | A/Professor David Kaye
2002 | A/Professor Robert McLachlan
2001 | Professor Bartholomew Currie
2000 | Professor Michael Horowitz
1999 | A/Professor Mark Cooper AO
1998 | A/Professor David Celermajer AO
1997 | A/Professor Peter Fuller
1996 | Dr Glenn Begley
1995 | Professor John Eisman AO
1994 | Professor David Handelsman AO
1993 | A/Professor Samuel Berkovic AC AM
1992 | Professor Graham Brown
1991 | Professor Richard Kefford AM
1990 | Not awarded
1989 | Professor Hatem Salem AM
1988 | Professor Geoffrey Farrell
1987 | Professor Leonard Harrison
1986 | Dr Frank Shann AM
1985 | Professor Mathew Vadas AO
1984 | Professor John Funder AC AO
1983 | Professor Murray Esler
1982 | Professor Richard Larkins AC AO
1981 | Dr Martin van der Weyden
1980 | Dr Gregor Lawrence
1979 | Professor Ian McKenzie AM
1978 | Professor Bryan Emmerson AO
1977 | Professor Donald Metcalf AC
1976 | Professor Lawrie Powell
1975 | Professor Henry Burger AO
1974 | Professor Thomas Martin
1973 | Dr Jack Hansky AM
1972 | Professor Michael Denborough AC
1971 | Professor Gordon de Gruchy
1970 | Dr Jack Hirsh
1969 | Dr Kevin Catt
1968 | Professor Priscilla Kincaid-Smith
1967 | Dr Paul Nestel AO
1966 | Dr Ian Mackay
1965 | A/Professor Barry Firkin
1964 | Professor Basil Hetzel AC
1963 | Not awarded
1962 | Professor John Read

RACP Medal for Clinical Services in Rural and Remote Areas

Past recipients

2023 | Dr James Burrow
2022 | Associate Professor Kevin Alford OAM
2021 | Dr Allan Kerrigan
2020 | Professor Gerard Carroll AM
2019 | Dr Peter Goss
2018 | Dr Nalini Pati
2017 | Dr Simon Quilty, Dr Frank Wagner
2016 | Dr Stephen Brady, A/Professor Adam Scheinberg

2015 | Dr Charles Kilburn, Dr John Malcolm, Dr Kunwarjit Sangla
2014 | Adjunct A/Professor Gabriel Shannon
2013 | Not awarded
2012 | A/Professor Ashim Sinha, Dr John Hurley
2011 | Dr Valda Ahern, Dr Robert Brodribb, Dr Neil MacKenzie, Dr Christopher Moyes
2010 | Dr Donald Adsett
2009 | Dr Alan Parsons
2008 | Dr Paul Bauert, Dr Philip Tideman, Dr Leonard Tucker
2007 | Dr Howard Flavell, Dr Diane Howard, Dr Ross Messer
2006 | A/Professor Leslie Bolitho, Dr Ross Diplock
2005 | Dr Thomas Henderson, Dr Robert Ziffer
2004 | Dr Llew Davies, Dr Peter Eastaugh, Dr Ian Smee, Dr Nigel Stewart
2003 | Dr Raymond Lindsey, Dr Peter Vine
2002 | Dr Clive Hadfield
2001 | Dr Rufus McLeay
2000 | Dr Michael Williams
1999 | Dr John Erlich
1998 | Dr David Lo

RACP Mentor of the Year

Dr Emily Horsley | 2024 recipient

Emily Horsley was born in the Torres Straits and has lived in New South Wales and Queensland for most of her life. Emily completed Paediatric training through the Sydney Children’s Hospital in 2012 before moving to Queensland Children’s Hospital in 2019 where she now works as a Staff Specialist Paediatrician. Emily has completed a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and is currently completing a Master of Healthcare Leadership. Emily has special interests in staff wellbeing, clinical governance, patient safety and quality improvement.

Dr Horsley takes time to ensure the whole team she works with are well supported and able to access the best ongoing learning while maintaining true work/life balance.

And, if all else fails, Dr Horsley will bake.

“Do you have a favourite saying?” Asked the boy,
“Yes” said the mole.
“What is it?”
“If at first you don’t succeed, have some cake.”
“I see, does it work?”
“Every time”

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy (2019).

Past recipients

2023 | Dr Ross Nicholson
2022 | Associate Professor Anne Powell
2021 | Dr David Levitt
2020 | Clinical A/Professor Sarah Cherian
2019 | Dr Jeremy McAnulty
2018 | A/ Professor Apo Demikol
2017 | Professor Derek Chew
2016 | Dr Amalie Wilke

2015 | Professor Craig Mellis
2014 | Dr Peter Roper
2013 | Dr Habibur Bhurawala, Dr Rosemary Fahy, Dr Stella Milsom
2012 | Not awarded
2011 | Dr Peter Davoren, Professor Peter Fuller, Dr Harriet Hiscock, Dr John Masson
2010 | Not awarded
2009 | A/Professor David Burgner, A/Professor Sanghamitra Guha, Professor Constance Katelaris
2008 | Dr Peter Eastaugh, Dr David Krieser, Dr Gokulan Pavendranathan, A/Professor Ashim Sinha, Dr Martin Stockler
2007 | Dr Peter Eastaugh, Dr Fary Khan, Dr Vasikaran Naganathan, Dr Laila Rotstein

RACP Trainee of the Year

Duncan is a new Infectious Diseases Fellow and a final year advanced trainee in General Medicine. He has worked across remote, regional, and tertiary referral centres in NSW, NT and Victoria, where he currently resides. Duncan is passionate about equity in health care and uses his skills in quality improvement to develop, deliver and review initiatives to improve health outcomes for marginalised groups.

He is a skilled and engaged mentor, supervisor, educator and advocate for junior medical staff. He has been a valued contributor to several working parties and committees to ensure that trainees are optimally supported in their work and training. Together with an exemplary team, he led an educational initiative to design, implement and sustain a regular webinar series tailored to the RACP Infectious Diseases Advanced Training Curriculum.

Duncan is grateful to his husband and family for their enduring support, and to his colleagues for nominating him for this award.

Past recipients

2023 | Dr Alexandra Croker
2022 | Dr Hashim Abdeen
2021 | Dr Davina Buntsma
2020 | Dr Hashrul N. Rashid
2019 | Dr Cameron Gofton, Dr Te Aro Moxon
2018 | Dr Daryl Cheng
2017 | Dr Ross Roberts-Thomson

2016 | Dr Evan Jolliffe
2015 | Dr Tamara Mackean
2014 | Dr Jim Newcombe
2013 | Not awarded
2012 | Dr Shopna Bag
2011 | Dr Josh Francis
2010 | Dr Bradley Gardiner
2009 | Dr Zoë Raos

RACP President's Indigenous Congress Prize

Dr Jack Evans | 2022 recipient

Jack Evans is a proud Wiradjuri man who graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2015 with a Bachelor of Medical and Health Sciences and the University of Sydney in 2020 with a Doctor of Medicine. He is currently working as a resident medical officer at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and is a conjoint associate lecturer at St Vincent’s Hospital Clinical School at the University of New South Wales. He has submitted research in sex differences in baseline characteristics and efficacy of heart failure therapies and is aiming to do more research within cardiology. Jack is interested in sex equality and equality of health care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, which was a major factor in pursuing a career in medicine.

Past recipients

2019 | Kapowairua Stephens
2018 | Dr Kiri Diack
2017 | Dr Tara Purcell

2016 | Marlene Kong
2015 | Natasha Martin, Anika Tiplady
2014 | Dr Cara Lucas
2013 | Dr Angela Wood