Dr Niro Jeyakumar | 2023 recipient

Hi everyone, my name is Niro. I'm 27 years old, Sri Lankan Tamil, and I think I'm a pretty straightforward guy. I love my family, my friends, and my work. I've wanted to be a doctor ever since I can remember, and my passion in medicine is neurology, especially movement disorders. I love its clinical precision and the research mysteries that remain to be solved. I dream that one day I'll help uncover the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration and develop disease-modifying therapy. I believe that if we can do that, we will change the world. And when we do, I hope we will share our progress with everyone who needs it—in every corner of the globe, regardless of race, religion, income, or gender.

I’m so honoured to receive this prestigious award along the way. I have to give full credit to my family, my friends, and my mentors at Westmead Hospital—there is no better place to forge a real doctor.

Emily Aitken | 2023 recipient

Dr Emily Aitken is an Advanced Trainee from Aotearoa New Zealand. She has a Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery with Distinction from the University of Auckland, and a Diploma in Child Health from the University of Otago. She undertook her Basic Training at Whangarei Hospital and Starship Hospital, completing roles with their Respiratory, Neurology, Neonatal, Emergency, and General Paediatric services.

Emily is currently based in London, where she has been appointed as a Senior Clinical Research Fellow with Imperial College London and the Chelsea and Westminster Foundation Trust. She will be spending the 2024 academic year completing clinical work and fostering a new collaborative project between the Starship Paediatric Respiratory unit and Imperial College. Emily has a strong interest in medical education and will additionally be working alongside the University of Auckland as an honorary member of the Paediatric Department.

Outside of medicine, she is a director of her family farm—Rangitapu Station—in Hawkes Bay and enjoys skiing, cooking, and literature.

Emily would like to thank the Advanced Trainees and Consultants at Starship who assisted her in preparation for the examinations, and the Paediatric team at Whangarei Hospital for fostering her initial passion in this pathway. She would also like to thank her family and friends for their unwavering support.

Dr Jane Muir | 2023 recipient

Dr Jane Muir is an advanced trainee in Occupational and Environmental Medicine and works in occupational medicine consultancy at both 4cRisk and International SOS in Sydney, NSW.

Jane graduated from Brighton and Sussex Medical School in the UK with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 2010 and emigrated to Australia after completing her internship. She obtained her Graduate Diploma in Occupational and Environmental Health from Monash University in 2021 and is currently undertaking her research project on silicosis in a cohort of tunnellers under her care in Sydney.

Jane would like to thank her husband, study partner, and supervisors for their unwavering support throughout the last year, as without them, her success would not have been possible.

Dr Naomi Clarke | 2023 recipient

Dr Naomi Clarke is a public health physician at the Barwon South West Public Health Unit in Geelong, Victoria. She completed an undergraduate medical degree at the University of Melbourne and later completed a PhD in neglected tropical disease epidemiology at the Research School of Population Health, Australian National University. Naomi continues to have a strong research interest in neglected tropical diseases and holds an adjunct lecturer position at the Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales.

Naomi commenced advanced training in public health medicine in January 2020 and worked for several years in the COVID-19 response at ACT Health, before moving to Victoria and commencing work at the Barwon South West Public Health Unit. She enjoys the variety and breadth of public health medicine and the opportunity to work as part of a strong collaborative team to improve population health. She thanks her study group, mentors, colleagues, supervisors, and family for their support in her exam preparation.

Dr Bradley Smiley | 2024 recipient

Dr Bradley Smiley is a final year Rehabilitation Medicine Advanced Trainee currently working in the Illawarra region. Brad graduated from the University of Wollongong with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, with distinction, and completed his medical training across various hospitals within the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District. Prior to this, he obtained a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from the University of Queensland and gained several valuable years of experience in the rehabilitation field, working in both Australia and Canada. Brad enjoys all aspects of rehabilitation medicine and is grateful for the opportunity to provide comprehensive care to his patients. He considers himself fortunate to have the support of his family, friends, and colleagues, and is thankful to them for this.

Dr Kate Middleton | 2024 recipient

Dr Kate Middleton is dual training in paediatric rehabilitation medicine and community paediatrics.  She currently works in Victoria at the Royal Children's Hospital and has worked with the Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Service over the last 2 years of her training.  She has a Bachelor of Surgery/Bachelor of Medicine from Deakin University, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Melbourne.  She is completing a Masters in Bioethics at Monash University.

She has a strong interest in helping young people living with disability achieve their individual goals and supporting their participation and quality of life.  She enjoys the teamwork involved in rehabilitation medicine.  She has research interests in medical ethics and brain injury, and volunteers as an editor for a paediatric rehabilitation journal.

Kate would like to thank her husband, daughter, colleagues, study/survival group and friends for their support throughout the exam preparation.  Like most things in paediatric rehab, it was a multidisciplinary team effort.