The Jacquot Awards
The Jacquot Awards support nephrologists wishing to establish or pursue a research career for the treatment and management of renal disease.
In 1985, Mrs Lorraine Jacquot of Trash and Treasure Australia Pty Ltd established the Don Jacquot Fellowship in memory of her late husband. Following her death in 1992, the RACP Foundation received an additional bequest from Lorraine and the Fellowship was renamed the Don and Lorraine Jacquot Fellowship. Their legacy has allowed for the funding of additional Fellowships and Scholarships over time.
The Awards are co-administered by the RACP and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology (ANZSN). Representatives from the ANSZN Research Advisory Committee and the RACP Grants Advisory Committees (GAC) assess all Jacquot Award applications.
We're all grateful for the guidance and support of Ian and Zanette Brown and the Rowling family in the administration of these prestigious Awards.
Don and Lorraine Jacquot Career Development Fellowship
Providing opportunities for nephrologists and Fellows of the RACP who have completed a postgraduate research higher degree, or have substantial research experience, and are still at an early stage in their career.
The recipient will be expected to:
- carry out independent and/or team research
- undertake activities to develop their expertise in biomedical, clinical and/or public health research
- have clearly defined outcomes and objectives
Jacquot Research Establishment Fellowship
Assisting Fellows and trainees who have completed a research higher degree to establish a career in medical research.
Jacquot Research Entry Scholarships
Providing stipend support for Fellows and trainees in nephrology to undertake a research higher degree in basic, clinical, epidemiological or public health aspects of nephrology.
Current recipients
Grant Section
2025 Jacquot Research Establishment Fellowship ($90,000)
Recipient: Dr Aspasia Pefanis
Project: Treating kidneys on machine perfusion to improve transplant outcomes
Dr Sia Pefanis is a nephrologist and transplant physician at Austin Health and St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, and a Senior Clinical Lecturer with the University of Melbourne. She holds a Master of Public Health and completed a basic science PhD examining kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury with The University of Melbourne (2023).
Sia has a strong interest in cell death and inflammation, and her post-doctoral research focuses on exploring novel ways to reduce kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury during the transplantation process. This grant will make a valuable contribution to the field of transplantation by enabling the assessment and treatment of donor organs prior to transplantation, thereby improving timely access to donor kidneys for patients suffering from end-stage kidney disease.
Grant Section
2025 Jacquot Research Establishment Fellowship ($90,000)
Recipient: Dr Monica Ng
Project: Kidney extracellular vesicle atlas – an initiative to advance clinical translation of nanoparticle analytics
Dr Monica Ng is a nephrologist and clinician scientist at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Queensland in 2019. Since then, her research has focused on the clinical application of extracellular vesicles for kidney disease diagnostics; kidney disease epidemiology and management of chronic kidney disease. She currently leads the Translational Kidney Pathobiology group at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Kidney Health Service.
The Jacquot Research Establishment Fellowship will enable Dr Ng to elucidate universal kidney markers on urinary extracellular vesicles to enable high-throughput isolation of kidney extracellular vesicles for next-generation minimally-invasive diagnostics for kidney disease. Moreover, this work will facilitate high-resolution phenotyping of urine extracellular vesicle subtypes to identify molecular signatures that can be leveraged to identify people most likely to respond to therapy and people at risk of adverse kidney outcomes.
Grant Section
2025 Jacquot Research Establishment Fellowship ($90,000)
Recipient: Dr Benjamin Lazarus
Project: Improving surveillance of bloodstream infections among chronic haemodialysis patients in Queensland
Ben is the Assistant-Director of In-Centre Haemodialysis at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, an editorial fellow at the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and senior lecturer at the University of Queensland. He completed his PhD in 2024 through Monash University, in collaboration with The George Institute, and is recognised internationally as an emerging leader in haemodialysis access research, with an established track record of research leadership.
This grant will allow Dr Lazarus to develop a statewide program of surveillance for haemodialysis access related infections in Queensland, that will improve the accuracy, objectivity and transparency of existing surveillance and reporting systems. The findings will be fundamental to improving outcomes for patients receiving haemodialysis in Queensland and may be extended to other States in the future.
Grant Section
2025 Jacquot Research Establishment Fellowship ($90,000)
Recipient: Dr Kushani Jayasinghe
Project: The Evolution of Genomic Applications in Nephrology: From Research to Clinical Practice
Dr Kushani Jayasinghe is a consultant nephrologist and undertaking dual training in clinical genetics at Monash Health. She has a special interest in genetic kidney disease and is the clinical lead for genetic kidney disease at Monash Health. She completed her PhD research at Monash University on the clinical utility and feasibility of genomic sequencing in kidney disease.
Dr Jayasinghe is passionate about improving the uptake of genomic medicine in routine nephrology care, which is a focus of her postdoctoral research at Monash University.
Grant Section
2025 Jacquot Research Entry Fellowship ($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.
Jacquot Selection Committee
Professor Robert Walker, Co-chair (ANZSN Research Advisory Committee)
A/Prof Tim Hewitson, Co-chair (ANZSN Research Advisory Committee)
Professor Graham Lieschke (Chair RACP Grants Advisory Committee)
Professor Andrew Mallett – Member (RACP Grants Advisory Committee)
Professor Stephen Alexander – Member, RACP
Professor Martin Gallagher – Member, RACP
Dr Sih Min Tan – Member (ANZSN)
A/Prof Helen Healy – Member (ANZSN)
Dr Anita Van Zwieten – Member (ANZSN)
Dr Brendan Smyth – Member (ANZSN)