AChSHM ASM 2022 Award Recipients
Date published:
24 Mar 2022
This year, the Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine (AChSHM) invited members, general practitioners, allied health professionals and nurses to partake in the Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM), which was themed 'Towards new horizons'.
As part of this fully virtual event experience, three exceptional recipients were presented with awards. These awards recognise outstanding work, contributions and presentations in sexual health medicine.
The awards were presented by Dr Massimo Giola, AChSHM President-elect, and awarded to the following recipients:
- Associate Professor Catherine O’Connor for the AChSHM Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Discipline of Sexual Health Medicine 2021.
- Dr Vincent Cornelisse for the Award for Best Postgraduate Thesis in Sexual Health Medicine 2022.
- Dr Caroline Lade for the Penelope Lowe Prize 2022.
Congratulations to all winners. Read more about these awards and the worthy recipients below.
The Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine (AChSHM) recognises the outstanding contributions made by Fellows of the AChSHM through our biennial awards.
Recipient: Associate Professor Catherine O’Connor
Associate Professor Catherine O’Connor has been a fellow of the Chapter since 1996. She has been involved in ASHM S100 training for many years and took a leading role in converting and implementing as an online training package from 2019 to 2022. She is also an ASHM international consultant, and was awarded ASHM life-membership in 2019.
Associate Professor O’Connor holds a Master of Medicine, Doctor of Public Health, as well as a GP Fellowship and a Diploma of Obstetrics & Gynecology. She was the Director of Sexual Health at Royal Prince Alfred Sexual Health, Sydney Local Health District, from 1996 to 2019.
Associate Professor O’Connor is the Immediate Past President Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine (2016 to 2020) and was the Vice President of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (2016 to 2017). Additionally, she was Chairperson of Medical Staff Executive Council for the Sydney Local Health District in 2017 to 2018.
Since 2019, she has been the UNDP Pacific HIV/STI Clinical Consultant, providing HIV clinical care, mentoring and training for 11 Pacific Island Nations. Furthermore, she does regular locums at Sexual Health Clinics in regional Australia and is currently working at Cairns Sexual Health.
The Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine (AChSHM) recognises the importance of training its workforce in research. AChSHM every year honours a Chapter member for their outstanding postgraduate work.
Recipient: Dr Vincent Cornelisse
Dr Vincent Cornelisse is a staff specialist in sexual health medicine at Kirketon Road Centre, NSW Health, in Kings Cross, Sydney.
Dr Cornelisse completed his PhD in Sexual Health Epidemiology in 2018 at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Monash University. In his thesis, titled “Epidemiology of gonorrhoea, chlamydia and HIV in men who have sex with men, and evaluation of new prevention strategies.”, he particularly examined the transmission dynamics of gonorrhoea between men, including the role of kissing as a significant mode of gonorrhoea transmission. This has major implications for gonorrhoea control, as current prevention strategies (i.e. condoms) do not address this mode of transmission.
His other research efforts focus on the implementation of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and the interplay between PrEP use and other sexually transmitted infections and blood borne viruses such as hepatitis C.
Ultimately, Dr Cornelisse’s research aims to make his clinical role redundant, by creating a world free of HIV and other sexually transmissible infections.
The Prize is named in memory of Dr Penelope Lowe FAChSHM and former Chapter Trainee Representative. The Penelope Lowe Prize is awarded to the best presentation of a case by an Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine (AChSHM) trainee at the AChSHM Annual Scientific Meeting.
Recipient: Dr Caroline Lade
Dr Caroline Lade is a Sexual Health Advanced Trainee, currently working at the Sydney Sexual Health Centre.
Dr Lade has a background in General Practice, and was awarded the Tony Buhagiar Memorial Medal in 2018 for her results in the RACGP clinical examination.
Dr Lade is in her second year of sexual health training and has also worked as a Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner in the Illawarra. She is a strong advocate for LGBTQI+ patients and is passionate about all aspects of sexual and reproductive health care.