Two new University of Adelaide fellows

The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences welcomed 19 women and 10 men to its Fellowship recognising the brightest minds in health and medical sciences across a range of fields, including research, industry and more.

The University of Adelaide's Professor Jodie Dodd and Professor Helen Marshall were inducted on October 26.

Academy President Professor Ingrid Scheffer said she was delighted to see the largest ever number of women elected at 66 per cent.

“Academy Fellows are elected by their peers for their outstanding and ongoing contributions to health and medical sciences,” Professor Scheffer said.

“The Academy is committed to supporting gender equity and championing diversity. It’s wonderful to see so many outstanding individuals join us as new Fellows.

“Our Fellowship encompasses the nation’s research and science leaders, many of whom have been at the forefront of Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic has demonstrated the critical role that our expertise in health and medical sciences has played. I look forward to seeing how our new Fellows contribute to the Academy’s goal of addressing the most pressing health challenges facing society.”

The University of Adelaide's inductees were:

Professor Jodie Dodd
Professor Jodie Dodd, a maternal fetal medicine specialist, is recognised as being at the forefront of a paradigm shift in the management and prevention of obesity in pregnancy, which has occurred worldwide over the last decade. The outcomes of her research, a series of unique and harmonised RCTs and associated systematic reviews and individual participant data studies, have changed clinical guidance internationally. She has achieved a seamless integration of research findings into evidence-based clinical practice.
Professor Dodd is a clinical and academic leader who has contributed immensely to capacity building in the sector.

Professor Helen Marshall
Professor Helen Marshall is an international leader in vaccinology and infectious disease epidemiology, with significant and sustained achievement in vaccine research and translation to practice and policy. Her work underpins changes in vaccination practise for children, adolescents, and pregnant women in Australia and internationally. Her leadership of the largest interventional herd immunity RCT globally, published in NEJM, informs meningococcal vaccine programs worldwide.
As Deputy Director of the Robinson Research Institute and NHMRC Practitioner Fellow, Professor Marshall contributes extensively to national (ATAGI) and international (WHO) immunisation policy, is recognised by many awards including NHMRC “10 of the Best”. She is a vocal public advocate for immunisation.