Fenner Award winners Professor Mark Stoové and Associate Professor Freya Fowkes with Professor Brendan Crabb

Burnet Institute’s Acting Program Director, Maternal and Child Health, Associate Professor Freya Fowkes, and Head of Public Health, Professor Mark Stoové are the joint winners of the Frank Fenner Award for 2018.

It’s the first time the award, the Institute’s most prestigious internal award, has been presented jointly.

Associate Professor Fowkes’ research focuses on the epidemiology of malaria and, in particular, immunology, host genetics and susceptibility to malaria and associated morbidities.

Professor Stoové has researched the transmission and impact of sexually transmitted and blood borne viruses among key risk populations for almost 20 years.

He also specialises in behavioural epidemiology, data linkage, and implementation science projects focused on reducing the transmission and burden of infectious diseases.

Burnet Director and CEO Professor Brendan Crabb AC said both award winners had made truly outstanding contributions to the Institute’s mission.

In delivering her Fenner Lecture, entitled Eliminating Drug Resistant Malaria: How do we stop history repeating itself?, Associate Professor Fowkes remarked “it’s an absolute privilege to receive an award that was named after someone who really led the smallpox eradication agenda”.

She noted that winning alongside her colleague was an added bonus.

Professor Stoové said: “as the most prestigious award that the Burnet confers on staff it’s an incredible honour, and an honour to have shared the award with Freya who I’ve known since she first came to the Institute”.

“You don’t get into the game for individual honours … but it’s one of those nice things to grab along the way to make the work a little more fulfilling.”

The Frank Fenner Award acknowledges significant contribution to Burnet’s vision and mission in the areas of medical research and public health, and is named after the great Australian virologist, the late Professor Frank Fenner AC.