"Thank You" Day Awards 2009 - Friday, 20 November 
BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne

Now in its 7^th year the “Thank You” Day Awards are the culmination of Research Australia's "Thank You" Day campaign to raise awareness of health and medical research in the community.  

The awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and organisations that have helped further research in Australia through corporate giving, philanthropy, advocacy or their own research contributions.   The 2009 award winners were:

Griffith University Discovery Award
Dr Sarah Whittle 
This Award recognises an early career researcher (no more than five years past PhD) whose paper, patent or discovery has already demonstrated its importance or impact.

Dr Sarah Whittle completed her PhD in 2007 in the Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, and has since been working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Orygen Youth Health Research Centre. Dr Whittle’s research has addressed neuroanatomical features of individuals at risk of mental health problems during adolescence. One of her unique studies was the first to show that a biological basis exists for the differences in argumentative behaviour in the way teens interact with parents, and has significant implications for understanding the aetiology of a range of psychiatric disorders in young people.   Dr Whittle’s work has received extremely positive reviews which resulted in an excellent record of publications in high impact journals locally and internationally.

Macquarie Group Foundation Great Australian Philanthropy Award
Mr Clive Berghofer AM
This award recognises and encourage personal philanthropic donations over a period of time by an individual or family to health and medical research. 

Clive Berghofer AM is an incredibly generous philanthropist – for a man who finished school at the age of 13, he has achieved great financial success.  Rather than simply indulge in his wealth, he has strived to find ways he can use it to improve the lives of others.

Clive epitomises all that we are proud of in the Australian spirit – a “can-do” attitude, mateship and helping those in need.

When Clive committed $10 million over ten years to the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) in 2002, he was the largest individual financial contributor to assist cancer research in Queensland. His ongoing gift to QIMR has facilitated the faster development of a new cancer immunotherapy treatment as well as other new and superior methods to fight cancer and related diseases.

He has also made sizable contributions to the University of Queensland, Red Cross, St Vincent's Hospital and the Toowoomba Hospice, helping to provide better health across the community. He is a self made man who deserves recognition for his extraordinary generosity and for inspiring others to make a positive difference to the world. 

Advocacy Award 
Professor Ian Hickie AM
This award recognises an Australian from the health and medical research community, the media, a celebrity or a member of the community that has raised community awareness about the benefits of health and medical research and the need for increased funding.

Professor Ian Hickie has been at the forefront of national advocacy for improved health care services for people with mental illness. In the 1990s he led national surveys of the treatment of anxiety and depression in primary care and demonstrated the lack of access to appropriate psychological services. This work laid the framework for the later development of national access to psychological services under Medicare.

In 2000, he was appointed the inaugural CEO of beyondblue: the national depression initiative and oversaw the development of its national community awareness campaign. He also instigated the design and implementation of beyondblue's major research and service developments in the key areas of post-natal depression and schools-based depression prevention. In association with the Mental Health Council of Australia, he led the national surveying of consumers and carers experiences in mental health services. This resulted in the landmark 2005 'Not for Service' Report and the subsequent development of the 2006-2011 Council of Australian Governments national action plan on mental health. 

In his most recent role as a National Health and Medical Research Council Australian Research Fellow, Professor Hickie has been central to the development of the new Brain & Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney. This interdisciplinary hub of basic and clinical scientists not only pursues a vigorous translational research agenda but continues to lead national efforts to greatly improve access to high quality mental health services in Australia.

Pfizer Australia Leadership in Corporate Giving Award 
Macquarie Group Foundation
This award recognises and foster involvement of Australian businesses, both small and large, in advancing health and medical research in Australia.

Julie White was appointed Head of the Macquarie Group Foundation in 2000. The Foundation is Macquarie Group’s philanthropic arm and is one of the largest corporate benefactors in Australia.

Macquarie is an international provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services, with more than 60 office locations in 25 countries.

Under Julie’s leadership, the Macquarie Group Foundation has expanded significantly. In the financial year 2008/09 the Foundation, together with Macquarie Group staff, contributed $A26 million to 900 community organisations around the world, compared with just over $A1 million in 2000. In that time, Julie has also overseen substantial growth in the involvement of Macquarie staff in the community and in the Macquarie Group Foundation’s international presence.

In 2008, Julie was named as one of the Australian Financial Review BOSS Magazine’s True Leaders, recognising her efforts in the not-for-profit sector in Australia, and in 2009 she was a finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards.

Victorian Government Leadership and Innovation Award 
Professor Joseph Sambrook
This award recognises an individual or organisation that has shown exceptional leadership and/or innovation towards making health and medical research a higher national priority. 

Professor Sambrook is regarded as a world-class researcher with a number of very significant scientific advances to his credit. He is internationally renowned for his studies of viruses and the molecular biology of normal and cancerous cells, which have effectively changed our understanding of the cellular development of many forms of cancer.

During the course of his long and distinguished career he has worked at a number of leading scientific institutions, including the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge in England, the Salk Institute in California, the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in Dallas.

Returning to Australia from overseas in 1995, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre had just moved into new laboratories in East Melbourne. This move provided the opportunity for a major restructuring of research. By 2000, under his leadership, the scientific staff had increased in number from 75 to nearly 200, and the Centre had established a range of new programs. Peter Mac now houses over 400 researchers. He is a Distinguished Fellow at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He is also Executive Scientific Director of the Stem Cell Centre Monash University, Melbourne.

Joe was the founder and is still the Director of kConFaB, Australia's National Consortium for Research into Familial Breast Cancer.  This consortium, which is funded by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, State Cancer Councils and the National Health and Medical Research Council was the first national program in Australia  for research into any cancer.

Professor Sambrook’s entire professional life, now 44 years, has been dedicated to research.

Research Australia Lifetime Achievement Award
Ms Elaine Henry OAM 
This award honours a significant lifetime commitment to supporting and promoting health and medical research.

Elaine Henry, OAM, has been a CEO of non-profit organisations for over 25 years and is passionate about the power of education to transform lives.

During her current 11 year tenure at The Smith Family, Elaine has led a major transformation of the organisation, from one that provided emergency welfare assistance to what it is today – a social enterprise delivering education and learning support to disadvantaged Australian children.

In this and previous roles, Elaine has worked consistently to promote the value of quality research in bringing issues 'out into the sunlight' and using data to create evidence-based, preventive interventions in the community. As Executive Director of the Cancer Council, her leadership in generating public interest and financial support for cancer research in particular, resulted in Elaine being awarded a Medal in the General Division of the Order of Australia.

In 2006 Elaine was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of NSW for her eminent service to the community and community health and in 2001, 2004 and 2007, she was named one of the Australian Financial Review’s BOSS True Leaders.

Download the 2009 "Thank You" Day program

Max Walker, former first class cricketer bowls over the "Thank You" Day guests
Griffith University Discovery Award Dr Sarah Whittle (winner), Prof. Henry Jackson
Macquarie Group Foundation Great Australian Philanthropy Award LtoR Prof. Michael Good AO, Julie White, Clive Berghofer AM (winner)
Advocacy Award LtoR Prof. Jill Trewhella, Prof Ian Hickie AM (winner), Peter Wills AC
Pfizer Australia Corporate Giving Award LtR Mike Wilson, Jeremy Wright, Julie White (winner Macquarie Group Foundation), Dr Bill Ketelbey
Victorian Government Leadership and Innovation Award LtoR Prof. Joe Trapani, Prof. Joe Sambrook (winner), Jane Niall
Research Australia Lifetime Achievement Award Dr Chris Roberts, Elaine Henry (winner), Sue Murray

Find out more about the Awards by visiting:

Awards Hall of Fame

"Thank You" Day Award Winners 2008

"Thank You" Day Awards Video 2008