Recognition for contributions to children’s medical research

Image credit: the Australian Research Magazine

Two Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) researchers have been recognised among the best in their field for advancing children's medical research.   

The Australian's 2021 Research magazine names the top scientists in each area of research, based on the number of citations for papers published in the top 20 journals in each field over the past five years. It also names the top 40 researchers who are lifetime achievers in their fields.  

MCRI Professor Nigel Curtis was recognised as the top researcher in the field of Paediatric Medicine.  

Professor Curtis leads the Infectious Diseases Research Group at MCRI; is a Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Melbourne and Head of Infectious Diseases at The Royal Children's Hospital.  

Prof Curtis' research focuses on improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in children, combining clinical research and trials with lab-based immunology studies. His current focus is on the innate and cellular immune response to the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine (used to prevent tuberculosis)  as well as the diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis. He is currently leading the international BRACE trial to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in healthcare workers.  

MCRI Professor John Carlin, Senior Principal Research Fellow and head of MCRI's Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics Unit, was named among The Australian's 2021 Top 40 lifetime achievers, in the field of Probability & Statistics with Applications. 

Professor Carlin has a national and international reputation in biostatistics, the science of developing and applying statistical methods to problems in health and medical research. His contributions to research span a wide range of areas both in the development and evaluation of statistical methods and in their application to numerous areas of child and adolescent health. 

In addition to his role with MCRI, Professor Carlin has professorial appointments at the Melbourne School of Population & Global Health and the Department of Paediatrics, within the University of Melbourne.