NCARD director Professor Anna Nowak has been elected as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS).

The Academy welcomed 15 women and 16 men to its Fellowship, recognising Australia’s brightest minds in health and medical sciences across a range of fields.

Professor Nowak, a leading oncologist in malignant mesothelioma and neuro-oncology research, was a medical oncologist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Director of the National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases at UWA.

Completing her medical training at UWA in 1990, medical oncology training in 2000, and a PhD at UWA in 2003, she has longstanding research and clinical interests in malignant mesothelioma and neuro-oncology and has taken significant national and international leadership roles in these fields.

With her laboratory-based PhD thesis in tumour immunology, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical trials and quality of life research, Professor Nowak has gained a unique translational perspective with expertise in laboratory science, clinical trials, patient-rated outcomes and quality of life.

In 2018, she was named WA Cancer Researcher of the Year, and in 2020 she became an invited member of the board of the Cancer Council of Western Australia. She also received the inaugural Professor Martin H Tattersall Heroes award from the Medical Oncology Group of Australia, and the 2021 Wagner Medal from the International Mesothelioma Interest Group.

“I am honoured to join respected colleagues and mentors as a Fellow of the Academy,” Professor Nowak said.

“It is a privilege to have had impact as both a clinician and a scientist, and to be able to work with the Academy in their mission of advocacy and leadership.”

Read the original article here at UWA News.