Professor Andrew Steer, who was awarded a 2019 Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellowship, has been inducted as one of 28 new Fellows into the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

Fellows are elected to the Academy on the basis of their outstanding achievements and exceptional contributions to health and medical science in Australia. 

The announcement on Wednesday 14 October was followed by the news that Professor Steer was also awarded the Jian Zhou Medal, awarded to a rising star of Australian health and medical science, by the Academy. 

The Medal is named in recognition of Dr Jian Zhou, a molecular biologist and virologist who worked with Professor Frazer to develop and patent the technology underpinning the HPV vaccines which protect against cervical cancer. Tragically, Dr Zhou died in 1999, at the age of just 42, leaving behind a legacy which has had an immense impact on human health globally.  

The Jian Zhou Medal is designed and minted by the Royal Australian Mint. Professor Steer was awarded the medal for the impact he has made in reducing the burden of infection in northern Australia and lower-middle income countries including in Africa and the Pacific. 

Professor Steer’s work at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute has been supported through a number of trusts managed by Equity Trustees, including the Scobie and Claire MacKinnon Trust. The Viertel Foundation works with an expert advisory panel to award the fellowships and clinical investigator research grants each year.

This short video provides a summary of Professor Steer’s incredible research work and its impacts.