Flinders University’s newest Matthew Flinders Professors were recently announced by President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling.
A Matthew Flinders Professorship is awarded to individuals who have sustained outstanding research performance or scholarly, creative and artistic achievements, with a track record of distinguished contribution to research as evidenced by the awarding of external funding. Individuals must also showcase outstanding service to the University, professional or public life in the form of research leadership, mentorship or other researchers or supervision of HDR students.
The seven individuals awarded in 2023 have been recognised for their service to their fields and to the University.
Professor Gerry Redmond, from the College of Business, Government and Law, is a sociologist and social policy analyst who’s research for the last two decades has focused on marginalisation as experienced by young people in Australia and other countries – at school, with their peers, and in the community. With a particular interest in amplifying young people’s voices through his research, Professor Redmond supports young to talk about their lived experience.
Social and political psychologist Professor Emma Thomas, from the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, has been recognised for her research which explores the ways that people come together to resist social inequality and social injustice. Professor Thomas’ published work includes exploration of psychological drivers that lead to the commitment of humanitarian assistance, and the role of emotion and personal and collective identity in facilitating different forms of social protest.
Professor Amy Roberts, from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, is an archaeologist and anthropologist who is committed to meaningful and long-term collaborations with Traditional Owners. Primarily working with Aboriginal communities in South Australia, Professor Roberts has worked closely with Aboriginal peoples from the Mid-Murray/Riverland and Yorke Peninsula regions. Professor Roberts is lead investigator for two ARC projects and was awarded a 2022 Reconciliation Award from Flinders University.
Senior clinician and mid-career researcher Professor Robyn Clark, from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is internationally recognised for her research into the most effective management of patients with heart failure and cardiovascular disease. Professor Clark was the inaugural recipient of a National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS-NHMRC) PhD scholarship, supported by the National Heart Foundation, for researching tele-monitored heart failure management in rural and remote Australia.
Professor Youhong Tang, from the College of Science and Engineering, is a mechanical, material and manufacturing engineering researcher with research interests mainly focused on structure-process-property relation of polymeric nano-composites and fibre-reinforced composites, and chemosensors/biosensors design, manufacture, and their associated portable devices development. In 2022, Professor Tang was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research Supervision and, in 2023, he was awarded the College of Science and Engineering Research Student Mentorship Award.
Professor Damien Keating, Deputy Director of the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (FHMRI) and Head of Molecular and Cellular Physiology research group, focuses his research on understanding how cells send chemical signals to each other and how this affects health and disease. Professor Keating has published significant work in this area in leading international journals including Nature, PNAS, PLoS Genetics, Molecular Psychiatry, Gastroenterology, Human Molecular Genetics, Journal of Neuroscience, Diabetes, Nature Communications and Cell Metabolism.
Professor Chris Karapetis, from the College of Medicine and Public Health, is head of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Flinders Medical Centre (FMC), Network Director for Cancer Services in the Southern Area Local Health Network of Adelaide (SALHN) and Director of Clinical Research in Medical Oncology at the FMC and Flinders University. Professor Karapetis has been principal investigator on more than 120 clinical trials, and is an active contributor to clinical research conducted through the Australian Lung Trials Group.