Excellence in Australian microbial science: ASM unveils 2026 award recipients in research, teaching and emerging leadership

The Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) is proud to announce the winners of its 2026 National Awards, celebrating the outstanding achievements of individuals who have made significant impacts across the microbial sciences. This year, the ASM has conferred 42 awards to its members representing from pioneering laboratory research to innovative microbiology education and supporting future leaders in our field. This is a substantial increase from the 34 awards given in 2025, a reflection of ASM’s growing commitment to supporting and recognising the talents of our membership.

The 2026 cohort includes both internationally recognised figures and rising stars whose work is shaping the future of Microbiology in Australia and beyond. These awards recognise professional excellence and a steadfast commitment to advancing our understanding of the microbial world. Recipients will receive their award at the national meeting, which will be held in Melbourne from 15-18 June 2026 https://www.theasmmeeting.org.au/. 

Honouring Research Excellence

The ASM’s prestigious research awards recognise scientists who have delivered transformative insights into microbiology. This year’s recipients of the Frank Fenner Award and the Jim Pittard Award are recognised for their significant contributions during the formative and early stages of their research careers, respectively. Additionally, the Lyn Gilbert Award continues to honour those providing major contributions to diagnostic laboratory microbiology. In 2026, the Jim Pittard award winners are Kenya Fernandes (University of Sydney), Lisa Stinson (University of Western Australia), Sarah Baines (The University of Melbourne) and Marwan Majzoub (UNSW). The Frank Fenner award winners are Bart Eijkelkamp (Flinders University), Carola Venturini (University of Sydney), Sam Manna (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) and Brian Forde (University of Queensland). The Lyn Gilbert awardee this year is Jenny Davis (Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory). These recipients will deliver presentations at the ASM/Clinicon meeting.

 Connecting microbiology research with industry

The ASM industry engagement award recognises microbiologists to collaborate with industry partners to facilitate translation of their research. This year, we recognise Evgeny Semchenko (Griffith University) and Bliss Cunningham (The University of Melbourne) as recipients of this award. They will also deliver presentations at the national meeting.

Celebrating Leaders in Education and Communication

Recognising that the future of the field relies on the next generation, the ASM honours excellence in teaching through the David White Excellence in Teaching Award and the Cheryl Power Early Career Microbiology Educator Award. This year also sees the continued recognition of vital scientific engagement through the ASM Communications Award, celebrating those who bridge the gap between complex research and public understanding. We are pleased to announce Gee Chong Ling (UNSW), Catherine Ryan (Monash University) and Rina Wong (Curtin University) as the recipients of the David White, Cheryl Power and ASM Communications awards, respectively. We have also awarded three teaching travel awards. Two ASM Teacher’s Travel awards were awarded to Padraig Strappe (Charles Darwin University) and Nimsha Weerakkody (Open Uni of Sri Lanka) to attend the national education meeting (EduCon), and the third was the ASM USA Teacher’s Travel award that was awarded to Katelyn Mroczek (La Trobe University) to attend American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators.

Supporting early career microbiologists to foster international collaboration

A more recent award offered by the ASM is the ASM student and early career research international travel award. This award comes with $4000 to support PhD students and early career researchers to attend an international meeting and combine this with a visit to a research lab overseas to learn new skills and foster collaboration. This year’s recipients were Paige Skoko (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute), John Forsyth (Monash University), Ananya Padmakumar (The University of Melbourne) and Rhys Parry (University of Queensland).

Distinguished Service and Community

The Society also extends its deepest gratitude to those who have shown exceptional dedication to the organisation itself. Following nomination from their ASM peers, the Distinguished Service Awards are presented to members who have volunteered their time to ensure the continued growth and success of the ASM community. We would like to thank Erin Brazel (Adelaide University), Maurizio Labbate (Nanosonics), Sam Manna (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute), Slade Jensen (Western Sydney University), Tim Newsome (University of Sydney), Tony Jennings (Sullivan & Nicholaides Pathology), Terry Grimmond (Grimmond & Associates Ltd), and Sally Partridge (Westmead Institute for Medical Research) for their contributions to the ASM.

Supporting emerging talent

Supported by our state branches, the ASM has also awarded travel awards for students (Nancy Millis student award) and early career researchers (Dena Lyras ECR award) to attend the national meeting, after each recipient won a competition in their home state. Congratulations to our Nancy Millis award recipients Kate Whyte (Adelaide University), Jasmine Wells (University of Queensland), Alanah Eisenhuth (Sydney University), Georgia-Rose Gilmore (Monash University), Ashraf Hussain (University of Tasmania), Xinyuan Zhu (University of Western Australia), and New Zealand recipient Meghan Marshall (University of Canterbury). We also congratulate our Dena Lyras award winners Maria Gancheva (Adelaide University), Chitra Ravi (University of Queensland), Fernando Gordillo Altamirano (Monash University), Roshan Nepal (CSIRO, Tasmania), Grace O'Reilly (Sydney University) and Roland Politan (University of Western Australia).

The ASM wishes to offer a big congratulations to all our award recipients. For more information about the ASM National Awards and a full list of past recipients, please visit the ASM website at https://www.theasm.org.au/member-awards. Applications open at the beginning of each year and close 31st March.