Keynote speaker: Associate Profesor Helen Benham

Helen BenhamExecutive Director of Research and Clinical Translation at the Translational Research Institute (TRI).

Associate Professor with The University of Queensland and a previous NHMRC Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) Fellow.

An experienced Rheumatologist who divides her time between clinical practice at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and her role driving collaborations across research and healthcare.

Helen has experience across the research spectrum including basic science, clinical trials and applying the principles of implementation science to her clinical field.


Presented by the Research Committees of the UQ Medical Society, the Ochsner Medical Student Association, and the Academy for Medical Education.

Post conference report

Thank you to everyone who attended and/or presented at the 2023 Medical Student Research Conference and on 14 September 5-8pm at the TRI Auditorium.

This year’s call for abstracts attracted 110 students who submitted 122 abstracts from which 10 oral presentations, and 51 posters were accepted. Following the success of last year’s conference format, the oral presentations took the form of a modified 3-Minute Thesis (3-MT). The 3M+1Q comprises a 3 minute presentation with one static slide plus 1 question from the audience.

Also, as we introduced last year, the winner of our UQ 3M+1Q oral presentation will go through to the national Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ) 3M+1Q final and a chance to be crowed champion amongst all 23 medical schools in Australia and New Zealand.  

The student attendance was over 100 on the evening which began with poster viewing and refreshments followed by the oral program in the TRI auditorium.

Our guest speaker was Professor Nalini Pather, Director of the Academy for Medical Education, who opened the conference and provided interesting insights on her career into medical education.

Our keynote speaker was Associate Professor Helen Benham who spoke about her perspectives on recognising opportunities illustrated by her stellar career trajectory which spans several disciplines within health care.

After the oral program, it was back to more poster viewing and the presentation of prizes. All the winners of the oral presentations and posters are listed below, along with special thanks to all the judges and sponsors who made the conference possible.

View the 2023 Conference Program (PDF, 287.5 KB)

3M+1Q oral presentation winners

  • Winner: Raushan Lala             Prize donated by Queensland Brain Institute
  • Runner-up: Aaron Lerch         Prize donated by QIMR Berghofer
  • Runner-up: Johnson Khor     Prize donated by QIMR Berghofer

People's choice oral presentation

  • Raushan Lala (Y3 MD-PhD)  Prize donated by Faculty of Medicine

Best poster winners (Top 3 scores)

  • Shaun Foo                               Prize donated by Mater Research Institute
  • Mark Anderson                      Prize donated by Mater Research Institute
  • A Solgi                                     Prize donated by Mater Research Institute

Best poster runner-ups (Next 3 scores)

  • Levi Matthews                         Prize donated by UQCCR
  • Jemima Po                              Prize donated by UQCCR
  • Dhaval Patel                           Prize donated by UQCCR

People's choice poster display

  • Jennifer Kim                         Prize donated by Faculty of Medicine

Honourable mention posters (alphabetical order)

Thank you to our sponsors

A huge thank you to our judges for their time and expertise in reviewing and scoring 10 oral presentations and 51 posters! 

Oral presentation judges

  • Professor Nalini Pather (Academy for Medical Education)
  • Associate Professor Helen Benham (Translational Research Institute)
  • Dr Rob Eley (Princess Alexandra Hospital Southside Clinical Unit)

Poster judges

  • Dr Courtney Parke (Ochsner Clinical School)
  • Dr Liam O’Brien (Mater Research - UQ)
  • Dr Tiana Gurney (UQ Rural Clinical School -Toowoomba)
  • Dr Jordan Fox (UQ Rural Clinical School – Rockhampton)
  • Dr Priya Martin (UQ Rural Clinical School – Toowoomba)
  • Dr Anne-Sophie Bergot (Frazer Institute)
  • Associate Professor Graham Leggatt (Frazer Institute)
  • Dr Tamara Blake (Children’s Health Research Centre)
  • Dr Aming Jing (Queensland Brain Institute)
  • Dr Sevannah Ellis (Queensland Brain Institute)
  • Dr Asela Olupeliyawa (Academy for Medical Education)
  • Dr Isaac Akefe (Academy for Medical Education)
  • Associate Professor Bernadette Richards (Academy for Medical Education)
  • Associate Professor Alison Ledger (Academy for Medical Education)

Check out the 2023 Conference photo gallery

Finally, thanks to the 2023 Conference Committee: 

Students

  • Isaac Rad (MDY3, MD-PhD)
  • Ben Cai (MDY2, MD-PhD)
  • Nikita Rosendahl (MDY2, MD-PhD)
  • Dhaval Patel (MDY2 Ochsner)
  • Muhammad Moazzam (MDY2 Ochsner)

Academy for Medical Education

  • Dr Isaac Akefe
  • Dr Anna Efstathiadou
  • Professor Di Eley

2023 Conference Committee


Check out the last year’s conference with a recording of all presentations, display of posters, and list of winners from last year’s conference.

2022 Medical Student Research Conference & Showcase

Venue

TRI Auditorium