2024 Harold Mitchell Travel Fellowships

Congratulations to the 2024 Hudson Institute Harold Mitchell Fellowships recipients

The Harold Mitchell Travel Fellowships are provided by the Harold Mitchell Foundation giving young scientists much-needed opportunities to travel and expand their research horizons.

Awarded to a senior PhD Student and a Postdoctoral Researcher, the Fellowships enable promising young Institute scientists to travel and participate in conferences and other forums, as well as receiving mentoring and support from leaders in their fields.

They are the brainchild of the late Harold Mitchell, founder of the Mitchell Foundation, launched in 2000 to promote health and the arts in the community.

Mr Mitchell was the son of a sawmiller from Stawell in Victoria, who founded Mitchell & Partners in Melbourne in 1976 and developed it into Australia’s largest media-buying agency.

Harold Mitchell Travel Fellowships – giving back

He summed up his attitude to philanthropy in these words: “I believe that each of us in our own way can do something to give back and, by our action, encourage others. For my part, I can do a bit more than the average person.”

Harold Mitchell Travel Fellowship | PhD Award

Angus Cramond

Gastrointestinal Infection and Inflammation group (Supervisor: Prof Richard Ferrero)

“I study how the gastric pathogen, Helicobacter pylori – which causes stomach ulcers and stomach cancer – uses small nanoparticles known as extracellular vesicles (EVs) to ‘fine tune’ the host immune response to infection.

“I will use this travel fellowship to attend the 37th annual meeting of the European Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group in Lisbon, Portugal in September. I will also spend time in the laboratory of Francesco Boccellato at the Ludwig Cancer Research Centre at Oxford University.”

Harold Mitchell Travel Fellowship | Post-Doctoral Award

Dr Kallyan Paul

Translational Tissue Engineering group (Supervisor: Dr Shayanti Mukherjee)

“The Harold Mitchell Fellowship 2024 will advance my translational medical research in 3D printing. I will attend the 49th IUGA conference in Singapore and the Terasaki Innovation Summit 2025 in Los Angeles to present rational design and cell-free pelvic organ prolapse treatment strategies.

“During my travels, I’ll have the opportunity to explore 4D printing and AI-based cell-material interactions at Professor Yeong Wai Yee’s lab (Singapore Centre for 3D Printing) and nanomechanical characterisations using Atomic Force Microscopy at Professor CT Lim’s lab. These collaborations will provide valuable insights into micro-nanoscale 3D printing and allow me to network with the world-leading scientist Dr. Ali Khademhosseini.

“This, in turn, will significantly enhance my ongoing research which aims to develop cutting-edge 3D printing and AI integration for personalised treatments. Ultimately, this will position Hudson Institute as the global leader in translational 3D printing for women’s health.”

Congratulations also to other travel award recipients

Bryan Williams Traineeship Award

The Bryan Williams Traineeship Award, offered annually to a Hudson Institute graduate student or postdoctoral fellow, was established to acknowledge Hudson Institute Emeritus Director and Distinguished Scientist, Professor Bryan Williams.

• Kayla Kockaya (supervisor: Dr Rob Galinsky, Research Group Head, Perinatal Inflammation and Neurophysiology) 

Hudson Institute Travel Awards

• Sara di Simone (supervisor: Professor Marcel Nold, Research Group Head, Interventional Immunology in Early Life Diseases) 
• Janelle Browne (supervisor: Professor Vincent Harley, Research Group Head, Sex Development)
• Dr Elly Jarred (supervisor: A/Prof Patrick Western, Research Group Head, Germ Cell Development and Epigentics) 
• Dr Nhi Tran (supervisor: Dr Stacey Ellery, Research Group Head, Bioenergetics in Reproduction)