Monash neuroscientist heralded as Victoria’s young researcher of the year
Dr Bernadette Fitzgibbon
A researcher conducting pioneering work into the neurobiology of pain perception has received the BGRF Young Researcher of the Year award.
Dr Bernadette Fitzgibbon, an NHMRC Fellow based in the Psychiatric Neurotechnology team at the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc), will also receive $5,000 for research related travel.
Established in 1993, the Bethlehem Griffiths Research Foundation (BGRF) funds vital research into life threatening, progressive neurological disorders including Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neuron Disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's Disease as well as stroke and palliative care.
The BGRF launched the Young Researcher of the Year award initiative in 2010 to reward early to mid-career scientists in the fields of neuroscience and palliative care.
Universities and other research institutions are invited to nominate two scientists from their organisation. The Trustees choose just one medal recipient from the nominations received each year.
Dr Fitzgibbon was delighted to receive the award.
“It was very much a surprise to hear I’d been nominated. In all honesty you never expect to get these type of awards and I was absolutely thrilled to receive it,” she said.
The funding will enable Dr Fitzgibbon to attend an international research conference on pain in Yokohama, Japan in 2016.
Dr Fitzgibbon said the International Association of the Study of Pain conference is a key event at which to present research and attendance will potentially lead to new collaborations.
“Securing funding and other opportunities for early career researchers is becoming increasingly competitive so being recognised in this way is fantastic,” she said.
“The conference in Japan is one of the key events in my area of research, and was something I was hoping to go to. The BGRF funding will allow me to do that and by 2016 I expect to have some exciting research on the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to relieve symptoms associated with chronic pain to present.”
Dr Fitzgibbon completed her PhD in 2011, conducting the first clinical and neurophysiological studies of a new pain phenomenon in amputees. She received the 2012 Vice Chancellor's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence. Her work has also been featured widely in the media including New Scientist magazine, Australasian Science, and The Psychologist.