Professor Josh Davis, an infectious disease physician and researcher, has received an NHMRC Research Excellence Award for clinical health research.

HMRI-affiliated researcher Professor Josh Davis has received a Research Excellence Award at the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) annual dinner in Canberra for being the top-ranked Career Development Fellowships applicant in clinical health research.

As an infectious diseases physician at John Hunter Hospital and University of Newcastle conjoint, Professor Davis says his key area of research interest is severe bacterial infections, with a focus on investigator initiated clinical trials.

“My key areas of research interest are clinical trials in severe infectious diseases, aiming to address the many evidence gaps in clinical management of Staph aureus blood stream infection, bone and joint infections, and severe sepsis.

“As a practicing clinician, I am faced with questions every day which I cannot answer – what is the best way to treat this particular infection? How can I maximise this patient’s chance of a good outcome?

“My research directly addresses these questions, and finding experimentally proven answers to them is rewarding. The most exciting moment is, after several years of planning, recruitment and data collection, to finally do the data analysis and find out the results of a clinical trial.” 

Each year, NHMRC recognises excellence in the health and medical research sector by celebrating individual achievements, leadership and exceptional contributions of Australian researchers to their various fields of research.

Professor Davis says he is surprised and humbled to be one of the few researchers to receive this prestigious recognition from the NHMRC, particularly in such a competitive field of outstanding researchers from around Australia.