Dr Lise Lafferty of UNSW Sydney has been awarded the 2023 Paul Bourke Award. The internationally renowned expert is a senior researcher at UNSW’s Center for Social Research in Health (CSRH) in Art, Design and Architecture and the Kirby Institute’s Monitoring Evaluation and Research Programme.
The Australian Academy of Social Science Early Career Research Awards recognize some of Australia’s best young social science researchers. Dr. Rafferty’s Paul Burke Award recognizes her “significant contributions to the field of infectious diseases, with a particular focus on the challenging context of hepatitis C in prison settings.”
“I am honored to have been selected by the Academy as the recipient of this award. As a researcher who uses qualitative methods to understand the complex contextual and social aspects of hepatitis C prevention, care and treatment in prison settings, it is great to see the interest in prisons Awareness of human health is at the forefront,” she said.
“I am grateful to people in prison who openly discussed with me their involvement in hepatitis C care, risky practices and concerns about reinfection in the absence of primary prevention strategies such as prison syringe programmes. It is an honor to bring such important information to the health of incarcerated people.”
Dr Rafferty said she was grateful to UNSW’s Professors Carla Treloar and Andrew Lloyd for their guidance throughout her academic career, particularly in conducting prison research. She also thanked Academy Fellows Professor Alison Ritter and Professor Carla Treloar for nominating her for the award.
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Dean of the Faculty, Professor Richard Holden, congratulated the winners and nominees for their dedication to advancing knowledge through social science research.
“The Faculty is extremely proud to educate the next generation of social scientists and highlight their valuable contributions. These awards recognize Australia’s most outstanding early and mid-career researchers,” he said.
Professor Kylie Valentine, Director of CSRH, congratulated Dr. Lafferty on winning the award.
“Lise is an outstanding early career researcher and highly deserving of this prestigious award. She is an innovative and dedicated researcher who can communicate her findings to a broad and diverse audience. “We are proud to have this emerging leader as a colleague. “
Internationally renowned researcher
Since earning her PhD, Dr. Rafferty has become a leading global expert on hepatitis C in prison settings. Her work uncovers the social and behavioral risks of hepatitis C transmission in prison settings and identifies ways to enhance engagement in care for this population.
Dr. Lafferty has received significant funding as principal investigator, including from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the federal Department of Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, totaling more than $15 million. She has authored 39 peer-reviewed publications and was first/senior author on 21 papers, demonstrating her strong leadership trajectory. She has contributed to 17 reports.
In 2022, Dr Rafferty received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement from the UNSW School of Art, Design and Architecture Early Career Scholars for his ‘Rising Star’ status. She received an honorary mention from the Australian Society of HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine in the Viral Hepatitis (Justice and Correctional Health Sector) Levinia Crookes Emerging Leader Award for her contribution to prison health, in recognition of her contribution to prison health. Dr. Lafferty is the first social scientist to win the Viral Hepatitis Prize since its inception in 2018. She won the Best Research Article (2020) and the Highly Commended Award (2021) in the UNSW School of Art, Design and Architecture’s Early Career Publishing Awards.