It takes a village....
and we definitely could not deliver these Awards without one.
From a seed of an idea, to operationalising and hosting the Awards, every step of the way we have been encouraged and supported by CCReW (people with lived health experiences contributing to research), research-sector and consumer engagement professionals, and organisations that share our commitment to consumer partnership in research. We want to thank the village that has been involved in various ways, and recognise those contributions on this page.
The 2025 Financial Sponsors
Our financial sponsors are critical for helping making these Awards happen. We thank them from the bottom our hearts for their partnership in this Event, and commitment to excellence in consumer partnership and experience in research.
Platinum Event Partner
Bellberry Limited is an independent, not-for-profit organisation established in 2004 making a difference in the health research sector nationally and globally. Driven by two key objectives, that is, to protect the welfare of human research participants and improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of research, Bellberry provides high-quality, time-efficient, and internationally-accredited scientific and ethical review of research projects.
Bellberry is now the single largest reviewer of clinical research in Australia, providing specialist HREC oversight to almost 43% of CTN registered clinical trials in Australia across all phases of clinical and device trials, and social and behavioural studies.
Bellberry holds participant wellbeing at the centre of all that it does, and is proud to support the advancement of research knowledge through philanthropy and education. Bellberry is unique in the research sector, with surplus funds generated by the activities of its Human Research Ethics Committees donated back into the Australian medical research community.
Gold Sponsor: Award D - Excellence in Research Participant Experience
Mater Research is a world leader in medical research and serves as the research arm of Mater. Our bench-to-bedside philosophy sees us collaborating with Mater’s hospitals and health services, the Princess Alexandra (PA) Hospital and our partners The University of Queensland (UQ), the Translational Research Institute (TRI) and Health Translation Queensland (HTQ). By working closely with Mater Foundation, Mater Health, Mater Education and our growing network of partners and collaborators, we endeavour to transform scientific discoveries into the best possible treatment, care and outcomes for patients and the wider community.
"The award sponsorship is an opportunity for our organisation to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to valuing and embedding lived experience of consumers in research, and support this inaugural initiative to promote consumer voice in research. ”.
Bronze Supporter
Our vision is to find a cure for Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy whilst actively working to ensure enhanced quality of life for those young people and their families affected by this condition.
"We can’t be a voice for patients if we are not supporting their voice in clinical trials and all research”.
Bronze Supporter
Our mission, in partnership with communities and industry, is to conduct innovative research that enables evidence-informed solutions that promote health and wellbeing across the lifespan.
We work with people, communities and care systems to conduct research that matters. Our research endeavours to enable people to live happier and healthier lives within their communities.
The 2025 In-Kind Supporters
Not every organisation is in a financial position to sponsor. However, we really appreciate the willingness of the following organisations to share their time, advice, staff, resources and help and promotion in other ways to bring these awards to life, and raise awarenss.
The Village that kickstarted this event.
In mid-2024, our Research Gamechangers Facebook community identified a key priority: a platform to celebrate and empower the CCReW. This feedback inspired the creation of an event with a unique mission—celebrating excellence in consumernerships in research. Over the following months, the idea was socialised and refined with input from a range of people. We'd like to especially thank the following individuals outside of the Steering Committee, who have given time, ideas and air to help advance these Awards (in no particular order):
Melissa Cadzow, Carrie Hayter, Anthony Brown, Gillian Mason, Cathy Sertori, Lauren Waine, Penelope McMillan,
Shyamsunder Muthuramalingam, Saba Nabi, Dawn Richards, Angela Todd.
We hope these Awards do justice to the needs expressed by our CCReW community, and the broader research sector at large, showing passion and inspiration for what's possible, through authentic, meaningful consumer partnership and respect.
Once the idea had been developed, a Steering Committee was established in late 2024 that went on to help refine the vision, establish award categories, and shape an event to showcase and reward outstanding consumer partnership and experience in research.
We would like to thank the following members of the Steering Committee, who have shared their time, experiences and knowledge so graciously with us and played an instrumental role in shaping our inaugural Awards. Please use the links to learn more about each person.
The 2025 Awards Steering Committee
Anne McKenzie AM, Consumer Advocate and Consultant
Anne is a Consultant and Consumer Advocate at The Kids Research Institute Australia. Anne holds an Adjunct Appointment at the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Western Australia. Anne is a member of Health Consumers Council WA and Consumers Health Forum and serves as a consumer member on key research committees. Learn more about Anne.
Brigitte Sigl, Patient Experience and Multiple Sclerosis Lived Experience Leader, Advocate and Consultant
Brigitte is a passionate and diplomatic Patient & Lived Experience Leader, Advocate and Consumer Consultant.
Her aim is to bring people together by listening with the heart, so we can build bridges and find collaborative approaches to co- decide in Health Care and Research. Learn more about Brigitte.
Briony Williams, Program Co-ordinator, Curtin Involve
Briony has worked in the consumer and community involvement (CCI) space since 2012. In 2021 she was appointed the role of Program Coordinator, tasked with establishing Curtin University’s own CCI program (now known as Curtin Involve) to support activities within the research in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Learn more about Briony.
Deborah Robins, Health consumer representative / Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy advocate
Deb remains an advocate and life-long learner in rare dystrophinopathies, gaining experience first-hand as a caregiver and via roles in non-profit and agency activity over the past 30years. As we aspire to precision outcomes, synergy in developing trials and medicines hinge's on co-design with patient partners. She currently works part-time as Community Led Projects Coordinator at saveoursons.org.au. Learn more about Deb (+ ORCID ID).
Jan Mumford, Health consumer advocate
Janelle Bowden, Managing Director and Consultant, AccessCR
Janelle is a passionate advocate for the consumer voice and experience in research, especially clinical trials. Through AccessCR she works towards making clinical trials more participant-centered and accessible, ultimately aiming to improve health outcomes through inclusive and efficient research practices. Learn more about Janelle (+ ORCID ID).
Jo Maxwell, Consumer Engagment and Indigenous Research Strategy, University of Queensland (UQ)
Jo deeply believes in the empowerment of consumer voices and strengthening community involvement in research. She is project manager for the UQ consumer engagement in health research program and works to shape a future where researchers and consumers collaborate as partners throughout the research journey. Learn more about Jo.
John Stubbs AM, Healthcare Consultant and Board Member
John is a committed and passionate advocate for people affected by cancer and chronic disease. He holds degrees in Accounting and Arts and is a regular speaker at medical conferences about health policy, advocacy, clinical trials, research and the benefits of consumer engagement. John has made extensive contributions to cancer and the consumer and research sectors which has led to recognitions such as being awarded an Honorary Associate of the University of Sydney - School of Medicine in 2009, a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2023, and life membership of the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group (ALLG) in 2023. Learn more about John.
Karen van Gorp, Health consumer advocate
Karen is a passionate consumer advocate with lived experience of cancer that contributes across the spectrum of health, research and health technology assessment. She has been involved as a consumer on several committees, and associate investigator in several research projects from grant application stage. Learn more about Karen.
Kris Pierce, Director, Consumer engagement and advocacy, University of New South Wales (UNSW)
A passionate advocate and leader in consumer engagement, Kris is dedicated to embedding lived experience into health research, policy, and delivery to create meaningful and lasting impact. As the Director of Consumer Engagement and Advocacy at UNSW's Child Unlimited, she has spearheaded transformative initiatives that elevate the voices of patients and families in shaping healthcare outcomes. Learn more about Kris.
Michael Elwan, PhD Research, strategist and advocate
Michael Elwan is a mental health professional, advocate, and researcher dedicated to systemic transformation through lived experience leadership. He is the founder of Lived Experience Solutions and serves on several state and national boards, working to advance culturally inclusive and trauma-informed mental health practices. Learn more about Michael.
The 2025 Judging Panels
In 2025, there were 4 judging panels (Panel A, Panel C, Panel F and Panel BDE).
Each panel had 4-5 judges, and at least half in each panel were health consumers/advocates.
Our judges agreed that they would feel more comfortable to assess entries if their identities were kept confidential. For this reason, we aren't providing a list of the names of judges. We would however like to thank them for the considerable hours ane effort they applied to seriously assessing all the entries independently against a subsantial list of scoring criteria and deliberating constructively to reach a consensus as we moved through the process. You contributions were invaluable for delivering the independent assessment of winners, and fine tuning the process for the future.