12 August 2026
Two of our researchers have just won some of the biggest honours in Australasian heart research, and their work could one day change how we treat blood clots and heart failure.
Dr Yuyang Song and Dr Joshua Wong won the Ralph Reader Prizes at the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand conference this week, the peak award for young cardiovascular investigators in the region.
Dr Song took out the Basic and Translational Prize for his work using mRNA technology to prevent dangerous blood clots, offering hope for treatment without the bleeding risk of current blood thinners. Dr Wong won the Clinical Prize for his research into detecting and managing heart failure in cancer survivors, a growing issue as more people survive cancer but face heart damage from chemotherapy.
Other Baker Institute prize winners were Dr Jacky Chen (Prevention Prize), Dr Cheng Soh (Allied Health Science and Technology Prize) and Dr Misha Dagan (Heart Failure Prize).
Our student and early career researchers also stood out at the regional meeting of the International Society for Heart Research.
- Dr Crisdion Krstevski won the Postdoctoral Publication Prize
- Teleah Belkin won the Mechanisms and Preclinical Discovery Mini-Oral Session
- Dr Ruth Magaye received the Early Career Investigator Poster Presentation Prize
- Dr Yuyang Song added the Student Publication Prize to his wins
- Zhibin Ma won the PhD Student Investigator Poster Presentation.
It was also special that our own Professor Morag Young delivered the Gwen Nayler Lecture, a fitting tribute to the late pioneer of cardiac muscle research. Professor Winifred G. 'Gwen' Nayler was one of our most prolific and innovative scientists in our 100-year history.
It's a strong showing from the next generation of heart researchers across the region.
