Congratulations to Dr Kate Hoy for her research excellence, recognised by the NHMRC

Dr Kate Hoy with a research study participant

MAPrc’s Dr Kate Hoy was recognised for her outstanding research this week at the NHMRC Research Excellence Awards and Biennial Awards.

Dr Hoy received the award for the highest ranked Career Development Fellowship – Biomedical, Level 1 for her research which looks at developing new treatments for cognitive impairment.

According to Dr Hoy’s research, cognitive impairment is a core feature of a number of psychiatric and neurological illnesses.

Symptoms can range from poor attention and reduced memory to impaired planning and decision-making. These symptoms significantly interfere with everyday functioning and there are currently no effective treatments.

“The main achievement of my work to date has been a proof-of-concept study showing that direct current stimulation can improve working memory in patients with schizophrenia. I am now continuing this work to further investigate the clinical utility of this approach, namely looking at how long the effects last and if they can improve everyday functioning,” Dr Hoy said.

Minister for Health Sussan Ley with award recipients

Minister for Health Sussan Ley, who presented the awards, said she was proud of Australia’s standing on the international research stage and that these awards recognised some of the leading Australian researchers.

“Australia is a world leader in health and medical research and these researchers will no doubt continue to make a strong contribution to improving the health of all Australians,” Ms Ley said.

Career Development Fellowships (CDFs) are highly competitive, four year fellowships that recognise and provide support for the most outstanding early to mid-career health and medical researchers in each Fellowship category.