Prestigious TSANZ Society medal awarded to Professor Anne Holland

Professor Anne Holland in clinic

Congratulations to Professor Anne Holland, who has been awarded the prestigious Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) Society Medal!  

The Society Medal was conceived as an acknowledgement of excellence in fields other than research, i.e. for the advancement of the practice of thoracic medicine in its widest sense by outstanding teaching or advocacy, and first awarded in 1992. 

Professor Holland is Professor of Physiotherapy at Monash University and Alfred Health in Melbourne, and a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow. 

Anne’s research aims to improve the lives of people with chronic lung disease using novel non-drug treatments. She developed a widely recognised home-based pulmonary rehabilitation model that improves access to effective care for people with COPD. Her model was recently included in NHMRC’s '10 of the Best’ showcase of projects that support improvement in human health. Her research is cited in 27 clinical guidelines and position papers on pulmonary rehabilitation, pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, skeletal muscle dysfunction, oxygen therapy & respiratory management, published by thoracic societies across the world.

Anne was the first physiotherapist to serve as a TSANZ Board Director (2016-2020). She has contributed to the advancement of thoracic medicine in Australia and New Zealand as Chair of the TSANZ Clinical Care and Resources Subcommittee, where she oversaw the development of 14 new or updated TSANZ guidelines. Anne implemented an Open Access publication policy for TSANZ documents, to ensure that policymakers, clinicians and patients have free access to information on best practice. Since 2009 Anne has been an editor for the Cochrane Airways Group, providing editorial oversight for Cochrane Reviews that define best evidence for treatment of chronic respiratory disease.

Anne has a strong commitment to development of research pathways for clinicians. She has provided research mentorship for 43 clinician-researchers over the last 15 years across many disciplines including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nutrition, prosthetics & orthotics, nursing, exercise physiology and medicine. She has supervised 33 clinician-researchers undertaking research higher degrees. Her research program currently provides postdoctoral training opportunities for 8 clinician-researchers and regularly hosts visiting research fellows from around the world including Brazil, Norway, Denmark, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and Canada.

See more about Anne's respiratory care research group:
https://www.monash.edu/medicine/ccs/airmed/research/holland-respiratory-care-group