Prof Odette Pearson named winner of the Pat Anderson Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Award

The SAHMRI community congratulates Associate Professor Odette Pearson for winning the Pat Anderson Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Award.

The honour was announced last night at the Lowitja Institute’s 2023 International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference in Cairns.

The award is named after internationally respected health leader, Pat Anderson AO, an Alyawarre woman and powerful advocate for First Peoples globally. It recognises emerging leadership in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing research.

Odette was chosen for her trailblazing work in chronic disease prevention and her dedication in leading SAHMRI’s Aboriginal Health Equity Theme to improve health and social system responses to better meet the needs of Aboriginal people.

"I am honoured to be receiving the Pat Anderson Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research. This award represents the work that the Aboriginal Health Equity Theme of SAHMRI has been doing over the last decade which has only been possible with the trust that the Aboriginal community has placed in us to work with and for them through research as a means of improving our health and wellbeing outcomes. I am deeply humbled to be recognised by my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues in receiving this award.”