THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Rotary Hawthorn Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Travel Prize
Student Impact 2025
It is a pleasure to present the inaugural recipient of the Rotary Hawthorn Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Travel Prize, Mohamed Hisham.
We hope you enjoy reading Mohamed’s statement and feel a great sense of pride for the role your generosity is playing in supporting him to achieve his aspirations.
We look forward to seeing this Prize empower our early-career researchers and celebrate their successes alongside you.
As a PhD student in immunology, the Rotary Hawthorn Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Travel Prize
will have a meaningful impact on my academic and personal development.
Your generous support will allow me to immerse myself in a centre of research excellence in Tours, France, under the guidance of Professor Christophe Paget, a world leader in my research field, who holds joint appointments at Institut Curie, Paris and the University of Tours.
During my visit, I will use novel biologics that I have developed in Melbourne to study the therapeutic and mechanistic potential of a target in preclinical models of respiratory infection. My work here will directly complement the aims of my PhD and will enrich my technical expertise
in infectious disease and translational immunology. I hope to establish a long-term collaboration with my host lab and contribute meaningfully to high-impact, globally relevant health research.
On a personal level, living and working in France will expose me to a new scientific environment, language and culture. I hope to bring back the techniques and perspectives from my trip to my home lab in Melbourne.
I would also like to thank my supervisors, Dr Hui-Fern Koay and Dr Nicholas Gherardin, for their mentorship and support in helping me to pursue this opportunity.
This trip would not be possible without the Rotary Prize. It has alleviated the significant financial barriers that exist for international research opportunities and will allow me to focus on my research without the worry of running out of funding. I am deeply grateful to the donors and supporters of this award for investing in young researchers like me. I am inspired to fully embrace the experience and, in turn, give back to the next generation of scientists. The opportunity will directly contribute to my long-term career aspiration of leading an independent research program to understand fundamental biology and build a pipeline to rapidly translate our research from the lab to the bedside where patients around the world can access lifesaving therapies.
“I am deeply grateful to the donors and supporters of this award for investing in young researchers like me. I am inspired to fully embrace the experience and, in turn, give back to the next generation of scientists."