Improving Indigenous health, and employment opportunities for disabled and migrant workers, are the goals of Flinders University's two 2025 Young 'Tall Poppy' science award winners.
Associate Professor Courtney Ryder and Dr Ashokkumar Manoharan joined a strong lineup of career researchers making a significant impact in various fields of science - as well as making a real effort to explain and communicate their research findings and investigations to the broader community.
Matthew Flinders Fellow, Associate Professor Courtney Ryder, is an Aboriginal trauma and injury epidemiologist and co-leads the Health Equity Impact Program for the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (FHMRI) with Darwin-based Professor James Smith.
Her research is finding new ways to apply Indigenous knowledge, governance and sovereignty into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data and health statistics.
"My research aims to find solutions to reduce injuries and hardships in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities," says Associate Professor Ryder, a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Flinders University, who also leads the FHMRI Trauma and Injury Studies group at the College of Medicine and Public Health.
"By understanding inequities in service delivery, we can transform injury prevention and care by creating smarter policies and stronger more culturally grounded service provision to children and families, including in remote communities."
Dr Ashok Manoharan is a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management and researcher at the Centre for Social Impact at Flinders University.
Working with international collaborators, his research covers workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), migrant workers, people with intellectual disability and related diversity management practices in the hospitality industry.
"My work focuses on addressing systemic barriers faced by people with cognitive disabilities and migrant workers, both in Australia and globally, developing strategies to equip employers with practical toolkits to create accessible and equitable workplaces," says Dr Manoharan.
"I continue to strive to create workplaces where every individual is not only valued and included but truly belongs."
Flinders Professor Ray Chan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), congratulated this year's Young Tall Poppy recipients.
"Our research at Flinders University focuses on some major 'wicked problems' facing society and communities, with robust research outcomes which aim to make a difference in the real world," says Professor Chan.
"Along with innovative and impartial research, our Tall Poppy winners over the years have become leaders in their field, inspiring the next generation of researchers to address these pressing health and medical, political, social, cultural, economic, and other scientific problems."
See the full list of finalists at the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) website. The awards will be presented at a special ceremony at the SA Museum on Friday, 8 August.
The AIPS promotes science excellence, recognises public engagement of science, enables the discussion of how science should impact policy, and drives the critical debates facing Australia and the world.
