eMJA: <I>MJA</I>/Wyeth Prize — 10th Anniversary

Wyeth Prize

MJA/Wyeth Prize — 10th Anniversary

MJA 2005; 183 (4): 178

Dr Lee, Medical Director, Wyeth Australia (left), presenting the 2004 MJA/Wyeth prize to Associate Professor Damien Jolley.

Mr Jim Robertson announcing the inauguration of the Wyeth Prize in 1994

On 12 July 1994, at a ceremony celebrating the 80th year of continuous publication of The Medical Journal of Australia, Mr Jim Robertson, the then General Manager of Wyeth Australia, announced the inauguration of the annual MJA/Wyeth Prize, to be awarded for the best clinical research published in the Journal, as judged by independent experts. The first prize was presented at the 1996 AMA National Conference in Canberra by Dr Greg Rough, then Marketing and Sales Director of Wyeth Australia. Since then, the MJA/Wyeth Prize has been strongly supported by Wyeth Australia and the organisation’s managing directors, Greg Rough, Geno Germano and, more recently, Erica Mann, and has been awarded for an eclectic array of first class clinical research, encompassing acute medicine, environmental and public health, and the health of Australian Indigenous people (listed in the Box).

The 10th MJA/Wyeth Prize was awarded at the 2005 National AMA Conference in Darwin by Dr Michael Lee, Medical Director, Wyeth Australia, to Associate Professor Damien Jolley and his co-investigators Robyn Wright, Sunita McGowan, Mark Hickey, Don Campbell, Rodney Sinclair and Kenneth Montgomery. Their research addressed the prevention of a common but unglamorous condition: the pressure ulcer. In a head-to-head randomised trial that compared the efficacy of Australian sheepskin versus usual treatment to prevent pressure ulcers, patients resting on medical sheepskin developed new pressure ulcers at less than half the rate of those undergoing standard treatment.

In presenting the award, Dr Lee noted that Wyeth “was particularly delighted to be able to continue its association with and support for the Medical Journal of Australia/Wyeth Research Award”.

“As a medical community, we are all keen to see continuing evolution in medical knowledge. It allows us to do more, and hopefully better, for our patients and our community. After all, this is what motivates us. And as participants in the health care system and the health care industry, we can all claim, with the winner of this award today, a small role in making a difference.”

Recipients of the MJA/Wyeth Award 1995–2004


1995	Gastric emptying in acute overdose: a prospective randomised controlled trial Susan M Pond, David J Lewis-Driver, Gail M Williams, Adèle C Green, Noel W Stevenson. Med J Aust 163: 345-349.
1996	An outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in the Torres Strait, Australia, 1995 Jeffrey Hanna, Scott A Ritchie, Debra A Phillips, Jack Shield, M Clare Bailey, John S Mackenzie, Michael Poidinger, Bradley J McCall, Phillip J Mills. Med J Aust 165: 256-260. <eMJA full text>
1997	A high incidence of melanoma found in patients with multiple dysplastic naevi by photographic surveillance John W Kelly, Josephine M Yeatman, Cheryl Regalia, Grahame Mason, Amanda P Henham. Med J Aust 167: 191-194. <eMJA full text>
1998	Outdoor air pollution and children's respiratory symptoms in steel cities of New South Wales Peter R Lewis, Michael J Hensley, John Wlodarczyk, Ruth C Toneguzzi, Victoria Westley-Wise, Trevor Dunn, Dennis Calvert. Med J Aust 169: 459-463. <eMJA full text>
1999	Impact of improved diagnosis and treatment on prevalence of gonorrhoea and chlamydial infection in remote Aboriginal communities on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands Penny J Miller, Paul J Torzillo, Wayne Hateley. Med J Aust 170: 429-432.
2000	Reducing premature death and renal failure in Australian Aboriginals: a community-based cardiovascular and renal protective program Wendy E Hoy, Philip R Baker, Angela M Kelly, Zhiqiang Wang. Med J Aust 172: 473-478. <eMJA full text>
2001	The effects of quality improvement interventions on inhospital mortality after acute myocardial infarction Ian A Scott, Michael D Coory, Catherine M Harper. Med J Aust 175: 465-470.
2002	Sharing the true stories: improving communication between Aboriginal patients and healthcare workers Alan Cass, Anne Lowell, Michael Christie, Paul L Snelling, Melinda Flack, Betty Marrnganyin, Isaac Brown. Med J Aust 176: 466-470. <eMJA full text>
2003	Effectiveness of ototopical antibiotics for chronic suppurative otitis media in Aboriginal children: a community-based, multicentre, double-blind randomised controlled trial Sophie Couzos, Traven Lea, Reinhold Mueller, Richard Murray, Margaret Culbong. Med J Aust 179: 185-190. <eMJA full text>
2004	Preventing pressure ulcers with the Australian Medical Sheepskin: an open-label randomised controlled trial Damien J Jolley, Robyn Wright, Sunita McGowan, Mark B Hickey, Don A Campbell, Rodney D Sinclair, Kenneth C Montgomery. Med J Aust 180: 324-327. <eMJA full text>

Managing Directors of Wyeth Australia and New Zealand (left to right): Greg Rough (1998–2000), Geno Germano (2000–2002), Erica Mann (2003–).