Germ fighter Brett Mitchell has become the first nurse to receive a federal award for excellence in health and medical research.
Professor Mitchell, of Avondale University in Cooranbong, received the Commonwealth Health Minister's Award at Parliament House in Canberra.
The award recognises his "outstanding research in infection control" and "his vision to generate evidence for practical approaches to prevent common healthcare-associated infections".
Professor Mitchell is working to prevent infections that occur in healthcare in both hospital and community settings. His work has helped change clinical practice and policy in Australia and internationally.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said infection control is "a major health concern globally, particularly in the face of rising resistance to antimicrobial drugs".
"Professor Mitchell's research is critical in finding ways to stop infection before it starts."
One in 10 patients - or 165,000 people a year - in Australian hospitals acquire an infection during their stay.
This is a major cause of complications and a significant burden on the healthcare system.
Professor Mitchell's research is focused on trying to prevent pneumonia acquired in hospital and urinary tract infections.
"These are the two most common types of infections in hospitals, healthcare settings and aged care," he said.
His research also examines how "environmental cleaning" prevents infections.
The award is given annually to the top-ranked recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council investigator grant in an emerging leadership category.
Professor Mitchell, also an adjunct professor at University of Newcastle, will receive a further $50,000 to support his research in addition to his $1.5 million five-year investigator grant.
"Having research money in this area is important so we can plan for future respiratory and infectious diseases and pandemics because there will be more."
As for his thoughts on COVID, he said the pandemic had highlighted "gaps in our knowledge about infection and control".
He said key factors now for managing COVID are vaccination and "improving ventilation in hospitals, healthcare and aged-care settings and people living in apartments".
"We should act on this."
