Congratulations to James Cook University's Dr Diana Mendez and Dr Melissa Crowe who both received First Place for the Making Opportunities for Mothers in Academia Changemaker Award at the IAMAS Conference in Chicago

Dr Mendez and Dr Crowe received this award in acknowledgement of their work to ensure the James Cook University (JCU) Cohort Doctoral Studies Program provides an environment that draws upon the strength of mothers to achieve a research degree whilst parenting.

The JCU Cohort Doctoral Studies Program is designed to provide additional support and networking opportunities to post-graduate research candidates enrolled at JCU. It draws a significant portion of its participants from TAAHC Members across northern Queensland. The Cohort Doctoral Studies Program is essentially aimed at practising health professionals working in the broad areas of medicine, dentistry, health (including nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, clinical exercise physiology, sport and exercise science, psychology, pharmacy, paramedics and health promotion), public health and biomedical, molecular or veterinary sciences. Medicine and health research candidates often return to study after varying lengths of time in the workforce, frequently combine research degrees with part or full-time work, often lack peers undertaking research degrees in their discipline and are sometimes studying at a distance because of the JCU focus on rural, remote and regional areas. The Cohort Doctoral Studies Program was implemented to address these issues.