The Advertiser Sunday Mail 2024 SA Woman of the Year finalists revealed
From medical trailblazers to sporting sensations and passionate campaigners, meet all the SA Woman of the Year Awards finalists on the eve of International Women’s Day.
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If you are seeking inspiration, look no further than this year’s extraordinary finalists in the The Advertiser Sunday Mail Woman of the Year Awards, presented by SkyCity.
Far more than a gala night of glamour and celebration, the awards honour both high profile names and individuals who have flown under the radar despite their remarkable achievements.
From disability and veterans’ rights advocates to medical research trailblazers, STEM luminaries and sporting sensations, as well as passionate campaigners for people in need, this year’s list represents an incredible range of achievers across six categories.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE FULL LIST OF FINALISTS
They are Jobs Statewide Leader of the Year, University of Adelaide Rising Star, Phil Hoffmann Travel Community Champion, The Advertiser Foundation Inspiration Award, SA Weekend Innovation Award and SkyCity Hospitality Hero Award.
The 2024 winners will be announced at a gala dinner and ceremony, MC'd by Jessica Adamson, at SkyCity Adelaide on March 7, the eve of International Women’s Day.
From the category winners, one incredible individual will be crowned Woman of the Year. Previous trailblazers to earn this accolade are Julie-Ann Finney, Professor Nicola Spurrier, Professor Helen Marshall and 2023 winner Australia’s first female astronaut Katherine Bennell Pegg.
More than 200 invited guests from the worlds of politics, business, law, entertainment, hospitality, academia, sport and more will attend.
The event will support charity partner Kickstart for Kids, through The Advertiser Foundation.
Penfolds and State Opera have generously supplied prize packs.
The winners will be revealed at advertiser.com.au and in The Advertiser on International Women’s Day, which this year has the theme #InspireInclusion.
JOBS STATEWIDE LEADER OF YEAR
Dr Sarah Cannard
Lead Engineer AROSE Trailblazer Lunar Rover, Nova Systems | Industry Director at SmartSat CRC | Chair of Aurora Space Cluster.
It’s a long way from country SA to taking the lead on the Lunar Rover program, but Sarah Cannard’s story is one of shooting for the stars. As a child in Berri and Murray Bridge, she dreamed of space. Today, she’s playing a pivotal role in helping put Australia’s space sector on the international stage and inspiring the next generation. This dynamic engineer’s team was behind the design of Australia’s first ever lunar rover, Trailblazer, in partnership with the Australian Space Agency and NASA. She is also instrumental in forging part of the ‘space bridge’ between the UK and Australia, a tool to highlight and connect Australia’s space supply chain as part of a framework to increase collaboration between the two countries. She has a deep passion for space and growing a sovereign Australian industry, promoting STEM careers and creating opportunities for future generations. An Earhart Fellow, and the 2022 Female Space Leader of the Year, Dr Cannard is also captivating TedX speaker and – was elite hockey player who still loves to get out on the field.
Elaine Bensted
ZoosSA Chief Executive
It’s been a boom year for Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park, with major announcements, from expansion of the Wild Africa tourism accommodation to the creation of a new Asian elephant habitat after a whirlwind $2 million fundraising campaign. But when Elaine Bensted took over in 2012, this beloved institution was facing severe financial headwinds. Her role is uniquely challenging as Adelaide Zoo is a membership-based non-government entity, so it must constantly seek grants and sponsorships to continue its work. Ms Bensted’s background in banking and public sector management proved just the ticket. Today, the institutions are thriving and she is recognised as a global leader in animal conservation. Membership has nearly doubled during her tenure, and she spearheaded the ZoosSA 20-Year Master Plan. Recently appointed to the board of the prestigious World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Ms Bensted represents a vast region covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It’s a great outcome for the woman who once dreamed of being a veterinarian but could not get past her fear of needles and the sight of blood.
Catherine Branson KC, AC and Pauline Carr
University of Adelaide Chancellor & UniSA Chancellor
This legal trailblazer and respected business leader have presided over the historic merger of the universities of Adelaide and South Australia. The long-vaunted merger is forecast to generate an extra $500m annually for the state economy by 2034, create an extra 1200 jobs and educate more than 70,000 students – about 13,000 more than today’s combined total. Also by 2034, the universities’ feasibility study forecasts it would attract 6000 extra international students, generate an extra $100m in research revenue annually and help an extra 800 low socio-economic people into study. The Chancellors said of the move that it promised significant benefits for both institutions, as well as the state. In her third term as Chancellor of the institution of which she is also a distinguished alumna, Terowie-born Ms Branson, AC, KC, is a former judge of the Federal Court of Australia and President of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Ms Carr has built a 35 plus-year career bringing her executive experience, business improvement, governance, compliance and risk management and consulting services to companies in sectors as diverse as resources, construction, superannuation, education, retail and community health care.
Professor Bogda Koczwara AM
Medical oncologist, Survivorship Program leader, Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer
The contribution of Professor Koczwara in the field of diagnosis, treatment, survivorship care and research is profound, including initiatives such as Work After Cancer and iSCREEN. Arriving from Poland at 18 with limited command of English, as the country was placed under martial law, she convinced the faculty at Flinders University to accept her into medical school. She trained in oncology in the US then returned to her alma mater. Flinders didn’t have an oncology department at the time, so Professor Koczwara created one. The Flinders Department of Medical Oncology is now well established, with Prof Koczwara heading a thriving team that services the south of Adelaide. She established one of the first cancer survivorship programs in Australia and has contributed to key advances in the field. Among her many leadership roles, Professor Koczwara is a past president of the two peak professional bodies in cancer in Australia. An internationally recognised expert in cancer survivorship, she has a podcast addressing issues from the role of humour to me-too moments of healthcare; AI; and ethics. Her role in preparing the next generation of oncologists is immeasurable.
Natalie Wade
Founder of Equality Lawyers and disability rights advocate
A pioneer in advancing disability rights and the founder of Equality Lawyers, Ms Wade delivered Australia’s inaugural Disability Leadership Oration late last year with a brief to “set the national agenda”. Her oration focused on ending the segregation of disabled people in all settings, but especially housing, through disabled leadership. Using a wheelchair, she has a condition called undiagnosed, congenital muscular myopathy as well as being a survivor of melanoma. Ms Wade has been involved in law reform and human rights campaigns concerning women and girls with disabilities including the international Every Woman Treaty campaign. Equality Lawyers, launched in 2019, is a disability-led, disability rights law firm. She was involved with a landmark law reform that changed the way people with complex communication disabilities give evidence in SA courts.
Linda Williams
Deputy Commissioner, SA Police
A key proponent for SA’s nation-leading anti-stalking laws, this law enforcement trailblazer was the highest-ranked female officer in SA Police’s history even before stepping up to the top role when tragedy struck her boss Grant Stevens and his family. It was only 27 years before Deputy Police Commissioner Linda Williams joined SA Police, aged just 17, that women weren’t even allowed at training courses at Thebarton Barracks. Fast forward through an illustrious 35-year policing career and she has become one of the leading forces of gender equality within the organisation. In the mid-90s, Williams completed a Bachelor of Law degree at the University of Adelaide and went on to attain a postgraduate diploma in Applied Criminology from world-renowned Cambridge University. A passionate public servant in all senses of the word, she is also a board director of the Flinders Foundation.
Professor Caroline Miller
Director of SAHMRI’s Health Policy Centre
A world leader in tobacco control, with the spectre of vaping now squarely in her sights, this health pioneer plays a vital role in directly shaping public policy for the greater good.
She also leads an NHMRC-funded program of research in obesity prevention, with a focus on ultra-processed foods and beverages, and is currently investigating added sugar labels and consumer warning labels for beverages. Under her leadership, the Health Policy Centre delivers real-time evidence to inform public health policy, social marketing campaigns, and other interventions to change behaviours and reduce the preventable burdens of disease. Through interventions in tobacco and vaping, obesity prevention, and alcohol, it has reduced the impact of chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Prof Miller was at the forefront of Australia’s world-leading plain packaging of tobacco reforms and is working with authorities on strategies to curb vaping. With qualifications in psychology, economics and public health, she is Vice President (Policy) of the Public Health Association of Australia.
UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE RISING STAR AWARD
Isobel Borlase
Opals and Adelaide Lightning basketballer
This athletic guard is one of Australian basketball’s biggest and brightest stars. She is eligible for the 2024 WNBA draft and according to ESPN’s Draft Predictor will be a top 10 selection. Borlase made her Opals debut in the successful FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February. The 19-year-old is no stranger to representing her country at international level, also starring in the 2023 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Spain. Borlase finished her first WNBL season by being awarded Sixth Woman of the Year and the Betty Watson Breakout Player of the Year award off the back of a terrific campaign with the Adelaide Lightning.
She is such a huge talent that legendary SA basketballer Rachael Sporn un-retired her famous number 14 Adelaide Lightning jersey and handed it to the young gun.
Corporal Kbora Ali
Australian Defence Force
This trailblazing soldier was the first Afghan woman to join the Australian Army. She arrived in Adelaide in 2007 with her family, joining her father, a refugee from Afghanistan. Winner of three Dux awards at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, she achieved an ATAR of 97, competed internationally in martial arts and has been a UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador. Her inspirational messaging has attracted 40K followers on Instagram. In 2023, she attended the Trans-Tasman Business Circle Women Leaders Study Tour, ran her first marathon and received recognition for parliamentary participation from Vice Admiral David Johnston. Corporal Ali financially supports schools and hospitals in remote regions of her homeland and has raised funds for children’s welfare in the war-torn country. Corporal Ali has served with 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, and is currently stationed in Adelaide as a personnel capability specialist.
Rhea Ripley
WWE Women’s World Champion
She first stepped into the ring at Adelaide’s Riot City Wrestling as young teenager Demi Bennett. Twelve years later, under her famed WWE persona, Rhea Ripley returned to Australia as the reigning Women’s World Champion to appear at this weekend’s Elimination Chamber, the American professional wrestling promotion’s first live show Down Under since 2018, and the last major event on the wrestling calendar before WrestleMania 40. The 27-year-old has been named as one of the greatest ever, dominating the world of wrestling. Since signing with WWE in 2017, she has become a social media sensation, with 3.4m followers on Instagram and 2.6m followers on TikTok. In a sign of her dominance, she be on the cover of WWE’s annual video game, coming out soon.
Shingi Mapuvire
Advocate for young migrants
This mental health worker is passionate about advocating for issues affecting young women, with a focus on addressing cultural, racial and gender bias affecting young immigrants. A Flinders University Nursing and Health Promotion graduate, Ms Mapuvire works in the mental health sector and sits on the Premier’s Council for Women. She was involved in the creation of the African Student Council, an initiative to promote networking for university students to increase chances of employment at a graduate level. She is also a member of the Council of Migrant and Refugee Women of SA.
Danielle Seymour
Co-Owner and director, _SOUTHSTART
This young gun is a co-owner/director at _SOUTHSTART, Adelaide’s festival of innovation, imagination and impact which returns on March 5-7. Her immersive experience company aims to connect people to the skills, networks and knowledge required to grow through the creation of conferences, summits, hospitality activations and more. Ms Seymour established the Adelaide chapter of the Global Shapers Community, supported by the World Economic Forum. She is passionate about increasing youth mobility into emerging pathways. Ms Seymour’s leadership has been pivotal in shaping a prestige gathering, delivered in partnership with the SA Government, Atlassian, Amazon Web Services, and others. Her experience working and studying abroad, including her exposure to the start-up ecosystem in Jakarta through a scholarship from the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan, has given her a unique perspective on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Cintya Dharmayanti
Science communicator, chemist and actor
A PhD candidate at UniSA, Cintya Dharmayanti is a also charismatic science communicator. She was selected as a 2023 CAS Future Leader by the American Chemical Society, alongside fellow learners from the likes of MiT, Berkeley and Harvard. With degrees in pharmaceutical science and biomedical research, this young gun is developing pH-responsive polymeric nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery for ovarian cancer patients. An awarded science communicator, she was chosen for an @Animate_Science internship in 2023. An office holder in the SA branch of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, her other claim to fame is starring alongside Julia Roberts and George Clooney in the movie Ticket to Paradise.
PHIL HOFFMANN TRAVEL COMMUNITY CHAMPION AWARD
Lidia Hall
Founder and CEO of Resolute Ready
Searing personal trauma led Lidia Hall to found an impressive online global directory that aims to provide 24/7 support services to military veterans, first responders and their families. Its motto is Online – One stop! One call! One Life! Ms Hall became a carer a decade ago, when her veteran husband battled severe PTSD and alcohol misuse disorder after being shot on deployment in East Timor. Forced to deal with a maze of bureaucracy, she discovered there are close to 6000 existing service organisations in Australia, but few would know where and how to access them. Resolute Ready is a one-stop shop and support services aren’t just limited to Australia; there are also contacts for Canada, England, Italy, New Zealand, Turkey, Ukraine and the US. During 2023, Ms Hall made recommendations to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and participated in the National Advisory Committee for Open Arms that reports directly to the Assistant Minister for Defence and Veterans Affairs. Resolute Ready will provide early intervention initiatives and programs to restore familial relationships harmed by service trauma, and is working towards a 24/7 crisis hotline with access to a network of professionals and triage nurses for PTSD support and welfare checks.
Lesley Salem, AM
Artist, author and nurse practitioner
This Wonnarua nurse practitioner has been recognised for her significant contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities, with the 2023 Tirkapena Indigenous Award from the University of Adelaide. Ms Salem works tirelessly to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, both through her passionate advocacy and her work as a nurse practitioner. Following in the footsteps of her late father Les Elvin, an artist and Elder of the Wonnarua Nation, she has used the power of art to create change and help people engage with health services.
Alexandra Thomas
Founder of #plantaseedforsafety
With the message that safety doesn’t have to be boring, Ms Thomas established #PlantASeedForSafety, a rural social change initiative that encourages men, women and children to return home safe and well at the end of each day. A “School of the Air kid” growing up on a remote Outback sheep station, she lived through severe drought and from age 15 became a carer for her seriously ill father. Using thought-provoking social media campaigns, including #PlantASeedForSafety and #SaveALifeListenToYourWife, she is disrupting the traditional narrative and inspiring people to make better choices. Her project aims to profile the stories of 100+ rural women from across Australia and NZ to empower them to have conversations about health and safety. She has taken the #PlantASeedForSafety Pledge to rural communities through 2023, with virtual and real life engagement, spread into NZ, taken part on podcasts and created a range of branded workwear
Christine Robertson, OAM
Co-founder and leader of Lost Pets of SA
This 24/7 community initiative has been reuniting South Aussies with their beloved pets since 2013, although it has grown in leaps and bounds since modest beginnings. Christine Robertson is Lost Pets of SA’s dedicated co-founder and leader. Its inspiring motto is “no judgments, just help” and it works many small miracles while advocating, always, for kindness. Ms Robertson has been recognised as 2023 SA Local Hero in the Australian of the Year Awards along with a number of other honours. A registered charity, Lost Pets of SA has a Facebook page with more than 92,000 followers and dozens of volunteers. Ms Robertson also runs Chip Blitz, offering $10 pet microchipping. She is the executive officer of the popular Adelaide Showground Farmers Marketand on the Women’s Honour Roll.
Stella Braund
Domestic violence and sex assault campaigner
This powerful advocate played a leading role in establishing the National Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Helpline – 1800 RESPECT, which has had a far-reaching impact across Australia, enabling vulnerable individuals and children to access crisis supports and counselling. Ms Braund has used her lived experience of childhood domestic violence, sexual assault and trauma to improve the lives of countless others and has been recognised as a South Australian Citizen of the Year and is on the Women’s Honour Roll. She has devoted her personal and professional life to improving mental health and social services, reducing stigma and discrimination, and preventing suicide. Ms Braund is a tireless advocate for marginalised and vulnerable communities, and holds numerous executive board appointments across government. She continues to seek better mental health policy, planning, emergency responses and service design throughout SA Health, campaigning for a greater lived experience workforce.
Tania Jolley
Co-founder of DNA Security Solutions and founder of Lashes of Change
Catching criminals and making mascaras is all part of the brief for serial entrepreneur Tania Jolley. As the co-founder of DNA Security Solutions and founder of Lashes of Change, Ms Jolley is dedicated to finding answers to life’s problems – little and large. DNA Security Solutions’ patented technology involves spraying a non-toxic, water-based solution embedded with a synthetic DNA fingerprint and ultraviolet ink onto criminals. With that product a success that is headed for the US, Ms Jolley has commercialised a world-first, fully customisable and refillable mascara with interchangeable brushes, colours, formulas and cases. Her bespoke “made by you, for you” sustainable mascara leaves a legacy, with 25 per cent of profits donated to The Centre for Cancer Biology, with a focus on breast cancer research here in SA; a subject close to Ms Jolley’s heart following her 2017 diagnosis.
THE ADVERTISER FOUNDATION INSPIRATION AWARD
Renee Staska
Childhood dementia advocate
This courageous single mum has three beautiful children – Hudson, Holly and Austin – who all have Niemann-Pick disease type C1, which is a type of childhood dementia. The condition is very rare, with the Staska siblings the only sufferers in SA. Most will not live to see their 21st birthday. Renee’s brave and passionate advocacy has greatly raised awareness of the condition and inspired a number of high-profile charity initiatives, with the support of prominent SA charity Little Heroes, helping fund research at Flinders University.
Kelly Stevens
Charlie’s Rainbow founder
This Belair hairdresser lost her son Charlie to myeloid leukaemia just days after his third birthday in 2021. Since then, she has been fighting to find a cure; so far raising more than $206,000 to fund pediatric cancer research at UniSA through Charlie’s Rainbow. Ms Stevens’ mission is to stop any other child having to go through what her family’s beloved “rainbow unicorn’’ did. The funds support a dedicated postdoctoral researcher collaborating with Professor Richard D’Andrea and his team at UniSA and focusing on juvenile AML research, plus a PhD scholarship in the field.
Courtney Hunter-Hebberman
First Nations advocate
This First Nations mother’s quest to find justice over her daughter’s death was what sparked the Walkley Award-winning Dying Rose investigation, and unveiled the issues explored around the deaths of Indigenous women. She’s been relentless in her pursuit of justice for her daughter Rose and along the way become an advocate, connecting with other First Nations families who have also lost their daughters and sisters in cases where they feel police did not properly investigate. Ms Hunter-Hebberman been fearless in speaking up on these issues, while also dealing with her own profound grief. She is prominent in the community through her work caring for Country through traditional fire management. She is an advocate for strengthening partnerships between First Nations people and landholders in the Hills and Fleurieu region, which are the traditional lands of the Peramangk people, and also works with Indigenous youth.
Jennifer Howard
Safe Pets Safe Families founder
Ms Howard was inspired to found Safe Pets Safe Families by her lived experience fleeing with her children from a violent relationship, but being forced to leave her beloved dogs behind. What began with her offering to personally foster the pets of those in crisis, then a small Facebook group, has burgeoned into a “pretty massive organisation’’. Safe Pets Safe Families now runs multiple programs from fostering, pop up vet clinics and pet food drives to a vet crisis fund. Ms Howard believes that failing to address the issue of pets in domestic violence situations can lead to tragedy, as victims may delay their escape. Safe Pets Safe Families cover all of metropolitan Adelaide as well as the Hills regions, Fleurieu Peninsula and the Riverland – and even further afield when they can. She also runs Paws & Pals, which helps the homeless and their pets.
Stephanie-Jo Malan
CEO & founder of The Village Co
When this midwife and mum of two started her charity in 2018, it supported 100 women – the number is now nearing 1000. Through the dedication of midwives and social workers across the state, The Village Co identifies families at their most vulnerable moments. It cares for new mothers experiencing a range of hardships, providing essential care packs with nappies, baby clothes, wipes, breast pads, and more. The Village Co also supplies manual breast pumps and vouchers for pre-made meals, supported by Chefs on Wheels. Ms Malan has been chosen as a 2024 regional winner in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year social impact award, which recognises “incredible individuals … changing the fabric of society”.
Annaliese Holland
Youth palliative care advocate
Battling a life-limiting condition called auto-immune autonomic ganglionopathy, this courageous young woman is committed to raising awareness and funds for young people in palliative care. Despite chronic pain, Ms Holland has walked the City-Bay and raised thousands of dollars for The Hospital Research Foundation. Her condition has attacked her nervous system leaving her with multiple organ failures. She is unable to eat or drink normally and is in constant debilitating pain and nausea. Ms Holland has made it her life’s legacy to raise awareness about the unique circumstances that come with being young and in palliative care which don’t get often spoken about, including the option of Voluntary Assisted Dying, inspired by her late friend Lily Thai, who exercised that option in 2023.
SA WEEKEND INNOVATOR AWARD
Dr Laura Eadie
SAHMRI, Peter Nelson Leukaemia Research Fellow, Cancer Council SA Beat Cancer Fellow, University of Adelaide lecturer
This multi-award-winning biomedical researcher’s work targets childhood leukaemia with new-found precision. Her team focuses on the aggressive and often deadly T-cell ALL, which is treated with strong chemotherapy. This treatment helps many child patients, but doesn’t work for all. Dr Eadie’s team sequences the genetic code of a patient’s leukaemia cells to identify the disease-causing mutations. They also create humanised mouse avatars for leukaemia patients and use them in pre-clinical drug trials. Combined, these models allow them to identify effective therapies tailored to each patient. Dr Eadie’s findings will ultimately provide clinicians with an arsenal of alternative treatment options and hope for patients who have relapsed. Dr Eadie is previous Fulbright scholar as well as a TEDx speaker and accomplished science communicator, and a mentor to the next generation of scientists. She has secured more than $3.8 million in fellowship and project grant funding.
Dr Sarah Scholten
University of Adelaide, Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing
This Superstar of STEM’s X (Twitter) handle is @that laser lady. Dr Scholten is an experimental physicist generating international attention for turning research streams into real world applications tackling complex problems. She has developed a dual-colour two-photon Rb clock set to improve the next generation of GPS satellites as well as an “optical dog’s nose”’ paving the way for disease detection using lasers. The terrestrial Rb clock she built operated successfully aboard a NZ ship during the RIMPAC 2022 naval exercise, and a satellite compatible Rb clock is being ruggedised with a commercialisation partner. Dr Scholten has also been involved in developing a non-invasive laser that can “smell”, unravelling the chemical composition of exhaled breath to detect disease, which is set to begin clinical trials, generating international interest. She is part of the research team at the $35m ARC Centre of Excellence in Optical Microcombs for Breakthrough Science led by RMIT. The SA node will be the largest in the Centre of Excellence.
Dr Dhani Dharmaprani
Future Making Fellow, Australian Institute for Machine Learning, University of Adelaide
Multi-award-winner mechanical engineer and postdoctoral researcher Dhani Dharmaprani’s dream is to “fix hearts”. She lost her little brother to a cardiac condition, inspiring her choice of profession. Her current research aims to unravel the mechanisms responsible for dangerous arrhythmias in the heart, applying novel computational and mathematical approaches. The goal is to understand why irregular heart rhythms occur, how these conditions can be stopped or better treated. In the past year she has won a 2023 Flinders University Early Career Alumni Award and been named among the Superstars of STEM. Last year, Dr Dharmaprani completed a research visit to the UK, with stints at prestigious Imperial College and Queen Mary University. She has presented at 16 national/international conferences and participated as faculty for prominent scientific societies such as the Heart Rhythm Society, the premier scientific body in cardiac electrophysiology.
Dr Sarah Boyle
Research fellow, Centre for Cancer Biology, UniSA
This exceptional young leader in the field of breast cancer research investigates biochemical and mechanical drivers of cancer-promoting changes in the microenvironment and novel therapeutic opportunities to arrest tumour progression. She was awarded the 2023 James McWha Rising Star Award from the University of Adelaide. Since her graduation, she has worked at the Centre for Cancer Biology, achieving three consecutive fellowships from the Royal Adelaide Hospital, The Hospital Research Foundation Group, and the highly competitive Australian Research Council. During her final year of her Bachelor’s degree, Dr Boyle’s own mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and she continues to be motivated by working with patients battling the disease.
Ishika Mahajan
Researcher, Centre for Cancer Biology, UniSA
At just 22, Ishika Mahajan is at the forefront of the battle against glioblastoma – one of the most lethal brain cancers. Four years ago, she moved to SA from a small town in India to pursue the Bachelor of Biomedical Research (Honours) at UniSA. Through her work in AI, Machine Learning and Bioinformatics, she has found potential therapeutic targets that she is now validating through experiments at the Centre of Cancer Biology. Despite her youth, this young researcher holds a prestigious diploma in Genomics from Harvard University and an impressive collection of more than 35 awards recognising her leadership and contributions to STEM research. She was named Women in Innovation SA’s Young Innovator of the Year in 2023.
Dr Xanthe Strudwick
Research Fellow, Regenerative Medicine Laboratories, Future Industries Institute, UniSA
Dr Strudwick, recently named a 2023 SA Young Tall Poppy of Science, is investigating why some wounds don’t heal and why others, that do, form deep scars. The dramatic rise in the number of people with chronic wounds – a common side effect of diabetes, obesity, vascular and auto-immune diseases – is now costing the healthcare system more than $3 billion each year. Rising antimicrobial resistance is increasing infection rates, compounding the problems faced by vulnerable patients and creating serious challenges for medical teams worldwide.
Dr Strudwick is working with a multidisciplinary team to create a new smart wound dressing that clears infections and jump-starts the body’s own healing processes. The holy grail is true wound regeneration, where the restored skin appears identical to and works as well as the original. According to Wounds Australia, more than 420,000 people suffer from chronic wounds in Australia. Dr Strudwick is among a growing body of scientists tackling this health crisis with new, cutting-edge technology.
SKYCITY HOSPITALITY HERO AWARD
Nicola Palmer
Executive chef, Watervale Hotel
This creative licensee draws inspiration for her food from her organic, biodynamic, permaculture farm and sustainability practices. The exec chef of Clare Valley’s multi-awarded Watervale Hotel also manages the venue, along with nearby Watervale General Store and Providore, and Penobscot Farm. A qualified jeweller with a designer’s eye, Ms Palmer oversaw the hotel’s recent redevelopment. Her kitchen is farm-driven, with a distinctly seasonal menu. Her hotel earned the Best Hotel Restaurant in the World 2023 title from Corporate Livewire, and Best Culinary Experience in the World by luxury travel publication LUXlife. Closer to home, it has been honoured as the Best Restaurant in Regional SA by the Australian Hotels Association four years running. At the National AHA awards, Ms Palmer was recognised for demonstrating the best innovation, environmental and sustainability practices of any Australian hotel, and the work being done to learn from Ngadjuri First Nations Elders through a program she calls “retrospective evolution’’.
Teagan Carpenter
Vintage Chef Co founder
A passion born out of spending time in her family’s restaurant as a child has seen this down-to-earth Barossa mum forge a multi-layer, multimillion-dollar hospitality business, employing more than 50 locals. Ms Carpenter runs an event-catering business and meal delivery service, providing thousands of home-cooked meals “that feel like you’ve spent all afternoon in the kitchen” for time-poor individuals and families from the heart of Adelaide and the Hills to Clare Valley, the Fleurieu Peninsula and Port Pirie. Last year, the high-energy Ms Carpenter opened the Starplex cafe at Gawler and has expanded her meal delivery capacity.
Kate Goodman
Head winemaker, Penley Estate
As a crowning achievement in her illustrious career, Ms Goodman was named the 2024 Winemaker of the Year by the prestigious Halliday Wine Companion. Blending the art and science of winemaking has been a more than three decade-long passion for Ms Goodman, who first began working as a cellar hand in 1993. With degrees in biomedical science and oenology, her wine journey has taken her from McLaren Vale to Great Western and the Yarra Valley, before bringing her home to Coonawarra’s Penley Estate, where she has reinvented the wine program with daring, experimental and exciting drops. Her recent success is all the more remarkable as she has battled breast cancer in 2017 and 2021, at one stage losing her sense of taste and smell.
Lauren Langfield
General manager and head winemaker, Orbis Wines
This rising star was named winner of the Young Gun of Wine Best New Act in 2022, and followed up with the Young Gun of Wine Winemaker of the Year Award in 2023. Ms Langfield has been leading the charge with Orbis Wines: a McLaren Vale wine brand with a focus on carbon emission reduction, environmental excellence and sustainable wine production. It recently won the 2023 South Australian Wine Industry Association Environmental Excellence Award, and was named a winery to watch by wine and drinks writer Max Allen.
Trinh Richards
Co-owner and chef Little Rickshaw
From a tiny kitchen and 20 seats in a small shed that was the original Blacksmith in Aldinga, Ms Richards has built an in-demand and much admired dining experience at the Little Rickshaw. Growing up in suburban Adelaide as the child of Vietnamese migrants, she learned to cook at home. Her father, a fisherman, and her mother, a tea and coffee farmer in their homeland, inspired her passion for food and flavour. From humble beginnings selling simple takeaway offerings, her modern Asian eatery has evolved and grown in its appealing rustic setting. Ms Richards has developed the menu into a modern take on Southeast Asian flavours with a focus on freshness and local produce, so beloved that it is hard to get a booking.
Corrina Wright
Winemaker and director, Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards
She’s been described as a “legend in the making’’ by WBM magazine, and this sixth-generation SA winemaker is forging a new direction among the vines that her forebears planted in McLaren Vale some 180 years ago. Among the future-focused Ms Wright’s 2023 projects was a collab with Finnish Formula One ace Valtteri Bottas – a 2022 McLaren Vale shiraz called Ihana. Passionate about her home, wine industry and local community, she serves on the Australian Women in Wine advisory board, the Australian Wine Research Institute board member and is president of the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. Ms Wright is a Len Evans scholar and was awarded the ASVO Winemaker of the Year in 2019 and Family Business Australia’s inaugural Leading Women in Family Business Award in 2021.
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