ACHS Medallist 2024 - Professor Paul Kelly

We are pleased to announce that Professor Paul Kelly has been awarded the prestigious ACHS Medal 2024, recognising his exceptional contributions to advancing health quality and safety.

Professor Kelly is a public health physician and epidemiologist with more than 30 years’ research experience. He has worked around the world in health system development and infectious disease epidemiology.

He is former Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Government Department of Health. He has spent a distinguished career dedicated to the investigation and delivery of best clinical care, not only domestically, but also internationally in developing and under resourced nations.

Professor Kelly was one of the leads in developing the FluCAN project – a national influenza surveillance system used by hospitals to track patients who are hospitalised with influenza.  This work helps to determine the effectiveness of the yearly influenza vaccine.

He was Chief Health Officer for the Australian Capital Territory and Deputy Director General of Population Health in the ACT Government Health Directorate.  He is a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council, and a founding partner of the Australian Prevention Partnership Centre.  He is also a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the Australian Burden of Disease Study and of two World Health Organization Advisory Groups - International Health Regulations Roster of Experts and Nutritional Guidelines Advisory Group.

Professor Kelly is currently an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Public Health Policy Journal and the Editor of the ACT Population Health Bulletin.

Professor Kelly has previously worked in research, health systems development, post-graduate teaching and as a health service executive including five years in the role of Director of the Masters of Applied Epidemiology Program at the National Centre for Epidemiology & Population Health at ANU, and nine years in the Northern Territory working as a Principle Research Fellow with the Menzies School of Health Research, as well as with the Centre for Disease Control in the NT Department of Health. During this time, he played a key and enduring role in the evolving events in East Timor, as well as in the Northern Territories issues confronting first nation health.

Professor Kelly’s work has taken him to five countries on four continents including Malawi, Indonesia, East Timor, and the UK.

He was the principal investigator in the initial development and implementation of the Influenza Complications Alert Network and continues in the role of co-investigator.  For three years he was also the Chair of the Advisory Board of TEPHINET, the global peak body for field epidemiology training programmes, representing over 50 national programmes.

Professor Kelly has demonstrated himself as a passionate advocate for the Safety and Quality agenda, as well as profound improvements in healthcare along with access. 

Congratulations Professor Kelly on being the deserving winner of the prestigious ACHS Medal 2024, your experiences and achievements are nothing short of inspiring.