Lung Foundation Australia has recognised six outstanding leaders in respiratory medicine and research as 2026 Lung Health Legend Award recipients, celebrating their long-standing contributions to improving lung health for all Australians.
The awards were presented on Thursday at Admiralty House by Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, Australia’s Governor-General.
The Lung Health Legends Awards recognise individuals who have made sustained and significant contributions to advancing Lung Foundation Australia’s mission to improve lung health for all and reduce the burden of lung disease and lung cancer in Australia. Recipients are nominated by their peers and endorsed by the organisation’s Board of Directors.
2026 Lung Health Legend Award Recipients
Professor Catherine Jones
Specialist area: Radiology with a strong interest in cardiothoracic imaging, including occupational lung disease and lung cancer screening.
Professor Catherine Jones practises general radiology with a strong interest in cardiothoracic imaging, including occupational lung disease imaging, particularly in dust-exposed workers. She advises several governments and clinical taskforces on appropriate imaging in dust disease. Catherine is adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney Faculty of medicine and health, and is adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Planetary Health at Monash University.
She graduated from a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics at the University of Queensland in 1997, and subsequently from medical school at the University of Queensland in 2001, before undertaking surgical and radiological training in the UK. She then completed a sub-specialty radiology fellowship in Vancouver Canada, in cardiothoracic radiology before returning to Australia in 2011. She has fellowship qualifications in both Australia and the UK.
She is a consultant radiologist at I-MED Radiology and at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Brisbane.
Over the last 2.5 years she has served as a member of the expert advisory committee in the design and implementation of the National Lung Cancer Screening Program, and has served as an executive member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Thoracic Radiology for the last 6 years.
Professor Jones has been an active member of Lung Foundation Australia’s committees and workgroups over the years, including:
- Member of the OLD (Occupational Lung Disease) Network Steering Committee
- Member of the 2025 (ALCC) Australian Lung Cancer Conference Steering Committee
We thank Professor Jones for her dedication to the advancement in radiology, particularly in the occupational lung and dust disease space.
Professor Fraser Brims
Specialist area: lung cancer screening and occupational and dust related lung disease.
Professor Fraser Brims is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Interim Associate Dean at Curtin Medical School, where he was part of the founding academic team. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians of London.
He is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Respiratory Health where he leads the Occupational and Respiratory Health Research Unit and he Chairs the Western Australian Mesothelioma Registry.
He is the lead investigator for the LUCAP project, proudly supported by Lung Foundation Australia. His main research interests include clinical and epidemiological aspects of occupational related lung disease, mesothelioma and the detection of early lung cancer using low dose CT scans. He was an invited expert on the National Dust Disease Taskforce where he provided key advice to Federal Government on the silicosis national action plan prevention and management. More recently, Fraser was part of the Expert Advisory Group for the National Lung Cancer Screening Program and is the Medical Advisor on the NLCSP implementation to WA Department of Health.
Professor Brims has been an active member of Lung Foundation Australia’s committees and workgroups over the years, including:
- Member of the 2020 Australian Lung Cancer Conference (ALCC) Scientific Committee
- 2023 & 2025 ALCC co-convenor
- Former Member of (ALTG) Australian Lung Cancer Trials Group and Scientific Advisory Committee
- Member of the (OLD) Occupational Lung Disease Working Group
- Member of the (CORDET) Clinical Occupational Respiratory Disease Education and Training Working Group
We thank Professor Brims for his commitment to lung cancer policy, advocacy, patient care and leadership in dust disease and lung cancer space.
Professor Kenneth O’Bryne
Specialist area: thoracic oncology in lung cancer.
Professor Ken O’Byrne a Professor of Medical Oncology and clinical lead for the ‘Cancer and Ageing Research Program’ at the Queensland University of Technology Translational Research Institute laboratories on the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus. He is the founder of the British Thoracic Oncology Group (BTOG), and founder member of the European thoracic oncology platform (ETOP), a member of the ESMO chest tumours faculty, is on the education and fellowship committees of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and on the board of the Thoracic Alliance for Cancer Trials (TACT).
He is a former Co-Chair of the advanced lung cancer sub-committee of the Australian Lung cancer Trials Group (ALTG), and a member of the Medical Oncology Group of Australasia (MOGA), Australian Genomics Health Alliance (AGHA) and Queensland Genomics Health Alliance (QGHA).
His research includes biomarker identification in solid and liquid biopsies, drug resistance linked to cancer ‘stemness’ and genomic instability. His collaborations are global with ongoing projects on drug resistance, DNA repair and genomic instability, and whole genome and exome sequencing linked to groups in Europe and the US.
Professor O’Byrne has been an active member of Lung Foundation Australia’s committees and workgroups over the years, including:
- Member of the 2023 & 2023 (ALCC) Australian Lung Cancer Conference Scientific Committees
- Former Co-Chair and Member of (ALTG) Australian Lung Cancer Trials Group and Scientific Advisory Committee
- Former Member of the (TACT) Thoracic Alliance for Cancer Trials Board
We thank Professor O’Byrne for his tireless commitment to oncology and improving the lives of those diagnosed with lung cancer and their families.
Associate Professor David Fielding
Specialist area: lung cancer and genomic testing.
Associate Professor David Fielding is a thoracic physician and Director of Thoracic Medicine at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. His main procedural focus is on state-of-the-art pulmonary nodule biopsy with a focus on readiness for CT Screen detected nodules.
He is also a clinical researcher collaborating with molecular scientists at UQCCR, QIMR Berghoffer and Griffith University focusing on improving molecular diagnostics in EBUS TBNA specimens. Procedural interests include ION Robotic bronchoscopy, all forms of endobronchial ultrasound, interventional procedures including stenting and rigid bronchoscopy and pleural procedures including pleuroscopy.
His current research is focused on improving peripheral nodule biopsy along with developing non-invasive biomarkers of lung nodules in breath saliva blood DNA and microvesicles. In molecular genetics of lung cancer specimens with a focus on building versatility to ensure every case gets adequate sampling and showing the potential of WES and WGS in EBUS and other biopsy specimens.
Associate Professor Fielding has been an active member of Lung Foundation Australia’s committees and workgroups over the years, including:
- Former Member of Australian Lung Cancer Trials Group (ALTG)
We thank Associate Professor Fielding for his dedication to lung cancer, screening and genomic testing.
Professor Jane Bourke
Specialist area: respiratory pharmacology.
Professor Jane Bourke leads the Respiratory Pharmacology Group in the Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) at Monash University. Jane was awarded Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ, 2019), American Thoracic Society (2020) and Asia Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR, 2025) in recognition of her contributions to respiratory science.
Jane has an international research reputation for innovative research across three major themes: (1) novel bronchodilators and antifibrotics for lung disease including asthma, pulmonary hypertension and IPF; (2) repurposing pirfenidone for COPD exacerbations and (3) early detection and drug screening in silicosis. She was the first researcher to establish the novel precision cut lung slice (PCLS) technique in Australia and has pioneered its integration into translational studies across these research areas.
She is the current Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash and recently contributed to the Australian Association of Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) Panel on Sex and Gender Equity in Medical Research.
Professor Bourke has been an active member of Lung Foundation Australia’s committees and workgroups over the years, including the (OLD) Occupational Lung Disease Network Steering Committee.
We thank Professor Bourke for her commitment to respiratory pharmacology, for improving the lives of people living with lung disease and for leading the way with diversity and equity within the respiratory health space.
Professor Gary Anderson
Specialist area: pharmacology and immunology in respiratory medicine.
Professor Gary Anderson is a pharmacologist and immunologist based at the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute and the Medical Faculty at the University of Melbourne, where he is a tenured Professor and Director of the Lung Health Research Centre. His research combines experimental genetic models with clinical translation to discover new disease mechanisms. He has contributed directly to the discovery and development of four medicines used in clinical respiratory medicine and created the “endotype” paradigm which has helped shape precision medicine practice internationally.
He co-founded, and served as Research Director of, the Cooperative Research Centre for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases (CRC-CID), and has served at executive level on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. He has served on the Board of Directors of TSANZ, where he Chaired the Research Committee, and served on the Council of Lung Foundation Australia. He is a recipient of the TSANZ Research Medal and is an elected Fellow of TSANZ, ERS, ATS and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. He founded, and leads, the CURE Asthma Initiative.
Professor Anderson has been an active member of Lung Foundation Australia’s committees and workgroups over the years, including:
- Former Member of Lungs 4 Life Support Group
- Former Member of the LFA National Council
- Member (PACT) Pulmonary Fibrosis Australasian Clinical Trials Network
- Member of the 2026 COPD Symposium Scientific Comittee
- LFA Media Spokesperson
We thank Professor Anderson for his years of allegiance to respiratory medicine, for his dedication to research in pharmacology, immunology and the creation of new medicines.
Lung Foundation Australia Board Chair and Respiratory Physician, Lucy Morgan, said the recipients represent some of the most influential contributors to respiratory health in Australia.
“The Lung Health Legend Awards recognise individuals whose dedication and leadership have transformed lung health in Australia,” Professor Morgan said.
“From pioneering research and advancing new treatments to shaping national screening programs, their work is improving outcomes and saving lives.”
“It was a great honour to recognise these outstanding leaders at the Governor-General’s office, highlighting the importance of lung health for all and the remarkable people working to improve it.”
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