Professor Julie Redfern of Terrigal has taken out the NSW Woman of Excellence Award at the 2022 NSW Woman of the Year Awards.
Announced on March 9, during International Women’s Week, the awards highlighted the achievements of winners in a variety of categories.
For Redfern, who has done ground-breaking work in the field of rehabilitation for heart attack patients, the award came as a shock.
“I was very humbled,” Redfern said.
“It made me very appreciative of everyone I have worked with over many years to receive this public recognition.
“I see this as a real opportunity for someone like me to advocate for the potential of girls and young women in all areas and what they can do.”
Redfern participated in a panel session with other category winners on the day the award was announced and will appear at various functions throughout the year.
“Being in that room and seeing what amazing things these women do made it even more of a compliment to be recognised,” she said.
“I will be spending the year encouraging all women to contribute whatever they can to our society.”
A Professor of Public Health and a Research Academic Director at the University of Sydney, Redfern is transforming the way recovering heart attack patients are supported and cared for.
Redfern and her team, with grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, started by building up a research program, working with patients to see how they could be given more choice in helping to reduce the risk of another heart attack.
“One of the challenges has been modernising the space in terms of working with programs to reduce the paperwork and get the data digitalised,” she said.
“The next step will be working with governments to make sure the data we collect is available to rehabilitation providers.
“We are working with 380 cardiac rehabilitation providers around Australia to get this data compiled.”
Terry Collins