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American honour for USC health professor
A University of the Sunshine Coast public health academic has become the only Australian to receive the highest research honour from the American Academy of Health Behaviour.
Professor John Lowe, who is Head of USC’s School of Health and Sport Sciences, is the American academy’s 2011 Research Laureate winner.
The award, given out annually since 2001, recognises an outstanding individual who has had a substantial impact on health behaviour research.
Professor Lowe, who has previously worked at the University of Iowa and University of Queensland, said the award reflected his 30 years of research and more than 250 publications.
His current research, conducted on the Sunshine Coast, includes:
• How to prevent pregnant women from relapsing into smoking;
• How to encourage young adults to be sun-safe and persuade more people to check for early signs of melanoma and non-cancerous growths;
• How to lower obesity levels among 18-24 year olds by understanding environmental cues to eat, such as advertising or even clock-watching.
“Most of this continues my previous studies of different populations in American and Eastern Europe,” Professor Lowe said.
“I’m very humbled because this award is given by my peers. It’s a significant milestone for USC and acknowledges the excellent scientific work done in Australia.”
The academy is a multi-disciplinary society of health behaviour scholars and researchers. It selects the annual award from several hundred Fellows.
To be a Fellow, an individual must meet criteria such as: presenting at least 75 scientific papers at national or international professional meetings; receiving at least 25 external research grants; and receiving at least $1.5million in external grants.
Professor Lowe will officially receive the medallion at the annual conference in March, 2011, in the US, where he will also give a keynote address that will be published in the American Journal of Health Behaviour.
– Julie Gatehouse