Deakin researcher takes out 2024 Victorian Young Tall Poppy of the Year

Dr Kate Lycett from Deakin’s SEED Lifespan has officially been named the 2024 Victorian Young Tall Poppy of the Year – marking the fourth year in a row a Deakin recipient has been honoured with this prestigious title.

Run by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS), the Tall Poppy Awards recognise excellence in research as well as enthusiasm for communicating science beyond the walls of the laboratory.

Dr Paddy Dempsey from Deakin's Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN) was also named among  this year's Victorian Young Tall Poppy finalists.

The Young Tall Poppy Awards are offered on a state-by-state basis to celebrate researchers across science, engineering and mathematics.

Winning research

Dr Lycett’s research aims to identify key measures of health and wellbeing to help collectively understand the state of the nation beyond traditional economic metrics, in turn driving evidence-based change. In addition, it uses place-based citizen science to drive individual behavioural change and policy change to create more sustainable and equitable communities.

Her research areas include children and young people, epidemiology, public health, wellbeing economies, subjective wellbeing, mental health, obesity, environmental justice, air pollution and societal progress.

‘Making our research easily accessible to citizens and policy makers is essential to drive evidence-based decisions to build a more sustainable and equitable future. I am delighted to achieve the Tall Poppy, an award that celebrates science communication,’ Dr Lycett said.

Dr Lycett is lead researcher for the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index, a study that has been tracking the subjective wellbeing of Australians for close to 25 years. She is also the research lead on the Future Healthy Countdown 2030 and leads ‘Breathe Melbourne’, a pioneering Deakin-led collaboration with Dyson using citizen science to track inner-city air pollution at six primary schools.

She has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed articles in high-quality journals and her research teams have been awarded over $3 million in grant funding.

Read more on Dr Lycett’s profile.

Recognition of  research that gets us moving

Dr Dempsey is a multidisciplinary medical research scientist and a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Research Fellow based at the Baker-Deakin Department of Lifestyle and Diabetes - a collaborative partnership between the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and Deakin - hosted by IPAN. His research focuses on the role of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep and diet, including their interacting effects, in the prevention and management of chronic diseases, particularly type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Dr Dempsey’s work on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and diabetes has appeared in a variety of high-impact medical, physiological, and public health journals and influenced international physical activity/exercise clinical guidelines for those with diabetes and hypertension. He has also been directly involved in physical activity and sedentary behaviour guideline development and writing for the American Diabetes Association, Exercise and Sports Science Australia and the World Health Organisation.

Read more on Dr Dempsey’s profile

Want to make a difference like our 2024 Young Tall Poppies? Get it done at Deakin.

With a PhD from Australia's most progressive research university, you'll develop the expertise needed to drive change in your field. At Deakin, we focus on developing your practical research skills and connecting you to global research networks, so you’re ready and able to break new ground.

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