Sydney, Thursday 3 July, 2025
Franklin Women is proud to announce the recipients of the most recent Carer’s Scholarship round, further investing in the careers of women whose important work contributes to improving health outcomes for the community.
Offered twice a year, the Franklin Women Carer’s Scholarship aims to alleviate financial and logistical barriers associated with unpaid caring responsibilities, enabling recipients to participate in valuable career opportunities, from presenting at international conferences to completing key research milestones or joining career-enhancing workshops.
The recipients for Round 2 of the 2025 Carer’s Scholarship work across a broad range of health disciplines, including endocrinology research, cryo-electron microscopy, musculoskeletal physiotherapy, biomedical engineering and biomedical science. This highlights the breadth of their impact on society.
They are:
- Louise Drysdale, Clinical Educator Physiotherapy and PhD candidate, The University of Canberra
- Dr Amy Dwyer, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide Medical School
- Dr Dorna Esrafilzadeh, Senior Lecturer Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering , The University of New South Wales
- Dr Sara Mohamed, Research Officer, Children’s Cancer Institute
- Dr Yufeng Zhao, Senior Technical Officer, CryoEM, MicroED and Electron Tomography Microscopy Specialist The University of Wollongong
For Dr Amy Dwyer, an early-career researcher focused on improving outcomes for oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer patients, the scholarship allowed her to take up a prestigious speaking opportunity without compromising her caregiving role.
“With support from Franklin Women’s Carer’s Scholarship, I didn’t have to choose between my primary caregiving responsibilities and the opportunity to speak at a world-renowned conference in my field,” said Dr Dwyer. “This opportunity will have an immeasurable impact on my career trajectory, made possible knowing my son is safe, happy and healthy.”
For Dr Yufeng Zhao, a microscopy specialist advancing cryo-electron techniques to support molecular discovery, the scholarship made international travel for a rare scientific meeting possible.
“With the Carer’s Scholarship, my children’s care was well arranged and I was able to travel to Italy with peace of mind and immerse myself in the International School of Electron Crystallography, which only happens every seven years,” said Dr Zhao.“I came home with valuable new knowledge, skills and international collaborations that will shape the next phase of my research.”
The Franklin Women Carer’s Scholarship is delivered in partnership with Sydney Local Health District, whose Chief Executive Deb Willcox AM said:
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Franklin Women Founder Dr Melina Georgousakis said the scholarship continues to be one of the clearest examples of collective impact in action.
“A proportion of every Franklin Women membership fee goes directly to funding this initiative. This investment from Franklin Women members, along with our long-term partnership with Sydney Local Health District, is what makes this scholarship both possible and sustainable. As the Franklin Women community grows, so does this scholarship fund.”
Since launching ten years ago, the Carer’s Scholarship has awarded more than $60,500 to support the career development of individuals who also hold unpaid caregiving responsibilities, including caring for young children, elderly relatives or loved ones with additional needs.
Despite the progress made towards achieving a diverse and equitable health and medical research workforce, women are still under-represented in leadership roles. It is important to recognise the impact that caregiving can have on an individual’s ability to participate in career opportunities, especially for women, who are still more likely to assume unpaid caring responsibilities in society.
Applications for the next round will open in September 2025.
Franklin Women
Franklin Women is Australia’s only professional community dedicated to supporting the careers of women working across the health and medical research ecosystem.
Learn more and become a member
Sydney Local Health District
Sydney Local District is responsible for the health and wellbeing of more than 740,000 people living, working or studying in the centre and inner west of Sydney, as well as many more from rural and remote parts of NSW and Australia.