Three Pacific Islanders have been awarded the 2017 Greg Urwin Awards giving them opportunities to develop skills, experience and networks in their fields of expertise.
The three recipient are Etivina Lovo of the Fiji National University, Doctor Lalotoa Mulitalo of the University of Queensland’s TC Berine School of Law and Vincent Lal of the University of Queensland.
The three will receive financial support to undertake a three-month placement to enhance their experience and knowledge and contribute to development in the region.
Australia’s Acting High Commissioner to Fiji Amy Crago says the 2017 recipients were selected from a high caliber of applicants from the Pacific.
Lovo who is currently a Research Fellow on Bioethics and Professionalism at FNU’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences says her focus is on developing curriculum for Bioethics Education and a platform for Research Bioethics Governance with Ministries of Health in the region.
The 51-year-old lecturer says Bioethics is something new in the pacific and is not taught in many universities around the world.
Lovo says her idea has always been to increase the number of graduates in Bioethics so she designed her application based on that.
Lovo’s placement is with the James Cook University's Anton Breinl Research Centre for Health Systems Strengthening.
The Awards were set up in 2008 to honour the memory of former Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and former Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu, the late Greg Urwin.
A total of 24 emerging leaders from the region have completed placements under the Awards since its commencement in 2008 on issues including cancer research and palliative care, human rights advocacy, agriculture research, forensic accounting and biosecurity.
