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Two graduates determined to work for better health outcomes are heading to Oxford University to join a cohort of UWA Rhodes Scholars.

UWA has a proud tradition of producing Rhodes Scholars. Scan a list of WA winners since the early decades of the 20th century and, with few exceptions, they are UWA graduates. This year was no exception, with the State's Rhodes Scholarship going to Rachel Paterson and the Australian Rhodes Scholarship going to Vinay Menon.

Rachel and Vinay will join Jackie McArthur (2011) pursuing law studies, and 2010 scholars Dustin Stuart (laser physic) and Rachel Panegyres (law and environmental change).

In Oxford, the 2012 Rhodes Scholars may also encounter UWA Rhodes Scholars who have become lecturers, including Byron Byrne (1996) and Travis McLeod (2007). Travis is completing a DPhil in International Relations.

Both Rachel and Vinay share a determination to make a difference in international health. Rachel has a passion for medical research and believes her UWA Bachelor of Science with Honours (majoring in Genetics and Biochemistry) stands her in good stead for her Oxford studies.

Vinay Menon's extensive community volunteering in Australia and overseas won him the Australian Human Rights Commission's Young Persons HumanRights Medal in recognition of his work with refugees, Indigenous communities and children living with a disability. He co-founded the World Aware program run by Red Cross volunteers that is now run annually.

Working at a refugee camp in Tanzania where he assisted three local doctors providing care for 49,000 refugees had a profound effect on the graduate.

"I can remember the sinking sense of dread when we failed to resuscitate a critically ill child with inadequate equipment, and the painful, daily sound of mothers wailing over children lost to malaria," says Vinay. "I passionately believe such suffering amongst children is neither acceptable nor inevitable. My aspiration is to serve as a public health leader, to create meaningful change in the health and well-being of children in vulnerable communities."

The graduate, who completed a medical degree at UWA, will use his scholarship to study in the MSc in Global Health Science program. The program includes a field research placement and Vinay hopes to spend that at the Medical Research Council in Gambia exploring public health initiatives responsible for reducing malaria and other infectious diseases.

Uniview profiled Vinay in the Spring 2010 issue . We profile Rachel below.

Determined to make a difference

In India, tuberculosis is seen as "a disease of poverty" by the World Health Organization that believes mismanaged treatment is contributing to the relentless rise of resistant forms of TB. In Nigeria, polio continues to cripple victims because rumours - that vaccines are a Western conspiracy to sterilise girls - work against eradication. And in Australia, despite early successes, doctors are seeing the highest rate of new HIV infections in 20 years.

These are the worldwide health problems that drive a determination to make a difference in 2012 Rhodes Scholar Rachel Paterson.

"I'm passionate about improving health through medical research and I know the DPhil in Infection Immunology and Translational Medicine at Oxford will provide the world-class mentoring and international experience I need for a career in medical research. In my first year I will be working on projects related to influenza and TB, and that will give me a direction for the future.

"I am so inspired that a 30-year battle against polio has led to 99 per cent of cases being stamped out. We now have an opportunity to make polio the second infectious disease (after smallpox) to be eradicated by humans and I want to get involved in eradicating devastating diseases like this."

Rachel enrolled in UWA's Advanced Science Program which gives outstanding students an enriched Bachelor of Science degree supported by the UWA Fogarty Foundation. She pays tribute to the Foundation for providing extensive opportunities to develop her leadership skills and to Professor George Stewart who was Course Co-ordinator throughout her studies.

The Rhodes Scholar is currently the acting Senior Research Scientist at the Australian Inherited Retinal Disease Register at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

One of the appeals of the DPhil at Oxford is that the course focuses on the clinical application of research findings.

"I really want to see the lab work I do being put to use in clinics and communities," says the graduate who has worked in fields such as cloning, X-ray crystallography, and a range of investigative techniques.

Rhodes Scholarships are awarded not just on academic excellence but for community involvement and sporting achievement - and Rachel has been active in both.

The graduate is enthusiastic about the Fogarty Foundation's support for the Teach Learn Grow tutoring program initiated by UWA Fogarty Scholar David Sherwood and a colleague from Edith Cowan University.

"I met David at St George's College and thought it a brilliant idea that uni students should work with school kids struggling with a particular subject," she says. "You may be teaching but you're also learning - and employing an entirely new set of skills. And it's rewarding seeing how much improvement can be achieved in just a week.

"My Year 7 pupil had a Year 3 reading level, but was very enthusiastic, so it was a pleasure to help him. The one-on-one help is important because in small, isolated schools with several levels in one room, it's difficult for a teacher to give everyone the specific help they need."

Rachel's sport of choice is Women's Australian Rules Football and she's been active (both on and off-field) in the development of the sport in WA.

"Team sports are a great way to learn about camaraderie, trust and responsibility," she says. "Putting your body on the line to protect a teammate takes courage and trust, and as a consequence, great friendships are built.

"Gradually women's football is getting more recognition. There are now national championships and the women's league here is growing quite rapidly - in 2012 there are nine clubs," she says. "We aim is to create a pathway so that girls can play throughout school and then join the league."

"I'd just love to start a club over there in Oxford," muses the Rhodes Scholar, and with her brand of determination, it's quite likely she'll do it.

Published in Uniview Vol. 31 No. 2 Winter 2012