Professor Adrienne Gordon awarded 2025 RPA Foundation Research Medal for her impactful work in maternal, perinatal and neonatal health.
 

Professor Adrienne Gordon has been named the winner of the 2025 RPA Foundation Research Medal for her significant contribution to maternal, perinatal and neonatal health. Over the past decade, Professor Gordon has built a sustained national and international research profile, recognised as one of the top global experts in stillbirth. 

“I feel very honoured to receive the RPA Foundation Research Medal,” Professor Gordon said. “I think it's a privilege to be a clinician researcher. As clinicians, we of course want to make a difference for the individual patients or families  who come to us for care. If you also engage in impactful research that is driven by your clinical questions from your own practice and in support with consumers, there is the ability to make a difference on a much bigger scale."

Professor Gordon embraces community engagement and participation in research, and has longstanding involvement with the Stillbirth Foundation Australia, RedNose and Miracle Babies. She also has collaborations with NICULived, Little Wonder, Cerebral Palsy Alliance and Raising Children Network.

At RPA, she co-founded the Integrated Support After Infant Loss (iSAIL) clinic for families after perinatal loss, which has received state and national recognition and is a Chief Investigator of the NHMRC Stillbirth Centre for Research Excellence. 

Alongside her research leadership, Professor Gordon is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of clinician–scientists, having supervised multiple PhDs and supported many neonatal, paediatric and obstetric trainees.

“I honestly think being a clinician researcher is the best job in the world. Yes, you have to get used to rejection, but I do think it gives you joy in what you do. It is also a brilliant experience to supervise others and their research journey and keep connected with new ideas. It keeps you engaged and your curiosity alive.”
 

Professor Gordon’s collaborative networks span more than 20 countries, reflecting a career built on partnership and shared vision to achieve global impact, while recognising the efforts of her colleagues in promoting every family has the best possible start to life.

Professor Gordon is Chief Investigator on more than $29 million in competitive Category A grants, including MRFF and NHMRC funding, leading randomised trials, numerous large-scale public health initiatives, published more than 182 journal articles and involved in Cochrane Collaborations.

Her work has translated directly into national policy and practice change, including contributions to the National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan 2020, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s Stillbirth Clinical Care Standards 2022, and co-leading the NHMRC Care After Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Guidelines 2024. Her impactful work has led to multiple public health campaigns in Australia, NZ and UK including Movements Matter and Still Six Lives which aimed to reduce stigma around stillbirth prevention and empower women and families.

Professor Gordon said she plans to use the $50,000 prize funding to support two major projects. 

“The first is a local project connected with RPA. It will link childhood outcomes to the Australian and New Zealand Fontan Registry (ANZFR) which is a registry of women with congenital heart disease who have had a Fontan procedure. At the moment, we can let them know their baby might be a bit small, so this project will aim to provide additional information about growth and development outcomes too. The second project is a collaboration with the International Stillbirth Alliance, to enhance their parent voices registry, and help set global research priorities for communities in Nigeria, Pakistan and India around the most important research questions for safer birth.”