Colleagues' efforts recognised in the Australia Day Honours List.

Members of the Sydney Local Health District family have been named in the 2021 Australia Day Honours List in recognition of their contributions and commitment to health care.

Professor Markus Seibel has been appointed a Member in the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to medical research and to endocrinology.

Professor Seibel has been the Head of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Concord Hospital since 2003 and the inaugural Director of the Bone Research Program at the ANZAC Research Institute.

He is an international authority on bone and mineral disorders and pioneered the development of biochemical markers of bone turnover, which are now used as diagnostic tests worldwide.

After received his scientific and medical training in Germany, Switzerland and in the US, Professor Seibel emigrated from Germany in 2001 and said the early years in Australia were challenging, but his work to start up research and receive funding in Australia was worth it.

“Moving to Australia was one of the best things that has happened to me in my life,” he said.

“It is certainly a great honour to be recognised for my work and receive an Order of Australia.”

Professor Seibel’s clinical research focus is on system approaches to osteoporotic fracture prevention. In 2003, he established the first Fracture Liaison Service in Australia at Concord Hospital. In 2016, he founded the Australian National Alliance for Secondary Fracture Prevention, work now supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant.

The author of more than 400 scientific papers and the editor of eight academic books, he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2017.

Humbled by the recognition, Professor Seibel paid tribute to his family and colleagues at the ANZAC Research Institute.

“I think the important thing to recognise is that much of the credit goes to my parents, my wife and my children for the support they have given me throughout the journey.

“The ANZAC Research Institute has been absolutely wonderful to me over the past twenty years. It is a fantastic environment to work in. I’m very lucky.”

One of the District’s colleagues from Southern NSW, Terry Clout, has been awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to NSW Health.

After more than 30-year career with NSW Health, he returned to the role Acting Chief Executive for the Southern NSW Local Health District, in early January 2020.

With extreme bushfires ravaging southern NSW, Sydney LHD partnered with Terry and his team during the bushfire response and recovery.

And, a long-time friend of the District, Lois Michel has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), for service to the community through heritage societies.

Mrs Michel, from the City of Canada Bay Heritage Society, is a member of the Yaralla Estate Community Advisory Committee.

Yaralla Estate is 37 hectares of land on the banks of the Parramatta River at Concord which the District manages on trust.

Lois has played an active role in the preservation of the history and heritage of the Estate.

The District’s recipients are among 845 Australians to be named in the Honours List and will be invested with their awards either by the Governor-General at

Government House in Canberra, or by the State Governor, when COVID–19 restrictions allow.

View the full list at https://www.gg.gov.au/australia-day-2021-honours-list