Professor Tamera Corte wins prestigious prize. 

Respiratory physician and researcher Clinical Professor Tamera Corte has been named as the winner of the 2022 RPA Foundation Research Prize for her work in the field of interstitial lung disease.

"I am extremely honoured to receive the RPA Foundation Research Medal. There are some truly great and inspiring researchers who have won this medal in the past, and I endeavour to continue the fantastic research which occurs at RPA," she said.

Professor Corte is a Consultant Respiratory Physician and the Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Unit in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at RPA.

She runs one of the largest ILD services in Australia, a state-wide multidisciplinary diagnostic service and a large clinical trials unit.

Her vision is to transform the lived experience and health outcomes for people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF), a group of lung disorders where lung tissue has become damaged or scarred.

Professor Corte also leads the Centre of Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CRE-PF), a nationally coordinated peak research body.

The CRE-PF brings together experts from across Australia who work collaboratively to accelerate research into ways to better diagnose and treat PF patients.

As the medal winner, Professor Corte collected $50,000 in funding which she will use to further her research.

"Medicine is amazing, but there are many areas where we don't know more than we know. As clinicians at RPA, we are well placed to drive this change, ensuring that we provide the best care and best possible outcomes for our patients," she said.

Professor Corte and the team at the CRE-PF are currently working on the integration of a new artificial intelligence algorithm based on CT scan data, which will help clinicians deliver individualised care for PF patients from the time of diagnosis.

"I'd like to thank the judges for selecting the work we do, and acknowledge the interstitial lung disease patients, the clinical team at RPA, and the wider Centre of Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis team across Australia. Without a true collaborative approach, we would not be making such exciting progress in the field," Professor Corte said.