Associate Professor Geoff Sussman has received the Lifetime Achievement Award 2019 at the 16th Asia Pacific Conference on Diabetic Limb Problems & 2nd Global Would Conference 2019 in Kuala Lumpur.
Having been involved in wound management for over thirty years as an educator, researcher and clinician, this award recognises Associate Professor Sussman’s outstanding contributions in the field of Diabetic Limb. The award was presented by the Honourable Deputy Minister of Health Malaysia, Dr. Lee Boon Chye along with the Director-General of Health, Dr. Noor Hisham bin Abdullah.
Reflecting on this professional recognition, Associate Professor Sussman says, “this is a great honour”.
“One does not set out to win awards, but it is a wonderful recognition of my long and significant role in prevention, treatment and management of Diabetes and Diabetic foot ulcers”.
His teaching roles at Monash include providing teaching and tutoring to undergraduate students within the Faculty of Pharmacy as well as the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences over the past 25 years. He has also helped establish and deliver short courses focusing on ‘Wound Care Management for GPs and Nurses’ as part of the Monash Institute for Health and Clinical Education. This one-day refresher course have helped many general practitioners and nurses gain best practises in how wounds heal, how to assess acute and chronic wounds, and making decisions on how to best address wounds.
As President of the Asia Pacific Associate for Diabetic Limb Problem, Associate Professor Sussman has travelled the world, helping educate health professionals in diabetic wound management and general wound care.
Having been one of the first people in Australia to undertake clinical research in wound management, Associate Professor Sussman has been involved in multiple would management studies and recently published the results of a major wound healing outcome and health economic study focusing on Australian nursing homes. This study is of particular importance with the Royal Commission on Ageing examining aspects of wound management in residential aged care facilities and in the community.