Paramedic scientist Dr Ziad Nehme from the Department of Acute and Critical Care in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and Director of the Centre for Research and Evaluation, Ambulance Victoria, has been awarded the 2025 Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research.
The Health Minister’s Award is given annually to the top-ranked National Health and Medical Research Council (NHRMC) Investigator Grant in Emerging Leadership Level 2 category in the previous year’s round. Dr Nehme was awarded a $1.4 million grant focused on advancing the evidence-base in cardiac arrest and resuscitation.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is the ultimate prehospital emergency. For every minute that passes without life-saving treatment, survival from OHCA decreases by approximately 10 percent. Shaped by key research priorities identified by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), Dr Nehme’s vision is to improve survival from OHCA through a research program of innovative, world-first, randomised controlled trials that will comprehensively transform the evidence base in cardiac arrest.
Dr Nehme’s research project aims to bring technology, integration and sophistication to the health service response to OHCA by integrating advanced technology and improving early treatment.
It will also focus on better identifying OHCA during emergency calls, reducing delays in bystander CPR, testing community-based interventions to increase defibrillation rates before ambulance arrival, and strengthening the evidence base for resuscitation interventions.
As the Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award winner, Dr Nehme will receive an additional $50,000 worth of funding to support his research project.
Dr Nehme said he was honoured to receive the award. “While many in the community have expressed gratitude for the life-saving work paramedics do, my journey in research has been shaped by a starkly different reality — the devastating experience of seeing the majority of OHCA patients die before they reach the hospital,” said Dr Nehme.
“Through this NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellowship, I am committed to driving a paradigm shift in OHCA care — one that moves beyond traditional
emergency response to an integrated, technology-driven, and community-focused system of care.
“My ultimate vision is clear — a future in which every individual experiencing OHCA has the best possible chance of survival. No life should be lost due to delays, inaction, or missed opportunities for early intervention.”
Professor Robyn Ward AM, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) and Senior Vice-President at Monash University, congratulated Dr Nehme.
“The Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award is a remarkable recognition of the strength and quality of Dr Nehme’s research and his visionary contribution to improving the system of care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests,” she said. ”My warmest congratulations to Dr Nehme on this well-deserved honour.”
