The RMH inductees added to Victorian Honour Roll of Women

Two stalwarts of the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) have been inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

Each year, the Victorian Honour Roll of Women recognises women who have demonstrated remarkable leadership and excellence in their field of expertise, interest, endeavour, or through their commitment to the community. More than 700 women have been induced since the program began in 2001.

Orygen’s Director of Strategy and Policy Kerryn Pennell and retired senior physicist from the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Dr Nouria Salehi AM, are among the 23 inductees for this year.

Kerryn has been inducted in the Change Agent category for her advocacy for youth mental health services here and overseas. Having started with the RMH in the mid-1990s, she has played a pivotal role in developing responses to early psychosis and youth mental health in Australia. Now she leads a team of experts to deliver strategies that support Orygen’s position as a leader in youth mental health and is a Senior Fellow for the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Salehi, who was also the Victorian Senior of the Year in 2012, has been inducted as a Trailblazer for her work as a nuclear physicist and biophysicist in Australia and Afghanistan, where she migrated from in the 80s. Dr Salehi retired in 2018 after almost 40 years with the RMH.

Her nomination also recognised her efforts to support and empower Afghanis here and overseas.