Current as of 31/05/2023

Graeme Young graduated MB, BS in 1969 from the University of Melbourne with honours. After attaining Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (1978), he studied overseas on a Fogarty International Fellowship (NIH) and RACP Travelling Scholarship at Washington University, St Louis. He graduated MD in 1981 (University of Melbourne, by research thesis), and in 1997 was appointed as the Foundation Professor of Gastroenterology at Flinders University of South Australia. In 2002, he was additionally appointed as Director of Development, Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer. In 2011, he became Professor of Global Gastrointestinal Health at Flinders University. He is now the Matthew Flinders Distinguished Emeritus Professor, Flinders University.

Honours/Awards: 2017: elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS); Winner of the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Innovation in Medical Research. 2014: made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to medicine including the development of the Australian National Bowel Cancer Screening Program; awarded the Charles G Moertel Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, an international Award for “dedication to colon cancer research” and was honoured by establishment by the FCIC of the “Graeme Young Oration”. 2013: South Australian Scientist of the Year. 2011: awarded the title of Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor from Flinders University. 2009: Distinguished Research Prize of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia; elected a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGAF). 2008: elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE). 2007: South Australian of the Year in Health for his screening research and the role he played in the establishment of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program; 2006: he received a “Ten of the Best” award from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia for research into screening for colorectal cancer.

Professor Young's contribution to our understanding of the basic and applied biology of the colon has had real impact on maintenance of health and improvement of disease outcomes for common intestinal disorders in western and third-world societies. Professor Young has changed how Australia and the world approaches screening for colorectal cancer, resulting in a paradigm shift in our health care system through introduction of the national bowel cancer screening program. He has also contributed to improved public health in developing countries through demonstration of a simple food-based approach to improve recovery from diarrhoeal disease - a major cause of infant mortality.