Media Release: First Ever East Timorese Doctor Graduates with PhD

Menzies School of Health Research - 5 June 2007

For the first time ever, an East Timorese medical practitioner has successfully completed a PhD making him the first ever East Timorese 'Doctor Doctor'.

Dr Nelson Martins, an East Timorese medical practitioner with over 10 years of experience in clinical, public health and humanitarian work, has completed his PhD degree with the Menzies School of Health Research, NT, Australia.

Dr Martins, founding director of the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP), and former member of the Interim Health Authority (nascent Ministry of Health) for East Timor, was one of the first Timorese doctors to offer medical services during the conflict, emergency and transitional phases of East Timor government.

Thanks to funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Martins embarked upon his PhD at the Menzies School of Health Research in 2004. His research has focused on Tuberculosis Control Program In East Timor and the findings from his investigations are contributing to informing TB policy on a global scale.

Dr Nelson's supervisor throughout his PhD investigations, Associate Professor Paul Kelly, said that this was a great achievement by one of the rising stars of East Timorese medicine.

"Dr Martins has a great deal to offer both to Australia and his home nation of East Timor as the outcomes of Dr Martins research are influencing health decision makers on a global scale" Dr Kelly said.

Thanking his financial supporters at the WHO and his colleagues at the Menzies School of Health Research, Dr Martins said that he was extremely proud to be the first East Timorese Doctor with a PhD.

"I am very proud to be working in this field and that my work can have such a positive impact upon the lives of so many.

"I plan to continue my work in TB research and hope that my investigations can continue to make a difference to the lives of those living with the risk of TB in East Timor and other nations around the world."

Dr Martins is currently working as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of NSW, Sydney as well as serving as honorary and visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Public Health, Universidade da Paz, Dili, East Timor.

Media contact Julie Carmichael. Phone - 0429 916758

Notes to Editors

The Menzies School of Health Research (MSHR) is the only Australian health and medical research institute with a primary focus on the health of Indigenous communities and people living in tropical and remote areas.
Our researchers work in over forty communities across the Northern Territory and our research and expertise touches the lives of many. We have a budget of over $17 million, employ over 150 staff and are currently engaged in over 50 research projects. Menzies today has the reputation of being the leader in Indigenous and tropical health in Australia and beyond.
Over the past four years the MSHR has been the largest single recipient of Indigenous health research funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Our current research spans Indigenous child health, healing & resilience, tropical & emerging infectious diseases, preventable chronic diseases, services, systems & society and International health.
MSHR also delivers innovative education and training programs spanning postgraduate research training, public health coursework, and topical short courses in areas such as advanced statistical analysis and social determinants.
MSHR is a school within the Charles Darwin University (CDU) Institute of Advanced Studies.