Dr Matthew Bagg from the Perron Institute and The University of Notre Dame Australia (Fremantle) and Dr Chidozie Anyaegbu from Perron Institute and Curtin University were recently announced recipients of Business Events Perth’s 2024 Aspire Awards.
For more than two decades, Business Events Perth has been recognising Western Australia’s brightest minds through the Aspire Awards program.
The successful Aspire Award applicants who are outstanding candidates in their field, receive travel grants supporting their attendance at an international conference.
Recipients will showcase their expertise on a global stage, network with like-minded professionals, and explore new avenues for collaboration, research, innovation, and trade.
With his award, physiotherapist and clinical researcher Dr Bagg said he appreciates the support to attend the International Back Pain Forum in Switzerland.
“My research work focuses on building capacity for improved care for people with complex pain problems and neurological conditions,” Dr Bagg said. “The work I’ve been doing is focused on developing a new treatment for complex back pain.
“I’m also really honoured by the support given from Perron Institute and Business Events Perth.”
Rebekah Puls, Head of Research at the Perron Institute said: “We are going through a period of consolidation and building at the Perron Institute, and Matthew has been critical in the development and implementation of new ideas at the Perron Institute.
“He brings clinical vision to his chronic pain research that he has done for many years.”
Dr Bagg said he is quite excited by the prospect of growth and sharing in the Western Australian community.
“We’re really privileged in Western Australia to have two groups, one of which I’m part of, and the other is at Curtin University who are really leading the world in two or three back pain treatments.”
“So we’re really excited to see whether our different approaches to the same problems bear solutions.
“I think as well, we’ll probably see more advances in biotech as it relates to pain, but at this point I think our best chance is in clinical research and clinical treatments.”
Watch Dr Bagg’s video here.
Dr Anyaegbu received an Early-Stage Career Researcher Grant for his work on investigating how damage spreads following traumatic brain injury and aims to reveal how brain injury alters the gut bacteria and immune system to prolong symptoms.
He applied to attend the 2025 Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) Mucosal Immunology and Microbiome Symposium in Queensland.
Business Events Perth CEO, Gareth Martin, said Business Events Perth is proud to recognise some of Western Australia’s brightest minds.
“With 125 applications, the program continues to strengthen, and with ten award recipients it really showcases the broad spectrum of research and leading expertise across Western Australia,” Mr Martin said.
“As Australia’s western gateway to the world, meeting face-to-face facilitates positive collaboration, knowledge exchange and networking opportunities putting Western Australia on the map and potentially attracting these important global business events to the State.”