Learn more about the Lions John Cockayne Memorial Fellowship Trust Fund
About us
Origin
The Lions John Cockayne Memorial Fellowship Trust Fund was established in 1996 with donations from the Oakleigh Lions Club Elderly Peoples Home Inc. and Monash Health.
Aim
To support the clinician-driven research pertaining to the health, care and treatment of elderly persons by Monash Health Aged and Rehabilitation Services, Community Rehabilitation, SACS Specialist Clinic staff and staff from Aged Persons’ Mental Health.
The Lions John Cockayne Memorial Fellowship Trust Fund Committee
Membership
- Dr Maddi Howard, Program Medical Director, General Medicine, Aged, Rehabilitation and Community; Chair from July 2026.
- Ms Rosemary Barker, Lions Club Representative
- Dr Kate Bristow, Lions Club Representative
- Mr Anthony Burton, Business Manager, Monash Health
- Dr Jian Wey Chin, Consultant Geriatrician
- Dr Rosa Gualano, Monash Ageing Research Centre (MONARC) Manager (Administrator)
- Ms Jill Jukes, Operations Director / Director of Nursing, Kingston and Aged Care Services
- Dr Michelle Kaminski, Allied Health Research Lead
- Dr Sarah Milne, Clinical Research Lead, Physiotherapy and Exercise Physiology
- Ms Sue Viney, Community Representative
- Professor Barbara Workman, Community Representative; Acting Chair until July 2026.
Meetings
The Lions Trust Committee meets four times per year, usually near the end of February, May, August and November.
What we fund
The Lions Trust Fund will soon open a round of small grants to support travel for a conference or educational activity. The grant round is expected to open in late April 2026, when full details and application forms will be released. Potential applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposed research or travel with their manager. Managers will be asked to provide a supporting statement, approval of the travel and a reasonable co-contribution for all grants.
It is expected that the next round of research project grants will open in October 2026.
Eligibility is restricted to Monash Health nursing, allied health and medical staff from Aged and Rehabilitation Services, SACS Specialist Clinics, Community Rehabilitation, Residential Care and Aged Persons’ Mental Health.
Senior medical staff can apply for research grants, but not for travel funding.
Applicants are asked to note these important points:
- All applications will require manager’s approval and research project grant applications will require referees. Managers are asked to make a reasonable co-contribution to budgets for proposed travel.
- Staff can apply for either a research project or travel grant, but can only be awarded one grant. Staff are advised to consider which type of grant is most appropriate for their project and career goals.
- The Trust Fund Committee is required by its Terms of Reference to fund projects which improve the health and care of elderly persons, along with the skills of staff who care for elderly persons. Proposals which do not focus on elderly persons will not be considered.
- Funding limits are $25K for research project grants, consisting of $20K initial funding plus $5K of additional funding subject to satisfactory progress and reporting. Applicants can request up to $25K in their budget which should be realistic for the costs of timely project completion.
- Applicants for conference grants can request up to $5K for international travel and up to $2K for domestic travel.
Staff seeking advice on planning a research project can contact Dr Rosa Gualano, MONARC Manager and Dr Michelle Kaminski, Allied Health Research Adviser.
Nurses seeking specialist project advice can contact Professor Andrea Driscoll (Chair in Nursing, Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Monash Health Partnership) at nursingmidwifery_research@monashhealth.org or andrea.driscoll@deakin.edu.au
The Trust committee encourages applicants to do some general training in research skills, such as the short courses offered by the Monash Health Library – visit their Education and Training page to learn more.