Sonographer of the Year New South Wales | Jane McCrory

Jane McCrory has championed cultural change to create safe, sustainable sonography practice, addressing workforce wellbeing and better patient outcomes. Driven by a philosophy of patient-centered care, Jane developed the ‘Best in Class Patient Experience’ education module ensuring everyone at her clinic “sees things through the patient’s eyes”.

Recognising the importance of wellbeing in the workplace, Jane has made an extraordinary impact introducing injury‑prevention initiatives, a peer support program, alongside policies to manage complex imaging demands, all with the goal of reducing strain and burnout.  

And knowing how critical support is for early career sonographers, she created a structured competency pathways program and introduced mentoring. Her commitment continues to shape the next generation of sonographers. 

Sonographer of the Year New Zealand | Sumi Shrestha Taylor, FASA

Sumi Shrestha Taylor, FASA is passionate about advancing the field of diagnostic ultrasound through research, education, and leadership, all of which strengthen capability in New Zealand and Australia. She has proactively led MSK ultrasound training programs, and mentored junior sonographers, nurturing the next generation of sonographers.  

The key outcomes of her PhD research project, 'The role of ultrasound in the diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis', have been published in high‑quality peer‑reviewed journals such as the British Medical Journal, Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, and Sonography cementing her already deep clinical expertise. 

Sumi’s outstanding contribution through research and education is improving diagnostic accuracy for frozen shoulder and supporting more consistent, confident clinical decision-making worldwide.

Sonographer of the Year Queensland | Heath Edwards, FASA

Heath Edwards, FASA demonstrates, through his leadership and peer support, an unwavering commitment to education and better outcomes for patients. Heath is focused on elevating the confidence of sonographers in their practice.

By developing best practice, evidence-based protocols with step-by-step guidelines for the team at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, he has provided important, practical support when performing examinations of temporal arteries for giant cell arteritis. 

Known for his deep commitment to patient-centred care, Heath encourages sonographers to include PeVD assessments for patients with chronic pelvic pain. This has improved detection rates and reduced the time from symptomatic presentation and diagnosis resulting in better outcomes for women.

Sonographer of the Year South Australia | Dannielle Ghezzi

Dannielle Ghezzi shows great empathy and heart in her practice. With a strong sense of community that is inclusive and welcomes diversity, she demonstrates a commitment to health equity and is truly patient-centric. With a powerful combination of cultural sensitivity and academic leadership, her focus is on promoting safety in clinic and using advanced communication and counselling skills to advantage for patients.  

Dannielle works with referring clinicians to ensure transgender and gender-diverse patients can access ultrasound in safe and supportive environments. She ensures First Nations people have access to tertiary ultrasound with a First Nations sonographer. 

As part of her philosophy, she actively promotes Indigenous ways of learning: ‘Knowing, being, doing and becoming”.  

Sonographer of the Year Victoria | Amy Clough, AFASA

Prioritising patient comfort, dignity and understanding, Amy Clough, AFASA builds strong connection and trust with her patients. Her immersive understanding of vascular practice is demonstrated broadly through her practical service. 

Amy has implemented a streamlined vascular ultrasound GP triage pathway, contributed to the design of a hospital’s new ultrasound clinic, and, as a locum at the Alfred Vascular department, helped build interdisciplinary capability by training surgical registrars in endovenous procedural ultrasound. 

Amy’s focus on ‘mastering ultrasound is a career-long journey of curiosity and learning’ with a foundation built on a strong sense of trust, integrity and respect. 

Sonographer of the Year Western Australia | Shani Watts

Shani Watts has made significant contributions in both her workplace and internationally. As a highly specialised breast ultrasound sonographer, she has advocated for the purchase of a higher-frequency ultrasound probe to detect smaller breast lesions, and volunteers with Radiology Across Borders in under resourced settings internationally.  

And not only this, she has commenced a PhD which is focused on improving cancer screening participation in women from marginalised populations whilst also playing a key role in curriculum writing, teaching and delivery of practical skills for a new sonography program as Senior Lecturer in Medical Sonography at Edith Cowan University.

Sonographer of the Year Tasmania | Jarrod French

Jarrod French's goal is to improve access to high quality imaging has happened through multidisciplinary collaboration in his regional community.   

He recruited an experienced vascular sonographer, introduced CT into the practice - creating multi-modality imaging, collaborates with a local orthopedic surgeon for weekly ultrasound guided injections, and employes physiotherapists.  

Jarrod believes, “clinical excellence is achieved not only through technical skill but through delivering accurate diagnoses efficiently while maintaining a supportive and reassuring experience for patients.” The result? Reduced procedural wait times, improved diagnostic confidence, and better outcomes for patients. 

Sonographer of the Year NT | Linzi Ashlin

Linzi Ashlin has had a wonderful career in sonography for 20 years based in the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Victoria. Over the last six years, she has been based in Darwin where she says she has had the “privilege to provide high-quality diagnostic ultrasound services to all Territorians and in particular, our First Nations people.” 

Rising high above the challenges of working in remote locations, Linzi has her patients at heart knowing that the service she provides reduces the need for many patients to have to travel interstate for care. 

As a member of the NT ASA Branch committee, she is committed to mentoring students and facilitating ongoing education.

Researcher of the Year | Gary Lui

Gary Lui bridges clinical excellence and leadership with an unwavering commitment to patient care as Section Chief of Vascular Ultrasound at Nepean Hospital. Working frequently with complex and vulnerable patients, sometimes in emergency situations, Gary has an evidence-based approach to implementing quality assurance and service improvement initiatives. 

Using audits and data analysis across multiple disciplines, he provides structured education for junior doctors and administrative staff to enhance understanding of referral pathways and clinical indications.  

He has taught radiology registrars how to interpret and report vascular studies, bridging the gap between image acquisition and clinical decision making. 

Tutor of the Year | Emma Godrik

Emma Godrik’s passion for education and strengthening the capability and capacity of our workforce is evident through her leadership, clinical supervision and initiatives. With a holistic lens, she demonstrates the value of a structured, accessible, multi-media approach to learning where every student, no matter where they are, receives the same high-quality support. 

Often overlooked for development, Emma has initiated tutor forums and strategic education planning sessions to build tutor confidence to deliver high quality supervision. 

She has led advancement of pelvic ultrasound protocols for endometriosis, run in-house training for 100 sonographers and contributed to the professional governance and National Standards at the University of Adelaide.  

The Sue Caitcheon Memorial Award ASA Volunteer of the Year | Kate Russo, AFASA

Kate Russo, AFASA is a dedicated volunteer who has had a broad-reaching impact on the sonography profession. She says, “Volunteering allows me to give back to the community that shaped my career.” 

Driven by what is best for patient outcomes, Kate inspires her peers to continuously improve their practice – this underpins every educational activity that she delivers. 

And there are many activities:

• Travelling workshops, seminars and SIGs. Teaching programs with practical scanning sessions

• Contributing to the development of position statements and frameworks as an ASA Policy and Advisory committee member 

• Creating resources and practical tools for clinical supervisors to deliver feedback

• Peer reviews for journals all over the world – raising the profile of Sonography

• Featuring in the recent ASA awareness campaign.

It is an impressive list which exemplifies the very spirit of volunteerism in sonography.

Emerging Sonographer of the Year | Stephanie Maconachie

The emerging sonographer of the year’s mentor said Stephanie Maconachie “demonstrates initiative, leadership and a sustained commitment to professional growth well beyond what would typically be expected at their career stage”. With an impressive career already steeped in both technical aptitude and clinical reasoning, Stephanie is trusted with complex and heavy caseloads in a highly specialised tertiary environment.  

She has worked in gynaecological multidisciplinary teams reviewing the most complex cases, advising on practical application of ultrasound. Within a year of qualifying, she was mentoring and tutoring sonography students, reflecting her strong commitment to education.  

And if that is not enough, Stephanie will participate in an outreach program in Tanzania supporting training of local radiologists and sonographers.  

Rural and Remote Sonographer of the Year | Tim Ovens

The challenge of working remotely is not lost on Tim Ovens. Through dedication and commitment to the community, the once single-room ultrasound clinic is now thriving with three ultrasound rooms, a CT scanner and now the first MRI within a three-hour radius. Tim flys in a radiologist in once a month for musculoskeletal injections – not for profit but because the community needs it. 

But it does not end there. Committed to the future of care in rural settings, Tim trains a student every year and invites high school students and his parents to visit after hours to talk about a career in sonography.