Congratulations to Dr Antoinette Poulton, MDHS Momentum Fellowship Recipient
We are pleased to congratulate Dr Antoinette Poulton on being awarded one of the MDHS Momentum Fellowships for 2026–2028.
The MDHS Momentum Fellowship scheme supports Level B and C academics whose career progression has been impacted by extraordinary personal circumstances. The Fellowship is designed to help recipients maintain research momentum at pivotal career stages and to support the development of a strong pathway towards external, competitive research funding.
Through this Fellowship, Dr Poulton will be supported to consolidate and extend her research program, with dedicated time to finalise and publish outcomes from her current NHMRC–MRFF Early to Mid-Career Researcher Grant. This work will position her strongly for future Category 1 funding and further research independence.
The Fellowship will also enable the next phase of Dr Poulton’s research, including the extension of a novel digital intervention, initially developed to reduce alcohol use, to cannabis use. In parallel, she will advance a new program of work examining how cognitive factors and heightened emotion contribute to everyday impulsive behaviours. These projects build on a strong foundation of national and international collaborations, with one MRFF grant application currently under review and a related pilot study already submitted for publication to support a forthcoming DECRA application.
Dr Poulton has established a funding track record as a Chief Investigator, including a University of Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grant (2023), an MDHS Innovation Seed Grant (2024), MSPS Research Incentive Scheme funding (2024, 2025), and her current NHMRC–MRFF EMCR Grant. These projects have supported the development of innovative digital interventions, numerous peer-reviewed publications, and strong collaborations with leading research centres in Australia and internationally.
I am very excited and grateful to have been awarded one of the MDHS Momentum Fellowships for 2026 to 2028. Designed to support the research of academics whose personal circumstances have impacted career progression, the Fellowship will be pivotal in consolidating my achievements to date and accelerating my transition towards research independence.
The Fellowship will provide dedicated time to finalise and publish outcomes from my MRFF project, positioning me strongly for future Category 1 funding. It will also drive the next phase of my research: extending the digital intervention to cannabis use and advancing a new program of work examining how cognitive factors and heightened emotion underpin everyday impulsive behaviours.
The Fellowship will also allow me to further engage internationally, thereby strengthening my international profile and long-term career trajectory.
— Dr Antoinette Poulton
We congratulate Dr Poulton on this well-deserved achievement and look forward to seeing the impact of this Fellowship on the next phase of her research.