King’s Birthday Honours: Professor Timothy William Jones devoted more than 30 years to medical research

Medical research is Professor Timothy Jones’ life passion, and because of his inspirational work, he’s been listed on this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list. His career has spanned more than three decades, with interest areas in paediatric endocrinology and diabetes research. Professor Jones has been recognised as a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division in honour of his work. “I feel honoured,” he said. “It’s great to have to be recognised, but I see it as recognition of the importance of medical research to the community rather than just to an individual.” Funding has been fundamental for Professor Jones and his team’s research journey, and it was first provided by Telethon in 1986. “Telethon was my first funder, when I was a very junior doctor. Actually, my first opportunity to do research was because of a fellowship from Telethon,” he said. “We continue to work with Telethon. They continue to fund a lot of research in child health, and we’ve been recipients of it over the years. “It’s really the community giving to medical research because that’s where the funds come from.” In addition to Telethon, Professor Jones and his team have received fundamental funding from groups such as the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Throughout his impressive career, Professor Jones has seen a substantial change in children’s care. “Children with diabetes have better care than they did 10 years ago and 20 years ago, and it’ll continue to improve, and that’s because of the teams of people that are working on it, and the people that are supporting those teams, the people that give the money to support the teams,” he said. Professor Jones is currently the director of research at Perth Children’s Hospital, and he is continuing his medical research journey with his team, who aspire to “find a cure” for diabetes. “It’s getting closer. I don’t want to put a number on it, but the hope is increasing,” he said. He hopes his award will inspire young talent who are interested in research. “(Research) is something that’s important and something that makes a difference, and something that society recognises as important,” he said.