Catherine Hughes
Honorary Team Member
Catherine Hughes AM is an accomplished consumer researcher and the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Immunisation Foundation of Australia (IFA). Catherine’s profound commitment to public health advocacy began following the devastating loss of her four-week-old son, Riley, to whooping cough in 2015. This personal tragedy inspired her to launch the national Light for Riley campaign, which successfully advocated for the provision of free pertussis vaccines to pregnant women nationwide. Through the IFA, Catherine expands her work to promote immunisation access, awareness, and acceptance across all vaccine-preventable diseases, including new efforts focused on RSV awareness. She works closely with scientific communities, serving as an Honorary Community Co-Researcher at Kids Research Institute and a consumer investigator on multiple research projects. Her dedication has been widely recognised, including her appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2022, being named the 2016 WA Young Australian of the Year, and most recently, the 2025 Patients Australia Advocate of the Year.