Dr Christine Jeffries-Stokes recognised with King's Birthday Honours
Dr Christine Jeffries-Stokes, Wongutha-Mulba-Ngadju-Mirning Elder Pastor Geoffrey Stokes and their grandchildren Karley-Ray and Geoffrey Jilba
After working with WA Country Health Service for close to 30 years, it is safe to say that Paediatrician Christine Jeffries-Stokes has a deep understanding of the unique needs of children and families living in the Goldfields.
Now, in recognition for her significant contributions to paediatrics and commitment to improving the health outcomes of Aboriginal peoples, Dr Jeffries-Stokes has been appointed as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours List.
Dr Jeffries-Stokes said her goal has always been to provide residents with the tools needed to advocate for themselves.
“Through my husband, Wongutha-Mulba-Ngadju-Mirning Elder Pastor Geoffrey Stokes, I have been accepted into and have access to the community,” she said.
“This means I can effectively communicate and help to empower people through health knowledge.”
Dr Jeffries-Stokes has been involved in several health and community focussed research projects over the years, and considers her contribution to the Western Desert Kidney Project a career-defining moment.
She worked on the project alongside her sister-in-law Annette Stokes, Wongutha and Mulba-Ngadu woman and Chief Investigator of the project, who was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2018.
The ground-breaking three-year project brought together 10 remote communities with local, state, and national organisations with the goal of reducing diabetes and kidney disease in the local population by 20 per cent.
And Dr Jeffries-Stokes is always looking for new opportunities to help the communities in which she lives and works.
“Excitingly we are now working on the Heavy Metal Tooth Fairy Project, which looks at contaminants in regional water supplies and how these attribute to chronic disease,” she said.
“I am pleased to say we have just received a one-million-dollar grant from the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation.”
It’s not just Dr Jeffries-Stokes’ career that has been incredible. How she got her start in medicine is just as astonishing – originally having her heart set on becoming an artist.
“When I finished school in Tasmania, I applied for art school as I had a love of ceramics and sculpture,” she said.
“Six months later, I found out there had been a mix-up with my application and had since applied to and been accepted into medical school.”