Dr Susan Beal AM (Ross, 1952) Dr Susan Beal AM (Ross, 1952) was a pioneer in the epidemiological investigations into the circumstances surrounding Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and subsequently was involved in public awareness campaigns that led to a dramatic decrease in deaths due to SIDS. Susan Ross (1952) enrolled as a Boarder at Â鶹ÊÓƵ School at the age of seven in 1942. Her sisters Sandra Bates (Ross, 1955) and Jane Sherrard (Ross, 1959) were also Â鶹ÊÓƵ School students An all-rounder at School, Susan was a Senior Prefect, a Boarding House Prefect, on the Sports Committee, a Wearne Librarian, and was the Leawarra Sports Captain. She was also a member of the Swimming, Senior A Tennis, Tildsley Tennis, Senior A Cricket and Senior A Basketball teams. After completing her Leaving Certificate in 1952, Susan went on to study medicine at the University of Sydney, specialising in paediatrics. In the early 1960s, Susan moved with her family to Adeliade. She began working at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital as research registrar in neurosurgery, later managing the Cerebral Palsy Clinic. In 1970 Susan commenced the first epidemiological investigations into the circumstances surrounding SIDS. From the early 1970s to the mid 1980s she visited more than 500 families who had lost babies to cot death (as SIDS was known then). In 1986 she was able to definitively show that the rate of death was highest among babies who slept face-down. Susan is credited as being the first person to argue publicly against babies sleeping on their stomachs. In the countries that heeded her advice, including Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the incidences of SIDS halved. Today, the incidence of SIDS in Australia is 80% lower than it was in the 1980s. In 1993, Dr Susan Beal was a finalist for Australian of the Year. In 1997, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday honours list for service to medicine, particularly in the fields of paediatrics and SIDS research. In the same year, a book was commissioned for the 50th anniversary of the Medical Benefits Fund of Australia, entitled ‘Lifeworks: Heroes of Australian Health’. Among others, it covers the story of Dr Susan Beal and her involvement with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In 2005, Susan was granted the inaugural ‘SIDS and Kids Award’. In 2007 at the International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death (ISPID) 17th Soria Moria Workshop on SIDS in Oslo, Norway, Susan was awarded the ‘ISPID Distinguished Researcher Award’ given to outstanding scientists for their lifetime achievement in the field of SIDS and infant death. In 2020 Susan was a recipient of a ‘Social Welfare and Impact’ award at the inaugural Â鶹ÊÓƵ School Alumnae Awards.