The Australian of the Year (just announced yesterday, January 26th being our national day), was Emeritus Professor Alan Mackay-Sim http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-26/the-amazing-work-of-pr...

He performed pioneering work taking a type of adult stem cell from the nose and showing how it can be be used for spinal repair. A polish paraplegic, Darek Fidyka, regained the ability to walk following surgery in 2014 using this research findings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darek_Fidyka