Some of Australia's most prominent business and media figures are among the recipients of the 2007 Research Australia Thank You Day awards announced in Melbourne today.

Now in its fifth year, the Thank You Day awards program recognises the achievements and dedication of six individuals or organisations whose efforts have helped further medical research in Australia.

Research Australia CEO, Rebecca James, said the awards were an opportunity for the health and medical research sector to acknowledge both the philanthropic and in-kind support that researchers and institutions receive.

"Australia leads the world in many areas of health and medical research and has been responsible for a number of significant global discoveries," James said.

"Almost 90 per cent of Australians rank health and medical research as the most important industry for Australia's future, but it is only through the commitment of individuals such as this year's winners that this future will be bright.

"Despite their different backgrounds, the six winners are united by a shared passion for health and medical research, and a commitment to ensuring that Australia continues to deliver research outcomes beyond our weight."

Frank Lowy, executive chairman and co-founder of the Westfield Group, received the Macquarie Bank Foundation Great Australian Philanthropy Award.

Nominated by the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI) and the Save Sight Institute at the University of Sydney, Lowy is an active and generous supporter of many philanthropic causes in the biomedical/science arenas.

He has contributed to heart research through his generous financial and in-kind support of the VCCRI, and has committed $15 million to an international research project to find a cure for the uncommon but potentially blinding retinal disease, macular telangiectasia (MacTel).

Lowy has also provided generous support to many other health and medical research initiatives including the Alzheimer's Association, the International Diabetes Institute, and St. Vincent's Hospital, and more recently via Westfield, the Sydney Children's Hospital (Westfield Research Laboratories); the Westmead Children's Hospital (Westfield Gene and Cell Medicine Laboratory); the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation, and the Brain Research Institute.