Rather, she spent decades acting on behalf of others with the disease.

Now an award in her honour has recognised two people with a commitment to tackling diabetes.

Charles Sturt University senior lecturer Herbert Jelinek and La Trobe University nursing student Georgina Luke will each receive $1000 towards their study or work in the health field.

Miss Luke said she was shocked and honoured to receive the inaugural recognition from the Albury Wodonga Diabetes Support Group.

Her goal is to work for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

“Community nursing is a big part of that and diabetes comes into that a lot, especially in rural and remote nursing,” she said.

Miss Luke was in Canberra doing a placement for her degree when she received the news.

“It means I can go away to placements where I have to pay for accommodation,” she said.

“It’s great I can get local support.”

The former Trinity Anglican College student said she knew she wanted a career in health during year 12.

Dr Jelinek said he had a lot of contact with Mrs Franks, who died last year aged 71, with his research work, which has required a lot of community involvement through screening clinics.

“Dot Franks played a big role in diabetes health over many years,” he said.

“The good thing is the support group has decided I fit in with their aim of promoting health in people with diabetes.”

Dr Jelinek said CSU’s School of Community Health had been researching diabetes for more than a decade.

The university runs screening clinics for diabetics and others over the age of 40 to see if they have complications that might have occurred before their diabetes was diagnosed.

“It’s a preventive strategy so they can then, through their GP, get advice on how to change their lifestyle, including exercise and nutrition, to retain a healthier lifestyle,” he said.

Dr Jelinek said the grant would allow him to attend specialist conferences to present his research.

“One of the areas we’re working on is to look at automated methods of detecting diabetes complications, such as heart disease,” he said.