WEHI,previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research,and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute,is Australia's oldest medical research institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet,who won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for his work in immunology,was director from 1944 to 1965. Burnet developed the ideas of clonal selection and acquired immune tolerance. Later,Professor Donald Metcalf discovered and characterised colony-stimulating factors. As of 2015,the institute hosted more than 750 researchers who work to understand,prevent and treat diseases including blood,breast and ovarian cancers;inflammatory diseases (autoimmunity) such as rheumatoid arthritis,type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease;and infectious diseases such as malaria,HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Sir Gustav Victor Joseph Nossal is an Austrian-born Australian research biologist. He is famous for his contributions to the fields of antibody formation and immunological tolerance.
Donald Metcalf AC FRS FAA was an Australian medical researcher who spent most of his career at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. In 1954 he received the Carden Fellowship from the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria;while he officially retired in 1996,he continued working and held his fellowship until his death in December 2014.
David Morritz de Kretser is an Australian medical researcher who served as the 27th Governor of Victoria,from 2006 to 2011.
The Eureka Prizes are awarded annually by the Australian Museum,Sydney,to recognise individuals and organizations who have contributed to science and the understanding of science in Australia. They were founded in 1990 following a suggestion by science journalist Robyn Williams.
Suzanne Cory is an Australian molecular biologist. She has worked on the genetics of the immune system and cancer and has lobbied her country to invest in science. She is married to fellow scientist Jerry Adams,also a WEHI scientist,whom she met while studying for her PhD at the University of Cambridge,England.
Ruth Frances Bishop was an Australian virologist,who was a leading member of the team that discovered the human rotavirus.
Michael Cowley FTSE is an Australian physiologist. He is best known for his mapping of the neural circuits involved in metabolism and obesity and diabetes treatment. He is a professor in the Department of Physiology at Monash University in the Faculty of Biomedical and Psychological Sciences. He is also a director of the Australian diabetes drug development company,Verva Inc,and director of the Monash Obesity &Diabetes Institute] (modi).
Brendan Scott Crabb is an Australian microbiologist,research scientist and director and chief executive officer of the Burnet Institute,based in Melbourne,Victoria,Australia.
Andrew Bruce Holmes is an Australian and British senior research chemist and professor at the Bio21 Institute,Melbourne,Australia,and the past President of the Australian Academy of Science. His research interests lie in the synthesis of biologically-active natural products and optoelectronic polymers.
Frances Separovic is a biophysical chemist and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne,where she taught physical chemistry and trained graduate students in her field. She is credited with developing techniques that utilise nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to study peptides in lipid bilayers,with applications in the study of the structure of membrane proteins and their effects on membranes. Her more recent research concerns 'the structure and interactions of amyloid peptides from Alzheimer's disease,pore-forming toxins and antibiotic peptides in model biological membranes'.
Melanie Bahlo is an Australian statistical geneticist and bioinformatician.
Bryan Raymond George Williams Hon. FRSNZ,FAA is a molecular biologist from New Zealand,with expertise in innate immunity and cancer biology. He is emeritus director and distinguished scientist at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne,Australia,and professor in the Department of Molecular and Translational Science at Monash University.
Alan Frederick Cowman AC,FRS,FAA,CorrFRSE,FAAHMS,FASP,FASM is an internationally acclaimed malaria researcher whose work specialises in researching the malaria-causing parasite,Plasmodium falciparum,and the molecular mechanisms it uses to evade host responses and antimalarial drugs. As of May 2024,he is the deputy directory and Laboratory Head of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne,and his laboratory continues to work on understanding how Plasmodium falciparum,infects humans and causes disease. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 2011 and awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019 for his "eminent service to the biological sciences,notably to molecular parasitology,to medical research and scientific education,and as a mentor."
Anne Kelso is an Australian biomedical researcher specialising in immunology and influenza. She is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Government's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Misty Rayna Jenkins is an Australian scientist known for her research into lymphocytes and cancer treatment.
Robyn Guymer is an Australian ophthalmologist who was awarded an Elizabeth Blackburn Fellowship from the NHMRC,and works in ophthalmology at Melbourne University. Guymer is a senior retinal specialist within the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital,and is the deputy director,Centre for Eye Research Australia. She works in age-related macular degeneration as a clinician,academic,and researcher,and has used nano-lasers to treat Age-related Macular Degeneration.
Stephen J. Nicholls is an Australian cardiologist. He was appointed to the position of director of MonashHeart,Monash Health and professor of cardiology,Monash University in October 2018. He is the inaugural clinical director of the Victorian Heart Hospital. He is also the inaugural director of Monash University’s Victorian Heart Institute,an organisation dedicated to creating the cardiovascular health solutions of the future.
Elizabeth Louise Hartland,who publishes as Elizabeth L. Hartland,is a microbiologist and immunologist,and Eureka prize judge. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2024,for service to "medical research,particularly microbiology,and to tertiary education". She is CEO and Director of the Hudson Institute of Medical Research within Monash University.
