Duncan Maskell

Last updated
Duncan Maskell
FMedSci
20th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2018
Institutions University of Cambridge
University of Melbourne

Duncan John Maskell, FMedSci (born 30 May 1961) is a British and Australian biochemist, academic, and academic administrator, who specialises in molecular microbiology and bacterial infectious diseases. Since 2018, he has been vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Australia but retires in 2025. He previously taught at the University of Cambridge, England.

Contents

Early life and education

Maskell grew up in north London. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth's School for Boys, then a comprehensive school in Barnet. [1]

He has discussed the important role music played in his upbringing. He performed at the 60th birthday of Benjamin Britten as an 11 year old boy. [1]

He studied Natural Sciences at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. [1] [2] He undertook a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Cambridge's Department of Pathology on Salmonella infections and graduated in 1986. [3] His doctoral thesis was titled "Mechanisms of resistance and immunity to salmonella infections" and was submitted in 1985. [4]

Academic career

After doctoral work, Maskell worked as a research scientist for Wellcome Biotech from 1985 to 1988, then as a research fellow at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, from 1988 to 1992. In 1992, he joined Imperial College, London as a lecturer in its Department of Biochemistry. [2]

University of Cambridge

In 1996, he was appointed Marks & Spencer Professor of Farm Animal Health, Food Science and Food Safety at the University of Cambridge. [2] He was elected a fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge in 1998. [2] He also served as Head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine from 2004 to 2013, and Head of the School of Biological Sciences from 2013 to 2015. [5] He served as the University of Cambridge's Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor from 2015 to 2018. [5] [6] [7] [8]

University of Melbourne

On 1 October 2018, Maskell replaced Glyn Davis as vice-chancellor at the University of Melbourne. [9] [10] In May 2022, he was reappointed for a second term. [11] In 2022, his annual remuneration as vice-chancellor was $1,500,000-$1,514,999; this included a fringe benefit associated with a residence owned by the University to the value of $301,541. [12] Following a series of campaigns and protests by the National Tertiary Edication Union's Casual Network, including a protest outside the Vice Chancellor's 33 room residence, Maskell issued an apology regarding underpayment, saying there was “a systemic failure of respect from this institution" towards insecurely employed staff. The university eventually provided $45 million in back pay to former and current employees. [13] [14]

Following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel and immigration, the university was affected due to its reliance on revenue from international students. He announced widespread staff redundancies reducing the university's headcount by 450 people in August 2020. [15]

In 2023, staff strikes led by the NTEU protesting declining pay and job security for staff at the University of Melbourne specifically targeted Maskell at events such as the June 2023 University of Melbourne Council Meeting.

University of Melbourne staff protest a meeting attended by Duncan Maskell over falling pay, job security, and working conditions. FzHwqkyaAAEkPI7.jpg
University of Melbourne staff protest a meeting attended by Duncan Maskell over falling pay, job security, and working conditions.

On 29 April 2024, Maskell announced that he would conclude his term as Vice-Chancellor by March 2025. [16]

Honours

In 2011, Maskell was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci). [17] He became an Australian citizen in 2023. [18]

Selected works

Related Research Articles

<i>Salmonella</i> Genus of bacteria

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two known species of Salmonella are Salmonella enterica and Salmonella bongori. S. enterica is the type species and is further divided into six subspecies that include over 2,650 serotypes. Salmonella was named after Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850–1914), an American veterinary surgeon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salmonellosis</span> Infection caused by Salmonella bacteria

Salmonellosis is a symptomatic infection caused by bacteria of the Salmonella type. It is the most common disease to be known as food poisoning, these are defined as diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. In humans, the most common symptoms are diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Symptoms typically occur between 12 hours and 36 hours after exposure, and last from two to seven days. Occasionally more significant disease can result in dehydration. The old, young, and others with a weakened immune system are more likely to develop severe disease. Specific types of Salmonella can result in typhoid fever or paratyphoid fever. Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever are specific types of salmonellosis, known collectively as enteric fever, and are, respectively, caused by salmonella typhi and paratyphi bacteria, which are only found in humans. Most commonly, salmonellosis cases arise from salmonella bacteria from animals, and chicken is a major source for these infections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lipid A</span>

Lipid A is a lipid component of an endotoxin held responsible for the toxicity of gram-negative bacteria. It is the innermost of the three regions of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS), also called endotoxin molecule, and its hydrophobic nature allows it to anchor the LPS to the outer membrane. While its toxic effects can be damaging, the sensing of lipid A by the immune system may also be critical for the onset of immune responses to gram-negative infection, and for the subsequent successful fight against the infection.

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<i>Bordetella parapertussis</i> Species of bacterium

Bordetella parapertussis is a small Gram-negative bacterium of the genus Bordetella that is adapted to colonise the mammalian respiratory tract. Pertussis caused by B. parapertussis manifests with similar symptoms to B. pertussis-derived disease, but in general tends to be less severe. Immunity derived from B. pertussis does not protect against infection by B. parapertussis, however, because the O-antigen is found only on B. parapertussis. This antigen protects B. parapertussis against antibodies specific to B. pertussis, so the bacteria are free to colonize the host's lungs without being subject to attack by previous antibodies. These findings suggest B. parapertussis evolved in a host population that had already developed immunity to B. pertussis, where being able to evade B. pertussis immunity was an advantage.

Dame Jean Olwen Thomas, is a Welsh biochemist, former Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and Chancellor of Swansea University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leszek Borysiewicz</span> British immunologist

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virulence-related outer membrane protein family</span>

Virulence-related outer membrane proteins, or outer surface proteins (Osp) in some contexts, are expressed in the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria and are essential to bacterial survival within macrophages and for eukaryotic cell invasion.

Anthony (Tony) Charles Minson, PhD, FMedSci is a British virologist known for his work on the biology of herpesviruses, and a university administrator. He was the Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 2003 to 2009. He is an emeritus professor of virology at the university's Department of Pathology and an emeritus fellow of Wolfson College.

Rauchvirus is a genus of viruses in the order Caudovirales, in the family Podoviridae. Bacteria serve as natural hosts. The genus contains only one species: Bordetella virus BPP1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracheal cytotoxin</span> Chemical compound

Tracheal cytotoxin (TCT) is a 921 dalton glycopeptide released by Bordetella pertussis, Vibrio fischeri, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It is a soluble piece of peptidoglycan (PGN) found in the cell wall of all gram-negative bacteria, but only some bacteria species release TCT due to inability to recycle this piece of anhydromuropeptide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Dougan</span>

Gordon Dougan is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge and head of pathogen research and a member of the board of management at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, United Kingdom. He is also a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge. During his career, Dougan has pioneered work on enteric diseases and been heavily involved in the movement to improve vaccine usage in developing countries. In this regard he was recently voted as one of the top ten most influential people in the vaccine world by people working in the area.

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Sir Andrew James McMichael, is an immunologist, Professor of Molecular Medicine, and previously Director of the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford. He is particularly known for his work on T cell responses to viral infections such as influenza and HIV.

Kathryn "Kat" Elizabeth Holt is an Australian computational biologist specializing in infectious disease genomics. She is a professor at Monash University's Department of Infectious Diseases and a professor of Microbial Systems Genomics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Her current research focuses on investigating the evolution and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance. In 2015, Holt received the L'Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talent Award.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "The man who "never really had a career plan" — and is off to Australia to become a vice-chancellor". 11 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Maskell, Prof. Duncan John, (born 30 May 1961), Vice Chancellor, University of Melbourne, since 2018". Who's Who 2023 . Oxford University Press. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "'They're definitely not cash cows': Lunch with University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell". 7 February 2020.
  4. ↑ Maskell, D. J. (1985). "Mechanisms of resistance and immunity to salmonella infections". E-Thesis Online Service. The British Library Board.
  5. 1 2 'MASKELL, Prof. Duncan John', Who's Who 2017 , A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 26 Oct 2017
  6. ↑ Weglowska, Magdalena (7 September 2015). "Professor Duncan Maskell FMedSci". Vice-Chancellor's Office. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Professor Duncan Maskell". Cambridge Immunology Network. University of Cambridge. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "Professor Duncan Maskell". Centre for Science and Policy. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. ↑ Dodd, Tim (26 October 2017). "Melbourne Uni poaches Duncan Maskell from Cambridge". The Australian. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  10. ↑ Mackinnon, Martin (4 October 2018). "Professor Duncan Maskell". Office of the Vice-Chancellor. University of Melbourne. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "Duncan Maskell reappointed as Melbourne uni vice-chancellor". The Australian.
  12. ↑ "Note 33 Key management personnel". Annual Report 2022 (PDF). The University of Melbourne. March 2023. pp. 168–170. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  13. ↑ Commons Librarian; McIntyre, Iain (2024-05-27). "Organising! A Remedy for Despair: How Workers at the University of Melbourne won back $45 million in Stolen Wages". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  14. ↑ Prytz, Anna (2021-09-09). "Casuals disappointed with Melbourne Uni wage theft apology". The Age. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  15. ↑ Karp, Paul (5 August 2020). "University of Melbourne cuts 450 jobs due to projected losses of $1bn over three years". The Guardian.
  16. ↑ Fraser, Thomas (2024-04-29). "Vice-Chancellor to conclude his term in 2025". Newsroom. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  17. ↑ "Fellow - Professor Duncan Maskell". The Academy of Medical Sciences. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  18. ↑ personal communication
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Preceded by Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne
2018–present		Incumbent
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