Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Alumni in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Medical and health

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Alumni

Locality: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61 3 9345 2555

Address: 1G Royal Parade, Parkville 3052 Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Website: www.wehi.edu.au/alumni

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25.01.2022 Did you attend the online COVID-19 alumni forum today? If you did, we hope you found the speakers, questions and discussion engaging and informative.

25.01.2022 Today is the birthday of Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet OM AK KBE, born 3 September 1899 (died 31 August 1985). Burnet was best known for developing the theory of clonal selection and won a Nobel Prize in 1960 for predicting acquired immune tolerance. In 1952, he received the Lasker Award, which has also been won by two other Institute staff: the late Professor Donald Metcalf AC in 1993; and more recently, Emeritus Professor Jacques Miller AC last year.... Burnet became the third Institute director in 1944. When he retired, 21 years later in 1965, he handed the torch to his protégée Sir Gustav Nossal. Pictured: Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet (left) and Sir Gustav Nossal at the launch of Burnets book, Credo and Comment, in 1979.

24.01.2022 The Institutes Associate Professor Misty Jenkins and alumnae Dr Lucy Bryce CBE and Associate Professor Kylie Mason are part of in the Metro Tunnels Parkville Storytelling Project. The stories of Misty, Kylie and Lucy, as well as many others in the Parkville biomedical precinct, have been brought to life by illustrators and have been displayed around the Metro Tunnel construction site for the new Parkville station. Misty heads up a lab in the Immunology division and investig...ates the biology of cytotoxic lymphocytes. Lucy was an Australian haematologist and medical researcher who worked with the Australian Red Cross Society to establish the first blood transfusion service in Australia. Kylie is a clinician scientist who undertook groundbreaking research into cell death proteins and BH3-mimetics at the Institute. You can read about Misty, Kylie and Lucy and even download colouring-in sheets of the artworks here: https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au//parkville-storytelling-pro

23.01.2022 The Institutes Dr Drew Berry makes extraordinary biomedical animations. In this podcast from Biosphere 2, he discusses the process of creating animations that combine cinema and science to reveal the microscopic worlds inside our bodies. You can also find a playlist of animations from Drew and the WEHI.TV team at www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD0444BD542B4D7D9 https://podcasts.apple.com//biosphere-2-podc/id1522720837

22.01.2022 Alums, in case you missed it. The Institute's Professor Marc Pellegrini joined Raf Epstein on ABC Melbourne Drive yesterday with the latest COVID19 news. Listen here - starts at 38:00.... https://www.abc.net.au//mel/programs/drive/drive/12236704 See more

22.01.2022 Catch up with Robyn Schenk, a uniquely multi-talented alum. As a postdoc at the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, Robyn is interested in the transcriptional regulation of B cells and plasma cells. Her big passion, though, rests in engaging and educating people about science. To that end, she started a science podcast, Nice to Know - Conversations with Everyday Scientists, and has tried her hand at stand-up.... Read about Robyns work and endeavours here: www.wehi.edu.au//illuminate-newsletter/june-2020/where-are

22.01.2022 Happy birthday to former Institute director and patron, Sir Gus Nossal, who celebrates his 89th birthday today.

22.01.2022 Catch up with alumna Elizabeth Murchison. Since leaving the Institute in 2002, Elizabeth has been investigating the evolution of transmissible cancers in dogs and Tasmanian devils. Read about her continuing research and her experience doing a TED talk:... www.wehi.edu.au//ju/where-are-they-now-elizabeth-murchison See more

21.01.2022 The Institutes Dr Shalin Naik is hosting a new science history series on ABC TV + iview. Watch episode 1 now.

21.01.2022 The University of Bonn, Germany Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn has recognised the lifetime achievements of WEHI immunologist Emeritus Professor Jacques Miller AC, awarding him an honorary doctorate. Congratulations Jacques! The virtual ceremony included two of Jacques' former colleagues and WEHI alums: Professor Christian Kurts, now at University of Bonn; and Professor Robyn Slattery, now at Monash University, who presented the doctorate certificate. Images f...rom the virtual ceremony include (clockwise from top left): Professor Miller receives the certificate from Professor Robyn Slattery; Professor Sammy Bedoui, Doherty Institute researcher and Bonn University Ambassador; Professor Bernd Weber, University of Bonn Dean; and Professor Christian Kurts, University of Bonn. Read more: https://www.uni-bonn.de/news/263-2020

20.01.2022 How has the discovery of the function of the thymus shaped immunology and modern medicine? Professor Jacques Miller - who made the original discovery - has explained in a new review in Science [subscription required for full article]: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6503/eaba2429

19.01.2022 The Institute's Annual General Meeting was streamed live on Thursday 14 May. Due to the COVID-19 gathering restrictions, the meeting was held online only. The AGM featured a presentation on the Institutes latest COVID-19 research. You can watch a recording of the meeting here: www.wehi.edu.au/agm

19.01.2022 The Institute's research has shaped many aspects of modern immunology and infectious diseases knowledge, which underpins the scientific response to COVID-19. Read about the contribution of Melbourne's polio researchers, including alums Dame Jean Macnamara and Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, to how we are responding to COVID-19.

18.01.2022 At WEHI we’ve been serving the community and making life-changing discoveries for more than 100 years. We bring together the best minds to address our most pressing medical challenges. Recently we’ve been running a campaign to share our story of how we are addressing the most pressing medical challenges in Australia and around the world. With the support of our alumni community, we’re brighter together.... www.wehi.edu.au/brightertogether See more

14.01.2022 Congratulations WEHI alum Dr Willy-John Martin (alum years 20112016) on being appointed inaugural Director Mori Research, Science and Innovation at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. As a postdoc at WEHI, Willy-John researched the immune status of acute rheumatic fever in Aboriginal, Torres Strait Island and Pacific Nation peoples with the goal of discovering better ways to diagnose and treat acute rheumatic fever. He also guided the establishment of the policies and practices for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This included the formation of WEHI’s Reconciliation Committee.

14.01.2022 Its National Science Week. Did you ever participate in community engagement events run by the Institute? This picture shows Research Assistant Mikara Robati (L) and alum Helen Ierino (R) helping school students to extract DNA at our display at the 2003 Great Australian Science Show.

11.01.2022 This weekend Open House Melbourne will be going virtual, and WEHI will be one of 88 organisations opening their digital doors. We hope alums can join us to view archival and architectural images, videos and facts on our @WEHI_Research Instagram stories over the weekend: https://www.instagram.com/wehi_research/ - click on the story highlight which will be visible from Saturday.... Pictured: Lisa Trinh (centre) and Kevin Weston (right) directing guests at our inaugural Open House Melbourne tours in 2013.

11.01.2022 Calling all alums who completed their Honours at the Institute. Were holding a networking reunion for you to catch up with other Honours students and graduates, dating back to 2011 alumni, current students and postgraduates still at WEHI. The reunion will be held on Thursday 15 October, 56.30pm via online video conference.... Professor Doug Hilton will speak about his journey from Institute Honours student to director. Dr Joanna Groom, past Honours student and current laboratory head in the Immunology division will discuss her lab's work in understanding the interactions between immune cells. There will be door prizes, trivia and time to catch up and network with your peers. Registrations essential. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2020-honours-networking-eve

11.01.2022 Hear direct from scientists at the forefront of our expanded research program into COVID-19 in an exclusive alumni online forum on 9 July at 2.30pm (Melbourne time). Registrations essential: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2020-covid-19-alumni-forum-registra... You will hear about some of our latest research from Dr Kym Lowes (pictured), who leads the screening laboratory in the Institute's National Drug Discovery Centre (NDDC). Dr Lowes will talk about how Institute researchers are Dr Kym Lowesusing the infrastructure of the NDDC to discover new drugs to treat COVID-19. Professor Doug Hilton, Institute Director, will speak about how the institute has responded to COVID-19 and how we have prioritised our research in the face of the epidemic. Our COVID-19 research lead Professor Marc Pellegrini will discuss the multiple approaches the Institute is taking to combat COVID-19 from basic research through to translational and clinical studies.

11.01.2022 Hey alums. Most of you will be on top of the statistical and epidemiological concepts required to get your head around the COVID-19 pandemic. But in case you need a refresher, The Conversation has published a handy explainer. Grab a cuppa and test your training.

10.01.2022 Hey alums, we would your thoughts. With the COVID-19 restrictions on group events likely to continue for some time, wed love to hear from you about what sorts of events and activities you would most like us to facilitate. Complete this quick survey and you will go in the draw to win one of four 2019 Art of Science framed images.... This survey will help us plan for both the present circumstances as well as when the situation eases. www.surveymonkey.com/r/5QWX687

09.01.2022 Alum achievement. Congratulations to Professor Perry Bartlett AO (alum years (19782003) on being appointed an Officer the Order of Australia (AO) in the Queens Birthday Honours. Professor Bartlett AO was head of the Development and Neurobiology division at the Institute. Through his discovery of stem cells in the developing and adult brain of mammals and his successful isolation and characterisation of this stem cell, he provided evidence of the adult brains capacity to ...produce new neurons. Professor Bartlett AO is now director of the Queensland Brain Institute and holds the Foundation Chair in Molecular Neuroscience at The University of Queensland. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, a past NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and ARC Federation Fellow, and a past President of the Australian Neuroscience Society. Professor Bartlett AO received the Queens Birthday Honours for distinguished service to neuroscience research, and to people living with dementia, motor neurone disease, and spinal cord injury. Photo: Professor Perry Bartlett at the Institute.

08.01.2022 More birthday celebrations. Institute staff recently gathered for a virtual party to celebrate two milestone birthdays. Professor Nick Nicola AO turned 70 on 1 July, and Professor Jerry Adams turns 80 today. Happy birthday to them both.

08.01.2022 Alumni voices in their own words. After reading about WEHI whilst at Birmingham Medical School in England, Rhodri Ceredig (alum 19771980) took a long and winding road to eventually being offered a PhD position in the Cell Biology Laboratory. In looking back, he acknowledges the support and guidance he received from Sir Gustav Nossal, the late Ian Mackay and the late Don Metcalf.... Read Rhodris story.

07.01.2022 September Is National Blood Cancer Awareness Month. The Leukaemia Foundation has long supported the Institute with funding research into blood cancers. On 10 October the foundation is holding its annual Shine a Light lantern lighting ceremony (online this year) to raise money for further research.... Each year Institute researchers chip in for Shine a Light. https://lightthenight.org.au Heres a photo of our participants in 2013. Back row (L-R): Associate Professor Marco Herold, Associate Professor Dr Ross Dickins, Dr Matthew Witkowski. Middle row (L-R): Dr Gemma Kelly, Dr Grace Liu, Dr Ana Janic, Dr Mark McKenzie. Front row (L-R): Dr Stephanie Grabow, Dr Rebecca Delconte, Dr Natasha Anstee.

07.01.2022 Happy birthday to Professor Nick Nicola AO, who turns 70 today. Nick joined the Institute in 1977 as a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Don Metcalfs team. Over his luminous career, he has made distinct research contributions. These include contributing to the discovery of many cytokines and their receptors including CSFs and LIF and signalling proteins including the suppressors of cytokine signaling family.... Nick has published over 250 scientific works, given great service to the scientific community, and has received many honours. In 1996 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, he received the Centenary Medal from the Australian Government in 2003, and in 2005 was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). In 1996 Nick was appointed deputy director at the Institute, at the same time that Professor Suzanne Cory became director, positions they both held until 2009. He was also head of the Cancer and Haematology division for more than 15 years, and held the role of director of the CRC for Cellular Growth Factors.

07.01.2022 Happy birthday to Professor Jerry Adams, who turns 80 today. After marrying Professor Suzanne Cory in 1969, Sir Gustav Nossal invited Jerry and Suzanne to establish a molecular biology research lab at the Institute. They arrived in 1971 and have been here ever since, mentoring many researchers who have gone on to become leaders at WEHI and around the world. Jerry is noted for his many achievements in molecular biology, immunology and the molecular genetics of cancer. Amon...gst these was the discovery that chromosome translocations found in Burkitt lymphomas link the MYC oncogene to antibody genes. His work on another translocated oncogene, BCL-2, proved equally ground-breaking. In 1988, his then PhD student David Vaux unexpectedly discovered that, whereas Myc and all other then known oncogenes promote cell proliferation, BCL-2 acts by preventing cell death. Indeed, the BCL-2 protein proved to be the founding member of a family that controls cellular life and death. Jerrys scientific passion for the past three decades, in collaboration with numerous Institute colleagues, has been unraveling how the BCL-2 family functions, and how they contribute to cancer development. Jerry has been acknowledged with many prestigious awards, including the MacFarlane Burnet Lecture and Medal (2014), and election to the Australian Academy of Science (1986), the UK Royal Society (1992), the US Academy of Science (2008) and the Academy of the American Association for Cancer Research (2014).

07.01.2022 Congratulations to Professor Andrew Cuthbertson AO (alum 19831987) on being elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. After completing a PhD at the Institute, Andrew has held key roles at the Florey Institute and Genentech in San Francisco. He is currently Chief Scientific Officer and an Executive Director on the Board for CSL. Andrew is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Scienc...es, and has been a member of the NHMRC Council. In 2016, Andrew was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). Pictured: (LR) Professor Doug Hilton, Professor Andrew Cuthbertson and Dr Gael Jennings. www.science.org.au//australias-top-scientists-elected-fell

07.01.2022 The Institutes Associate Professor Wai-Hong Tham was part of the Victorian Government's COVID-19 update today, speaking about her research into new therapies. [Associate Professor Tham speaks from 26:13.]

05.01.2022 The Institute holds a diverse collection of Aboriginal art. Whilst we cannot share our art and archives with visitors in person at present, were putting together a series of videos on our collection. For 2020 National Reconciliation Week, we caught up with Koorie artist Robert Young on In Your Hands, his work the Institute commissioned in 2016 which is displayed outside the Davis Auditorium in the Parkville campus.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7v_wH6Fb4U&t=2s

05.01.2022 On 30 July, respected immunologist and microbiologist Noel Rose died at the age of 92. Often referred to as the father of autoimmunity, Noel pioneered autoimmunity research and characterised the genetic and environmental causes of autoimmune diseases. Many immunology students will recognise his name alongside that of the late (alumnus) Ian Mackay as the co-authors of the popular textbook, The Autoimmune Diseases, now in its sixth edition.... It was while on a sabbatical at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (19791980) that Noel approached Ian with the suggestion of writing the book, which was first published in 1985. Noel was welcomed back to the Institute in 2002 as a plenary speaker (pictured) at the 8th Australasian Autoimmunity Workshop that celebrated the 80th birthday of Ian Mackay. We offer our condolences to Noels family and all our alumni who knew him.

05.01.2022 We have recently released the 2019 Annual Report, which for the first time includes augmented reality experiences. https://youtu.be/1J4uiDl31AU Download the WEHI AR app to your smart phone and use it to scan the augmented reality content on the cover and elsewhere throughout the report.... Then look back on highlights of 2019, including Implementing the first year of our Strategic Plan 20192023, supporting our commitment to improving the lives of those suffering from disease (page 6). Establishing the National Drug Discovery Centre to bring medicines to patients sooner (page 8). Anti-cancer treatment venetoclax listed on the Australian PBS (page 10). Visit the WEHI AR page to download the report and see how to access its full augmented reality features: www.wehi.edu.au/wehiar

04.01.2022 Are you officially signed up as an Institute alum? If not, you could be missing out on invitations to exclusive alumni news and events as well as our quarterly newsletter, Illuminate. Its the easiest way to stay in touch with the Institute and friends and colleagues. Join the alumni network here: www.wehi.edu.au/alumni

04.01.2022 Professor Marc Pellegrini spoke with Raf Epstein on ABC Melbourne yesterday about masks, jogging and Melbourne's COVID case count. . Listen: https://www.abc.net.au//melb/programs/drive/drive/12520534 [Starts at 00:43:20] (Photo taken prior to COVID restrictions)

04.01.2022 Focus on alum in search for a COVID-19 vaccine. Institute alum Susan Johnson (alum 20042008) is now a senior scientist at Vaxart in San Francisco, where she is helping develop oral recombinant vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection. Here she is pictured (seated, far left) back in 2007 when she was a part of WESA.... You can follow Susan on Twitter at @drsusanjoh. Read the Vaxart news here: https://investors.vaxart.com//vaxart-announces-ind-filed-c

03.01.2022 Youre invited to a unique forum for alums to hear about the Institutes research priorities regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The forum will be held on Thursday 9 July, 2.303.30pm (Melbourne time) via online video conference. Speakers include (L-R) Professor Doug Hilton, Professor Marc Pellegrini and Dr Kym Lowes.... Register for free here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2020-covid-19-alumni-forum-

03.01.2022 Catch up with the Institutes Dr Misty Jenkins on The Project discussing her brain cancer research. The segment helped raise more than $3.5 million for brain cancer research through Carries Beanies 4 Brain Cancer Foundation. www.facebook.com/watch/?v=559977484674726

02.01.2022 COVID-19 alumni forum // Hear direct from scientists at the forefront of our expanded research program into COVID-19 in an exclusive alumni online forum on 9 July at 2.30pm (Melbourne time). Our COVID-19 research lead Professor Marc Pellegrini (pictured) will discuss the multiple approaches the Institute is taking to combat COVID-19 from basic research through to translational and clinical studies including: * c-FIND a new rapid diagnostic tool for coronavirus and other inf...ections * research programs taking innovative approaches to develop new drugs for coronaviruses, which recently received $3M support from the Medical Research Future Fund * COVID SHIELD, the first gold standard Australian clinical trial to rigorously test whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19 in frontline healthcare workers. Registrations essential: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2020-covid-19-alumni-forum-

01.01.2022 Clinicianscientist alums keen on your thoughts. We are looking to understand more about the experiences of clinicianscientist alums. This will help us improve the attraction and retention of clinician-scientists and better understand the challenges they face. If you are a clinicianscientist, can you take a few minutes to complete our survey? See link below. Respondents will not be individually identified and personal information will be kept confidential. www.surveymonkey.com/r/clinicianscientistquestionnaire2

01.01.2022 The first gold standard Australian clinical trial to determine whether the drug hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19 is now open. The study, called COVID SHIELD, will recruit frontline and allied health care professionals, aiming to reduce the incidence of COVID-19 in the Australian healthcare workforce. While there are other trials underway assessing the drugs activity as a treatment, COVID SHIELD is the first to test the drug as a prophylaxis.... Read more about the Institute-led clinical trial here: www.wehi.edu.au//covid19-prevention-trial-opens-high-risk-

01.01.2022 Doug Hilton has been named the 2020 Melburnian of the Year by the City of Melbourne Doug was recognised for his leadership in the medical research sector and contribution to the Melbourne community. Read more.