Monthly Archives: October 2018

Patients with coeliac disease given new hope with start of trial

The world’s first vaccine for people with coeliac disease is one step closer as phase two clinical trials get underway across Australia, led by The Royal Melbourne Hospital.

The trial holds the potential to protect coeliac patients from the harmful effects of gluten.

Principal Investigator at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Head of Coeliac Research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Dr Jason Tye-Din, said patient participation was crucial to the success of the trials of a treatment that could one day be life-changing for people living with coeliac disease.

“This trial is important in establishing clinical proof-of-concept for a treatment that would provide benefit beyond that of the gluten-free diet,” Dr Tye-Din said.

“The gluten-free diet is the only current treatment for coeliac disease but it is onerous, complex and not always effective.

“Even the most diligent patients can suffer the adverse effects of accidental exposure. This study will test if the vaccine, Nexvax2, can specifically target the immune response to gluten in people with coeliac disease and modify the associated effects.”

The trial of Nexvax2® (RESET CeD) for the treatment of coeliac disease will start in Melbourne and then roll out in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Mackay and the Sunshine Coast.

Photo courtesy of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. 1G Royal Parade Parkville 3052 Australia

Article sourced from The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Imaging collaboration sheds new light on cancer growth – Walter & Eliza Hall Institute

Institute researchers have uncovered new insights into how the normal controls on cell growth are lost in cancer cells, leading to rapid tumour expansion.

The findings could help researchers predict how cancer cells respond to chemotherapy and improve our understanding of how cancer evolves.

Published in the journal Cell Cycle, the research was led by Dr Kim Pham and Professor Phil Hodgkin and performed in collaboration with Dr Kelly Rogers and Dr Lachlan Whitehead at the Institute’s Centre for Dynamic Imaging.

At a glance
  • Researchers have discovered how the process of cell replication is derailed in cancer cells, challenging a longstanding theory about how cells grow.
  • The discovery was made using advanced imaging techniques and allowed researchers to develop a new mathematical model of cell replication.
  • Accurate models of cell replication help researchers predict how cancers respond to chemotherapy and how drug resistance evolves.
Debunking cell cycle dogma

Cell replication is a normal process that generates additional cells, enabling the body to grow, repair tissues and generate germ-fighting immune cells.

In order to replicate, a cell first copies its genetic material, DNA, and then physically splits in half to form two new ‘daughter’ cells. This process, called the cell cycle, is normally tightly controlled to prevent excessive growth, which can lead to cancer.

In this study, researchers uncovered precisely how the cell cycle is derailed in cancer cells.

“We found that compared with healthy immune cells, cancer cells had dramatic changes in their cell cycle,” Dr Pham said.

“The first phase of the cell cycle, called G1, is normally tightly controlled to ensure replication occurs safely. This step is drastically shortened in cancer cells, allowing them to race through the cell cycle at a risky pace.”

Since 1973, scientists have assumed that the second phase of the cell cycle, when DNA is copied and the cell splits in half, takes a fixed amount of time, while the first phase takes a variable amount of time.

Several years ago, the team challenged this theory in healthy immune cells, showing that both phases of the cell cycle contribute to changes in replication time. Now, they have upended the theory in cancer cells too.

“The old theory predicts that all variation in replication time comes from the first phase of the cell cycle,” Dr Pham said.

“When we looked closely at the cancer cells, we found that the opposite was true: the bulk of the variation was due to the second phase of the cell cycle.”

Imaging cells in unprecedented detail 

The discovery was made in collaboration with the Centre for Dynamic Imaging, a laboratory within the Institute that offers researchers access to advanced imaging technologies.

“For this study, we tagged cancer cells with a fluorescent sensor that changes colour as cells progress through the cell cycle,” Dr Pham said. “We then performed single cell imaging to track each phase of the cell cycle as they underwent replication,” she said.

The researchers then worked with bioimage analyst Dr Whitehead to analyse and interpret their data and develop a new mathematical model for predicting when cells replicate.

“This study demonstrates the power of imaging to directly reveal cellular behaviours, and in some cases challenge assumptions that were made before it was possible to obtain such clear evidence,” Dr Whitehead said.

Fresh insights into cancer 

Professor Hodgkin said the research could impact on our understanding of cancer.

“Accurate mathematical models of how cancer cells replicate help us predict how cancers respond to chemotherapy treatment, and how they evolve to become drug resistant.”

The team’s finding that the first phase of the cell cycle is minimised in cancer cells suggests a vulnerability that could be targeted by cancer treatments.

“Cancers have often lost the safety checks that prevent replication in the presence of errors such as DNA damage,” Professor Hodgkin said. “Our work suggests the lack of these safety checks leads to the first phase of the cell cycle becoming much shorter in cancer cells.

“Drugs that help restore these safety checks could be beneficial for treating multiple cancers.”

The research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Human Frontiers Science Program and the Australian Government.

 

Collaboration between imaging Dr Kelly Rogers (L) and researchers, Dr Kim Pham and Professor Philip Hodgkin

 

Article source: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

University of Melbourne’s Claire Gorrie wins prestigious Victoria Fellowship

Two women scientists smiling, one holding her fellowship framed certificate.

Melbourne Biomedical Precinct researcher, Ms Claire Gorrie, a Doherty Institute (Dept. Microbiology & Immunology) postdoctoral research fellow and bioinformatician, was announced as a recipient of the prestigious Victoria Fellowship.

Ms Gorrie works in the School of Biomedical Science’s Microbiological Diagnostic Unit combining the collected sequence data with patient’s epidemiological data in order to identify potential transmission of these ‘superbugs’.

“We hope to establish the feasibility and potential use of this approach for ongoing surveillance in hospitals, and to develop a computational pipeline that would allow ongoing automated surveillance of superbugs,” Ms Gorrie said.

“The Fellowship will enable me to visit some institutions overseas that are also investigating similar approaches, including the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Public Health England.”

The Fellowship will also support Ms Gorrie to attend major international conferences to present her work and get insights from insights from individuals from a range of computational, research or clinical backgrounds.

“I am incredibly excited about the opportunity and the learning experiences I will get. I am very passionate about this project and its potential impacts and am grateful that veski sees the potential of this work too,” she said.

The Victorian State Government engaged veski in 2013 to administer the Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation and Victoria Fellowships to provide Victoria’s leading scientists and innovators with the support they need to develop life changing treatments.

Ms Gorrie joins 11 other early career researchers in being awarded $18,000 each to assist them with an international study mission, six in life sciences and six in physical sciences.

 

Dr Amanda Caples, Victoria’s Lead Scientist & Ms Claire Gorrie

Article and image sourced from: biomedicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/ 

Victorian Government Trade Mission to Israel – December 2018

You are invited to join a Victorian Government delegation to the 2018 Bioforum Summit in Tel Aviv.

The Victorian Government, through Trade Victoria, is coordinating a medtech-biotech-pharma delegation to Israel, centred around the Bioforum Summit in Tel Aviv, in December.

This is a great opportunity to showcase our strengths and capabilities, whilst also learning more about Israel’s highly innovative and commercially-oriented ecosystem.

Mission dates?

9 to 16 December 2018

Who should attend?

Organisations that work within the biotech and pharma sector, including SMEs, early start ups, academic institutions, and service providers are encouraged to participate.

Why should you attend?

Victoria has significant strengths in a range of research and industry capabilities including infectious disease and diagnostics, cancer, neurology and regenerative medicine.
Melbourne is also a leading international location and a strategic hub in the Asia-Pacific for new drug candidate identification, medicinal chemistry and drug optimisation as well as clinical trials.

The Victorian Government is keen to showcase these strengths and will provide your organisation with a variety of marketing opportunities, connection points and networking resources to support your participation at the Summit, as well as promotion of any announcement you might like to make.

What’s included?

Pre-mission:

  • The Victorian Government Trade and Investment (VGTI) office in Europe will work together with Bioforum Israel, Trade Victoria and Invest Victoria to assist in maximising business opportunities.
  • We can also organise an email introduction/conference call to discuss your business needs in the market.
  • Any media announcements/stories that you would like to propose
  • Strategic news and case studies to boost the profile of Victorian organisations through conventional and social media channels. Please let us know if there are any stories that you would like included.
  • A pre-mission briefing will also be held in Melbourne just prior to departure.

The mission:

  • Planning has already begun, with a week full of visits, professional networking activities and exposure to Israel medtech-biotech ecosystem. It is anticipated there will be a Victorian Symposium and networking event on 10 December prior to the Summit, and a series of site visits and business meetings following the summit.

Post-mission:

  • Trade Victoria is keen to work with participating Victorian organisations to use the meetings during the mission for recruitment of international delegates for our annual March Victorian Invitation Program (VIP) event, in which strategic international delegates are hosted in Melbourne for partnering events, and broader exposure to the full range of Victoria’s medical technology and pharmaceutical capabilities.
  • We’re also keen to work with Victorian organisations to be able to follow-up on initial engagements at Bioforum Summit with personal invitations to visit Melbourne and continue to explore opportunities, or to execute partnering deals.
What’s not included?

The Victorian Government will not pay for airfares, accommodation, meals outside of official activities or conference registration fees.

How do I sign up?

Register to participate on the Trade Victoria website here.

When registering, please confirm what benefits you would like to avail, particularly your interest in:

  • Business meetings and the names of organisations you would like to meet
  • Having your logo and a 150 word profile in the mission collateral
  • Any media announcements/stories that you would like to propose

Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Summit 2018 – 29 November

Registrations are now open for the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Summit 2018 – building a self-improving healthcare system. 29 – 30 November at The University of Sydney Business School. 

The ACTA Summit 2018 is precisely focussed on investigator-initiated clinical trials’ sector opportunities, challenges and expansion. It features an inspirationally relevant program – tier-one national keynote speakers, including Australian Government representatives, leading clinician researchers, and our wider stakeholder community.

You will be networking and sharing knowledge with delegates from across the Australian and New Zealand clinical trials sectors, including ACTA’s MRFF-supported Reference and Special Interest Groups presenting and gathering feedback on their 2017-2020 program of work to support, strengthen and grow the clinical trials sector nationally.


When:

Thursday 29 – Friday 30 November


Location:

The University of Sydney Business School, Abercrombie Building

Inaugural Clinical Registries Summit – 26 November

This Inaugural Clinical Registries Summit, presented by Monash Clinical Registries and the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, aims to showcase the breadth and depth of clinical registry activity currently taking place in Australia.

The Summit will bring together senior registry clinicians, researchers, managers, funders and other key stakeholders to share and discuss the impact of registry activity on patient outcomes. The program includes brief presentations from over 15 Monash and external clinical registries – showcasing clinical registries in cancer, trauma, procedures, devices and rare diseases.

The inaugural Summit theme is Showcasing Clinical Registries – and includes presentations from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare, the Commonwealth Department of Health, and Rebecca Cosgriff from the United Kingdom Cystic Fibrosis Registry. The program will also highlight international registry collaborations, and will introduce key registry statistical methods and future registry opportunities.

Clinical registries are increasingly recognised for their key role in quality improvement and driving evidence-based practice, as well as supporting clinical research and driving public policy. This Summit is a must for those who wish to better understand the value that clinical registries bring to improving healthcare in Australia.


Date:

Monday 26 November 2018


Time:

9am – 5am (registration opens at 8.30am)


Location:

Monash University Conference Rooms
Ground Floor, 553 St Kilda Road
Melbourne


Cost:

$190 (inclusive of GST)


Who should attend?

  • Government
  • Private Health Insurers
  • Industry Sponsors
  • Registry Managers
  • Clinicians
  • Researchers
  • Health Service Managers
  • Other healthcare professionals


Need more information?

Contact Cheryl Grant at Monash University
cheryl.grant@monash.edu
(03) 9903 0463

Cancer Therapeutics CRC signs agreement to enable Pfizer to develop novel cancer drugs

Cancer Therapeutics CRC logo

Melbourne-headquartered Cancer Therapeutics CRC (CTx) today announced a two-year research collaboration and a license agreement with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE). Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will gain the rights to two novel pre-clinical cancer programs and CTx will receive US$14.2 million [AUD$20M] upfront payment, up to a potential US$460 million [AUD$648M] in development and sales milestones, as well as royalties on product sales if the program reaches commercialization. The two programs target proteins that are known to play an important role in driving the growth of both solid and blood cancers.

Brett Carter, CEO of CTx, said “We are very excited to work with a company of Pfizer’s calibre on the progression of these programs. This deal, together with the three prior deals for CTx technology, has the potential to return a billion dollars to Australia. Funds that will help support the biomedical sector and that can be ploughed into new drug discovery programs; providing opportunities for the world class team we have developed, and potentially leading to the delivery of new treatments for patients and economic benefits for the nation”.

Dr. Robert Abraham, Senior Vice President and Group Head of Pfizer’s Oncology Research & Development Group said: “We are constantly searching the globe for the best science that has the potential to change the way we can treat people with cancer in the future. What we have found at CTx with these two chromatin modifying enzyme targets are very promising, differentiated programs that have the potential to provide new treatment options for patients.”

Asked why CTx had achieved such great success, Dr. Ian Street, CTx CSO responded ‘Every new cancer drug starts with a great idea, however what Australia lacked was a good mechanism to convert these ideas into potential new medicines, and this is the niche that CTx has filled’

About CTX: CTx is an oncology focused small molecule drug discovery and early development biotechnology group, established under the Australian government’s Cooperative Research Centre initiative. CTX’s unique partnership model leverages the capabilities and expertise of its Industry Participants with those of a number of Australia’s pre-eminent Medical Research Institutes and Universities. CTx’s Participants are the Children’s Cancer Institute, CSIRO, Griffith University, Melbourne Health, Monash University, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Clinical Genomics, SYNthesis Research, CTxONE, Cancer Trials Australia, Medicines Development for Global Health Limited, Cancer Council of Victoria, Syneos Health and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

About the CRC Programme: The CRC Programme supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. Australia’s network of CRCs operates across all sectors of Australia’s economy and society. Further information about the CRC Programme is available at www.business.gov.au

Medical research needs your blood!

Healthy volunteers are needed to sign up to the Volunteer Blood Donor Registry. The registry provides blood samples to ethically approved medical research for diseases such as cancer and inflammatory diseases.

The Volunteer Blood Donor Registry is a not-for-profit service established by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and Melbourne Health to support research in the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct that requires the use of human blood.

Registered healthy volunteers donate a small amount of blood (no more than five tablespoons at any one time) for ethically approved medical research. Every donation of blood will go towards research and may contribute to life-saving discoveries for future generations.

Australia’s medical research achievements have benefited health outcomes worldwide, from blood hormones to prevent infection to the cervical cancer vaccine. These discoveries would not have been possible without the use of human blood in the research process.

By joining the Volunteer Blood Donor Registry you can contribute towards the latest research discoveries.

In The Know – Dr Chris Behrenbruch – 25 October

In The Know is an opportunity for existing and budding entrepreneurs, business founders, people running businesses, policymakers and the public at large who have an interest in learning from practitioners about the secrets of their success. At this session you will hear from Dr Chris Behrenbruch, Co-Founder and CEO of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX:TLX). 

The series is called In The Know since establishing any business venture requires its founders and leaders to be knowledgeable, informed, aware and up-to-date with a range of issues that come in to play in building a successful enterprise.


When:

Thursday 25 October 2018

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm AEDT (light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the talk)


Location:

Auditorium
Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
792 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000


Guest speaker: Dr Chris Behrenbruch

Dr. Behrenbruch received a degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Monash University and received a D.Phil (Ph.D) in biomedical engineering from Oxford University in Sir Prof. Mike Brady’s “Medical Vision Laboratory” in the field of imaging and diagnosis of breast cancer. He also took additional graduate study in computational biology and genomics at Stanford University. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) jointly awarded from New York University and the London School of Economics (TRIUM program) and has a strong background in corporate finance and negotiation. Dr Behrenbruch also holds a Juris Doctor (Law) from the University of Melbourne. Dr. Behrenbruch holds over 60 peer-reviewed publications and patents in the field of medical informatics, biotechnology and nanotechnology.

A serial entrepreneur, Dr. Behrenbruch started his career in the oil and gas industry and Siemens Telecommunications (Asia/Pacific). In the late 90’s, he was involved in starting several UK-based companies including Oxford Medical Image Analysis and Mirada Solutions.

From 2007–9, Dr. Behrenbruch was a Professor in the Department of Medical and Molecular Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His appointment at UCLA followed a successful track record in commercializing biotechnology, healthcare IT and medical devices. His laboratory focused on the technical and clinical challenges of introducing new device, instrumentation and nanotechnology solutions into the healthcare practice and he continues to teach in the area of life sciences commercialization and technology transfer. Dr. Behrenbruch was also a visiting academic and taught entrepreneurship classes at institutions in the United States, England, Germany, China and Australia.

Parallel to his prior academic role at UCLA, Dr. Behrenbruch was a Founder and Managing Partner of Momentum Biosciences LLC, a Los Angeles-based early stage venturing and business advisory group. Momentum Biosciences manages a fully staffed and equipped biotechnology incubator facility in Culver City (Los Angeles) in close proximity to UCLA.

In June 2009, Dr. Behrenbruch left his management role at Momentum to take the position of CEO at ImaginAb, Inc (until Feb, 2015). ImaginAb was the first Momentum portfolio company to “graduate” from its venture accelerator program and has raised a total of $50m in venture capital. He was also the non-executive Chairman of Cell Therapies Pty Ltd, a private-public partnership with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne, Australia.

Dr Behrenbruch is currently co-founder and CEO of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX:TLX) and a non-executive director of Factor Therapeutics (ASX:FTT) and Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX).

TRaM18 Showcase – 22 October

Tickets are now available for the Translating Research at Melbourne (TRaM) Showcase on 22 October 2018. 

This flagship event celebrates the successes of the teams that have participated in and interacted with TRaM’s programs in 2018, giving profile and prominence to research impact at the University in all its forms.

Presentations will be followed by drinks and networking as teams from TRaM and finalists of the Graeme Clark Institute HealthTech Innovation Challenge and the inaugural Dean’s Innovation Grant (Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) share their research commercialisation insights and journeys with peers, partners, investors and colleagues.


When:

Monday 22 October 2018

6:00 pm – 8:30 pm AEDT (6pm arrival for a prompt 6.30pm start)


Location:

The Woodward Conference Centre
Level 10, 185 Pelham Street
(Melbourne Law School)
Carlton, VIC 3053

Two for one: mass drug administration has the potential to eliminate multiple neglected tropical diseases from populations

Image of mother and child standing, mother holding son and other hand a cooking wok in front of a thatched hut in the Solomon islands. There are two pigs in the background.

Researchers from the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct, the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have partnered with researchers in the Solomon Islands to advance the fight against neglected tropical diseases in the Pacific by proving that it is possible to safely treat large populations for trachoma and scabies simultaneously.

For the study an entire population (26,000-plus) in the Choiseul Province of Solomon Islands was given antibiotics to treat these highly infectious neglected tropical diseases. The research, a collaboration between Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney, the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and Medical Services, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is published in the latest issue of Lancet Global Health.

Professor Andrew Steer, from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, said administering the two antibiotics together had significant advantages – reducing costs and the burden on health services and the community; and ultimately leading to better disease control.

“We know from our previous research in Fiji* that administering the antibiotic ivermectin to entire communities reduced the prevalence of scabies by 94 per cent,” Prof Steer said. “This new study shows us that by adding azithromycin to the mix, we have the potential to double the bang for our buck and create high population-wide reductions in both scabies and trachoma at the same time.”

The Kirby Institute’s Lucia Romani, lead author on the paper, said scabies and trachoma were both recognised by the World Health Organisation as neglected tropical diseases, and responsible for significant disease in the Solomon Islands, and the Pacific region more broadly. For example, scabies affects 20 per cent of the population at any one time.

“Both scabies and trachoma are very easily treated by the antibiotics, ivermectin and azithromycin,” Dr Romani said. “This research found that mass administration of these antibiotics simultaneously was both safe and practical in a population of more than 26,000.

“This research indicates that there is now a need for new studies to assess the safety and effectiveness of co-administration of treatments for other neglected tropical diseases.”

The Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and Medical Services had begun a mass drug administration program against trachoma in 2014, and the Choiseul Province was the last scheduled to be treated.

Mr Oliver Sokana, a co-author from the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health, said everyone in Choiseul who received the treatment consented to take part in the study.

“Information sheets about the trial were given to community nurses, who were also briefed on the study and community members had the chance to meet the local health staff and ask questions,” he said.

Mr Sokana said the researchers carefully monitored adverse reactions to the treatments. They checked hospital admissions in the 24 hours after the vaccines were given; they asked participants about their health at the time of the treatments; and they undertook active surveillance in ten villages, which also included asking residents to fill in questionnaires.

“Finally we reviewed clinic and hospital admissions during the year after the treatments and compared them to the 12 months before,” Mr Sokana said.

According to the research data, there were no serious side effects to the treatments. Of the 21,817 study participants who received both doses, 571 (or 2.6 per cent) had mild reactions, which cleared in a week. These included dizziness, stomach pain and diarrhea.

In the month after the treatments were administered, 84 people were admitted to hospital and two died, compared to a monthly median of 16 admissions and six deaths. However the researchers say it is not possible to draw a connection between the fall in deaths and the treatment roll-out.

* ‘Mass Drug Administration for Scabies Control in a Population with Endemic Disease’ in New England Journal of Medicine

Article sourced from https://www.mcri.edu.au/

Appointment of new Clinical Director of the Florey

The Florey Institute Logo

The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health has announced the appointment of Professor Trevor Kilpatrick to the role of Clinical Director,  effective 1 October 2018.

This is a joint position with the University of Melbourne which will provide high level clinical leadership in the discipline of Neuroscience. The role will also make major contributions in the area of academic leadership and research, including external engagement to build on successful partnerships with hospitals to enhance global translational outcomes in neurology and psychiatry.

Trevor Kilpatrick is an academic neurologist and PhD trained neuroscientist. His research interests include the neurobiology of multiple sclerosis, neural precursor cell biology and the study of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to MS as well as the translation of basic research discoveries to the clinic.

Professor Kilpatrick undertook his undergraduate medical degree at the University of Melbourne and clinical training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He then undertook graduate studies at The University of Melbourne in the Department of Medical Biology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and gained a Doctor of Philosophy in 1993. He was appointed as a Howard Hughes Medical Postdoctoral Fellow at the Salk Institute (1993-5) and returned to Australia as laboratory head at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (Viertel Fellow [1995-2000], NHMRC SRF, [2000-03]). He then took up an appointment as Chair of Neurology in the Centre for Neuroscience at the University of Melbourne and was Director of the Centre from 2004-2013. In 2009 he was appointed the Director of the Melbourne Neuroscience Institute (MNI) at the University of Melbourne where he has continued to foster interdisciplinary research relevant to the Neurosciences over the last decade. He has also held concurrent appointments at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health as Head of the MS Division (since 2003-) and at the Royal Melbourne Hospital as Head of the MS Unit since 2000.

Professor Kilpatrick has been the recipient of the Sunderland Award (1994), AMRAD Postdoctoral Award (1995), inaugural Leonard Cox Award (2000), Bethlehem Griffiths Research Foundation Award for Medical Research (2004), the Australian Museum’s Jamie Callachor Eureka Prize for Medical Research (2008), the Stephen C. Reingold Research Award by the US MS National Multiple Sclerosis Society (2010) and the Bethlehem Griffiths Research Foundation Medal for outstanding leadership in medical research (2013). He was admitted to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2016. His total career publications number 207, with 15,765 citations (Google Scholar). Since 2013, he has authored 64 publications with 8,701 citations (Google Scholar). He has published in Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, JAMA, PNAS, BMJ, Neuron and JCI.

The Melbourne Biomedical Precinct Office looks forward to the tremendous contributions that Professor Kilpatrick will make to the Florey and across the broader precinct.