Advisory Bodies:

Senior Executive

The Senior Executive is comprised of one representative from each of the core participating institutions. The four members of the Executive are responsible for the management of funds within their respective organizations and preparing annual reports on the expenditure of those funds.

• The University of Newcastle - R. John Aitken
• The University of Melbourne - Andrew Sinclair
• Monash University - Kate Loveland
• The University of Queensland - Peter Koopman

Scientific Advisory Board

David De Kretser

Professor David de Kretser is Executive Chair of the Monash Institutes of Health, Associate Dean Biotechnology Development, and the Director of Andrology Australia. He was the Founding Director of the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development. He received his MBBS (1962) from the University of Melbourne and his MD (1969) from Monash University for a thesis entitled Studies on the structure and function of the Human Testis. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He was admitted as an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2000 and was appointed a Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor in 2003.

His research in the field of reproductive biology, infertility and endocrinology is internationally recognised. Over the past decade he has co-directed a programme of research into the isolation and biology of the inhibin related proteins and has lead to numerous studies of the role of these proteins in reproductive biology and other systems. His current research interests also include investigations into genetic causes of male infertility.

As Associate Dean Biotechnology, he sits on the Boards of several companies involved in commercialising biomedical and biotechnology applications. These include Monash IVF, CopyRat and IngenKO, the latter representing start-up companies involved in rodent transgenic technologies. As Director of Andrology Australia, he is involved in community and professional education programs in male reproductive health.

On 7th April 2006 Professor de Kretser was appointed the 27th Governor of Victoria for a period of 5 years. Professor de Kretser will remain as part of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Biotechnolgy & Development by serving as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board.

Sue Forrest - Chairperson

Sue Forrest is the Director/CEO of the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF), appointed in January, 2003. The AGRF provides access to state of the art genomic technologies for the Australian scientific community. Dr Sue Forrest was awarded the Henry and Rachel Ackman Travelling Scholarship in Medicine to perform the research for her D Phil with Professor Kay Davies in Oxford. She characterised the genetic basis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and published papers in the top scientific journals. On her return to Melbourne she worked at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute for thirteen years, developing mutation detection techniques, heading up the DNA Diagnostic Laboratory and then embarking on an ambitious approach to gene discovery, testing novel methods for gene identification in complex traits. She has taken a pro active role in securing funds for genome sequencing projects. The first major genome project – the Wallaby Genome Project, (http://www.agrf.org.au/wgp) undertaken in Australia is a collaborative effort between the AGRF and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston funded by the State Government of Victoria and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Sue has a passion for developing interactive teams and works closely with the biotechnology community to assist its coming of age. She has over 80 refereed publications.

Patrick Tam

Patrick P.L. Tam is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow, and heads the Embryology Research Unit at the Children's Medical Research Institute in Sydney . He holds a conjoint professorial appointment as a Senior Principal Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney and an Honorary Professorship at the University of Hong Kong . His research focuses on the elucidation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of body patterning during mouse development. He pioneers the application of micromanipulation and embryo culture for analyzing tissue potency and lineage specification in normal and mutant embryos. Patrick also examines the morphogenetic role of the gastrula organizer in axis formation, and the developmental processes leading to the regionalization of the neural tube, the paraxial mesoderm and the embryonic gut. His other current research is on the pathogenesis of X-linked diseases using mouse models generated by transgenesis, gene targeting and chemical mutagenesis. Patrick Tam is a Managing Editor of Mechanisms of Development and Gene Expression Patterns, an Associate Editor of Developmental Cell and the International Journal of Developmental Biology, and a member of the editorial boards of Developmental Biology, Developmental Dynamics, Genesis, Differentiation, the Faculty of 1000, and the Highlights Advisory Board of Nature Reviews Neuroscience. He has co-edited, with Janet Rossant of Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at University of Toronto , a major multi-authored book on Mouse Development: Patterning, Morphogenesis and Organogenesis published in 2002 by Academic Press. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Genome Institute of Singapore and the Scientific Management Advisory Committee of the Australian Stem Cell Centre Ltd.

Rob Gilchrist

Dr Robert Gilchrist is from the Research Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Adelaide . He is a NHMRC Senior Research Officer and a Principal Investigator on the Centre's NHMRC Program Grant. Dr Gilchrist is also the Faculty of Health Science's FTT Fricker Medical Research Associate. Rob is a full-time research scientist, heading a research group conducting basic research on communication between the oocyte and ovarian follicle.

Robert Saint

Professor Saint is Professor of Molecular Genetics and Evolution, research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University , and Director of the ARC Special Research Centre for the Molecular Genetics of Development. He graduated from the University of Adelaide where he studied gene structure in the earliest days of recombinant DNA technology. He spent three years at Stanford University School of Medicine studying Drosophila HOX genes. In Australia he has worked at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, the CSIRO and the University of Adelaide , where he was appointed Professor of Genetics and Dept. Head in 1994. He was an ARC Special Investigator, from 1997-1999. Robert's primary research interests are developmental genetics and cell biology using Drosophila as a model system and, more recently, coral genomics.

Phil Robinson

Phil Robinson is Head of the Cell Signalling Unit at the Children's Medical Research Institute, Sydney and an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. His BSc(Hons) was at Sydney University and he completed a PhD in Medical Biochemistry with Peter Dunkley at Newcastle University on protein phosphorylation in synaptic transmission. After an NIH Fellowship and a postdoctoral position at the University of Cincinnati he returned to Australia as an Australian Postdoctoral Fellow and a QEII Fellow with Bruce Kemp in Melbourne. He then developed a research team in 1990 in Newcastle, and then in 1996 at the CMRI in Sydney. He now runs a team of 18 students and postdocs.

He has received a number of awards during his career including the AW Campbell award for Excellence in Neuroscience from the Australian Neuroscience Society and the Amersham Pharmacia Biotechnology Medal from the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Phil was Chair of the Fellowships Committee (RFC) of the NHMRC and a member of the Research Committee (RC) and the Training and Awards Committee (TAC) for 3 years untill 2006. He is on the editorial board of a number of journals including the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC).

Phil has made major research contributions to understanding some of the multiple roles of signal transduction in regulation of synaptic transmission. He has been defining the biochemistry of endocytosis. This is now resulting in an understanding of how the protein phosphorylation network controls the protein machinery underlying nerve communication. The mechanisms controlling endocytosis have been shown in his laboratory to converge on the protein dynamin. Work in his lab contributed to the initial discovery of dynamin, cloning of the three dynamin genes, and in determining its role as a phosphoprotein that is rapidly dephosphorylated on stimulation of nerve terminals. This led to the first discovery that endocytosis is a triggered process in neurons, with calcium activation of the phosphatase calcineurin initiating endocytosis by dephosphorylating dynamin.

Steering Committee

This group was convened in February 2005 in order to review the relationship between the general strategic direction of our science and potential end-users. The Steering Committee was particularly helpful in reviewing our commercialization arrangements, including strategies for the maintenance of our growing portfolio of intellectual property.

Sue Forrest - Chairperson

See biography in Scientific Advisory Board above

David De Kretser

See biography in Scientific Advisory Board above

John O'Brian

BVSc. Chief Executive Officer, Jurox Pty. Ltd. Formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Palmer Corporation Ltd. Mr O'Brien has many years experience in the commercial development of research in reproductive and veterinary science and provides a valuable connection between the CBD and the veterinary pharmaceutical industry.
 

Tony Peacock

BSc (Agr), PhD, FAICD. Chief Executive Officer, Australasian Invasive Animal CRC. Managing Director, Pestat Ltd. Formerly Managing Director, Pig Research and Development Corporation. Though his work with the CRC, Dr Peacock not only provides input into the effective management of the CBD but also provides a linkage between the Centre's fundamental work on mammalian germ cells and the strategic application of this information in the field of pest animal fertility control.

Tim Wawn

Tim Wawn is CEO of Applimex Systems, a privately owned biotechnology company commercialising enzymes for industrial and therapeutic applications. Prior to this appointment, Tim was Managing Director of a publicly listed biotechnology company, Gradipore Ltd (now Life Therapeutics Ltd) from 1994 -2002.

Tim is a chartered accountant and holds a Master of Economics degree from Macquarie University , NSW and a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management. He possesses extensive experience in commercialising new technologies in the biotechnology sector, both within Australia and Internationally.