History | WEHI

Our history

1912 – 2023

1910s

The institute is established, a Gallipoli tragedy claims the director designate, and the first members of staff are appointed.

1912

Eliza Hall creates a charitable trust in honour of her late husband, Walter

1914

Richard Casey and Harry Allen form an unlikely alliance to establish a medical research institute.

1915

How a world-class medical research facility is created by the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust.

1915

Our director-designate is mortally wounded at Gallipoli.

1916

A spacious building, including a basement and three stories, has been erected at a cost of over £12,000 in immediate connection with the pathological department of the hospital

1917

Commonwealth Serum Laboratories are formed and housed at the institute, responding to wartime needs.

1919

Sydney Patterson becomes the first director of the institute

1919

Miss Fannie Eleanor Williams is the institute’s first female research scientist, and one of the first three staff members at the institute.

1919

Neil Hamilton Fairley is appointed first assistant director of the institute.

1920s

Our cancer research effort begins. Investigative work after the Bundaberg disaster vindicates vaccination, and Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet embarks on his research career.

1920

Antibody test developed to diagnose tapeworm infections

1923

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet begins his research career at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

1923

Marion Boyd Wanliss joins the cancer research effort.

1924

The bequest of a dynamic reformer and liberalist establishes a scientific library at the institute

1927

Pancreas is able to regenerate following partial removal.

Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley, together with staff from Melbourne’s abattoirs, examines over 50,000 animals to investigate the prevalence of disease among livestock, including tuberculosis, tapeworm (hydatid) and liver fluke.

1929

In 1929, Dr Donald Thomson began working at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute alongside Sir Neil Fairley and Dr Charles Kellaway to bring knowledge of Australian snakes and snake venoms up to the worldwide standard.

1928

Upon taking up the institute directorship in 1923, Sir Charles Kellaway’s first objective is to obtain funds required by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute to do significant research.

1928

Institute director Charles Kellaway is appointed chair of the Royal Commission into the Bundaberg disaster, in which 12 children from the Queensland town of Bundaberg died after diphtheria vaccinations.

1929

Institute scientist, Mr Henry Searby FRCS, has been working closely with the Melbourne Hospital since 1921 to analyse 958 cases of cancer treatment.

1929

Studies confirm bacteriophages are caused by viruses and reveal how they multiply.

1930s

A new research program delivers the first snake bite antivenom, and Burnet pioneers the use of hen eggs to grow and study viruses. With the outbreak of World War II the institute’s activities shift to a wartime footing.

1930

Developing Australia’s first commercially available snakebite antivenom

1931

Multiple strains of the polio virus discovered, an early step towards the Salk vaccine.

1934

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet begins to refine the method of growing viruses in hens’ eggs.

1934

Veterans of two wars making their mark on medical research.

1934

Surviving the Great Depression with Australian Government grants and donor support

1939

Assisting the war effort in every possible way

1937

The NHMRC is established, initially focusing on medical research, with a £30,000 allocation.

1938

Dr Margaret Holmes joins the institute

1939

A snapshot of the institute in 1939, as described by Macfarlane Burnet.

1940s

Researchers identify a new agent of allergic reactions, and the first references to Burnet’s Nobel Prize-winning theory are published. The institute mourns the loss of Dora Lush following a fatal laboratory accident.

1940

Dr Charles Kellaway and Dr Wilhelm Feldberg describe the action of slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis (SRS-A).

1940

Polio virus is found to infect the body by the mouth and not the nose

1941

Work on a viable vaccine for influenza leads to trials of a ‘live’ vaccine.

1946

Isolating strains of the mumps virus leads to vaccine development

1942

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet becomes infected with a chicken virus, while researching the relationship between a fowl virus called Newcastle disease (NDV) and influenza.

1943

Miss Dora Lush dies from an accidental needle prick injury, while researching scrub typhus.

1944

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet becomes the third director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (1944-1965).

1944

The beginning of the Parkville medical research precinct.

1949

In 1949, Macfarlane Burnet and research assistant Patricia Lind become the first researchers to show that flu viruses can exchange genetic material and create new strains.

1949

First flexible gastric biopsy tube created, greatly improving disease diagnosis

1949

Publication of Burnet’s first mention of his Nobel Prize-winning immune tolerance theory.

1950s

Burnet wins the Nobel Prize. Institute researchers propose the radical theory of autoimmunity, and Jacques Miller, who identified the function of the thymus, drives another major immune discovery.

1951

Burnet injects himself with myxomatosis, to prove it does not pose a danger to humans.

1951

A mysterious disease outbreak in Victoria claimed 17 lives – nine of them children

1953

Ada discovers influenza is an RNA virus, explaining how flu mutates and escapes immune detection.

1954

Dr Heather Donald joins the staff, and uses electron microscopy to study influenza virus.

1954

Professor Don Metcalf, described as the father of modern haematology, begins his research career at the institute.

1955

Ian Mackay, future pioneer of autoimmunity and treating autoimmune disease, joins the institute.

1955

In the 1950s, the institute’s Clinical Research Unit was leading research in diseases of the stomach and liver.

1956

Mackay and Gadjusek develop a test to diagnose an autoimmune disease that destroys the liver

1957

Burnet switches the institute’s research focus from viruses to the immune system.

1957

Discovery of neuraminidase – a key flu molecule – critical for later development of anti-flu

1957

Gus Nossal starts at the institute, changing his research focus from virology to immunology.

1958

Gus Nossal and Joshua Lederberg show a single immune cell can only make a single type of antibody.

1960s

Burnet wins the Nobel Prize. Institute researchers propose the radical theory of autoimmunity, and Jacques Miller, who identified the function of the thymus, drives another major immune discovery.

1962

Mackay and Burnet publish first book on the radical theory of autoimmunity.

1963

Defining legacy of Andrew Grimwade’s adventurous and entrepreneurial contributions.

1963

As the institute’s focus turned to immunology, there were many mysteries to be answered about how the immune system responds to viruses and bacteria.

1965

Sir Gustav Nossal becomes the institute’s fourth director.

1966

The history of the discovery of CSFs can be traced back to an accidental discovery.

1966

Burnet and Holmes provide evidence for treating autoimmune diseases with immune-suppressing drugs

1966

Thymus ‘graveyard’ discovery provides early clue into how the body deals with self-reactive

1966

The Clinical Research Unit identifies cell markers for autoimmune hepatitis and other diseases.

1966

Thymus pioneer Jacques Miller joins the institute, continuing research at the core of immunology.

1970s

Australia’s first fully equipped genetic engineering laboratory is established. Ian Mackay pioneers treatments for autoimmune disease that are still widely used today.

1973

The Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Laboratories, Australia’s first pathogen-free facility.

1973

First evidence that some types of chronic gastritis are autoimmune, and others possibly bacterial

1973

Graham Mitchell enables institute scientists “to go where the parasites actually are”.

1974

Ora Bernard joins the institute, contributing to significant cancer-related gene discoveries.

1976

Adams and Cory establish Australia’s first fully equipped genetic engineering laboratory.

1977

After 11 years of painstaking work, the first colony stimulating factor, GM-CSF, is purified.

1977

Flow cytometry is a technology used to identify, count and separate cells.

1977

Gustav Nossal is knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

1978

Behind the Trust is a story about Eddie’s almost 50 year relationship with The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, his complicated relationship with his own father and the strong sense of compassion for others that motivated his life.

1978

The world’s first neuro-immunology lab is established at the institute, headed by Perry Bartlett.

1979

First use of monoclonal antibodies to advance parasitic infection diagnosis

1980s

The CSFs story gathers momentum and a new malaria vaccine program leads to clinical trials. In 1988 scientists discover the BCL-2 gene holds the key to cancer cell death.

1980

Cory and Adams explain how immune cells ‘lose’ DNA to make the right antibody.

1981

Critical new tools for medical research introduced to Australia by Alan Harris.

1983

We discover that cancer can be caused by DNA rearrangements involving the MYC gene.

1983

Nick Nicola and colleagues purify G-CSF, leading to treatment that has helped 20 million people.

1983

Malaria researchers develop a tool to recreate vast numbers of parasite proteins.

1984

Anne Kelso’s T-cell prowess helps in the quest to clone GM-CSF

1985

Rapidly expanding labs and facilities require a new building.

1985

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet dies

1985

The coat of the Leishmania parasite is found to be a potential target for vaccine development.

1986

Andrew Boyd’s research spans immune processes, neurology, and leads to clinical trials for leukaemia

1988

Scientists discover a gene that holds the key to cancer cell death, causing a revolution in what we know about cancer development.

1988

Autoantibodies targeting mitochondria are observed in liver disease primary biliary cirrhosis.

1986

Dr Margaret Brumby becomes the institute’s general manager.

1987

At his cherry farm in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, internationally lauded diabetes researcher Professor Len Harrison makes bronze sculptures.

1987

Research led by Professors Tony Burgess, Nick Nicola and Don Metcalf has successfully purified a class of cell signalling hormones, or cytokines, called CSFs.

1989

A zeal for inquiry leads from platelet research to harnessing new genetic technologies.

1996

Inspiring young people to take up careers in science, technology and medical research.

1990s

CSFs are approved for use as a therapy for cancer patients, the culmination of 25 years work. Blocking programmed cell death is found to trigger development of autoimmune disease, and the first genetically modified malaria parasite is created.

1990

Researchers discover how malaria parasites become drug resistant.

1991

A new collaboration to tackle type 1 diabetes

1991

Blocking the cell death of immune cells can lead to autoimmune disease

1991

Malaria parasites hide from the immune system by changing molecules on the red blood cell surface.

1993

Louis Schofield proves a 100 year-old hypothesis: that the malaria parasite contains a toxin.

1993

Professor Don Metcalf receives the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award The award is in recognition of Metcalf’s discovery of colony stimulating factors (CSFs).

1994

Understanding how white blood cells develop to manipulate the generation process.

1995

As a kid Drew Berry was captivated by the undersea documentaries of Jacques Cousteau and dreamt of becoming a marine biologist. But en route to that ambition, during his undergraduate years at the University of Melbourne, he was pulled into the depths of the microscopic world.

1996

Researchers discover a family of proteins in humans that can reduce the death of cells.

1996

The institute honours three remarkable scientists on their retirement.

1996

Insulin ‘spray’ can stop diabetes in mice genetically fated to develop the disease.

1996

Suzanne Cory becomes the institute’s fifth director

1997

Hilton and Starr discover a set of molecular ‘stop’ signals responsible for switching off cell

1997

Insulin identified as key driver of type 1 diabetes, kicking off a search for a preventive vaccine.

1997

Scientists track ‘memory’ B cells – responsible for lifelong immunity – to the bone marrow.

1998

A team of scientists led by Professor Jerry Adams, Professor Suzanne Cory and Professor Andreas Strasser are striving to understand how the protein Bcl-2 keeps cells alive.

2000s

Breast stem cells are discovered, changing our understanding of the origins of breast cancer. Researchers identify the toxic proteins causing coeliac disease, and the DIABLO protein is identified, leading to new anticancer drugs.

2000

Instead of supporting a football team, Pauline Speedy and Jenny Tatchell barrack for science.

2000

Structural biology brings a new way of looking at proteins, leading to breakthroughs in cell death

2000

The institute makes a major move into the biotechnology arena, opening a biotechnology centre in the La Trobe R&D Park, Bundoora.

2001

Could we one day find a way to replace damaged cells in the brain?

2003

Mutated red blood cell protein provides natural protection against malaria in Papua New Guinea.

2003

John T Reid Charitable Trusts take up the challenge to fund research to benefit future generations.

2005

The deadliest form of malaria has up to 60 ways of hiding itself from its host’s immune defences.

2005

Looking for clues to develop effective malaria vaccines in the field.

2006

BH3-mimetics, drugs that block pro-survival proteins such as BCL-2, are shown to kill cancer cells.

2006

Professor Jane Visvader and Professor Geoff Lindeman lead a team that discovers breast stem cells, showing a whole and fully functional mammary gland can grow from a single breast stem cell.

2006

Encouraging young scientists working in a range of diseases – from cancer to malaria.

2009

Professor Doug Hilton becomes the sixth director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (2009-2023).

2009

Stem cell daughters are identified as the origin of cancer for women with hereditary breast cancers

2010s

Clinical trials of an anti-cancer drug for leukaemia begin, after 25 years of Bcl-2 research. The first genetically attenuated antimalarial vaccine enters clinical trials, and researchers develop a potential cure for hepatitis B.

100 years of discoveries for humanity

Celebrating more than 100 years of discoveries for humanity

Our history

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s