Celebrating excellence

Celebrating excellence

Illuminate newsletter index page, summer-2020-21
December 2020

2020 Burnet Prize Winners
Professor Andrew Roberts is a clinician and a medical
researcher, and an Australian leader in blood cancers. 

In November, WEHI was proud to award its highest honour, the Burnet Prize, to malaria researcher Dr Rhea Longley and immunology researcher Dr Cyril Seillet.

We would also like to acknowledge Professor Andrew Roberts am, who was jointly awarded the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence, along with his Peter Mac colleague Professor John Seymour, for their work on new anticancer agents.

Professor Roberts also became a Member of the Order of Australia and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences in 2020.

Professor Melanie Bahlo was elected to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, in recognition of her contributions to improving bioinformatics analyses of complex genetic diseases including epilepsy, ataxia and retinal disorders.

Professor Gordon Smyth and Associate Professor Seth Masters were named as Clarivate Web of Science Highly Cited Researchers for 2020.

Professor Smyth also received the Australian Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society’s highest honour, an Honorary Senior Fellowship, while fellow bioinformatics researcher Associate Professor Matthew Ritchie received the society’s Open Science Open Source Award.

Congratulations to all our scientists who have recently received national and international awards.

Super Content: 
Dr Jeff Babon in the lab

Structural biologist Dr Jeff Babon was the 2012 Burnet Prize recipient.

Professor Doug Hilton and Professor Christine Kilpatrick

The grant will enable a new research program – led by researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and The Royal Melbourne Hospital – to develop diagnostic tests for the early detection of dementia in people as young as 40.

Photo of large group of alumni members

Keep in contact and share reminiscences with fellow alumni