The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute today celebrates high profile appointments of two if its top researchers. The UQDI’s Professor Ian Frazer, Australian of the Year 2006 and co-inventor of the cervical cancer vaccine, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Translational Research Institute (TRI) in Brisbane, Queensland. Professor Matt Brown, an internationally recognised researcher in autoimmune disease, has been appointed Interim Director of UQDI.
Professor Frazer was part of the visionary team that established TRI and will now take up the post of CEO in July 2011. In his role as CEO, Professor Frazer is charged with leading the $354 million TRI to achieve its mission of being Australia’s first institute, and one of only a few in the world, to research, trial and manufacture breakthrough drugs in the one location, once construction is complete in 2012.
Professor Frazer said that he was very pleased to accept the appointment and was excited about the discoveries and advances in medical research that TRI would make.
“There are a number of pressing human health issues in the world such as diabetes, cervical and prostate cancer, melanoma and obesity, and I am honoured to be leading TRI in researching and developing treatments for these diseases. Importantly, patients, the Australian economy and our medical industry will all benefit from TRI’s ability to manufacture and commercialise these treatments,” Professor Frazer said.
Professor Matthew Brown is an internationally renowned immunologist with significant global collaborations leading the worlds’ research in the genetics of autoimmune diseases.
Professor Matt Brown will take up the post of Director in April 2011. Professor Matt Brown said he was honoured to accept the offer post and was thrilled to be able to lead the UQDI into new territories.
Acknowledging the twenty years of leadership from Professor Ian Frazer, Professor Brown said that the UQDI goal of delivering practical outcomes to patients remains the key focus of the Institute’s research programs.
The move of UQDI into the TRI will further enhance the UQDI’s ability to fulfil its central mission of turning scientific discoveries into better treatments.
