Hooked on an immunology feeling

"Australian scientists in the main are straight shooters with a sense of humour, they are well trained, globally connected and innovative. They do extraordinarily well despite some constraints (including financial at times). As the world becomes more complicated and crowded there is something special about being an Australian and therefore an Australian scientist!"

As a final year veterinary student, Chair of the NeCTAR project Board, Dr Graham Mitchell AO was advised to write an essay on the thymus gland and has been hooked on immunology ever since.

Dr Graham Mitchell AO is recognised as one of Australia's leading biological scientists. An author of more that 350 publications, in 1993 he was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia for services to science. Currently Chief Scientist Victoria and a veterinary graduate, Graham made discoveries in immunology during his PhD studies at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in the late 1960s. After post-doctoral experience in California, England and Switzerland, he returned to Australia in 1973 and established a new program on the immunology of parasitism at WEHI.

Name: Dr Graham Mitchell AO

Where do you work? Principal, Foursight Associates Pty Ltd and Chief Scientist Victoria

Discipline? Scientific Research; originally Veterinary and Agricultural training; interests in vaccines, biodiversity and food security; advisor in innovation and commercialization; global health (in particular tropical parasitic diseases).

What is your research field and how did you become interested? Cellular immunology and the immunology of infectious diseases (primarily parasitic diseases). In 1965, as a final year veterinary student, I received good advice to write an essay on the thymus gland. This I did, and became hooked on immunology.

What were your inspirations and influences? Major influences have been extraordinary mentors and incredible good fortune, even luck! I enjoy writing scientific papers and seeing my students flourish during their training and beyond. In terms of laboratory based research there is something special about what one of my mentors, Gus Nossal, has described as "a combination of team work and high technology in a bubbling cauldron of ideas".

What has been a highlight for you and your research? Discovery of, and interaction between, T cells and B cells in immunology. Being involved in a wide range of scientific endeavours and new initiatives across the life sciences.

What is a highlight about being an Australian researcher? Australian scientists in the main are straight shooters with a sense of humour, they are well trained, globally connected and innovative. They do extraordinarily well despite some constraints (including financial at times). As the world becomes more complicated and crowded there is something special about being an Australian and therefore an Australian scientist!