Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Alumni

07/01/2026

Researchers have uncovered how a particular strain of a diarrhoea-causing parasite managed to infect more animal species, offering new insights into how parasitic infections emerge and spread to people.

19/12/2025

End-of-year vibes, WEHI style ✨🎉

A little trip down memory lane with a few images captured across various end-of-year parties over the years. Images of small moments but big memories.

From all of us at WEHI, we wish you a wonderful festive season, a proper break, and plenty of joy wherever the holidays take you 🌞

🎄✨

17/12/2025

Researchers have developed a new antimalarial drug candidate designed to address the growing challenge of drug resistance and potentially reduce malaria transmission.

12/12/2025

Remembering Sir Charles Kellaway

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the passing of Sir Charles Kellaway, whose leadership helped set the course for medical research at WEHI.

Kellaway led the Institute from 1923 to 1944, shaping a culture grounded in curiosity-driven science. He championed rigorous thinking, backed bold ideas, and laid foundations that would drive breakthroughs in immunology, virology and physiology for decades to come.

This photograph shows Kellaway with William A. Rawlinson in the biochemical laboratory on the second floor of WEHI’s new home in the eastern wing of the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The lab coats, benches and glassware may look quaint now, but the mindset to ask hard questions and follow the evidence, still defines WEHI today.

A moment frozen in time, and a reminder that today’s discoveries stand on foundations laid nearly a century ago.

09/12/2025

👁 One step closer to stopping blindness before it starts 👁

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in people over 50 and affects over 196 million people globally.

Current treatments only slow progression after damage occurs.

A new study jointly led by WEHI, the Centre for Eye Research Australia and The University of Melbourne identified genetic changes associated with deposits that accelerate vision loss, present in up to 60% of advanced AMD cases.

This discovery could enable earlier intervention and lead to new treatments targeting the most severe forms of AMD. 💡

🔗 Learn more: https://www.wehi.edu.au/news/australian-scientists-reveal-new-genetic-risk-for-severe-macular-degeneration/

05/12/2025

Flashback Friday is serving a little festive nostalgia as we gear up for our own end-of-year celebrations. This week, we’re jumping back to the 2005 WEHI Christmas Party.

The photo says it all: a crowd gathered around, laughing and cheering at whatever was happening just out of frame.

Who remembers what was so entertaining that day?

If this energy is anything to go by, our upcoming celebration is going to be a cracker. Here’s to good company, shared laughter and wrapping up another year of science, stories and community.

28/11/2025

Flashback Friday puts a spin on things as we revisit the WEHI Table Tennis Final of 2011, featuring the showdown between Ilia Banakh and Hamish Scott.

With bragging rights on the line, you can practically feel the competitive tension radiating off the table. Events like this remind us of WEHI’s community spirit that extends well beyond the labs. Here’s to the moments of fun that make this place more than just where we work.

26/11/2025

It’s the disease set to become Australia’s second-deadliest cancer by 2030.

A new game-changer hub wants to change this.

The PURPLE Translational Platform is a WEHI-led initiative bringing together patients, clinicians and researchers to accelerate breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer research.

It’s designed to:

✅ Improve patient access to clinical trials
✅ Enable smarter trial designs
✅ Fast-track discoveries for pancreatic cancer

The platform is a key initiative stemming from The Hemstritch Centre of Excellence for Pancreatic Cancer Research – an $8 million philanthropic investment by business leader and former WEHI President Jane Hemstritch AO hoping to find new treatments for the disease.

https://www.wehi.edu.au/news/new-platform-to-change-the-story-of-pancreatic-cancer-research/

14/11/2025

Celebrating the Legacy of Tim Bates (1971– 2005)

Twenty years ago, WEHI lost a much-loved colleague and friend, Tim Bates, a talented IT professional whose patience, humour and generosity left a mark on everyone who knew him.

When Nick Tan joined WEHI’s ICT department in 2001, he found himself part of a close-knit team that felt more like family. Tim arrived a year later, and Nick remembers how naturally he fitted in:

“Tim had this easy-going energy that made everyone feel at ease. He’d help anyone with anything – no fuss, no ego, just a solid, decent human being. He was the kind of person who made every day a little brighter.”

Tim lived with Type 1 diabetes, and while his colleagues knew about it, he never let it define him. He taught those around him what to watch for if his blood sugar dropped, the signs, the simple fixes and then he’d just get on with it. His determination and good humour never faltered.

Outside of work, Tim lived life to the fullest. He was an accomplished skydiver who represented Australia at the 2003 World Cup of Canopy Piloting. Known across the skydiving community for his skill and leadership in aerial film and photography, his legend lives on each year through the Australian Parachute Federation - Tim Bates Skydiver of the Year Award.

When Tim passed away suddenly in 2005, aged just 34, the loss was felt deeply across WEHI. His colleagues remember the day he didn’t show up for work, how the silence in the office slowly turned to worry, and how the realisation hit with a weight that still lingers two decades later.

As Nick put it, “Losing Tim was like having the air knocked out of the team.”

After Tim’s passing in 2005 due to complications from Type 1 diabetes, his family and WEHI colleagues established the Tim Bates Memorial Diabetes Research Fund.

Today, on World Diabetes Day, we remember Tim. His story is a reminder that science isn’t just about data or discovery, it’s about people. About the lives behind the research, and the lives that research can change.

Donate today https://www.wehi.edu.au/support-us/donate-online/

📷Image 1: Tim Bates - ITS - ID Photo
📷Image 2: ITS Microwave Link Team. From left to right: Dung Tran, Tony Kyne, Tim Bates, John Mcfarlane, John Nguyen and Tri Le

14/11/2025

11/11/2025

On Remembrance Day, we remember the courage of those who served and the compassion of those who turned knowledge into healing. This includes scientists, doctors, nurses and medical researchers who used their knowledge to care for the wounded, prevent disease, and improve human health.

Throughout WEHI’s history, many of our alumni have answered the call to serve, using their scientific and medical expertise to protect and care for others in times of great need.

Dr E.V. Keogh, who served as a stretcher-bearer in World War I before dedicating his life to advancing medicine and public health in Australia, exemplified the courage and compassion that continue to guide WEHI researchers today.

At the outbreak of World War II, Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet directed the Institute’s research towards developing an influenza vaccine, determined to prevent a repeat of the devastating pandemic that followed the First World War.

He also expanded WEHI’s research into tropical diseases such as scrub typhus, which afflicted Australian troops in North Queensland and New Guinea. This vital work came at a great cost – the life of a gifted young scientist, Miss Dora Lush, whose death in the pursuit of medical discovery remains one of the most poignant chapters in WEHI’s history.

Sir Ian Wood was another WEHI alum whose work bridged medicine and military service. A pioneering clinician and researcher, he introduced the concept of a national blood bank through his work with the Australian Red Cross and helped establish modern transfusion medicine in Australia. During World War II, as part of the Australian Army Medical Corps, Wood oversaw blood storage and resuscitation efforts for troops in the Middle East and North Africa. Returning to WEHI after the war, he became Assistant Director under Burnet and the founding head of the Clinical Research Unit, helping to usher in a new era of collaboration between laboratory science and patient care.

These are just a few of the WEHI alumni whose dedication, courage and compassion shaped both the Institute and the wider world. From the battlefield to the bench, their legacy continues to inspire generations of researchers to pursue discoveries that improve and save lives.

Today, we pause to reflect on bravery, sacrifice, and the enduring human spirit that drives both service and scientific discovery.

Lest we forget. ❤️

📷Image 1: Dr E. V. Keogh
📷Image 2: Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet
📷Image 3: Dora Lush
📷Image 4: Sir Ian Wood

07/11/2025

Celebrating Animal Technicians Week at WEHI 🐭

This week we celebrate our incredible animal technicians, the dedicated professionals who care for the animals that make medical discoveries possible, improving millions of lives worldwide.

Most of us have benefited from research using animals. If you have ever taken antibiotics, been under anaesthesia or had surgery, or had a vaccine; if anyone you know has had a blood transfusion, dialysis, chemotherapy, or a joint replacement... all these breakthroughs were made possible through research using animal models.

At WEHI, our animal technicians foster a culture of care, combining rigorous training with compassion and expertise to uphold the highest standards of animal welfare Their work underpins discoveries that shape a healthier future for us all.

Thank you to our animal techs – the unsung contributors behind the breakthroughs.



📷A dedicated team of animal technicians established these commemorative tributes at Parkville and Kew, to honour the vital role animals have played in advancing our research.