John W. Lowenthal PhD

I am currently an adjunct Professor at Deakin University’s School of Medicine, Geelong, Australia. As the former Research Director for Infectious Diseases at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), my responsibilities included managing an extensive portfolio of projects aimed at developing medical therapeutics and vaccines for a range of infectious diseases. Areas included studying immune responses to pandemic viral diseases under high biocontainment; developing novel therapeutics and vaccine technologies for viruses such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, Ebola, MERS and Hendra viruses; establishing new animal models for emerging diseases such as Ebola and MERS; and developing genetically modified disease-resistant animals.

I obtained my PhD in immunology from The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) at the University of Melbourne and prior to joining CSIRO, completed Post-doctoral positions at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Lausanne, Switzerland and at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University, USA. I have published over 150 journal articles, and am an inventor on 10 internationally-granted patents.

Throughout my 30-year research career, I have been involved in large-scale international project management, working collaboratively with commercial and university partners across the medical technologies sector and developing and protecting IP.