Welcome to Professor Fabienne Mackay

It's a great pleasure to be able to announce the appointment of Professor Fabienne Mackay as Inaugural Head of the Faculty's new School of Biomedical Sciences.

Recognised internationally as a leader in the field of B cell Immunology, Autoimmunity, and Cytokines, Professor Mackay comes to us from Monash University where she is currently Head of Department and Chair of Immunology. With early training in engineering and a PhD in immunology and cell biology, her career has encompassed commercial, research institute and university appointments: in Switzerland, at the Basel Institute for Immunology; at BiogenIdec Inc. in Boston, where her work on B-cell activating factor (BAFF) led to the development of the first approved new treatment for Lupus in 50 years; and in Australia at the Garvan Institute, at Sydney University and the University of NSW.

Fabienne Mackay received the Australian Thomson Reuter Citation and Innovation Award for 2012 and has a highly successful record of securing competitive research grants from local and international granting bodies. Together with her demonstrated research excellence, she brings outstanding experience in research translation and a reputation for consultative leadership: qualities I believe will provide the necessary direction for our new School of Biomedical Sciences and enhance our capacity for research leadership and translation.

I hope you will join me in welcoming Professor Fabienne Mackay when she takes up her appointment on 31 August 2015.

Prof Stephen Smith, Dean of MDHS