Honorary Prof Dick Strugnell appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)
Congratulations to Prof Richard (Dick) Strugnell (Honorary in the Dept of Microbiology & Immunology at the Doherty Institute), on being appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2025 Honours List.
This prestigious honour is a testament to Professor Strugnell's distinguished service to medicine, particularly microbiology, immunology and vaccinology through tertiary education, research and board positions.
A microbiologist, Dick is working at the interface of microbiology and immunology looking at how bacteria work at a molecular level. Specifically this includes how bacteria function and survive, how they form groups that stick to surfaces and protect themselves and how bacteria adjust to living inside other cells like in the case of infections. His research focuses two key human pathogens, Salmonella enterica and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The bacteria include organisms responsible for severe human diseases in developed and less-developed healthcare settings.
The aim of Dick's research is to provide new interventions and novel strategies to leverage our growing understanding of the microbe/immune system interface including therapeutics and new or improved vaccines to prevent disease.
Professor Strugnell currently sits on the World Health Organization’s typhoid vaccines strategic advisory group and has been instrumental in creating and leading the Doherty Institute PhD Program over the past 10 years, with a dedication to mentoring the next generation of researchers and fostering international collaboration.