New QIMR Berghofer Council members appointed

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute has welcomed the appointment of five new members of Council by the Queensland Government.

QIMR Berghofer Director and CEO, Professor Frank Gannon said the Institute was excited to welcome five new members to the Council, with a diverse record of community involvement and professional achievements.

“Dr Doug McTaggart, Chairman of the Public Service Commission has been appointed as Chair of QIMR Berghofer’s Council and brings a strong leadership record to the Institute, having held various senior positions in the public and private sectors,” Professor Gannon said.

“Dr McTaggart will be stepping into the role of Chair following the exit from the role of former Chief Justice Paul de Jersey, now the Governor of Queensland,” Professor Gannon said.

QIMR Berghofer’s additional new Council members are:

• Emeritus Professor John de Jersey, Professor of Biochemistry and former Deputy Executive Dean of the Faculty of Biological and Chemical Sciences at The University of Queensland;

• Dr John Herron, former surgeon and Queensland senator and current chairman of the Australian National Council on Drugs;

• Emeritus Professor John Shine, former director of the Garvan Institute and Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of NSW and current Chairman of CSL Limited

• Mr Michael Sargent, FCPA, FSIA former President of the RACQ and former State President and Australian Vice-President of the Securities Institute.

“Our new Council members bring a range of experience from both the academic and business sectors, helping ensure we have a strong team,” Professor Gannon said.

“Our Council manage the operations of the organisation to reinforce QIMR Berghofer’s position as one of Australia’s largest and most successful research institutes.”

These additional members join Mr Christopher Coyne, Dr Jeannette Young, Mr Ian Fraser, Professor Alan Pettigrew and Associate Professor Paula Marlton.

“Our new Council members join us at an exciting and busy time for QIMR Berghofer as we strengthen our commitment to delivering translational research by continuing our recruitment of the best and brightest minds throughout Australia and the world and delivering world-class research on some of the world’s most devastating diseases,” Professor Gannon said.

“I would like to sincerely thank our outgoing Council members, Queensland Governor Paul de Jersey, Emeritus Professor Bryan Campbell, Distinguished Professor Judith Clements, Mr Rodney Wylie and Professor Nicholas Fisk for their invaluable and tireless contribution to QIMR Berghofer.”

QIMR Berghofer Council members’ biographies are available at: https://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/about-us/governance/council/