Sir Gustav Nossal - In 1965, at the age of 35, Nossal became director of Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, a position that he kept until 1996. In parallel, he was Professor of Medical Biology at Melbourne University.
Nossal's research is in fundamental immunology, in the field of "antibody formation and immunological tolerance". He has written five books and 530 scientific articles in this and related fields.
Nossal has been President (1986-1989) of the 30,000-member world body of immunology, the International Union of Immunological Societies; President of the Australian Academy of Science (1994-1998); a member of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) (1989 to 1998); and Chairman of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (1987-1996).
He has been Chairman of the committee overseeing the World Health Organization's Vaccines and Biologicals Program (1993-2002) and Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Council of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Children's Vaccine Program (1998-2003).
He was Deputy Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation from 1998 to 2000.
He is Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Global Foundation, The purpose of the foundation is to "encourag[e] Australia's sustainable national development in a global context."
Professor Sir Gustav Nossal, AC CBE, Professor Emeritus, Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne speaks at the Grand Challenges in Health & Medicine Public Lecture Series 2008: The fifty-year revolution in global public health.
Though a great deal more needs to be done concerning the health of people in developing countries, we should not forget the many triumphs. These include the eradication of smallpox, the near-eradication of poliomyelitis, extensive amelioration of iodine deficiency disorders, much more widespread treatment of AIDS, tuberculosis, leprosy and malaria, and ambitious global immunizations programmes.
The lecture will reveal the dynamic contribution that the Bill ad Melinda Gates Foundation is making to this endeavour.
At a time of global turmoil, all citizens must be concerned about the relief of poverty and betterment of living condition sin developing countries. Better health is one important pathway toward these ends- The University of Sydney