2020 Annual Report Make this cover come alive with augmented reality. Details on inside back cover. Contents The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute About WEHI 1 of Medical Research President’s report 2 Parkville campus 1G Royal Parade Director’s report 3 Parkville Victoria 3052 Australia Telephone: +61 3 9345 2555 WEHI’s new brand launched 4 Bundoora campus 4 Research Avenue Our supporters 10 La Trobe R&D Park Bundoora Victoria 3086 Australia Exceptional science and people 13 Telephone: +61 3 9345 2200 www.wehi.edu.au 2020 graduates 38 WEHIresearch Patents granted in 2020 40 WEHI_research WEHI_research WEHImovies A remarkable place 41 Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Operational overview 42 ABN 12 004 251 423 © The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Expanding connections with our alumni 45 of Medical Research 2021 Diversity and inclusion 46 Produced by the WEHI’s Communications and Marketing department Working towards reconciliation 48 Director Organisation and governance 49 Douglas J Hilton AO BSc Mon BSc(Hons) PhD Melb FAA FTSE FAHMS WEHI Board 50 Deputy Director, Scientific Strategy WEHI organisation 52 Alan Cowman AC BSc(Hons) Griffith PhD Melb FAA FRS FASM FASP Members of WEHI 54 Chief Operating Officer WEHI supporters 56 Carolyn MacDonald BArts (Journalism) RMIT 2020 Board Subcommittees 58 Chief Financial Officer 2020 Financial Statements 59 Joel Chibert BCom Melb GradDipCA FAICD Financial statements contents 60 Company Secretary Mark Licciardo Statistical summary 94 BBus(Acc) GradDip CSP FGIA FCIS FAICD The year at a glance 98 Honorary Governor and Patron Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE 2020 Publications 99 MB BS BSc(Med) Syd PhD Melb HonLLD Mon HonLLD Melb HonMD Mainz HonMD Ncl HonMD Leeds HonMD UWA HonDSc Help stop Parkinson’s disease 130 Syd HonDSc Qld HonDSc ANU HonDSc UNSW HonDSc LaT HonDSc McMaster HonDSc Oxon FRCP FRACP FRCPA Augmented reality 133 FRACOG(Hon) FRCPath FRACGP FRSE FTSE FAA FRS FAHMS We acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which our campuses are located, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, and pay our respects to their elders past and present. ABOUT WEHI About WEHI WEHI is where the world’s brightest minds collaborate and innovate to make discoveries that will help us to live healthier for longer. Our medical researchers have been serving the We are committed to making a positive difference to community for more than 100 years, making the lives of people in Australia and around the world. transformative discoveries in cancers, infectious We are WEHI. We are brighter together. and immune diseases, developmental disorders and healthy ageing. From complex, long-term medical Our research problems to critical health challenges, we shine a light on the most pressing needs of the community. Cancer – understanding the basic processes that are disrupted to generate cancer cells, and how these can At WEHI, we bring together people with different skills be targeted to treat disease. and expertise, working together for 10, 20 or even 50 years to solve some of the world’s most complex Immune health and infection – discovering how the health problems. body fights infection, and how errors in the immune system lead to disease. The spirit of collaboration is in our DNA. WEHI was established by a partnership between the University of Development and healthy ageing – studying how the Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Walter biological foundations laid down during gestation and and Eliza Hall Trust, bringing together the brightest childhood affect development, and how our longer life research minds from across the globe, remarkable expectancy presents new challenges for our ageing clinicians focused on the health of the community and population. the power of philanthropy. New medicines and advanced technologies Our passion for improving lives drives us forward, – a powerful hub for cutting-edge technologies even when breakthroughs are decades in the making. underpinning biomedical discoveries and for the These are the ingredients that make us special; translation of these discoveries into new medicines and shaping scientific thought, improving the health of diagnostics. the community and making WEHI a collaborative and Computational biology – developing and applying energetic place to work. new tools to analyse the genomes of disease-causing We are driven by collaboration, curiosity and creativity. parasites, as well as better understanding the immune We are brighter because of our collaborations with system and genetic drivers of cancer. hospitals, universities, research institutes and industry, because we have the support of our community, including philanthropists, donors, bequestors, alumni and consumers. Our mission Our values Mastery of disease through discovery ● Pursuit of excellence ● Integrity and mutual respect Our vision ● Collaboration and teamwork ● Creativity To be an innovative medical research institute that Accountability enriches society through discovery and education ● and improves health outcomes through translation ● Contribution to society WEHI 2020 Annual Report | 1 ABOUT WEHI President’s report Welcome to WEHI’s 2020 Annual Report. In reflecting research. We are thrilled that you have joined the WEHI on the past 12 months, could any of us have predicted community, and I look forward to ongoing engagement how the year would unfold? I hope that as you read with you. this report, you will sense the resilience and hope that WEHI, along with other medical research institutes our medical researchers bring to our community. that lost revenue during the pandemic, was also a Many of our regular readers will have noticed a change beneficiary of the Australian Government’s JobKeeper in the look of this annual report. In 2020, WEHI revealed Program. We were grateful for this support which a new brand identity. Most noticeably, we are now allowed us to continue our research, and support our WEHI – a name that is familiar to anyone who has met researchers, despite the uncertain times. our teams or visited our laboratories – rather than the At the Board level, our membership remained stable in Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. More critically, our new 2020 with one exception: our University of Melbourne brand reflects the WEHI we know and respect: a place representative, Professor Shitij Kapur, will soon take where people come together to solve some of the up the position of President and Principal of King’s world’s most significant health challenges. You can read College London. As well as congratulating Shitij on this more about why we are “brighter together” on page 4. appointment, I would like to express my gratitude to Like so many organisations, the changing landscape him for his thoughtful and wise counsel on the WEHI of 2020 meant that ensuring financial stability was a Board, and his strong advocacy for the institute. I am significant focus for WEHI. Many funding bodies faced thrilled to announce that Professor Jane Gunn will be their own financial challenges, while our establishment the new University of Melbourne representative on of a new COVID-19 research program meant that our Board. typical sources of funding, which can take months 2021 in Australia is a time of hope. With the COVID-19 through the submission process, were not suitable vaccine rollout having commenced here, and very well for the speed with which we needed to resource progressed in many countries around the world, I look our research. forward to life returning to something closer to our I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all WEHI’s ‘past normal’. At the Board level, this means continuing supporters who rapidly stepped in to support our to focus on the governance and oversight of WEHI, COVID-19 research, as well as those who loyally enabling our scientists to progress their mission of continued their support of our longer-term research improving health through discovery both now and into into other areas. As you will see from this annual the future. report, both our COVID-19 research program, as I send my best wishes to the entire WEHI community, well as our research into other infectious diseases, and I look forward to reconnecting with you soon. immune disorders, cancer, development and ageing, have all made impressive progress during the year – and in spite of the workplace challenges imposed by the pandemic. I would like to particularly thank our new donors who Mrs Jane Hemstritch responded to our request for support for COVID-19 President, WEHI 2 | WEHI 2020 Annual Report ABOUT WEHI Director’s report 2020 was like no other in my 35 years as a medical of potential new medicines against COVID-19 (see researcher. When I wrote my report last year, the pages 14 to 15). I hope we learn from 2020 what we COVID-19 pandemic had just started and we had no need to invest in, both to mitigate future health threats idea we faced an ultramarathon. as well as drive a healthy and vibrant community. In 2020, health and medical research was in the In late 2019, as part of WEHI’s rebranding, we decided spotlight like never before. Science has guided the to switch the tag-line on WEHI’s logo to “brighter Australian response to the pandemic – and I think this together”. I could not have imagined how prescient was why we avoided the much worse outcomes seen that would be. In 2020, we came together like never in other countries. Despite this, our community was before. Collaboration has been at the heart of WEHI’s heavily impacted, especially here in Victoria. As well culture since our earliest days. In 2020, collaboration as the tragic loss of lives and impacts on physical and not just within WEHI, but locally, nationally and mental health, the pandemic interrupted many of the internationally, has been critical for research into simple routines and rituals of our lives.