Head of Structural Biology WALTER AND ELIZA HALL INSTITUTE Information for prospective candidates 160331 CANCER | IMMUNE DISORDERS | INFECTIOUS DISEASE OUR MISSION INSTITUTE AT A GLANCE Mastery of disease through discovery 2015 OUR VISION To be an innovative medical research Institute that enriches society through discovery and education and improves health outcomes through translation staff1000 and students OUR VALUES ● Pursuit of excellence 9staff and31 students diseases 40+impacted by institute research 3publications81 ● Integrity and mutual respect ● Collaboration and teamwork ● Creativity diseases40+ impacted ● by Institute Accountability research ● Contribution to society OUR STRATEGIC GOALS 9staff and31 students diseases 40+impacted by institute research 3publications81 Strategic goals of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute national1 and0 international0 trials of Medical Research Strategic Plan (2015 – 2020) based on institute discoveries publications86 institute with1 and 3 visiting0 speakers people5 came to5 an event1 at 6the institute are: impact factor >10 1. make discoveries that shape contemporary scientific thinking, increase understanding and improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment publications410 of cancer, immune disorders and infectious 9staff and31 students diseases 40+impacted by institute research 3publications81 diseases; 2. educate and train the next generation of world class scientists and attract, develop and retain the best and brightest workforce; national1 and0 international0 trials based on institute discoveries institute1 and3 visiting0 speakers people5 came to5 an event1 at 6the institute 3. provide a vibrant and inspiring organisational culture that encourages, promotes and rewards national100 and excellence, creativity, mutual respect and international trials collaboration; based on Institute discoveries 4. engage with our stakeholders to improve scientific outcomes, build support and secure national1 and0 international0 trials resources for the Institute and medical research; based on institute discoveries institute1 and3 visiting0 speakers people5 came to5 an event1 at 6the institute and 5. build infrastructure, professional services and funding Patents37 granted in 2015 2 | Head of Structural Biology, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute – Information for prospective candidates ABOUT THE INSTITUTE HEALTH IMPACTS The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is Australia’s oldest medical research institute. It The Institute is committed to was founded in 1915 with financial support from a trust established by Eliza Hall, making fundamental scientific following the death of her husband Walter. The vision was for an institute that ‘will be discoveries that can be translated the birthplace of discoveries rendering signal service to mankind in the prevention and to better treatments, bringing real removal of disease and the mitigation of suffering’. benefits to the community on a Throughout the Institute’s history its researchers have focused on understanding the global scale. Clinical trials based fundamental principles of medical biology and using this knowledge to mitigate disease. on discoveries made at the Institute Our current researchers and students continue to work on solving basic science include trials of vaccines for coeliac questions through curiosity-driven research. We are committed to innovative science disease, diabetes and malaria; that expands and improves our understanding of basic human biology and the and trials of a new class of anti- disruptions to systems that cause disease. Our scientists also undertake blue-sky cancer drugs, called BH3-mimetics, research that creates and explores new areas of biology. for treating people with leukaemia Three nationally and globally significant areas of health have been long-term, central and other cancers. interests of our research: • cancer – understanding the basic processes that are disrupted to generate cancer cells and how these can be targeted to treat disease; CANCER • immunology – discovering how the body fights infection, and how errors in the Bowel cancer immune system lead to disease; and Brain cancer • infectious diseases – today with a focus on globally significant pathogens, Breast cancer especially malaria and chronic infections. Leukaemia We take a multidisciplinary approach to addressing major research questions, Lung cancer integrating expertise in bioinformatics, clinical translation, genomics, medicinal Lymphoma chemistry, personalised medicine, proteomics, structural biology and systems biology. Melanoma The Institute offers postgraduate training as the Department of Medical Biology of Myeloma The University of Melbourne, and is affiliated with The University of Melbourne and Myeloproliferative disease The Royal Melbourne Hospital. The Institute also has strong ties with many research organsations in Melbourne and around the world. Ovarian cancer Pancreatic cancer INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP Prostate cancer Stomach cancer Director - Professor Douglas J Hilton AO BSc Mon BSc(Hons) PhD Melb FAA FTSE FAHMS IMMUNE DISORDERS Deputy Director/Scientific Strategy - Professor Alan Cowman BSc(Hons) Griffith PhD Melb FAA Allergy Asthma Deputy Director/Science Integrity and Ethics - Professor David Vaux Coeliac disease BMedSci MBBS PhD Melb FAA FAHMS Inflammatory bowel disease Deputy Director/Strategy and Operations - Ms Samantha Ludolf Lupus BA(Hons) Lincoln MEnterp Melb Multiple sclerosis Institute Board President - Mr Chris Thomas Psoriasis BCom (Hons) MBA Melb FAICD Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease Rheumatoid arthritis Sepsis Type 1 and type 2 diabetes INFECTIOUS DISEASE Filariasis Hepatitis B HIV Leishmania Malaria Scabies Toxoplasmosis Tuberculosis Head of Structural Biology, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute – Information for prospective candidates | 3 STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY DIVISION – BACKGROUND AND ACHIEVEMENTS Since its establishment in 2001, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s Structural Biology division has been a leading site for the analysis of proteins important for both therapeutic development and for the progression of structural biology for its own sake. The founding head of the division, Professor Peter Colman, brought with him a wealth of international structural biology and biotechnology experience and success. Professor Colman’s determination of the three-dimensional structure of influenza virus neuraminidase formed the basis for the world’s first anti-influenza drugs, which were developed by Biota Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Glaxo, who brought Relenza™ to the market. Professor Colman’s success was built on his broad collaborations, access to the best equipment and his fostering of talented researchers. At the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Professor Colman has recruited and mentored scientists with interests in the insulin receptor, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), cytokine signalling, apoptosis and medicinal chemistry. Under his leadership the division has grown from fewer than ten scientists and students to almost 100 researchers. The division was so successful that the medicinal chemistry expertise was able to form part of a new division at the Institute, the ACRF Chemical Biology division. The Structural Biology division currently has eight laboratory heads leading forty staff and students. Major collaborations have been established in cell surface biology, receptor and cytokine signalling and programmed cell death. Many world-first discoveries have been made by the division, including the first structures of the extracellular domain of the EGFR with its ligand, the full-length human gp130 cytokine receptor, insulin in complex with a portion of the extracellular domain of the insulin receptor, the extracellular domain of erbB2 , a SOCS3-JAK signalling complex, the activated pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins and the structures of T-cell signalling complexes and stem cell markers such as Lrig1. The division was also the site of the first structure of a potassium channel to be determined in Australia. These projects are empowered by collaborations with internationally successful scientists in other Walter and Eliza Hall Institute divisions, and more broadly with biologists across the globe. As well as supporting the establishment of the crystallography beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron, the division has been a premier site for the application of other state-of-the- art structural biology techniques including high-field NMR, microcalorimetry and biosensor analysis. Where new technologies have emerged, such as cryoelectron microscopy, the division has established connections to international sites and has championed the development of shared facilities in Australia. A major element in the success of the Structural Biology division is the enthusiasm of collaborating biologists within the Institute, and the overall environment of the Institute. Structural information produced by the division is used by biology colleagues at the Institute to improve understanding of disease processes, by Institute medicinal chemistry colleagues to develop drugs directed to the target structures and by Institute clinical colleagues working with Melbourne Health and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre to have the drugs tested in the clinic. For example, the division’s structural studies on the EGFR led to the discovery of the mechanism of action of a “tumour-specific” antibody, mAb806. This discovery encouraged the pharmaceutical development of the antibody, which has already benefited brain tumour patients.