Our Patrons
Sir Gustav was born in Austria in 1931 and came to Australia in 1939. In 1965 he was appointed Director of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, a position he held from 1965 to 1996.
Among his many other past and current leadership roles he was President of both the Australian Academy of Science and the International Union of Immunological Societies, which is the world body of immunology.
Dame Marie graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. After completion of postgraduate studies in psychiatry, she was made a Member of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in 1971, becoming a Fellow in 1980. She has held various medical positions, with a particular emphasis on psychiatry.
Following completion of his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Melbourne, he undertook a research-based Doctorate of Medicine at Monash University entitled ‘Studies on the structure and function of the human testis’.
Named a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1997 during his tenure as Australian of the Year, he has received numerous other awards, honorary degrees, memberships of national academies and so forth as recognition for his discoveries with Zinkernagel.
Her background is in social work and public health, and her broad range of research has included epidemiology and policy.
Among many influential roles, she is: an executive member of the Australian National Council on Drugs; the President of the Cancer Council Victoria; a Board member of VicHealth; Patron of DANA (Drug and Alcohol Nurses of Australasia); and a Life Governor of the Australian Drug Foundation.
His best-selling book Sleepers, Wake! (1982) was translated into four languages.
Mr Kirby’s subsequent leadership roles have included appointments to the United Nations Development Program Global Commission on HIV and the Law; the UNAIDS and Lancet Commission: From AIDS to Sustainable Health; and as Chair of the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry on alleged human rights violations in North Korea.
One of Australia’s leading public intellectuals and health experts, he has courageously advocated for sensible drug policy in his roles as former chairman of the National AIDS Task Force, the Victorian Premier’s Drug Advisory Council, and the Victorian Government’s Drug Policy Expert Committee.
His unstinting efforts over many years helped to make Australia a world leader in HIV/AIDS public health strategies and in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Professor Stanley is the Founding Director and Patron of the Telethon Kids Institute, a Distinguished Research Professor in the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne.