Professor Eric Morand appointed Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor
Professor Eric Morand has been conferred the title of Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor by the Monash University Council.
The Monash University Council has announced the appointment of Professor Eric Morand as a Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor.
The title of Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor is the most prestigious honour conferred on serving professors at Monash University and is only awarded to professors of exceptional distinction who have made high-level and sustained contributions to their discipline, the University and the community.
Recognised globally as an academic physician-scientist, Professor Morand joined Monash as a senior lecturer in 1996. He became Head of the School of Clinical Sciences (SCS) in 2011 before being appointed to his current role as inaugural Dean of the Sub-Faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences in April 2023. Since 2012, Professor Morand has also worked concurrently as Head of Rheumatology at Monash Health, which has since become the largest rheumatology service in Australia with a reputation for clinical excellence, training and research.
Professor Morand has initiated multiple internal programs for clinician-researcher career development, including early-career practitioner fellowships, physician-PhD scholarships, and a dedicated support program for honours students, all of which have generated growth in student numbers and academic success rates. A strong advocate for equity and diversity, Professor Morand launched the SCS Women in Science Discovery and Medicine program and a Women’s Career Development Fellowship scheme to support women returning to the research workforce following periods of family leave, achieving equity in the numbers of female staff appointed at Levels D and E within the Sub-Faculty.
As an academic rheumatologist, Professor Morand’s most notable contributions have been in clinical outcome measurement in systemic lupus erythematosus and in the mechanism of action of glucocorticoids in inflammatory disease. Since founding his research group in 1996, Professor Morand has produced more than 330 publications, including 15 highly-cited papers and has more than 23,000 citations. He has been a co-founder of three Monash spinout companies and has attracted more than $45 million in research funding, including a five-year National Health and Medical Research Council Leadership 3 Investigator Grant commencing in 2026 which will support his ongoing contribution to the University.
In 2006, Professor Morand established the Monash Lupus Clinic, the first multidisciplinary lupus service in Australia which integrates routine prospective clinical data and bio-sample collection. This initiative underpinned the formation of the national Australian Lupus Registry and Biobank. He is also the Chair of the Asia-Pacific Lupus Collaboration, a significant global resource that houses more than 60,000 documented episodes of care and attracts major international industry partnerships. Professor Morand led the global Phase 3 trial which resulted in the worldwide approval of anifrolumab (SAPHNELO®), which became the first drug for lupus listed as an eligible treatment for Australians under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
The creation of the Sub-Faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine in 2023 brought together the School of Clinical Sciences, the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, the Victorian Heart Institute and the University-related activities of the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. Under Professor Morand’s leadership, the Sub-Faculty has built a reputation in Australia and around the world for linking cutting-edge research to direct access to patient populations and creating world-leading outcomes that range from new treatments for patients to innovative commercialisation opportunities.
In parallel with his appointment as Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor, Professor Morand has elected, at the expiry of his term as Dean in early 2026, to focus on his critically important research at Monash on improving outcomes for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
With his wealth of experience in academic leadership at Monash, combined with his standing as an eminent authority in rheumatology both nationally and globally, Professor Morand has ensured that the Sub-Faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine has the strong foundations on which to build its continued success in the years to come.
We congratulate Professor Morand on his appointment as a Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor and wish him further success in his career at the University. A process to appoint Professor Morand’s successor will commence in due course.