New Head of School for Biological Sciences
The Faculty of Science is pleased to announce the appointment of internationally renowned developmental biologist Professor Moira O'Bryan as the new Head of School of Biological Sciences.
The Faculty of Science is pleased to announce the appointment of internationally renowned developmental biologist Professor Moira O'Bryan as the new Head of School of Biological Sciences.
The appointment follows an extensive global search. Professor O'Bryan will commence her appointment on August 1, 2017. Professor O’Bryan replaces Professor Steven Chown.
Professor O'Bryan is currently Deputy Director of Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and the Institute’s Program Lead for the Development and Stem Cells Program. Prior to this she held the positions of Acting Head and Deputy Head (Research) of the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology.
A highly esteemed fertility researcher Professor O’Bryan has an impressive record of publications, grant success and innovation.
She is a Fellow of the Society for Reproductive Biology, and has received numerous research awards, including from the Australian Academy of Science, the Fertility Society of Australia and the Society for Reproductive Biology. In 2008 Professor O’Bryan was named the Young Andrologist of the Year by the American Society of Andrology.
In addition to a strong commitment to research excellence, Professor O’Bryan has achieved a substantial track record for the promotion of science through her position as a past national director of the Australian Society for Medical Research. She has also made significant contributions to the infrastructure of Australian medical research through the establishment of the Australian Phenome Bank and the Australian Centre for Vertebrate Mutation Detection, the Monash Male Infertility Repository and the Australian Phenomics Network.
The Faculty of Science would like to take the opportunity to thank Professor Chown for his outstanding contribution to the role of Head of the School of Biological Sciences. The School has flourished under Professor Chown’s leadership.Among the many achievements in research and educational excellence over the past five years, the School has welcomed 16 new academics, attracted unprecedented success in Commonwealth and industry funding, achieved significant improvements in the ERA and the international rankings for biological sciences and associated fields of research, led and developed the roll out of the Master of Environment and Sustainability, and has seen improvements to building and infrastructure.
Professor Chown has also made major contributions to the university and broader research community through his tenure as Chair of the Academic Heads Network at Monash, and his appointment as President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.