How We Operate

The entire ACH4 reports to the Commonwealth Government as represented by the Department of Health.

The Committee

Scientific Advisory Committee

Meet our Team

Emeritus Professor John Finlay-Jones (Chair)

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Professor Rajiv Khanna AO FAHMS

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Professor Paul R Young

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Professor Bostjan Kobe

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Professor Mibel Aguilar

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Professor Dominic Dwyer

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Dr Jen Kok

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Principle Objectives of The ACH4 SAC

These objectives are: 

  1. Select the best of the submitted EOI grant applications for funding within the budget of the Centre:
    1. On the basis of scientific excellence,
    2. Consistent with the purpose and scope of ACH4 and its contribution to the National BBV/STI strategic plan.
    3. Considering a balanced portfolio of grants across the four virus types and the three different fields (development of new approaches to development vaccines /immunotherapy, drug therapy and diagnostic/prognostics) and also the geographic spread of applications
  1. Provide, when requested, feedback on the procedures involved in grant allocation, as well as decisions on relative merit and alignment with the selection criteria.
  2. Provide advice to the ACH4 Executive on the structure and direction of the scientific grants program to achieve the aims of the Centre.
  3. Provide advice to the Executive concerning the needs and priorities of those affected by HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis and HTLV-1 to inform ACH4 planning and decision-making.
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Emeritus Professor John Finlay-Jones (Chair)

  • (former Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research at ECU and former Acting DVCR at CDU)
  • Emeritus Professor, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University; Emeritus Professor, Edith Cowan University
  • E: john.finlay-jones@bigpond.com
  • John Finlay-Jones is a PhD graduate from the University of Western Australia. He has held academic appointments at the University of WA in Microbiology, then at Flinders University in the School of Medicine.  He was at Flinders for 25 years, including as Professor of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and Head of the Faculty of Health Sciences.  Subsequent appointments were as Assistant Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Western Australia, then Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Edith Cowan University.  Following a brief retirement he was appointed by Charles Darwin University to be Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) for a 6-month period.  He is currently an Emeritus Professor at Flinders University, an Emeritus Professor at Edith Cowan University, and an Emeritus Member of the American Society for Microbiology.  He has been President of the Australian Society for Medical Research, Honorary Secretary then President of the Australian Society for Microbiology, and President of the Australian Institute of Biology.
  • Other previous appointments have included committees of the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian National Council on AIDS, Hepatitis C and Related Diseases.  He was a member of the Accreditation Committee of the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and member or chair of several AMC Review Teams accrediting medical courses.  He was also an auditor for the then Australian Universities Quality Agency.
  • Since 2003 he has chaired the Scientific Advisory Committee of ACH4.  Other current Committee or Board activities include the Advisory Board of the Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Training at UWA; the Australian Research Integrity Committee (a joint initiative of NHMRC and ARC), the Research Subcommittee of the WA Child Research Fund (Channel 7 Telethon);  and the Research Advisory Committee of the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science in WA.

Professor Rajiv Khanna AO FAHMS

  • Distinguished Scientist
  • Coordinator, QIMR Centre for Immunotherapy and Vaccine Development
  • Group Leader, Tumour Immunology Biology
  • Queensland Institute of Medical Research 300 Herston Road HERSTON QLD 4006
  • E: Rajiv.Khanna@qimrberghofer.edu.au
  • Prof. Rajiv Khanna obtained his doctorate degree from India and undertook his post-doctoral training at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), Brisbane Australia. He is the founding Director/Coordinator of Australian Centre for Vaccine Development (now named as QIMR Berghofer Centre for Immunotherapy and Vaccine Development). He is currently appointed as Senior Scientist at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and is also appointed as Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland and Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
  • Prof. Khanna is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and was awarded Order of Australia in 2017. He has extensive expertise in immunotherapy clinical trials, herpesvirus immunology and vaccine development. Over the last two decades, his group has successfully translated his research towards the development of novel T cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of transplant recipients and autoimmune diseases. Prof. Khanna has been appointed as a consultant to Atara Biotherapeutics (US), CSL Ltd, Cellestis Ltd and Oxford Immunotech (UK) for the development of novel immunotherapeutics, diagnostic technologies and vaccines. He is also appointed on Scientific Advisory Board of Atara Biotherapeutics.
  • Prof. Khanna has been invited by various national and International organizations for expert advice on developing clinical guidelines and scientific review

Professor Paul R Young

  • President, Australian Society for Microbiology
  • President, Asia Pacific Society for Medical Virology
  • School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences and Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre University of Queensland BRISBANE QLD 4072
  • E: p.young@uq.edu.au
  • Paul Young is Professor of Virology and Head of School (School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences) at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He is the immediate-past President of the Australian Society for Microbiology and the Australasian Virology Society.
  • He completed his basic science degree in Australia before moving to the UK where he was awarded his PhD in 1986 from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He began his dengue research program at the LSHTM, initially in the area of vaccine development and supported by the WHO. He returned to Australia in 1989 and joined the University of Queensland in 1991. His current interests are in the molecular virology, diagnosis, vaccine and therapeutic control of dengue and West Nile viruses as well as respiratory syncytial virus. He is also investigating the current invasion of the koala genome by a novel retrovirus and its impact on disease in this iconic species.
  • In addition to our basic and translational research program, funded through external national and international public granting agencies, we undertake both collaborative and contract research with the biotech industry. In particular, our virology expertise and state-of-the-art facilities allows us to perform compound screens in a panel of in-house developed assays for mode of action studies against a range of viral targets - including, dengue, West Nile, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, herpes and others. Contact us if you wish to explore these opportunities further.

Professor Bostjan Kobe

  • Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow
  • Professor of Structural Biology
  • School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences and Institute for Molecular Bioscience (Division of Chemistry and Structural Biology) and Centre for Infectious Disease Research Cooper Road University of Queensland BRISBANE QLD 4072
  • E: b.kobe@uq.edu.au
  • Bostjan Kobe is Professor of Structural Biology and Australian Laureate Fellow at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland. He received his BSc in chemistry at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and his PhD in biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA.
  • His laboratory focuses on applying structural biology approaches to understanding infection and immunity. He received the 2001 Minister's Prize for Achievement in Life Sciences, an ARC Federation Fellowship in 2005, the 2009 ASBMB Roche Medal, the 2018 ASBMB Beckman Coulter Discovery Award, the ARC Laureate Fellowship in 2018 and was named Slovenian Ambassador of Science in 2020.
  • He became Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2018. In recent years, he was the President of the SCANZ and a member of the ARC College of Experts.

Professor Mibel Aguilar

  • Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute Monash University CLAYTON VIC 3800
  • E: mibel.aguilar@monash.edu
  • Professor Mibel Aguilar is a Bioanalytical and Biophysical Chemist at Monash University whose research focuses on biomembrane nanotechnology, peptide biomaterials and peptidomimetic drug design.
  • She completed her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Melbourne studying the metabolism and toxicity of paracetamol. She then completed a Post Doctoral position at St Vincent’s Institute for Medical Research working on developing physical models for protein analysis and purification.
  • She then moved to Monash University where her group now focuses on peptide-based biomaterials and drug design and biomembrane nanotechnology and are developing novel compounds that allow us to exploit the potential of peptides as drugs and biomaterials.

Professor Dominic Dwyer

  • Medical virologist
  • Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services
  • NSW Health Pathology - Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research
  • Westmead Hospital WESTMEAD NSW 2145
  • E: dominic.dwyer@sydney.edu.au
  • Professor Dominic Dwyer is a medical virologist and infectious diseases physician at the Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR) at Westmead Hospital, a Clinical Professor at Sydney University, and is part of the Marie Bashir Institute for Emerging Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity at Sydney University.

Dr Jen Kok

  • Medical Virologist
  • Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services
  • NSW Health Pathology - Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research
  • Westmead Hospital WESTMEAD NSW 2145
  • E: Jen.Kok@health.nsw.gov.au
  • Dr Jen Kok is a medical virologist, infectious diseases physician and clinical microbiologist. He supervises the virology laboratory of Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services at ICPMR, Westmead Hospital. This reference laboratory is a WHO National Influenza Centre. Dr Kok is also a member of the Public Health Laboratory Network of Australia. His research and clinical interests include respiratory viruses, viral infections of public health significance, emerging viral infections, infections in immunocompromised hosts and antiviral resistance. He is also actively involved in laboratory and clinical trials investigating innovative laboratory diagnostic methods and novel therapeutic agents.
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