The Board of Directors of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, has appointed Professor Doug Hilton AO, as Chief Executive.

Professor Hilton is a molecular and cellular biologist, Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), the Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Medical Biology and head of the Department of Medical Biology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. 

For the past 14 years, under his direction, WEHI has grown to become a multi-disciplinary organisation that makes fundamental discoveries and works with partners to translate these into improved outcomes in cancer, infectious and immune diseases, developmental disorders and diseases of ageing. 

A biologist investigating blood cell production and how cells communicate with each other, throughout his period as Director of WEHI, Professor Hilton has continued an active research programme. He and his team hold more than 20 patents and have translated their research through collaboration with venture capitalists and the biopharmaceutical industry.