Professor James McCluskey, Associate Dean, Research
We are Australia's premier biomedical research faculty. Biomedicine at the University of Melbourne is consistently ranked in the top 30 in the world.
Our research is encompassed in eight broad domain categories and includes over 1400 researchers working within the Faculty’s schools, departments and centres. Working environments are diverse, with researchers in laboratories such as the Bio21 institute and the Centre for Neuroscience; clinics like those at the Austin and Royal Melbourne Hospitals, and out it the field surveying incidence of snakebite in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.
The breadth of research makes it possible to find world leaders in any health specialty area, who supervise and mentor research students.
Researchers within the faculty are involved in solving the molecular puzzles posed by disease and injury, such as: endeavouring to stimulate nerve regeneration after spinal cord injury; understanding how our immune cells respond to HIV infection; attempting to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease early; developing vaccines against cancer and elucidating the mechanisms that regulate body weight and cause heart disease. They are seeking to tackle complex public health challenges in local, national and international communities, such as: responding to the clinical challenges of caring for the mentally ill and the elderly and building capacity and training health professionals to respond to the immediate and chronic health needs after the 2004 Tsunami.
Domain coordinators bring together researchers within these domain communities through conferences, seminars and social events that encourage collegiality, collaboration and communication.