Dr John Turnidge completed his training in Infectious Diseases and Laboratory Microbiology at the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. He subsequently undertook research with William A Craig MD, in Madison, Wisconsin, on the early stages of development of the science of antimicrobial pharmacodynamics. He spent eight years at Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne before returning to Adelaide as head of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and then as chief of the Laboratory Medicine division at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He was Clinical Director of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases for SA Pathology from 2006–2010, while continuing to be based at the Women’s and Children’s.

John’s research career has led to over 300 publications and a range of editorial board and leadership positions. He has chaired the Australian Joint Expert Technical Advisory Committee on Antibiotic Resistance and the Expert Advisory Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. He is currently a member of the Subcommittees on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing and Veterinary Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, and chairs the NHMRC’s Antimicrobial Resistance Advisory Committee. He was President of the Australian Society of Microbiology from 2010 to 2012. He now also works as a Senior Medical Advisor at the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care, responsible for implementing national surveillance for antimicrobial resistance and usage in human health (the AURA Project).