Chris Goodnow has illuminated the mechanism of immunological self-tolerance through innovative integration of mouse molecular genetics with cellular immunology. His discoveries have changed our concepts of how self-tolerance is acquired and autoimmune diseases are prevented. Professor Goodnow has a Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Sydney, and has been Professor of Immunology and Genetics at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at The Australian National University, since 1997. He is currently Head of the Department of Immunology. Chris Goodnow was the Founding Director of the Australian Phenomics Facility – a major national research facility for mouse molecular genetics. He has authored many papers in Nature, Science and Cell and been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gottschalk Medal of the Australian Academy of Science and the Commonwealth Centenary Medal.
Immunisation works because it targets our microbial enemies, and not the normal cells and tissues of our own body. In distinguishing foe from friend, our immune system does this more specifically and sensitively than any other chemical sensor that nature or man has yet conceived. Mistakes in this process are rare but costly: over our lifetime about 5% of us will develop an autoimmune disease that reflects one of these immunological mistakes. It has taken sixty years to track down how the immune system learns to tolerate friends and destroy foes. This is a tale of twists and turns that illustrate the challenges of the scientific method: and the need for tenacity, experimental rigour, imagination and scholarship. Professor Goodnow will focus here on the remarkable legacy of one paper and one book that Frank Fenner co-authored with Macfarlane Burnet in 1948-1949, on the production of antibodies and its control by genes.
Event Manager: Mitchell Piercey
Phone: (02) 6201 9462
Chris Goodnow has illuminated the mechanism of immunological self-tolerance through innovative integration of mouse molecular genetics with cellular immunology. His discoveries have changed our concepts of how self-tolerance is acquired and autoimmune diseases are prevented. Professor Goodnow has a Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Sydney, and has been Professor of Immunology and Genetics at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at The Australian National University, since 1997. He is currently Head of the Department of Immunology. Chris Goodnow was the Founding Director of the Australian Phenomics Facility – a major national research facility for mouse molecular genetics. He has authored many papers in Nature, Science and Cell and been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gottschalk Medal of the Australian Academy of Science and the Commonwealth Centenary Medal.
Immunisation works because it targets our microbial enemies, and not the normal cells and tissues of our own body. In distinguishing foe from friend, our immune system does this more specifically and sensitively than any other chemical sensor that nature or man has yet conceived. Mistakes in this process are rare but costly: over our lifetime about 5% of us will develop an autoimmune disease that reflects one of these immunological mistakes. It has taken sixty years to track down how the immune system learns to tolerate friends and destroy foes. This is a tale of twists and turns that illustrate the challenges of the scientific method: and the need for tenacity, experimental rigour, imagination and scholarship. Professor Goodnow will focus here on the remarkable legacy of one paper and one book that Frank Fenner co-authored with Macfarlane Burnet in 1948-1949, on the production of antibodies and its control by genes.
Shine Dome,9 Gordon Street Australian Capital Territory false DD/MM/YYYYEvent Manager: Mitchell Piercey
Phone: (02) 6201 9462
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