Fenner hangs up his microscope

One of Australia's greatest ever scientists, Professor Frank Fenner, is finally retiring in full from science, just in time to celebrate his 93rd birthday.

Fenner, best known for leading the WHO team that oversaw the eradication of smallpox and for his work on myxomatosis, is currently Emeritus Professor at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, part of the Australian National University.

To celebrate his retirement at the end of this year, ANU is holding the 12th Frank and Bobbie Fenner Conference this week, co-named in honour of his late wife.

His retirement will bring about the end of an era at the School and the University, says JCSMR Director Professor Judith Whitworth. "It's impossible to put into words the contribution Professor Fenner has made to the school, the university and Australia at large," JCSMR director Judith Whitworth said. "This conference celebrates his achievements, along with those of the people who have followed in his footsteps." After an early career in medicine and in the Army Medical Corps working on the malaria parasite, Fenner joined JCSMR in 1949 as its inaugural professor of microbiology and was director from 1967 to 1973. At the end of his tenure at JCSMR he set up the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at ANU. In 1983 he returned to the school as a visiting fellow. Fenner has been recognised with numerous awards, including the Japan Prize (1988), the Prime Minister's Science Prize (2002) and the Britannica Australia Award for Medicine (1967).

This year's conference will celebrate the life and scientific times of Fenner, detailing the advances in medical research during the course of his career, including new vaccination strategies against diseases, the threats posed by emerging pathogens and emerging therapies for cancer and asthma.