John Mattick to head up Garvan Institute

The future of medicine is increasingly linked to high-throughput sequencing and molecular approaches, tying them all together in a big picture view of normal and abnormal human biology.

And it’s in advancing this vision and applying it to diseases such as cancer and diabetes that is the vision of Professor John Mattick, who will take over as Executive Director of the Garvan Institute in Sydney in January 2012 following the retirement of Professor John Shine.

Mattick, who is currently based at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience in Queensland, has long been a proponent of an integrated approach to biology, which he describes as moving up from the reductionist approach that has traditionally dominated molecular biology, to a next generation holistic perspective of human development, cognition and disease.

“Instead of the lamplight view, we get a much more informed perspective by switching on the lights across the whole landscape,” he told ALS.

According to Mattick, the Garvan represents a tremendous opportunity to help bring this perspective to its broad range of research areas, and lead the way into the future.

“The Garvan one of the best medical research institutes in Australia,” he said. “It, like medicine, is undergoing a transition. There’s a wonderful opportunity to build on the pioneering work and leadership of its present Director, Professor John Shine, and move into the new world of genome biology, epigenetics and genomic medicine. And the Garvan is the best place in the country to do that.”

One of the elements that Mattick sees as key is the partnership between the Garvan Institute and the St Vincent Hospital.

“The joint initiative with St Vincent's Hospital in establishing The Kinghorn Cancer Centre will enable close interaction between the clinical and scientific communities in the precinct, and enable the new genomics technologies to make a real difference in the accurate diagnosis, prevention and treatment of this devastating disorder.

“This however is only the beginning – the future for Garvan will be to expand this paradigm to all of our research areas. It is an honour to be given the opportunity to lead the Institute at this time – a time which promises transformational insights into disease and a time when we can genuinely deliver previously undreamt of improvements in quality of life for all in the community.”

Professor John Shine, who is retiring at the end of the year, has headed up the Garvan since 1990, and is enthusiastic about the appointment of Mattick to the Executive Director role.

“It is of immense satisfaction, both personally and on behalf of all the dedicated Garvan staff, that we have been able to attract someone of John Mattick's stature to lead the Institute at a time of enormous promise to contribute to the health and well being of our community. I have no doubt that under John's guidance the Garvan will reach new heights of international acclaim as an iconic Australian institution.”

Garvan Chairman, Mr Bill Ferris, also welcomed the appointment. “Professor Mattick, holder of a prestigious NHMRC Australia Fellowship at the University of Queensland and the inaugural Director of the University's Institute of Molecular Bioscience, is a pioneer in the analyses of the human genome sequence and the critical role of specific DNA sequences in the regulation of gene expression during human development and susceptibility to complex diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

“He will take up his appointment early in January 2012 with a mandate to further enhance not only Garvan's outstanding research through application of the latest technologies but also the translation of its discoveries into new ways to prevent and treat disease.”

Mattick is well known for his research particularly into the role of RNA and gene regulation and epigenetics. You can read more about his research here.