Brisbane cancer researcher Professor Maher Gandhi will be the next Chief Executive Officer of Australia’s Translational Research Institute (TRI).
A collaboration between Queensland Health, The University of Queensland, QUT and Mater Research, the TRI combines clinical and translational research to advance progress from laboratory discovery to application in the community.
TRI Board Chair Emeritus Professor David Siddle said Professor Gandhi would take up his new role in February, next year.
“He is already based at TRI as executive director of the Institute’s partner, Mater Research,” Professor Siddle said.
He said Professor Gandhi had served as the Mater Research Executive Director and as a Pre-Eminent Senior Staff Specialist in the Haematology Department at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
“Current CEO Professor Scott Bell did not seek an extension of his five-year tenure,” Professor Siddle said.
“We believe Professor Gandhi’s intimate knowledge of TRI and his distinguished research and clinical career make him the ideal candidate to propel the Institute on its mission to advance research translation, clinical collaboration and translational manufacturing.”
Professor Gandhi said the prospect of leading TRI into the new era was the career opportunity of a lifetime.
“Professor Bell has built the ideal foundation for TRI to excel in biomedical manufacturing and there has never been a more exciting time to lead the Institute,” he said.
“TRI’s translational manufacturing facility under construction will lead the nation in incubating Australian intellectual property and enabling start-ups to commercialise their technology in Australia without the need to go offshore,” Professor Gandhi said.
