Douglas Hilton
- Professor
- 2017
- Department of Medical Biology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne,
- AO, FAA, FTSE, FAHMS
Professor Doug Hilton is the 6th Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Head of the Department of Medical Biology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, and the immediate past President of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI).
He is best known for his discoveries in the area of cytokine signalling (chemical messages sent by immune and blood cells to communicate with other cells in the body), his advocacy for health & medical research and for gender equity in science.
The Hilton lab aims to understand which of the 30,000 genes are important in the production and function of blood cells, and how this information can be used to better prevent, diagnose and treat blood cell diseases such as leukaemia, arthritis and asthma.
Professor Hilton has been awarded numerous prizes for his research into how blood cells communicate and have led major collaborations with industry to translate his discoveries from the bench to the bedside. He is an inventor of more than 20 patent families, most of which have been licensed, and is a co-founder of the biotechnology company MuriGen. He is an Officer of the Order of Australia, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and of Health and Medical Sciences.