Professor Bob Williamson is a former Director of the Murdoch Childrens and is currently an Honorary Senior Principal Fellow (Professor). He has been honoured countless times for his work, primarily in the field of genetics and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and of the Royal Society, and an Officer of the Order of Australia. Before coming to Australia, Professor Williamson was Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in Developmental Biology at Glasgow University. He was then appointed Professor of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, University of London. In 1995 the Board of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (then the Murdoch Institute) appointed Professor Williamson as Director, with a parallel appointment as Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Melbourne. He retired in 2004, and since retiring has been the Secretary for Science Policy at the Australian Academy of Science. More recently he has taken a major interest in national science policy and medical and scientific ethics, and had the privilege of advising several Premiers, Health Ministers and Ministers for Innovation. Professor Williamson Chaired the OECD Committee on Pharmacogenetics and Regulation of Genetic Testing, and worked extensively for the World Health Organisation both before and after coming to Australia.

Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry