Brendan Crabb

Professor Brendan Crabb AC PhD FAA FAHMS is an infectious disease researcher with a special interest in viruses and protozoan parasites, especially malaria. His research group develops and exploits genetic approaches to better understand malaria parasite biology, principally to help prioritise vaccine and drug targets. Professor Crabb's interests include addressing technical and non-technical barriers to maternal, newborn and child health in the developing world. In recent years, under the banner of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, he has established a major research field site in East New Britain in Papua New Guinea, principally to identify the underlying drivers (including malaria) of low birth weight and stunting in relatively calorie-rich, yet resource-poor settings. Since 2008 he has been the Director and CEO of the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health (Burnet Institute), a research institute that has a focus on the health of neglected populations. He is the past-President of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI). He is currently a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS) and Australian Academy of Science (FAA).

He is the Chair of the Australian Global Health Alliance and of the Pacific Friends of Global Health, and serves on the board of the Telethon Kids Institute. He serves on the International Advisory Boards of the Sanger Institute (UK) and on the WHO Malaria Vaccine Advisory Committee (MALVAC). Professor Crabb was the Co-Founder of the 1st Malaria World Congress and of the Molecular Approaches to Malaria Conferences. Prior to 2008, Professor Crabb was a Senior Principal Research Fellow in the NHMRC and an International Fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US.