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I embarked on a PhD in immunoparasitology within the Department of Primary Industries in Victoria, after winning a competitive National Industry Scholarship. In 1996, I was awarded a Welcome Trust Fellowship and worked on DNA vaccines at Glasgow University in Scotland for three years with Professor FY Liew. I returned to Australia in 1999 to study Helminth vaccines and biology and in 2001 set up his own group working on Fasciola (liver fluke) at Melbourne University. From 2006-2014, I relocated to the Biotechnology Research Laboratories at Monash University and in 2014 joined Federation University Australia, where I continue to work on national and international research programs (including Thailand, Indonesia, Africa and Spain) and heads the immunoparasitology unit. I routinely host scientists and graduate students from overseas countries and supervise PhD students. I have been vice president and president of the Australian Society for Parasitology (2005-2007). In 2006, after successfully securing a bid to host the International Congress for Parasitology, I was appointed Co-chair of the congress along with Professor Alan Cowman (WEHI). The congress which was held in Melbourne (ICOPAXII) in 2010 hosted over 1,700 delegates from around the world. I continue to be actively involved in promoting parasitology through the World Federation of Parasitologists and to the general public through various educational activities and programs including as a Club Melbourne Ambassador.
