Snow Fellow Conference 2025

Professor Suzanne Cory AC PhD FAA FRS

Outgoing Chair Scientific Review and Advisory Committee Snow Medical

Professor Suzanne Cory is one of Australia’s most distinguished molecular biologists. After graduating in biochemistry from The University of Melbourne, she undertook her PhD in Cambridge and postdoctoral studies in Geneva before returning to Melbourne in 1971, to a research position at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI). She was Director of WEHI and Professor of Medical Biology of the University of Melbourne from 1996 to 2009 and President of the Australian Academy of Science from 2010 to 2014.

She is currently Honorary Distinguished Professorial Fellow in WEHI’s Division of Molecular Genetics of Cancer. Her research has had a major impact in the fields of immunology and cancer and attracted numerous honours and awards. She has been elected by her peers to the Australian Academy of Science, Royal Society, US National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, French Academy of Sciences, e Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Japan Academy. In 1999 she was appointed Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia and in 2009 was awarded the French decoration of Chevalier de I’Ordre de Ia Legion d’Honneur.

Professor Andrew WilksFAA, FTSE, FAHMS

Founder & Managing Director, SYNthesis Bioventures

Serial entrepreneur: Founder, founding-CEO and CSO of Cytopia. Founder or co-founder of SYNthesis med chem (2007), CEO Catalyst Therapeutics, Anaxis Pharma, Qubist Molecular Design (2009), Synkinase (2010), SYNthesis Research (2012), Catalyst Therapeutics (2012), Reagency (2014), Reverx (2015) and Anaxis Pharma (2017), Aculeus Therapeutics (2020), Qubigen (2025), and Melbridge Therapeutics (2025).

Professor Andrew Wilks is a molecular and cancer cell biologist. Working at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (Melbourne) from 1988 to 1998, he led the Growth Regulation Laboratory. He and his laboratory made transformative discoveries in the signal transduction field as well as in neurogenesis and angiogenesis. Wilks has completed a rare “trifecta” – discovering, naming and patenting a number of important drug discovery targets (viz. JAK1 and JAK2) and defining their role(s) in cytokine signalling; founding one of Australia’s most successful biotech companies, Cytopia; and co-inventing and leading the team that delivered the FDA-approved JAK inhibitor, momelotinib, a drug used to treat a rare form of blood cancer, myelofibrosis.

Wilks has been recognised with a number of significant awards. He is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS) and has been the recipient of the ATSE Clunies-Ross Medal (Entrepreneur of the Year), The Australian BioBusiness Award, The Ausbiotech Industry Leadership Award, the CSTI Lackmann Award for Translational Research and most recently the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation (with his colleague Dr Chris Burns).

Dr Nitya Phillipson

Research Quality, Governance & Integrity Lead at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Nitya trained as a Pharmacologist at Kings College London and the University of Melbourne before moving into research management. She has extensive experience managing research ethics and integrity, having managed the ethics and integrity teams at numerous hospitals (The Royal Children’s Hospital & Royal Melbourne Hospital), Universities (Macquarie & Swinburne University) and now MRIs across Australia.

She has also led complex investigations into high profile, serious research misconduct and is passionate about the human side of integrity and the exciting advancements in Open Sciences, AI ethics and sustainable research practices.