Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Alumni

27/03/2026

As WEHI alumni, you understand the long‑term impact of medical research.
Help future generations live longer, healthier lives by leaving a gift in your Will to medical research today. Until 30 March, WEHI alumni can create a Will on the Safewill platform and have it legally reviewed for free.

Help future generations live longer, healthier lives by leaving a gift in your Will to medical research today.

Until 30 March, you can create your Will on the Safewill platform and have it legally reviewed for free.

✅ Protect your loved ones
✅ Secure your assets
✅ Support the causes you care about

Offer ends 30 March

Learn more: https://safewill.com/wehi?utm_campaign=wehi_mar2026_organic-socials_1

24/03/2026

What if researchers had a complete atlas for one of the most powerful enzyme families in human biology?

WEHI researchers have led a global study to create the world’s first authoritative atlas of E3 ligases, enzymes that control the fate of proteins in almost every cellular process.

WEHI researchers have led a major global effort to create the first authoritative atlas for a class of enzymes that regulate almost every cellular process in the human body.

20/03/2026

WEHI Alumni – have you been part of the journey of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery at WEHI?

You are invited to a special symposium celebrating 25 years since the foundation of structural biology and drug discovery at WEHI, bringing together past alumni, present staff and emerging researchers.

The symposium will be held on Thursday 23 April 2026 at WEHI and will highlight the significant discoveries made over the past 25 years, alongside current research that is shaping the future of medical research.

Date: Thursday 23 April 2026
Time:9:15am – 5:00pm
Venue: WEHI, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville

📩 Invitations will be sent shortly.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please email alumni@wehi.edu.au.

We look forward to celebrating this important milestone with you.

20/02/2026

Wishing you health, happiness and prosperity for the year ahead.

02/02/2026

Future science tech gives patients faster, more precise answers.💡🧬🚀 At the Colonial Foundation Diagnostics Centre based at WEHI, cutting-edge technologies are helping reduce the often long and complex diagnosis journey for people living with inflammatory diseases.

WEHI’s Professor Edwin Hawkins and Dr Michael Christie from The Royal Melbourne Hospital are fusing clinical practice with world-leading 3D tissue mapping technology, enhanced by AI and machine learning (ML), to give patients faster, more precise answers.👏

Millions of Australians live with chronic inflammatory diseases, yet diagnosis requires multiple invasive tests that don’t capture the complete picture. Delays can be devastating, as chronic inflammation left untreated can permanently damage organs.

Researchers are aiming to turbocharge what is known about these complex diseases, driving understanding from lab to clinic, dramatically shortening diagnosis times for patients.

Supported by the Colonial Foundation, the centre’s five-year vision is to embed detailed cell-by-cell maps of disease, analysed by AI and ML, into standard diagnostic tests – to deliver results in a fraction of the time.

“What once took dozens of labs and years to complete in the early 2000s can now be done on a single patient tissue section during a standard pathology test.”
- Prof Edwin Hawkins, Head, Colonial Foundation Diagnostics Centre.

More 👉:https://www.wehi.edu.au/news/ending-the-diagnostic-odyssey-with-future-science/

07/01/2026

Researchers have uncovered how a particular strain of a diarrhoea-causing parasite managed to infect more animal species, offering new insights into how parasitic infections emerge and spread to people.

19/12/2025

End-of-year vibes, WEHI style ✨🎉

A little trip down memory lane with a few images captured across various end-of-year parties over the years. Images of small moments but big memories.

From all of us at WEHI, we wish you a wonderful festive season, a proper break, and plenty of joy wherever the holidays take you 🌞

🎄✨

17/12/2025

Researchers have developed a new antimalarial drug candidate designed to address the growing challenge of drug resistance and potentially reduce malaria transmission.

12/12/2025

Remembering Sir Charles Kellaway

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the passing of Sir Charles Kellaway, whose leadership helped set the course for medical research at WEHI.

Kellaway led the Institute from 1923 to 1944, shaping a culture grounded in curiosity-driven science. He championed rigorous thinking, backed bold ideas, and laid foundations that would drive breakthroughs in immunology, virology and physiology for decades to come.

This photograph shows Kellaway with William A. Rawlinson in the biochemical laboratory on the second floor of WEHI’s new home in the eastern wing of the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The lab coats, benches and glassware may look quaint now, but the mindset to ask hard questions and follow the evidence, still defines WEHI today.

A moment frozen in time, and a reminder that today’s discoveries stand on foundations laid nearly a century ago.

09/12/2025

👁 One step closer to stopping blindness before it starts 👁

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in people over 50 and affects over 196 million people globally.

Current treatments only slow progression after damage occurs.

A new study jointly led by WEHI, the Centre for Eye Research Australia and The University of Melbourne identified genetic changes associated with deposits that accelerate vision loss, present in up to 60% of advanced AMD cases.

This discovery could enable earlier intervention and lead to new treatments targeting the most severe forms of AMD. 💡

🔗 Learn more: https://www.wehi.edu.au/news/australian-scientists-reveal-new-genetic-risk-for-severe-macular-degeneration/

05/12/2025

Flashback Friday is serving a little festive nostalgia as we gear up for our own end-of-year celebrations. This week, we’re jumping back to the 2005 WEHI Christmas Party.

The photo says it all: a crowd gathered around, laughing and cheering at whatever was happening just out of frame.

Who remembers what was so entertaining that day?

If this energy is anything to go by, our upcoming celebration is going to be a cracker. Here’s to good company, shared laughter and wrapping up another year of science, stories and community.

28/11/2025

Flashback Friday puts a spin on things as we revisit the WEHI Table Tennis Final of 2011, featuring the showdown between Ilia Banakh and Hamish Scott.

With bragging rights on the line, you can practically feel the competitive tension radiating off the table. Events like this remind us of WEHI’s community spirit that extends well beyond the labs. Here’s to the moments of fun that make this place more than just where we work.