Professor Moira O'Bryan

Moira has led the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Science since late 2020. The Faculty is a global leader in discovery and applied research, spanning seven schools and hosting five multidisciplinary research institutes across six campuses. She also directs a multidisciplinary research program focused on the fundamental processes underpinning male gamete formation, their implications for disease and potential for contraceptive development and medical intervention.

Prior to joining the University of Melbourne, Moira held several leadership positions at Monash University, including Deputy Head of the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Program Lead (Development and Stem Cells) and Deputy Director in the Monash Biomedical Discovery Institute, and Head of the School of Biological Sciences.

She has received many awards for her research including from the Society of Reproductive Biology, the Australian Academy of Science, the Fertility Society of Australia, the European Society for Reproduction and Embryology, the American Society of Andrology, and the Society for Reproduction and Fertility. She is a fellow of the Society of Reproduction (Australia and New Zealand), and the Society for the Study of Reproduction (North America).

Moira has held numerous leadership roles within professional societies including as President for the Society of Reproductive Biology, and Chair of the Australian Academy National Committee – Cell and Developmental Biology. She was a founding member of the International Male Infertility Genomics Consortium, which takes a global approach to defining the genetic causes of human male infertility, and the Male Reproductive Health Network, focused on improving knowledge of, and access to medical treatment, for reproductive ill-health. She is a member of the Bill and Melinda Gates Non-hormonal Contraceptive Network.

Moira has made significant contributions to establishing open-access infrastructure for Australian researchers through the establishment and management of the Australian Phenomics Network (now Phenomics Australia). She was a lead researcher in establishing the Australian Phenome Bank, the Australian Centre for Vertebrate Mutation Detection, and the Monash Male Infertility Repository. She has held significant grant assessment positions within the Australian Research Council (College of Experts) and the National Health and Medical Research Council. She has received awards for her achievements in the addressing inequities for under-represented groups in STEM.

Moira is a mother of two university-age sons and finds work-life balance in her garden, orchids and art glass exhibitions.