University of Melbourne celebrates Redmond Barry Distinguished Professors

Top row left to right: Professor Thas Nirmalathas, Professor Pierluigi Mancarella, Professor Christine Parker. Bottom row left to right: Professor Katherine Kedzierska, Professor Tim Stinear, Professor Laura Mackay.
Top row left to right: Professor Thas Nirmalathas, Professor Pierluigi Mancarella, Professor Christine Parker. Bottom row left to right: Professor Katherine Kedzierska, Professor Tim Stinear, Professor Laura Mackay.

Established in honour of Sir Redmond Barry’s contribution as founder of the University, the title of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor rewards outstanding leaders within the University’s professoriate.

The following scholars have been awarded the title of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor:

Professor Thas Nirmalathas, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology

Professor Thas A. Nirmalathas is Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. An internationally recognised leader in photonics and communications engineering, his research has advanced the optical and wireless technologies that underpin modern high-capacity broadband networks, including technologies critical to 5G, emerging 6G systems, and digital connectivity. Beyond his research achievements, Professor Nirmalathas has provided outstanding leadership in higher education, entrepreneurship and national policy, including as founding Director of the Melbourne Networked Society Institute and co-founder of the Melbourne Accelerator Program, Australia's first university-based startup accelerator.

Key Achievements

  • Internationally recognised pioneer in photonics, optical wireless communications and radio-over-fibre technologies, with more than 10,000 citations and over 550 research publications.
  • Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), Fellow of Engineers Australia, Fellow of Optica, and Senior Member of IEEE.
  • Research translated through major collaborations with Nokia, AT&T, Google, NBN and other global industry partners.
  • Influential contributor to national policy through the Australian Academy of Sciences, Productivity Commission inquiries, and Senate committees on digital infrastructure and innovation.
  • Founder and leader of major University initiatives, including the Melbourne Networked Society Institute and Melbourne Accelerator Program, helping strengthen innovation, entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary research.

Professor Pierluigi Mancarella, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology  

Professor Pierluigi Mancarella is Chair Professor of Electrical Power Systems at the University and Energy Systems Program Leader at the Melbourne Energy Institute. An internationally recognised leader in power systems and the clean energy transition, he has pioneered new approaches to integrating electricity, gas, heat and hydrogen networks, helping shape the future of low-carbon energy systems worldwide. His research has influenced energy policy, market design and infrastructure planning across Australia, the UK and Europe, including major contributions to Australia’s landmark Finkel Review.

Key Achievements

  • Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
  • 2025 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, ranking among the world's most influential researchers.
  • Internationally recognised pioneer of multi-energy systems and power system resilience research.
  • Research adopted by AEMO, the Australian Energy Market Commission and the UK National Grid to support secure, reliable and decarbonised energy systems.
  • Recipient of the Newton Prize (2018) and the Victorian Government’s veski Innovation Fellowship (2017).

Professor Christine Parker, Melbourne Law School

Professor Christine Parker is an internationally recognised legal scholar and one of the world's leading experts in regulatory theory and governance. A Professor at Melbourne Law School and former Associate Dean (Research), she is a Chief Investigator and University of Melbourne Node Lead for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society. Her research spans legal ethics, corporate regulation, food and animal law, environmental governance, and the regulation of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA) and a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts.

Key Achievements

  • Internationally recognised as a founder and global leader in the field of regulatory governance, with influential contributions across law, social sciences, public policy and technology regulation.
  • Published five books and more than 100 scholarly journal articles, with landmark works including Just Lawyers and The Open Corporation, both highly influential in legal and regulatory scholarship.
  • Secured more than $33 million in competitive research funding, including leadership of the University of Melbourne node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society.
  • Ranked among Australia's most highly cited legal scholars, with almost 7,000 Google Scholar citations and an h-index well above the national average for law professors.
  • Successfully supervised 20 PhD candidates and two MPhil students to completion, mentoring the next generation of legal academics and practitioners.
  • Pioneered innovative teaching in legal ethics, food law and animal law, and co-authored Inside Lawyers' Ethics, a leading text used in law schools across Australia.
  • Demonstrated outstanding leadership through senior academic roles, including Associate Dean (Research), Director of Research Capability, and service on national expert advisory groups shaping public policy and law reform.

Professor Katherine Kedzierska, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences

Professor Katherine Kedzierska is a globally recognised leader in viral immunology and one of the world's foremost experts on human T cell immunity to influenza and emerging viral infections. She is Deputy Head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, NHMRC Leadership Fellow, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, and Head of the Human T Cell Laboratory at the Doherty Institute and the University of Melbourne. Her pioneering research has transformed understanding of immune responses to influenza, COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, informing vaccine development, pandemic preparedness and public health policy worldwide.

Key Achievements

  • Internationally recognised authority on human T cell immunity to influenza and emerging viral infections, with research that has reshaped understanding of protective immunity across diverse populations and age groups.
  • Published 279 peer-reviewed papers, accrued more than 24,000 citations, achieved an h-index of 88, and was named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in 2023 and 2024.
  • Published the first reported analysis of human immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in 2020, providing critical insights during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Led internationally significant research defining immune correlates of severe influenza and COVID-19, with publications in leading journals including Cell, Nature Medicine, Nature Immunology, Nature Communications and Immunity.
  • Secured substantial national and international funding, including major NHMRC, MRFF, NIH, NIAID and Japanese Government grants, supporting globally collaborative research programs in influenza and emerging infectious diseases.
  • Recognised with numerous honours including the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases, the University of Melbourne Woodward Medal in Science and Technology, Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and selection as a finalist for the Prime Minister's Prize for Science.
  • Demonstrated outstanding leadership through roles including Deputy Head of Department, Deputy Director of the Australian Vaccine Response Alliance, Chair of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences New Fellows Selection Committee, and membership of WHO and Therapeutic Goods Administration expert advisory groups.
  • A passionate advocate for equity, Indigenous health and researcher development, she has led initiatives supporting First Nations health research, women in science, graduate researcher training and early-career mentorship across the University and broader biomedical research community.

Professor Timothy Stinear, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences

Professor Tim Stinear is an internationally renowned molecular microbiologist and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. He serves as Deputy Head of Department, Co-Director of the Centre for Pathogen Genomics, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Mycobacterium ulcerans, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, and Scientific Director of Doherty Applied Microbial Genomics. His pioneering use of pathogen genomics has transformed understanding of infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and disease transmission, with major impacts on public health policy and clinical practice.

Key Achievements

  • International leader in bacteriology and pathogen genomics, with groundbreaking discoveries that have reshaped understanding of major bacterial pathogens, antimicrobial resistance and infectious disease transmission.
  • Led the discovery that mosquitoes transmit Mycobacterium ulcerans (Buruli ulcer), solving an 80-year scientific mystery and directly informing public health policy and disease prevention strategies.
  • Played a key role in identifying alcohol tolerance in Enterococcus faecium, prompting global reassessment of hospital infection-control practices, and helped trace Mycobacterium chimaera infections linked to contaminated medical equipment.
  • Published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, accumulated over 21,000 citations, and achieved an h-index of 78, with publications in leading journals including Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Genetics, and the New England Journal of Medicine.
  • Secured more than $30 million in competitive research funding and currently holds an NHMRC Leadership Fellow (Level 3) award, recognising his standing as one of Australia's leading biomedical researchers.
  • Elected Fellow of the European Academy of Microbiology, American Academy of Microbiology, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and Australian Society for Microbiology.
  • Successfully supervised 22 PhD, 4 MSc, 2 MPhil and 16 Honours students, while also leading major research training initiatives and professional education programs in microbial genomics and bioinformatics.
  • Provided outstanding leadership to the University through roles including Deputy Head of Department and leadership of major genomics initiatives within the Doherty Institute, including the pathogen sequencing capability that supported Australia's COVID-19 response.

Professor Laura Mackay, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences

Professor Laura Mackay is an internationally recognised immunologist and global leader in the field of tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM). She is Professor of Immunology, NHMRC Leadership Fellow, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, and Immunology Theme Co-Lead at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. Her pioneering research has transformed understanding of how immune cells provide long-term protection within tissues, with major implications for infectious diseases, vaccination, cancer immunotherapy and autoimmune disease.

Key Achievements

  • Internationally recognised for defining the biology, development and function of tissue-resident memory T cells, a field in which her discoveries have reshaped fundamental immunology and influenced vaccine and immunotherapy development worldwide.
  • Published 97 research papers, including landmark first- and senior-author publications in Science, Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Immunology, Immunity, Cancer Cell and Science Immunology.
  • Named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher every year since 2019, with more than 15,000 citations and global recognition as one of the world's leading immunologists.
  • Recipient of numerous prestigious honours including the Prime Minister's Prize for Frank Fenner Life Scientist of the Year, the Gottschalk Medal, the Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, the Jian Zhou Medal, and the NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator Grant Award.
  • Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and appointed the inaugural Sir Gustav Nossal Professor of Immunology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
  • Secured major national and international funding, including NHMRC Leadership Fellowships, ARC Discovery Grants, NIH funding, and a $3.9 million Pfizer-supported research program.
  • Demonstrated exceptional leadership in mentoring the next generation of researchers, supervising 12 PhD graduates and helping laboratory members secure more than $13 million in competitive research funding and numerous fellowships.
  • Provided influential leadership across the immunology community as the first female and youngest President of the Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia-Oceania (FIMSA), while serving on editorial boards of leading journals including Cell and Science Immunology.