Person
Niall, Hugh David (1937 - 2026)
AO
- Born
- 15 August 1937
- Died
- 11 April 2026
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Medical scientist and Science administrator
Summary
Hugh Niall was a medical researcher at the forefront of research that led to the development of drugs for treatment common diseases. Early in his career he worked with Pehr Edman at the St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research. Between 1967 and 1974 Niall was at Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health, working to improve Edman's technique of gene sequencing and make it available to the international scientific community. While in the U.S., Niall was the first to report accurate structures for the several hormones, leading to treatments for osteoporosis and Paget's disease. Returning to Australia, he joined the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine where his team synthesised and cloned the reproductive hormone relaxin. During his ten-year term as Vice-President and Head, Research Discovery at Genentech, California, he worked on the development of drugs: Nutropin for dwarfism, Herceptin for breast cancer, Avastin for cancer, and Lucentis to prevent blindness. Returning to Australia in 1995 he became Chief Executive Officer of leading anti-infective drug development company, Biota Holdings. In alliance with the Victorian College of Pharmacy, CSIRO and Glaxo Wellcome Australia, Biota developed the anti-flu drug Relenza. Niall became an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2015 for his contributions to hormone sequencing.
Details
Chronology
- 1966
- Award - C. J. Martin Travelling Fellowship, National Health and Medical Research Council
- 1974 - 1985
- Career position - Research scientist, Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine
- 1985 - 1995
- Career position - Vice-President and Head, Research Discovery, Genentech, South San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
- 1995 - 2002
- Career position - Chief Executive Officer, Biota Holdings
- 1996 - 2003
- Career position - Board Member, Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine
- 2002
- Career position - Founding Director, Australian Stem Cell Centre, Monash University
- 2003 - 2006
- Career position - Chief Executive and Managing Director, Australian Stem Cell Centre, Monash University
- 2003 - 2008
- Career position - Chairman, Avexa
- 2004 - 2008
- Career position - Chair, Diabetes Vaccine Development Centre, National Health and Medical Research Council
- 2011 - 2015
- Career position - Vice-Chancellor's Professorial Fellow, Monash University
- 2012
- Award - Doctor of Medical Science (honoris causa), University of Melbourne
- 2015
- Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to biomedical science, particularly in the field of hormone sequencing, to higher education and research commercialisation initiatives, and to student development programs
Related entries
Colleague
Published resources
Newspaper Articles
- Niall, Brenda, 'A giant of Australian biotech who developed therapies for the world: Hugh David Niall AO, MD, DMedSci (honoris causa) FRACP August 15, 1937 to April 11, 2026', Sydney morning herald (2026), https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-giant-of-australian-biotech-who-developed-therapies-for-the-world-20260527-p601cd.html. Details
Resources
- A revolution in protein sequencing: case study, National Health and Medical Research Council, 2021, https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/resources/impact-case-studies/protein-sequenator. Details
Resource Sections
- Anon, 'A tribute to Dr Hugh David Niall AO', Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine, 2026, https://florey.edu.au/news/2026/04/a-tribute-to-dr-hugh-david-niall-ao/. Details
- Anon, 'Dr Hugh David Niall: citation for the Award of Doctor of Medical Science (Honoris Causa)', Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., 2026, https://mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/engage/community/awards-and-honours/dr-hugh-david-niall. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 13 October 2026