Ian Mackay was a an immunologist who made significant contributions in the field of autoimmunology. His research led to new immunosuppressant treatments for conditions such as autoimmune hepatitis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's Syndrome. From 1963 to 1987 he Head of the Clinical Research Unit of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Among his colleagues at the Institute were Macfarlane Burnet, with whom he wrote the landmark The autoimmune diseases (1963), Ian Wood and Gustav Nossal.
"Ian Reay Mackay is distinguished for contributions to clinical immunology, particularly autoimmune disease. Mackay wrote the first text (1963), with F. M. Burnet, on the nature of autoimmune disease. He identified autoimmunity as one cause of chronic hepatitis (1956) and established diagnostic serological assays, and showed that corticosteroid and immunosuppressive drugs reversed autoimmune inflammation in the liver (1957-1968). Mackay also described primary biliary cirrhosis as an autoimmune disease (1958) and his laboratory identified the autoantigenic mitochondrial polypeptides (1985) and the nuclear gene coding for the major polypeptide (1987), now recognized as part of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. His discoveries provided important insights into liver disease and autoimmunity in general." [from https://www.science.org.au/profile/ian-mackay 12/6/2025].
1948
1949
Career position - Medical Officer, Australian Military Mission, Berlin, Germany
1949
1950
Career position - Medical Officer, Australia House, London
1952
1954
Career position - Research Fellow, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
1955
1963
Career position - Assistant Physician, Clinical Research Unit, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in association with the Royal Melbourne Hospital
1963
1987
Career position - Head, Clinical Research Unit Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in association with the Royal Melbourne Hospital
1966
1966
Award - Eric Susman Prize, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
1974
1974
Award - Research Prize, British Medical Association
1981
1981
Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - for service to medical research
1983
1987
Career position - Chairman, AIDS Committee, Health Commission Victoria
1987
1987
Life event - Retired
1987
1996
Career position - Principal Scientist, Centre for Molecular Biology and Medicine, Monash University
1991
2020
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science
1992
1992
Award - Distinguished Researcher Prize, Gastroenterological Society of Australia
1999
Career position - Honorary Professorial Fellow, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University
1 Jan 2001
1 Jan 2001
Award - Centenary Medal - for service to Australian society and science in biochemistry and molecular biology
2015
2015
Award - General History Award (shared with Warwick Anderson) for Intolerant bodies, New South Wales Premier's History Awards