Prof David Hume AO

Professor David Hume AO is a Professorial Research Fellow at Mater Research. He was previously Director of The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh (2007-2017). From 1988-2007, he was at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, serving as Deputy Director of the CRC for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases, and Director of the ARC Special Centre for Functional and Applied Genomics.

At Mater, David co-leads the Macrophage Biology Research Group. He has authored over 350 scientific publications and has supervised more than 50 PhD graduates. He is an international authority in genome sciences, with a particular focus on the function of macrophages—specialised cells of the immune system involved in innate immunity against infections, inflammatory disease and cancer.

David’s research focusses on macrophages in normal growth, development and physiology, infectious disease resistance and progression and complications of inflammation. His lab investigates mechanisms that regulate the biological functions of macrophages and explores avenues to boost their normal function and/or limit the damage they cause in inflammatory and infectious diseases. He is also interested in the genetic variations in macrophage function between individuals that contribute to susceptibility to inflammatory and infectious diseases.

David has been elected to Fellowships in the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of Biology. Since 2000, he has been a leading member of the FANTOM Consortium, which has made extensive contributions to mammalian genome and transcriptome annotation.

David has a 35 year track record of attracting major strategic funding (CRC for Chronic Inflammatory Disease, ARC Special Research Centre in Australia; BBSRC Institute Strategic Programmes, Wellcome Trust Centres, UK Agritech Centre and Bill and Melinda Gates Centre Foundation in the UK) as well as continuous research project funding from NHMRC, ARC, BBSRC, MRC and the Wellcome Trust.

"I trained as a metabolic biochemist at the Australian National University, and was very fortunate to have a great mentor in Dr Maurie Weidemann. Throughout my career, I have tried to mentor others with the same level of enthusiasm and support given to me. Being a biological scientist in the early 21st century is very much like being a physical scientist in the early 20th century. Each day brings new technologies and completely unexpected discoveries. I believe that the most novel breakthroughs and advances in human medicine and biotechnology come from basic discovery science, and fundamental understanding of macrophage biology has been my research focus for the whole of my career. That said, the applications of that understanding to human disease are clear, especially in the areas of tissue repair and regenerative medicine, and I am committed to pursuing those applications to benefit patients."