Professor Laurence Mark Hilton von Itzstein AO

Professor Mark von Itzstein is internationally renowned for research contributing to the development of the world’s first anti-flu drug, Relenza.

Professor von Itzstein said he was a 15-year-old from Archerfield when he began a Certificate of Animal Husbandry at the then Queensland Agricultural College in 1974.

Raised on a small horse and cattle farm, he had dreamed of being a veterinarian. He entered the course as an alternative to the senior school certificate, with the intention of matriculating in veterinary studies.

Clever teaching and a broad science curriculum opened his eyes to the synergies between areas of science, and alerted him to the potential of more in-depth scientific studies.

His interest in "all creatures great and small" became a curiosity about tiny creations: molecules.

Enthusiastic teachers spurred him on, “providing the view that the world is your oyster, you can do anything if you put your mind to it”.

Instead of vet science, Professor von Itzstein studied a Bachelor of Science and, in 1984, gained a PhD in Organic Chemistry. He worked in Germany and Melbourne before returning to Queensland in 2000 to establish and lead the Institute for Glycomics at Griffith University.

Professor von Itzstein’s research focuses on carbohydrate science and finding new generation antibiotics, anti-virals and drugs to treat cancer and other conditions.

Other accolades include the Australia Prize (1996), the Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis Award (2001), an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship (2002) and a Centenary Medal (2003).

He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and a member of the American Chemical Society and of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Awards

Gatton Gold Medal
2005

Qualifications

Queensland Diploma in Animal Husbandry from the Queensland Agricultural College
1976