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Sunday December 23, 2018

We thank all of our Outgoing Councillors for their tireless efforts and contributions toward making 2018 such a successful year.

Susanne Heinzel, ASI President 2017-18 and John Fraser, ASI President 2019-20. Photo credit: Jie Zhou.

Our recent AGM in Perth marked the start of a new ASI council, including new ASI President and former ASI Burnet Orator, Prof John Fraser.

John is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland and has been an immunology researcher for over 35 years begining with postdoctoral research at Harvard in the 1980s working on the structure of the MHC molecules and T cell Receptor that regulate cellular immunity. He is most interested in microbial virulence and understanding the human protective immune response to common pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. His Auckland based research group is engaged in novel vaccine designs that limit the virulence and pathogenicity of these bacteria.

As the Dean of a large medical faculty, John supports many different research disciplines and is responsible for the training of New Zealands future health practitioners. He is constantly drawn to the realisation of how fundamentally important the behaviour of the immune system is to so many different clinical conditions. As a senior immunologist, John is often called upon by the New Zealand media to answer questions or voice opinions on the safety and efficacy of vaccination, new organisms, microbial infections and drug resistance and matters related to infection and immunity.

We warmly welcome John and new members of ASI Council.