Tony Bacic 23rd Annual Lorne Proteomics Symposium 2018

Tony Bacic

Prof Tony Bacic (FAA) Professor Tony Bacic graduated his BSc Hons from James Cook University of North Queensland in 1975. He moved to Melbourne to attend La Trobe University where he was awarded his PhD in 1980 under the supervision of the late Prof Bruce A. Stone. He was elected to the national academy as a Fellow in 2008 and is both a James Cook University Outstanding Alumnus (2010) and a La Trobe University Distinguished Alumnus (2013). From 1996 to 2017, Professor Bacic held a Personal Chair in the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne. Leader of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls (2011-2017) team at the University of Melbourne, he was also Deputy Director of that Centre, and Director of the Plant Cell Biology Research Centre at the School of BioSciences. Professor Bacic has had numerous leadership roles within the University of Melbourne and the ARC, including Director Bio21 Molecular Sciences & Biotechnology Institute, Chair ARC Biological Sciences and Biotechnology & LIEF (infrastructure) Panels and Chair Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Panel of the ERA (Excellence in Research Australia). After a 38-year hiatus, Professor Bacic has returned to his alma mater, La Trobe University, as the inaugural Director of the La Trobe Institute for Food & Agriculture (LIAF). In 2013, Professor Bacic was appointed to the Board of the Victorian Royal Botanic Gardens (RBGV) as a Board Member until April 2020. He is a member of the Gene Technology Access Centre (GTAC) Board as well as a Director of several small biotechnology companies. Internationally recognized as a leader in plant biotechnology, his research is focused on the structure, function and biosynthesis of plant cell walls and their biotechnological application as well as the application of functional genomics tools in biological systems.