Person

Hall, Ruth Milne (1945 - )

OAM

Born
6 August 1945
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Educator and Microbiologist

Summary

Ruth Hall is a microbiologist who specialises in the DNA of bacteria, and antibiotic resistance. While working at the CSIRO, Hall was involved in the discovery of the genetic system of integrons and gene cassettes. This discovery has been important in the ongoing inquiry into bacteria's ability to adapt to become resistant to antibiotics. In 2005 Hall became Professor of Microbiology at the University of Sydney.

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Details

"Ruth Hall has made an exceptional contribution to Microbiology and Genetics by discovering and characterising a novel system for gene mobilisation that is critical for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes and is also a major generator of diversity in bacteria. The known integron types each consist of a backbone encoding a recombinase and a site where genes are integrated. The genes are in small mobile elements called gene cassettes that usually include only the gene and a recombination site. Over 100 resistance genes are in cassettes, but the total of all cassette types is known to be enormous and the genes to be extremely diverse." [from https://www.science.org.au/profile/ruth-hall ]

Chronology

1966
Education - BSc (hons), University of Sydney
1966
Education - Research Officer in the MRC Molecular Genetics Unit, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh
1966
Award - CSIRO Junior Postgraduate Studentships
1968
Education - Master's Degree in Science University of Sydney
1968
Award - Charles Gilbert Heydon Travelling Fellowship for Biological Sciences
1971
Education - PhD, Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Edinburgh
1972
Career position - Research Officer in the MRC Molecular Genetics Unit, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh
1972 - 1975
Career position - Senior Tutor in the Department of Biochemistry, Monash University
1976 - 1979
Career position - Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry, Monash University
1979 - 1980
Career position - Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University
1980 - 1981
Career position - EMBO Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Biozentrum der Universität, Basel, Switzerland
1982 - 1983
Career position - Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Molecular and Cellular Biology Unit
1983 - 1984
Career position - Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Molecular Biology
1984 - 1989
Career position - Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Biotechnology
1989 - 1992
Career position - Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Biomolecular Engineering
1991 - 2003
Career position - Honorary Fellow of the School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University
1992 - 1997
Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Biomolecular Engineering
1997 - 2003
Career position - Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Molecular Science
1998 - 1999
Career position - Member, Joint Expert Technological Advisory Committee on Antibiotic Resistance, Australian Government
2003 - 2005
Career position - Adjunct Professor in the School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney
2005 -
Career position - Professor of Microbiology, School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney
2005 -
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science
2005
Award - Sanofi-Aventis Group Award, American Society for Microbiology
2005 - 2010
Award - NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney
2010 -
Award - Fellow, American Society for Microbiology
2010 -
Career position - Chair, NSW-ACT Branch, Australian Society for Microbiology
2011 -
Career position - Member, Assigners Academy, National Health and Medical Research Council
2012
Award - Macfarlane Burnett Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science
2014
Award - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to science in the field of microbiology

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

  • McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

Rebecca Rigby and Helen Cohn

Created: 24 February 2012, Last modified: 27 May 2022

EOAS ID: biogs/P004991b.htm

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