Bishop, Ruth Frances (1933 - 2022)

Summary

Ruth Bishop was a microbiologist noted as leader of the team that discovered human rotavirus, the most common cause of gastroenteritis in children. The development of a vaccine led to a successful vaccination program for all infants in Australia since 2007 and of millions of infants world-wide. Further research was directed to the development of a vaccine for babies at birth, for use in developing countries where this is likely to be the only time such children see a doctor. Bishop played key roles in WHO initiatives in vaccine development and research into diarrhoeal diseases. Bishop was a research assistant at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, where she worked in the Department of Gastroenterology as a microbiologist. She was later appointed a Research associate in the University of Melbourne's Department of Paediatrics.

Details

Chronology

1954

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne

1958

Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Melbourne

1961

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Melbourne

1962 - 1965

Career position - Research Fellow, Department of Surgery, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

1968 - 1974

Career position - Research Fellow at the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

1968 - 1974

Career position - Research Fellow, Department of Gastroenterology, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

1975 - 1979

Career position - Senior Research Fellow at the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

1978

Career position - President, Paediatric Research Association of Australia

1978

Award - Selwyn-Smith Prize for Clinical Research, University of Melbourne

1978

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Melbourne

1978 - 2008

Career position - Fellow, Australian Society for Microbiology

1980 - 1983

Career position - Chairman, Biosafety Committee, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

1980 - 1989

Career position - Principal Research Fellow at the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

1981 - 1989

Career position - Senior Associate, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne

1983 - 1985

Career position - Chairman, Steering Committee of the Global Scientific Working Group on Viral Diarrhoeal Disease, World Health Organisation (WHO)

1989 -

Career position - Director, WHO Collaborating Laboratory for Research on Human Rotaviruses

1989 - 1992

Career position - Member of Committee, WHO Program for Vaccine Development

1990 - 1991

Career position - Chief Executive Officer, Research Foundation, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Melbourne

1990 - 1994

Career position - Professorial Associate, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne

1991 - 1992

Career position - Director, Amrad Corporation

1991 - 1999

Career position - Member, Regional Grants Interviewing Committee, National Health and Medical Research Council

1992 -

Career position - Special Advisor, Programme for Vaccine Development, WHO/UNDP

1992 - 1999

Career position - Senior Principal Research Fellow at the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

1994

Award - Gold Medal, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

1995 - 2015

Career position - Professorial Fellow, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne

1996

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of service to medical research, particularly for her contributions to the understanding of gastroenteritis in children

1997

Award - White Flame Award, Save the Children Fund, Melbourne

1997

Award - Warren Hayes Memorial Medal, Committee for Melbourne

1998

Award - Clunies Ross National Science and Technology Award, Ian Clunies Ross Memorial Foundation

1998

Award - Pasteur Award, Children's Vaccine Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland

1999 -

Career position - Director, National Rotavirus Surveillance Centre

1999 - 2009

Career position - Member, Rotavirus Working Group, Bill and Melinda Gates Children's Vaccine Program

1999 - 2009

Career position - Senior Principal Research Fellow, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne

2001

Award - Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women

2007 - 2022

Award - Honorary Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Physicians

2008 - 2022

Award - Honorary Life Member, Australian Society for Microbiology

2009

Award - Doctor of Medical Science (DMedSc), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

2009 - 2015

Award - Honorary Fellow, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne

2011

Award - Prince Mahidol Award in the Field of Public Health, Thailand

2013

Award - CSL Florey Medal, Australian Institute of Policy and Science

2019

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - for eminent service to global child health through the development of improved vaccines for paediatric gastroenteritis, and to medical research

Related entries

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

Journal Articles

• Barnes, Graeme; and Bishop, Tom, 'Professor Ruth Francis Bishop', Chiron (2022). https://medicine.unimelb.edu.au/engage/alumni/welcome-to-chiron-2022/in-memorium/professor-ruth-francis-bishop. Details
• Cytowicz, Barbara, 'Ruth Bishop', Australasian Science, 21 (9) (2000), 46. Details
• Donato, Celeste M.; Barnes, Graeme; and Bines, Julie E., 'Vale Professor Ruth Frances Bishop AC 1933 - 2022', Microbiology Australia, 43 (3) (2022), 144. https://doi.org/10.1071/MA22046. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5397741. Details
• 'Bishop, Ruth Frances (1933-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475688. Details
• 'Awarded honorary DMedSc, 2009 [Citation provided]', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details

Resource Sections

• Australian Institute of Policy and Science, 'Florey Medal', Sydney, 2024. https://aips.net.au/florey-award/the-florey-medal/. Details