Professor Barry Marshall

Professor Barry Marshall is a Nobel Laureate, Clinical Professor and UWA Brand Ambassador at The University of Western Australia. Professor Marshall (1974 UWA graduate) and Emeritus Professor J Robin Warren were awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

Professor Marshall returned to Perth and UWA in 1996 after a tenure at the University of Virginia. Today, Professor Marshall is the Director of The Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Training, which was founded in his honour. In addition to H. pylori research, the Marshall Centre is at the forefront of infectious disease identification and surveillance, diagnostics and drug design, and transformative discovery.

Professor Marshall has several projects including studying the relationship H. pylori has with the immune system. Recent research has found children with H. pylori are 45 per cent less likely to develop asthma. With this as a basis, Professor Marshall and his team are developing a medication that uses the bacteria to rebalance an overactive immune system and prevent asthma and food allergies.

The Helicobacter pylori Research Group is taking up the challenge to develop new diagnostics and treatments to target H. pylori across the globe. The research team is focused on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of H. pylori using clinical microbiology, molecular biology, immunology, genomics and systems biology.

Another brainchild of Professor Marshall is the Noisy Guts Project. Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a perplexing and persistent problem affecting 11 per cent of the world’s population. Research shows a strong correlation between gut noises and gut disorders, and his team are developing a safe, non-invasive screening, monitoring and diagnostic tool.

Professor Barry Marshall continues to find ways to use his Nobel Prize winning research to improve and save lives.

Qualifications:

• AC
• FRACP
• FAA
• FRS
• MBBS-UWA

External positions:

• West Australian Ambassador for Life Sciences
• Consultant Gastroenterologist (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital)