Director

Professor Terry Dwyer joined the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute as Director in late 2004. In his first year of leadership, he implemented strategic and structural changes which resulted in significant growth and research success.

Terry was previously Director of the Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, coordinating research projects including those on cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, childhood asthma, and diabetes.

He is best known for his research conducted in the 1990s that led to the prevention of a large proportion of SIDS deaths internationally. In Australia, SIDS deaths decreased by 80 per cent following Terry's research group's finding that sleeping babies on their stomachs was a major risk factor for SIDS. In 2005, Terry was awarded an Order of Australia in recognition of this major research achievement and for his service and dedication to medical research, particularly in the field of population health.

His research currently focuses on the effects of genes and environment in diseases as diverse as cancer, cardiovascular disease and multiple sclerosis and he has maintained an interest in research on the effect of lifestyle on health and, in particular, on the role of physical activity in relation to coronary heart disease.  His current work focuses on the joint effects of genes and environment in diseases as diverse as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

He is currently leading the I4C (International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium), the world's largest study into childhood cancer.  The study aims to find a preventable cause of childhood cancer by examining the environmental and genetic differences between children who get cancer and those who do not. The study involves one million pregnant mothers and their babies and research teams from 15 countries.

Terry is also serving on the International Scientific Advisory Board for UK BioBank, the largest ever gene environment study conducted worldwide. This major research initiative will study 500,000 people from across the UK to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia and mental illness.

He is the Chair of the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Region Advisory Committee on Health Research and a member of the WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Health Research. Terry received a Global Health Leadership Fellowship from the World Health Organization in 2000 and was the Australian Society for Medical Research medallist in 2003.

Terry was previously a member of the National Health & Medical Research Council's Research Advisory Committee and the national chair of the Gulf War Veterans' Health Study Scientific Advisory Committee.

His community roles have included Chairman of the Premier of Tasmania's Physical Activity Council and President of the Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania. He is also a Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow.