Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) Chief Scientist Professor Melissa Little AC has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for her substantial contribution to medical science.

Royal Society Fellows are many of the world's most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists, celebrated for their excellence in the field.

Professor Little is internationally recognised for her research across kidney development and pioneering discoveries into potential regenerative treatments. Her approach to generating kidney organoids from human stem cells, which model human kidney tissue, has been adopted across the globe. The scientific breakthrough is being applied to disease modelling, drug screening and renal replacement therapies.

“It is such a privilege to be a scientist and such an honour to be recognised in this way,” Professor Little said. I hope that my recognition is also shared by all those who have taught me, mentored me and worked alongside me.

“What science can do for society has time and time again been demonstrated. To be recognised for having contributed is very special at any time in history, but particularly precious now as society is shifting away from evidence and back to hearsay.”

Image: Professor Melissa Little AC

Founded in 1660 and based in London, the Royal Society is the oldest and most prestigious scientific institution dedicated to advancing research and fostering scientific discovery. Out of about 8,000 Fellows elected since its foundation, almost four centuries ago, only 8.5 per cent are women.

Professor Little is the head of the Kidney Regeneration Group at MCRI. She holds an honorary position as Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne and an honorary degree at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. She is also the CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW).

Professor Little has received numerous awards during her more than 30-year career, including the Homer Smith Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Nephrology, Alfred Newton Richards Award in Nephrology, the Julian Wells Medal in Genomics, the GlaxoSmithKline Research Excellence Award, the Eureka Prize for Scientific Research and the NHMRC Marshall and Warren Ideas Grant Award.

Banner image credit: A glomerulus, the main filtering unit of the kidney, in a stem cell-derived kidney tissue. MCRI’s Dr Aude Dorison, Rachel Lam and Irene Ghobrial, kidney regeneration lab.