Professor Colin Masters
BMedSc (Hons), MBBS, MD, Hon.DLitt, W.Aust., FRCPath, FRCPA, FFSc, FAA, FTSE, FAHMS, AO
Group Head
Location
Parkville Campus
30 Royal Parade
Parkville Victoria 3052
Research group
Neurodegeneration and Neuropathology Group
Biography
Professor Colin Masters is a Professor of Dementia Research at The Florey, University of Melbourne and a consultant at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Colin Masters has focused his career on research in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Over the last 40 years, his work is widely acknowledged as having had a major influence on Alzheimer’s disease research worldwide, particularly the collaborative studies conducted with Konrad Beyreuther in which they discovered the proteolytic neuronal origin of the Aβ amyloid protein, which causes Alzheimer’s disease. This work has led to the continued development of diagnostics and therapeutic strategies and has been recognised by the receipt of many international awards.
More recently, he has focused on describing the natural history of Alzheimer’s disease as a necessary preparatory step for disease-modifying therapies.
Please note that Professor Masters is not available to supervise student projects at this time.
Career highlights
Current appointments
- Professor at The Florey Institute, The University of Melbourne (2012-)
- Professor of Dementia Research, The University of Melbourne (2002-)
- Consultant, The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Melbourne Health (1989-) and Austin Health (2015-)
- Acting Chief Executive Officer, Cooperative Research Centre for Mental Health (CRCMH) (2019-)
Past appointments
- 2013-2018 – Board member, Cooperative Research Centre for Mental Health (CRCMH)
- 2013-2018 – Board member, Cooperative Research Centre for Mental Health (CRCMH)
- 2007- 2015 – Executive Director, Mental Health Research Institute
- Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne
- 2007- 2017 – Neuroscience Victoria Board
- 2008, 2009, 2012 Chair, Directors Coordination Forum, Melbourne Neuroscience Project
- Professor, and Head of the Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne
- 1989-2006 – Consultant, Chief of Neuropathology Laboratory, and Chair, Senior Scientists’ Council, Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria
- 1989-2006 – Consultant, The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Committee Member of the Executive of the Melbourne Health Shared Pathology Services
- 1988 – Overseas study leave. Centre for Molecular Biology, University of Heidelberg, Professor Konrad Beyreuther
- 1981-1988 – Principal Research Fellow, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Department of Pathology, University of Western Australia
- 1981-1988 – Clinical Assistant (Research), Department of Neuropathology, Royal Perth Hospital
- 1981-1988 – Co-founder, Alzheimer’s Disease Association (Western Australia)
- 1980-1981 – Guest Professor and Humboldt Fellow, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Melitta Schachner
- 1977-1980 – Visiting Scientist, Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institutes of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda. Dr. D. Carleton Gajdusek
- 1976-1977 – Research Fellow, Neuropathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston. Dr. E.P. Richardson, Jr
- 1976 – Research Fellow, Department of Pathology, University of Western Australia, Perth (Supported by Faculty of Medicine Research Fellowship)
- 1975-1976 – Medical Registrar, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth (General Medicine, Immunology and Neurology)
- 1976-1977 – Research Fellow, Neuropathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston. Dr. E.P. Richardson, Jr
- 1976 – Research Fellow, Department of Pathology, University of Western Australia, Perth (Supported by Faculty of Medicine Research Fellowship)
- 1975-1976 – Medical Registrar, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth (General Medicine, Immunology and Neurology)
- 1973-1983 – Co-founder and Medical Officer (Part-time) (1973-1976) and Medical Advisor (1976-1983), Aboriginal Medical Service, Perth (The Aboriginal Medical Clinic, 201 Beaufort St, Perth 6000)
- 1972-1974 – Research Fellow, Department of Pathology, University of Western Australia. Dr. Michael Alpers, Dr. Byron Kakulas (Supported by Faculty of Medicine Research Fellowship)
- 1971-1974 – Resident Medical Officer, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth
- 1970-1971 – Clinical work with the Missionaries of Charity Sisters (Mother Theresa) and Brothers (Ian Travers-Ball SJ, [Brother Andrew]) Calcutta, India
- 1968 – Research Student examining the pathology of “slow virus diseases” of the nervous system. Departments of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Western Australia
- 1966 – Research student, Department of Physiology, University of Western Australia
- 1964 – Commenced undergraduate studies at the University of Western Australia.
Other highlights
- H-index: 175
- i10-index: 875
- h5-index: 96
- Expertscape.com: top 0.018% in the field
Victorian Universities/Institutes (total of 12) from Clarivate Web of Science “Highly Cited Researcher” list across all fields of research (7,217 global; 351 Australia):
- Rank #2: h-index
- Rank #2: i10-index
- Rank #4: all citations
Research projects
- Examining the interplay of mitochondrial function and lipid metabolism in glioma pathogenesis
- Exploring novel biomarkers for non-Alzheimer’s dementia
- Identifying therapeutic and preventive targets for dementia using fatty acid nutrition in the brain
- Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU) study
- The Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study
Awards and achievements
- 1987 – Presidential Award from the International Association of Gerontology
- 1988 – Dr. Gunther Buch prize (with Konrad Beyreuther)
- 1988 – Robert Pfleger Prize (with Konrad Beyreuther)
- 1990 – American Academy of Neurology, Potamkin Prize (with Konrad Beyreuther)
- 1991 – Max Planck Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (with Konrad Beyreuther)
- 1995 – KJ Zülch Prize (with Konrad Beyreuther) from the Gertrud Reemtsma Stiftung of the Max Planck Society (Cologne)
- 1997 – King Faisal International Prize in Medicine (with Konrad Beyreuther and James Gusella)
- 1998 – Alois Alzheimer Award (University of Munich)
- 2001 – Bethlehem Griffiths Research Foundation Medal
- 2002 – Mayne Florey Medal Award
- 2006 – Lennox K. Black Prize (Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia)
- 2006 – Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer’s Disease Research (Alzheimer’s Association)
- 2006 – Grand Hamdan International Award for Medical Sciences in the field of Molecular and Cellular Pathology of Neurological Disorders, (Dubai)
- 2007 – Victoria Prize from the Minister for Innovation, State Government of Victoria and the Smorgon Foundation
- 2008 – Honorary Doctor of Letters, The University of Western Australia
- 2011 – CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement
- 2015 – The Samuel Gershon Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Translational Neuroscience, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)
- 2017 – Australia Day 2017 Honours List – Awarded an Order of Australia – Officer (AO) in the General Division – for distinguished service to medical research through international and national contributions to understanding Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases
- 2017 – Lifetime Team Achievement Award – Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the University of Zurich
