Professor Peter Klinken was appointed Director of the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research in 2002 and stepped aside in March 2014, soon after the Institute was renamed the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

Under Professor Klinken’s leadership, the Institute’s research staff numbers rose from 35 in 2002 to over 200 in 2014.

Thanks to his remarkable passion and drive, Professor Klinken was instrumental in securing $200m in funding from the Federal and State government, as well as The University of Western Australia, to build two state-of-the-art facilities at Nedlands (QEII Medical Centre) and Murdoch (Fiona Stanley Hospital.) He was heavily involved in the design and construction of these facilities which include laboratories, administrative and community areas.

Professor Klinken’s scientific background had a focus on leukaemia research. He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from The University of Western Australia in 1982 and was a Fogarty International Fellow at the US National Institutes of Health in Washington, between 1984 and 1986. He then returned to work at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne. In 1989, he became a Lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Western Australia, before being appointed Professor in Clinical Biochemistry in 1994. Between 2000 and 2002, he was the Director of Research at Royal Perth Hospital.

During his time as Director, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research scientists made internationally significant discoveries with the potential to deliver better treatments for serious diseases to the global community.

Peter was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2017 for eminent service to medical research and biochemistry through seminal contributions to understanding the genetics of major diseases, and to the people of Western Australia through promoting the importance of science and innovation.