In the early 1950s, Ken Bremner joined the CSIRO Veterinary Parasitology Laboratory at Yeerongpilly as a Technical Assistant. An ambitious young scientist, he enrolled at the University of Queensland and, combining a busy working life with study, had by 1953 obtained his Bachelor of Science, followed by a Masters in 1956. Bremner then became the first PhD student to be supervised by John Sprent.
Bremner had a paper published in Nature at the age of 25 and was awarded a CSIRO Divisional Studentship at Cambridge University in 1960 where he spent a year under the guidance of Lord Soulsby.
On his return to Australia, he resumed at CSIRO, where his work on the biochemistry of parasitic disease cemented his international reputation. He received his PhD in 1963. The title of his thesis was “Studies on copper in the host-helminth relationship”.
After spending 1970 working at Glasgow University, he returned to CSIRO and took charge of the Program on Internal Parasites of Cattle at the new Long Pocket Laboratories at Indooroopilly. Ken’s work earned him a series of senior promotions, leading to his appointment as Assistant Chief of the Division and Director of the Long Pocket Laboratories, where he excelled both as administrator and mentor to young scientists.
Ken made substantial contributions to the ASP during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.. He served as President in 1977 and was elected Fellow of the Society in 1984. Between 1981 and 1993, he served as Deputy Editor (to John Sprent) of the International Journal for Parasitology and was and Executive Secretary of the Organising Committee for the Sixth International Congress of Parasitology.
This content of this page is drawn from eulogies to Kenneth Bremner by Dave Mahoney and John Sprent, published in the ASP Newsletter Vol.15,No.2, August 2004.
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