Congratulations to Professor Jake Baum who was awarded the 2024 Bancroft-Mackerras Medal for Excellence from the Australian Society for Parasitology.
Professor Jake Baum is a leading figure in parasitology, known for his groundbreaking work on malaria parasite biology, vaccine design, drug discovery, and diagnostic innovation. He began his career with significant contributions to host-pathogen coevolution during his PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. As a postdoc, he moved to Australia, to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne, where he co-discovered the malaria protein PfRh5, a small protein that has ended up being pivotal in advancing the future of malaria vaccine development.
At the WEHI, Jake’s research utilized cutting-edge techniques like super-resolution microscopy and cryoelectron microscopy, contributing major insights into the cellular mechanisms of malaria parasite invasion of red blood cells. His group’s work on the actomyosin motor and the malaria ribosome structure has been highly influential, garnering extensive citations and facilitating structure-guided antimalarial drug design.
In 2013, after a decade in Melbourne, Jake moved to Imperial College London. As a Reader and then full Professor of Infectious Diseases and Cell biology, Jake expanded his group’s research into drug discovery and diagnostics. His team screened thousands of compounds for antimalarial properties and developed digital diagnostic platforms. In the last three years at Imperial, Jake pivoted his research program to focus predominantly on the major challenge of developing next-generation malaria vaccines.
Jake was recruited to Head the School of Biomedical Sciences at UNSW Sydney, moving back to Australia with his family in 2022. At UNSW Jake continues his parasite work principally focussed on disruptive vaccine design and translation. Over his career, Jake has published over 120 papers, holds three patents, and has raised more than $25M in research funding. Jake has also been a mentor to junior researchers and a leader in the parasitology community, organizing conferences and supporting early career researcher events. His commitment to science education extends to public engagement activities, including innovative school-focussed projects on traditional remedies for malaria.
In recognition of his contributions to malaria science, Jake has been recognized with several awards, including a Victorian Tall Poppy Award, the WEHI Burnett Prize, the ASBMB Merck Millipore Research Medal and most recently 2023 the Research Australia Frontiers Award. In 2019 Jake was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in the UK.
