Dear ASP members,
Unfortunately, I have some sad news to pass along. Professor John Pearson, fellow of the Australian Society for Parasitology, passed away earlier this week. John was born in Canada and studied in Ontario Canada before moving to Brisbane as a Post-doctoral Fellow in Helminthology at the then Department of Parasitology, University of Queensland. John received a Personal Chair in Helminthology at the University, retiring in 1992 after 36 years service at the University. During this period, he supervised the PhD studies of a number of prominent parasitologists, including Malcolm Jones and Tom Cribb. John was an international authority on trematode taxonomy and life cycles and wrote leading papers on the phylogeny of the Digenea.
John is survived by his wife Margaret, his three children Owen, Madeline and Jonathan and their families.
The funeral will be held on Monday 31 October 2011at the Centenary Memorial Gardens, 353 Wacol Station Rd, Sumner, QLD 4074 at 10am.
Malcolm Jones will be attending and speaking on behalf of ASP, but I am sure other members will be also interested in attending.
Best wishes,
Denise
Prof Denise L. Doolan, PhD
Pfizer Australia Research Fellow
Head, Molecular Vaccinology Laboratory
The Queensland Institute of Medical Research
President, Australian Society for Parasitology Inc.
