Professor Julian Rood Obtained his PhD in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Melbourne. After taking up postdoctoral positions at the University of Wisconsin and the Australian National University he took up his first academic position at Murdoch University in Perth. He then moved back to Melbourne in 1985 to take up a position in the Department of Microbiology at Monash University, where he currently holds a Personal Chair. His research has focused on the genetics and pathogenesis of the pathogenic clostridia, especially Clostridium perfringens. He has used molecular genetics to determine the role of bacterial toxins in the pathogenesis of clostridial diseases of both humans and animals, to study the mechanisms by which the production of clostridial toxins is regulated and to analyse the conjugative plasmids responsible for the movement of toxin and antibiotic resistance genes both within and between these clostridial cells. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Fellow and Life Member of the Australian Society for Microbiology. He served as President of the Australian Society for Microbiology from 2004 to 2006 and is currently the Chair of ASM’s National Education and Qualifications Board.