Brunet Institute Director and CEO Professor Brendan Crabb

Burnet Institute Director and CEO Professor Brendan Crabb AC has been named one of the Australian Financial Review’s (AFR) BOSS Magazine’s 20 True Leaders of 2016.

One of three nominees from the medical research community dubbed ‘The Mighty Men of Medicine’, Professor Crabb was honoured for his tireless advocacy for Australia’s $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), announced in the 2014 Federal Budget.

Based on earnings on capital invested to date, the MRFF is forecast to provide around $60 million this financial year and $120 million in the next.

The fund’s $20 billion target would enable the disbursement of $1 billion per year to support medical and scientific research and innovation.

“We want to live better and longer, but budget constraints mean we have to do it with the same if not less money,” Professor Crabb told the AFR.

“This is only achievable if we are smart and innovate our way into the future.”

According to the AFR, each of the three True Leaders in medical research – Professor Crabb, CEO of the Translational Research Institute Professor Ian Frazer, and Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Professor Doug Hilton – worked relentlessly to keep the MRFF alive through a problematic gestation.

The 20 True Leaders judges described Professors Crabb, Frazer and Hilton as ‘giants on the global stage’ whose nominations were based on the following criteria …

“BOSS True Leaders work for a greater cause, have courage and tenacity in pursuit of a larger goal, and craft compelling messages that inspire others to action.

“They believe in the potential of others, do no seek recognition or status, and want to leave a legacy that benefits the wider community.”

Professor Crabb told the AFR that scientists need to find better ways to tell the stories of how their work helps to deliver the high standard of living that Australians enjoy, and he regrets that researchers are not more widely recognised.

“We could have the world’s best scientists in Australia and they would be less known than the 20 or 30 players on just one AFL team,” he said.