Guest speaker was Dr Justin Boddey from the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research.
 
With a speech title as “Malaria, Modern Tactics to Combat an Ancient and Devastating Disease” there was no doubt of his topic, and in delivering it we learnt so much more about a highly complex parasitic organism and the ingenious means by which it infects people.  Over one million deaths per year are observed worldwide and about 300 Million infected.
 
First though what do we really know of the Walter & Eliza Hall institute?   Justin told of how in the late 19th century an English immigrant Walter and wife Eliza had great prosperity in the Mount Morgan gold mine in Queensland.    They enjoyed their wealth, however there were  strong philanthropic undertones to their interaction with the public and employees.
 
Subsequently on Walter’s death, Eliza  settled a Trust in 1911 with One Million Pounds, a huge sum at the time.  This was the genesis of the present well known medical, and still public funded Walter & Eliza Hall Institute we know of in Royal Parade near the university.   Famous for some past high profile directors Macfarlane Burnett and Gustav Nossal  and wonderful medical research findings Justin explained the importance to it still, of public financial contributions.
 
In a rapid fire and passionate overview of malaria Justin demonstrated why his CV is cluttered with research awards and honours despite his young years.  The sheer enthusiasm and evident scientific skill of himself and doubtless fellow workers in W&E explain much of its success.
 
What did we learn of the malaria parasite?  Alas there are several strains and even different mosquito carriers.  Much research is done in understanding the life cycle of the parasite.   A major thrust of the research is to see the mechanisms by which the disease progresses and how to literally place road blocks via key enzymes in its path.  Justin outlined an amazing world of complex cellular and chemical interactions between the parasite and man. 
 
After a fascinating and extremely interesting address we  realized just why malaria is such a problem, invoking much research effort , and still far from beaten and likely to be with us for some decades yet.