Professor Robert Pike

PhD, University of Natal, South Africa

Professor Robert Pike obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Natal in South Africa in 1991. He conducted post-doctoral fellowship work at the University of Georgia (USA) and University of Cambridge (UK), before moving to establish his own laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University in Melbourne in 1997.

He has subsequently progressed to being a Professor and was Head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 2006-2011. At present, he is Head of the School of Biological Sciences in the Faculty of Science at Monash University. From 2013, Professor Pike will be assuming a role as Deputy Dean (Academic Planning) of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University.

Professor Pike is a biochemist specialising in the study of enzymes involved in innate immunity and host defence against bacteria and other pathogens. He is also strongly interested in the enzymes used by pathogens to attack the host. He has published over 100 research papers and supervised over 20 PhD students to completion.