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Professor Frederick Mendelsohn is currently Director of the Howard Florey Institute- a position he has held since 1997. In that time Fred has guided this eminent Australian medical research institute towards a major focus on neuroscience and neurological disease research. He is also the R.D. Wright Chair of Experimental Physiology and Medicine at the University of Melbourne and Scientific Director of the newly amalgamated Florey Neurosciences Institutes. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to medical research in Australia, Fred was appointed as Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2003 and in 2004 was awarded the Order of Australia, Officer in the General Division.
Fred graduated MB BS from the University of Melbourne in 1965 winning the Ryan Prize in Medicine. He subsequently continued as a Resident and Registrar at the Royal Melbourne Hospital between 1966 and 1968 before joining the Austin Hospital in 1969 as Assistant Physician. During this time at the Austin Hospital, Fred also completed his Ph.D. (1972) and M.D. (1973) from the University of Melbourne and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1974. He continued his medical career at the University of Melbourne being appointed Chair of Medicine in 1990. He retains a position of Honorary Consultant Physician at the Austin Repatriation Medical Centre.
The central focus of Fred.s research interest is the renin-angiotensin system. This was the topic of both his first research paper in 1970 .Mendelsohn, F. A. O., C. I. Johnston, and J. S. Hutchinson. Biological significance of renin-angiotensin immunization. Circ Res 17: 215-221, 1970. and his most recent in 2007 .Jenkins, T.A., F.A.O. Mendelsohn. Angiotensin Receptors. In: Encyclopedia of Stress, Second Edition, Oxford Academic Press, Vol 1, 186-190.. In the intervening years Fred has published nearly 300 research articles, comprising original research works, invited reviews, book chapters and books, and 5 patents. These research articles have been instrumental in the establishing the concept that, in addition to the systemic humoral renin-angiotensin system, there are local renin-angiotensin systems that function in many tissues such as the kidney and brain. This work has been supported by the award of numerous nationally competitive grants from agencies such as the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the National Heart Foundation of Australia.
During this research career Fred has supervised 3 M.Sc., 1 M.D., 14 Ph.D. students and 12 overseas postdoctoral fellows, thus generating a vibrant and exciting laboratory environment. He has also held positions at various international Institutions being supported by Travelling Fellowships from the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Nuffield Foundation.
Fred.s research activity has been recognized by numerous invitations to address scientific meetings including the E Graeme Robertson Lecture to the Australian Association of Neurologists and the Eccles Lecture at the Australian Neuroscience Society- a society for which he also served as President. He has received several prestigious prizes and awards, including the Selwyn Smith Prize, Presidency of the Gordon Research conference on Angiotensin (1998) and the Bethlehem Griffith Research Foundation Medal.
Pictures of Fred | 
