Professor Mark Hutchinson

Professor Mark Hutchinson is the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics (CNBP), an ARC Future Fellow and a Professor within the Adelaide Medical School at the University of Adelaide. Professor Hutchinson is also President of Science and Technology Australia, the peak body in Australia that represents 105,000 scientists. His other roles include chairing the Australian Pain Solutions Alliance steering committee, founding member of The Animal Welfare Collaborative executive committee, member of the OCE advisory committee for the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) CBRN STaR Shot, and a Ministerial appointment to the Australian Research Council CEO advisory council.

Professor Hutchinson’s research explores the ‘other brain’ or the other 90 per cent of cells in the brain and spinal cord. These immune-like cells are termed 'glia'. His research has implicated the brain immune-like cells in the action of drugs of dependence and the negative side effects of pain treatments, pioneering research that has led to the discovery of novel drug activity at innate immune receptors. Professor Hutchinson’s work has enabled the translation of compounds at the lab bench to clinical agents used at the bedside. This work has established novel measurement technologies that are now under development in the DSTG Human Integrated Sensory Systems program.