Professor John Skerritt AM
Enterprise Professor in Health Research Impact, University of Melbourne
Professor John Skerritt AM is Enterprise Professor in Health Research Impact at the University of Melbourne, advising academics and the university on commercial and policy translation of their research portfolio.
In April 2023 Prof Skerritt retired as Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, with responsibility for the Therapeutic Goods Administration, regulation of gene technology and industrial chemicals and control of drug import, export and production. In addition, he was part of the Department’s executive team leading policy development and implementation for Australia’s health and aged care system for over 10 years. He has extensive experience in government and working with ministers, having been a Deputy Secretary/Agency head for 24 years.
Prof Skerritt was previously the most senior scientific leader in Australia’s Foreign Affairs portfolio, leading implementation of more than $1 billion in collaborative scientific programs between Australia and regional countries. More recently he helped lead Australia’s COVID-19 response and was one of the public media faces of the response. He also played a major role in advising the Australian government on the establishment of a mRNA vaccines and medicines industry.
Prof Skerritt has a PhD in pharmacology, is author of over 300 publications and 10 patents and has commercialised a dozen IVD and protein fractionation products internationally. He is currently Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the UK-based Centre for Innovation in Regulatory Science and is a member of the Singapore-based Centre for Regulatory Excellence.