We are delighted to welcome Dr Jackie Fairley to the Board of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute.
Dr Fairley has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries working in senior management roles with companies including CSL and Faulding (now Pfizer). She recently stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of ASX-listed Starpharma Holdings, a role that she had held since 2006. As CEO of Starpharma, Dr Fairley led the development and commercialisation of multiple pharmaceutical products including three clinical-stage oncology therapeutics and a number of anti-infectives. Her industry experience spans all facets including pharmaceutical product development, international registration, licensing, financing and commercialisation.
Dr Fairley is also a Director of ASX-listed Mirrabooka Investments Ltd, an advisor to leading Private Equity funds, a member of the Victorian Trade and Investment Advisory Board and was an advisor to the Carnegie Innovation Fund for more than 10 years. She is a past Director of the Melbourne Business School, member of the Federal Government's Commonwealth Science Council, Pharmaceutical Industry Working Group and several other Ministerial advisory groups spanning pharmaceuticals, economic development and innovation.
Dr Fairley also has a deep personal connection to the Institute and its rich history of pioneering discoveries. Her mother was Professor Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, a trailblazer for Australian female scientists and a world-renowned expert on kidney disease, who made major contributions to saving and improving the lives of people with kidney disease, including while working as Senior Research Fellow at the Baker Institute from 1959 to 1960.
Among her many achievements, Priscilla Kincaid-Smith is recognised with establishing a link between compound analgesics — such as Bex powder and Vincent's powder — and kidney disease in the early 1960s. This was the second most prevalent cause of end-stage renal failure in Australia at this time and affected women the most, as these painkillers were predominantly marketed towards women. Professor Kincaid-Smith would spend years working on characterising the epidemic, defining the nature of the disease, conducting experimental studies, and lobbying for modified formulations and restrictions on the availability of these analgesics. This work played a significant role in bringing about policy change, and by 1977, these compound analgesic products were banned in Australia.
Dr Fairley joins the Baker Institute as it looks to mark its centenary in 2026, with groundbreaking stories like those above a powerful part of the Institute's history to be showcased in coming years.
