Professor John Hopwood steps down as Director LDRU

SAHMRI would like to announce that Professor John Hopwood AM FAA will step down as Director of the Lysosomal Diseases Research Unit (LDRU) at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), effective 31 December 2015. 

The Lysosomal Diseases Research Unit is a large multidisciplinary group researching lysosomal storage disorders nationally and internationally. 

Following a significant search for a replacement, SAHMRI’s own Professor Chris Proud has been appointed to succeed Professor Hopwood as the Director of the LDRU, effective 1 January 2016. 

Professor Proud is currently the SAHMRI Theme Leader for Nutrition and Metabolism. His research includes studies on the roles of controlling protein synthesis in neurological processes and in stroke; the regulation of protein synthesis in heart and muscle; cancer cell biology; and the molecular mechanisms involved in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. 

The LDRU will remain an autonomous unit but will now become part of the Nutrition and Metabolism Theme. 

Professor Hopwood will continue to be engaged with SAHMRI and an official celebration of his enormous contributions to the success of the LDRU and SAHMRI will be held in early 2016.