Professor Ralph Bradshaw currently holds chairs in the Departments of Physiology & Biophysics and Anatomy & Neurobiology at the University of California in Irvine, California. He was awarded his PhD from Duke University, North Carolina in 1966 and, during a distinguished research career spanning over 30 years, has held positions at Indiana University, University of Washington (Seattle) and Washington University (St Louis) before moving to the University of California in 1982. Professor Bradshaw’s chosen area of study is protein chemistry, focussing on nerve growth factors. He has edited 11 books in this area and published over 290 research papers in international peer-reviewed journals. Professor Bradshaw has also served on the editorial board of 16 international journals and is a member of 18 professional societies. Notably, he was the president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology from 1995-1996. During this time he was instrumental in lobbying efforts which secured the recent doubling in support for the NIH from the US Congress. Professor Bradshaw is also well aware of funding issues affecting Australian health and medical research, serving as a member of the Health and Medical Research Strategic Review Planning Committee since its inception in March 1998.

Professor Bradshaw has had a long association with Australian biomedical research dating from his first sabbatical here in the mid 1970s at the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine. Since that time he has made numerous visits and maintained a strong collaborative relationship with a number of Australian research groups.

Professor Bradshaw lives in El Toro, California and is married to Roberta Wheeler and has 2 children, Christopher and Amy.