Don Birkett studied Medicine at Sydney University graduating in 1967. He was then awarded a Nuffield Foundation scholarship and completed a DPhil in Biochemistry at Oxford University. He joined the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney in 1972 and in 1977 he was appointed the Foundation Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at  Flinders University, a position he held until 2002.  

            
Don has contributed extensively in pharmaceutical regulatory and policy areas nationally and internationally. He was chair of the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) from 1993 to 2000, founded and chaired its Drug Utilisation Sub-Committee and was a member of its Economics Subcommittee. He chaired the WHO International Working Group on Drug Statistics Methodology 1996 - 2002. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of IUPHAR and Vice-Chair of its Division of Clinical Pharmacology. He joined Johnson & Johnson Research Pty Ltd in Sydney as Executive Director of Research and Development in 2003 where he lead a cutting edge discovery and development program in RNA therapeutics and cell and gene therapy until his retirement early this year.

    
Don Birkett’s basic research interests have been in the area of drug and xenobiotic metabolism and pharmacogenomics. The scientific impact of his work was recognised by the award of an ISI Citation Laureate 2001, and inclusion on the ISI register of ‘highly cited’ authors. Don has been a member of ASCEPT since 1972, was a Council member from 1978 to 1985, Registrar from 1980 to1982, and President in 1984. In 1999, he was awarded the Michael Rand Medal for his research achievement.

            
The award of life membership recognises Don’s outstanding contributions to ASCEPT, the discipline of clinical pharmacology, drug metabolism research, pharmaceutical regulation and policy, and the pharmaceutical industry.