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INTER VIE WS INTER VIE WS

Emeritus Professor After completing a PhD at the University of Melbourne what
led you to undertake postgraduate research in the UK? Can you
Keryn Williams AC tell us about your journey and experience, and do you have
(1968) is interviewed any advice for those also considering postgraduate research
overseas?
by JCH science
student, Anna During my PhD candidature, the laboratory in which I was
embedded – in the School of Microbiology – ran a shared
Tsuchida-Gorbal seminar program with a laboratory across Royal Parade, in the
(2024) Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Department of Surgery. The head
of the latter laboratory was a vascular surgeon, Peter Morris,
whose major focus was renal transplantation. During the last
year or so of my candidature, Morris was recruited to the Chair
of the Nuffield Department of Surgery at the University of
Oxford. He offered me a junior post-doctoral position there
and, the day after I handed up my thesis, I hopped on a plane
Why did you choose to go to JCH and study science at
Melbourne University? Was scientific research always an end for England. I was expecting to stay a year – I stayed for almost
goal or was the journey a little less linear? seven.
I relished my time in England. I loved the research, but I also
One night in the summer of 1957, my father carried me, clad in
my pyjamas, out into the back garden to watch Sputnik pass enjoyed the experiences of different ways of doing almost
across the sky overhead. It was amazing: like a fast-moving everything. Can’t say I much enjoyed the freezing fogs of
star. Dad explained that scientists had designed this first-ever November but one survives. For those considering an overseas Some of the Australian Corneal Graft Registry team
artificial satellite, and I think perhaps my path was set then. I post-doc, select a place that you and any accompanying family
chose the maths and science streams at school, even though I members will enjoy, and that is relatively safe.
felt I was never really very good at either. I wanted to become In 1985 we established the Australian Corneal Graft Registry, Could you share some insights with us about your roles within
some sort of scientist – but which sort? What led you to specialise in corneal transplantation? Has this so I can report that about 2,000 Australians receive a corneal the university sector and academia? Many students are
always been a passion of yours, or is it an area of interest you transplant every year and that outcomes have slowly but considering the private and public sectors. Do you have any
Without having the foggiest idea about what the future might developed along your journey? steadily improved – the result, I suggest, of 50 years’ worth of advice for those unsure which to choose?

bring, I chose first-year biology, chemistry, physics and maths research. My colleagues, many of whom are clinician scientists, No need to obsess over the choice, because you can move
subjects at the University of Melbourne. For that first year, I In Oxford, I was immersed in research into the immunobiology research other eye conditions and diseases – for example, backwards and forwards between the public and private
lived at home and travelled into university each day by tram. of clinical organ transplantation, but in late 1980 family dynamics glaucoma and uveitis – and I think that overall, understanding sectors and many people do. Maybe once it was difficult, but
The travelling was a time-wasting chore, and I was so envious of necessitated a return to Australia. By chance, a clinician who is growing and leading to better outcomes. Blindness may not really, no longer: it’s a two-way street. I’ve spent my working life
the students who lived on campus. I was fortunate enough to was setting up a new Department of Ophthalmology at Flinders be a life-threatening condition but for the individual affected, it within the academic sector but have enjoyed several productive
score well enough in the end-of-year exams to win a residential University was looking for a scientist to join his team. The first has many consequences. collaborations with those in industry. Grab such opportunities
part-scholarship at JCH, where I thrived: I loved everything day I turned up in Adelaide, eager but clueless, Professor Doug when they arise because you never know where they will lead.
about College life. Coster described the human cornea to me and gave me an What is it like to pursue scientific research? Could you share
open-ended but intriguing brief: to insert some science into the what a typical day in the life of a researcher or professor looks
Biochemistry (my initial goal) turned out to be less interesting art of corneal transplantation. I seized the opportunity and have like? What are your passions outside of research? What do you do to
than I had imagined, but microbiology and immunology were been doing that ever since. keep a work/ life balance?

oddly fascinating. An Honours year in immunology had me What is it really like? Frequently tedious. Often frustrating. Hard I have antibodies to the word ‘passionate’ because it is so over-
hooked, a PhD followed, and a career in medical research What do you think is the impact of corneal transplants and to carry out from nine to five, only on weekdays. Unlikely to used. I enjoy research but I also love all sorts of things outside of
seemed probably what I wanted. increased ophthalmological research on society? make you materially wealthy and seldom provides job security. it. I’ve never been one for strict separation of ‘work’ on the one
It could be ghastly, were it not for occasional exhilarating
So, in answer to your questions, my ‘journey’, as you put it, was moments when you suddenly consider something you’ve never hand and ‘life’ on the other. I prefer to run everything together
indeed linear, at least as viewed from the outside – but from the thought of before, or for the interactions with colleagues and and this works for me: it’s all good. Having said that, factoring in
inside, it seemed that there were many decisions over which to students that spark a different approach to a problem. a couple of weeks each year when (and where) I can completely
agonise. disconnect keeps me sane.
A typical day? For early and mid-career researchers, there
probably isn’t one, because if you knew the answer to the Have you had any lifelong goals? If so, can you reflect on what
Do you have a best memory of JCH? Any advice for incoming problem, then it wouldn’t be research, and you must stay they are and how you have pursued them?
freshers or recent JCH alumni?
flexible. Although so much is made of ‘the scientific method’, No, other than to try to be a better friend and mentor because
JCH was a women’s college during my three years of residence. that method is really there to provide underlying structure, I’ve been so fortunate myself in having, and having had, such
Evening dinners in Hall – and the terrible coffee afterwards rigour and an ethical framework. Reality is that research doesn’t good friends and generous mentors. I do think I’ve always been
– are perhaps the clearest memories. I made many friends necessarily progress in a straight line and is often quite messy. happy to grasp opportunities as they present themselves, to see
amongst my year group, and we would sit together around the Things go unexpectedly wrong all the time. If you are an where they lead.
long tables and describe our vastly different experiences, on experimentalist, having green fingers and reasonable problem-
and off campus. Most of these young women were undertaking solving skills do help. For dry laboratory research, a basic grasp Do you have any other advice or wisdom for the students of
different courses from my own and I learnt so much. of statistics and the concept of bias are very useful. Janet Clarke Hall?
Advice? I can only report that living in a university college is a A successful corneal transplant For more senior researchers, especially at the professorial I’m not the one to ask for advice because I doubt that I’m wise.
gift and that the friendships made there can be enduring. So, From my perspective as an onlooker, corneal transplantation level, a typical day might include a faculty meeting (seldom I would point out that I’ve found that very few of the career
enjoy – and take advantage of the time that you don’t spend in can be life-changing. The procedure can restore vision to entertaining but if you aren’t in the room, you can’t contribute), decisions that one faces before, during or after graduation are ever
travelling to campus. catch-ups with students, research assistants and postdocs seriously limiting. There are always alternative ways of reaching a
those who are severely visually impaired. In some cases, it (often challenging but valuable) and, probably, a few hours in
significantly reduces pain, and in others it can save an eye from the evening working on a manuscript or grant application or goal. The cliche runs that fortune favours the brave. Maybe good
Bjork performing dressed as DNA
being entirely lost. both. luck also follows those who try to be as well prepared as possible?
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