Alessandra Alberta Pucci (born June 1942) is an Australian immunologist and entrepreneur who founded and led Australian Monoclonal Development, the first biotechnology company in Australia.

Early life and education

Pucci was born in

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

in June 1942, one of five children of her Italian parents, journalist father and homemaker mother. She was educated at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

and the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

. When her husband was given an eight-month appointment in Australia, she accompanied him and they decided to settle permanently in Sydney. She enrolled in a PhD at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

under the supervision of Professor Robert Clancy and graduated in 1981 with a thesis titled "Cellular aspects of mucosal immunology in man".

Career

Pucci founded Australian Monoclonal Development Pty Ltd (AMD) in 1981, and served as chief executive. It was the first biotechnology company in Australia. Listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange in 1986, as Monoclonal Australia Ltd, it was later sold to ICI Australia and merged with Silenus Laboratories. She was then appointed Director of Business Development by the Garvan Institute and later founded and served as chief executive in BioDiscovery Ltd, a company that invested in medical research in Australia. It was a joint venture by the Garvan Institute, the John Curtin School of Medical Research, the University of New South Wales and the CSIRO Division of Entomology. Pucci served on the New South Wales Science and Technology Council from 1983 to 1986 and was appointed to the national Chemicals and Plastics Industries Council in 1984. Pucci then served on the Australian Science and Technology Council from 1987 to 1989. She has also served as director of the Dairy Research and Development Corporation and of Bio-Q Pty Ltd. Pucci is now a science writer, author of "The Scientist: A Short Essay and Two Stories" which was published in the US. She then went on to write "DEVOLUTION: The Young Self in the Face of Technology", independently published on Amazon in 2018.

Honours and recognition

Pucci received The Bulletin/Qantas Businesswoman of the Year for 1986. In 1987, Pucci was made '' Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana,'' and in the same year an Eisenhower Fellow. In the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honours, Pucci was made an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for "service to the community, particularly in the field of biotechnology, and to industry". She was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is an independent Learned society, learned academy that helps Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems. History The Australian Academy of Technological S ...

in 1990. In 2003, Pucci received the Australian Federation Centenary Medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pucci, Alessandra 1942 births 21st-century Australian businesswomen 21st-century Australian businesspeople Living people Australian biochemists Australian immunologists Australian women scientists Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Officers of the Order of Australia University of Florence alumni University of Pisa alumni University of Sydney alumni Australian people of Italian descent