Richard Ferrero is a

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

. He is a senior research fellow of the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded res ...

(NHMRC). In the Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases at the Hudson Institute, he also holds the position of senior scientist and head of the Gastrointestinal Infection and Inflammation Research Group.

Biography

Ferrero studied at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

(Sydney). He studied

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

and

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

from 1981 to 1984. He then completed his honours in 1985 and his Ph.D. of

Microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

in 1990. After the completion of his Ph.D., Ferrero moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and gained a postdoctoral position at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...

. At the Pasteur Institute, Ferrero was appointed to his

tenured Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

research position in the Département de Bactériologie et Mycologie. In 2004, Ferrero moved back to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and became a teaching/research appointment as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

. In 2009 he was recruited by the Hudson Institute of Medical Research where he is currently undertaking his research. Ferrero's main point of research is

Helicobacter pylori ''Helicobacter pylori'', previously known as ''Campylobacter pylori'', is a gram-negative, Flagellum#bacterial, flagellated, Bacterial cellular morphologies#Helical, helical bacterium. Mutants can have a rod or curved rod shape that exhibits l ...

, the cause of

peptic ulcer disease Peptic ulcer disease is when the inner part of the stomach's gastric mucosa (lining of the stomach), the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus, gets damaged. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while ...

and

gastric cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes ...

. His findings in the field have led to important outcomes such as antibiotic resistance,

pathogenesis In pathology, pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes . Descript ...

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

development and innate

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

. His research has been published in over 100 works in books and peer-review journals, including Cell Host Microb., Gastroenterol.,

Immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

, mBio, PNAS USA, Nat Immunol. and Nat Rev Immunol. His work in

has been broad, covering various scientific disciplines such as microbial physiology and molecular pathogenesis. With his knowledge in the field, Ferrero has collaborated with and consulted for vaccine and pharmaceutical companies. Ferrero's other contributions to the scientific community include being on the editorial board of the journal Helicobacter. He has also helped on a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

consensus panel which served to create a treatment of

infections in children and adolescents through evidence-based approaches. He also regularly reviews

abstracts An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding, or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. When used, an abstract always ...

for major international conferences in both the fields of

Helicobacter ''Helicobacter'' is a genus of gram-negative bacteria possessing a characteristic helical shape. They were initially considered to be members of the genus '' Campylobacter'', but in 1989, Goodwin ''et al.'' published sufficient reasons to justi ...

research and

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

. He is also an international member of the scientific committee The International Workshop on

Pathogenesis In pathology, pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes . Descript ...

and Host Response in

Infections. Ferrero has been awarded for his findings from multiple scientific and medical bodies. He is regularly invited to present his research both nationally and internationally at conferences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrero, Richard Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of New South Wales alumni Australian microbiologists