Guillaume Lessene

Guillaume Lessene is a Laboratorty Head at the Walter and Eliza Hall Hall Institute of Medical Research (Melbourne Australia). His research group develops small molecules used both as selective probes to discover and investigate novel biology (chemical biology) and as novel medicines (drug discovery). Using these approaches and in close collaboration with institute’s colleagues, his group focuses on cell death pathways such as apoptosis and necroptosis.

Since 2019, Guillaume Lessene heads the New Medicines and Advanced Technologies Theme, comprising teams driving basic research using structural and chemical biology strategies, translation (drug discovery and clinical translation) and cutting-edge technologies which are critical to WEHI’s ground breaking discoveries.

Beyond his role at WEHI, he is the Chief Scientific Officer of Anaxis Pharma, a biotech company developing new medicines targeting proteins involved in cell death. He also leads efforts aimed at expanding translational capabilities for all Australian biomedical researchers. He was a driver of the initiative that successfully received support from the Australian Federal and Victorian State governments towards the National Drug Discovery Centre, a facility offering the expertise and capabilities of industry-standard ultra-high small molecule screening to the Australian research community.