Dora Lush

Dora Mary Lush (31 July 1910 – 20 May 1943) was an Australian bacteriologist. She died after accidentally pricking her finger with a needle which contained lethal scrub typhus while attempting to develop a vaccine for the disease.

Early life Lush was born in Hawthorn, Victoria, the daughter of John Fullarton Lush, a clerk, and his wife Dora Emma Louisa . She had two brothers, who served as officers in the Second AIF and RAAF during World War II. She was educated at Fintona Girls' School and the University of Melbourne, gaining a B.Sc. in 1932 and an M.Sc. in 1934.

Research Lush worked at the National Institute for Medical Research, London, from early in 1939. She returned to Australia. Her work on the influenza virus was praised in 1940. She worked with Frank Macfarlane Burnet at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne on a scrub typhus vaccine in 1942, Unfortunately, the researchers were ultimately unable to develop a satisfactory vaccine.

Lush was cremated at Springvale Crematorium on 22 May 1943.

Legacy The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) now offers postgraduate scholarships named in her honour and has referred to her work in a research impact case study.

Lush Place in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in her honour.