Russell J. Howard

Education and malaria research Howard studied biochemistry at the University of Melbourne, where he completed a BSc (Hons) and a PhD. His doctoral research examined photosynthetic metabolism in the marine alga Caulerpa simpliciuscula. After postdoctoral research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, he joined the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the US National Institutes of Health, where he became a tenured principal investigator. He later continued malaria research at the DNAX Research Institute and Affymax Research Institute in California. The SICA work established experimental approaches for investigating malaria antigenic variation that were subsequently applied to P. falciparum-infected human erythrocytes, leading through successive protein, immunochemical and molecular studies to the characterisation and cloning of PfEMP1.

Research with Kevin Marsh showed that children recovering from P. falciparum malaria developed antibodies that recognised the surface of red blood cells infected with the particular parasite isolate responsible for their illness, whereas sera from immune adults reacted with a broader range of isolates.

Howard and colleagues characterised two related histidine-rich parasite proteins, subsequently termed PfHRP2 and PfHRP3.

His group also studied the high-molecular-weight variant antigens displayed on infected erythrocytes. This research established relationships among antigenic variation, surface exposure and cytoadherence, and culminated in the cloning of a gene encoding PfEMP1.

In 1997 Howard became president and chief operating officer of Maxygen, a company spun out of Affymax, and became chief executive officer and a director in 1998. Businesses originating from Maxygen included Codexis, which developed engineered enzymes for pharmaceutical and industrial applications, and Verdia, an agricultural biotechnology subsidiary later acquired by DuPont.

After leaving Maxygen, Howard co-founded Oakbio, later renamed NovoNutrients. The company developed gas-fermentation processes intended to convert carbon dioxide-rich industrial gases into microbial protein and other products. Howard served as a co-founder and chair. In 2026, US biomanufacturing company Biosphere acquired NovoNutrients' intellectual property, microbial strains and process expertise, incorporating the assets into its gas-fermentation platform.

Howard returned to Australia and joined the Sydney biotechnology company NeuClone as executive chairman in January 2013. NeuClone developed biosimilar monoclonal antibodies in partnership with the Serum Institute of India. Proposed biosimilars of trastuzumab and ustekinumab subsequently completed Phase I studies in Australia.

From 2015 to 2018, Howard advised the Garvan Institute of Medical Research's Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics and served as head of commercial strategy for Genome.One. Genome.One was established by Garvan to provide clinical whole-genome sequencing and interpretation services.

Howard joined the board of Prima BioMed as a non-executive director in May 2013. Prima acquired the French biotechnology company Immutep S.A. in 2014, gaining a portfolio of therapies based on the LAG-3 immune-control pathway, and adopted the Immutep name in 2017. Howard was appointed non-executive chairman in November 2017. Immutep subsequently advanced eftilagimod alfa into clinical trials in several cancers. Its Phase III TACTI-004 trial in first-line non-small-cell lung cancer was discontinued in March 2026 following a planned interim futility analysis; the company continued to assess the broader development programme.

In 2025 Howard co-founded Theia Metals with B. Sara Howard and became its chair and chief executive officer. In collaboration with researchers led by Chun-Xia Zhao at Adelaide University, the company is developing biomolecule-based methods for recovering and separating rare-earth elements from mineral-processing streams.

Appointments and recognition Howard served as the biotechnology industry representative on the board of the University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience from 2000 to 2004. In 2013 he received both the Biotechnology category award and the overall Advance Global Australian Award. He was the inaugural recipient of the University of Melbourne's Grimwade Medal for Biochemistry in 2016.

Institutional biographies credit Howard with more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific publications and several issued patents.