Following a highly competitive recruitment process, Ms Annette Wittmann has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer at EMBL Australia.
Annette will commence her role on 18 March 2024 and will lead the EMBL Australia Secretariat and collaborate closely with the EMBL Australia Council Chair and Scientific Director.
Annette currently leads the establishment of new Centres and implementation of multiple, large-scale programs and strategic initiatives at Monash University’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.
Prior to that, she was Chief Operating Officer at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging – a national research centre that developed new microscopy and imaging techniques to visualise details of how the immune system functions.
Annette has worked in the Australian higher education and research sector for more than 15 years. She has held senior leadership roles and worked in international relations, partnership and proposal development, project and program management, international science collaboration and industry engagement.
She holds a Master of Marketing and contributed to research into fair trade and the conceptualisation of organisational identity and branding in the not-for-profit sector.
EMBL Australia Scientific Head Professor James Whisstock said he was excited to have Annette join the EMBL Australia team to further develop the Partner Laboratory Network’s core programs and activities and grow upon the successful foundations laid by previous chief operating officers.
“I’d like to thank both Nadya Glebova and Penny Rowlett for their fantastic contributions as acting COO over the past three years,” Prof Whisstock said.
“I would also like to thank Maree Trovato for her great contributions during her tenure as COO.”