Dr. Jean-Pierre Scheerlinck

Jean-Pierre is an academic leader, passionate about applied research, innovation and commercialisation. With over three decades of research experience, both in Australia and overseas, he has led projects across biomedicine, veterinary science and agriculture. He has started and advised several start-ups, preparing business plans, raising capital and advising on scientific and IP matters.

Jean-Pierre has an exceptional academic background with a BSc(Zoology), MSc(Biology and Biotechnology) and PhD(Immunology) from the Free University of Brussels and an MBA (Technology Management) from Deakin University. He held post-doctoral positions at the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, the Walter and Elisa Hall Institute and CSIRO. Subsequently, he joined the University of Melbourne where he became the Professor in Animal Biotechnology and the Director of the Centre for Animal Biotechnology within the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences. He also held a wide range of leadership positions within the Faculty and University, including as Associate Dean (International), Associate Dean (Graduate Research) and a member of the Academic Board. He helped shape the Australian research landscape as a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts (Biological Science and Biotechnology).

As the bid CEO, Jean-Pierre led the Pollination Security CRC to stage 2 in round 24. In 2025, he joined CIS as the technical lead to deliver the Australian Pollination Status Report.