Professor Marion Peters

Citation for the Award of Doctor of Medical Science (Honoris Causa)

After graduating MBBS in 1972 with honours in obstetrics and gynaecology, medicine and pathology, Marion Peters began her medical career at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. She then took up an appointment as Clinical Research Registrar at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, working with pioneering clinician-scientist Ian Mackay, a foundational appointment to her subsequent exceptional career as a clinician researcher in hepatology.

A Clinical Research Fellowship in Hepatology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles took her to the United States where, as a clinical researcher of the highest standing, she has made important contributions to both the scientific knowledge of hepatology and the treatment of patients suffering from liver disease.

Marion Peters’ major research interest is in viral hepatitis and the role of the host immune response. Her work focuses on interactions between alcohol use, cannabis use and HIV co-infection on fibrotic outcomes of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection, investigating adherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV/HCV co-infected women, and on HCV-specific and innate immune responses in persons co-infected with HCV and HIV. She also contributes to the development of clinical trials in viral hepatitis and HIV and to examining predictors of liver-related morbidity and mortality in a cohort of women with HIV/HCV infection. She is an outstanding clinical hepatologist who has been at the forefront of treatment of Hepatitis C with interferons and now direct acting antivirals and oral antiviral agents for Hepatitis B.

She has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator for a large number of National Institutes of Health grants and has an extensive publication record that includes collaborative projects with many of the ‘greats’ in American Hepatology. She is a frequent speaker at meetings across the USA and throughout the world, has worked extensively providing advice and expertise to a range of professional organisations focused on her areas of specialty. Her editorial advice widely sought, she currently serves on the editorial boards of six professional publications, including one as editor. Her work has been widely acknowledged with high praise, and she is included in the public lists of America’s Top Physicians, Best Doctors USA and Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare.

In addition to extensive public and professional service for a range of national and international organisations Marion Peters is closely involved in the San Francisco Hepatitis B Collaborative and as a volunteer for the Hepatitis B Free Campaign.

Marion Peters is currently Professor of Medicine at the University of California in San Francisco where she holds the John V Carbone, MD Endowed Chair in Medicine and is Chief of Hepatology Research. In this role she continues to teach medical students, interns, residents and fellows and is someone who, despite her considerable international success, remains personable and approachable with an infectious enthusiasm for her work. Marion Peters’ exemplary achievements in research, clinical care, teaching and mentoring stand as a model to her profession, demonstrating the importance of both art and science in medicine.