Achievements

• Professor Mark Febbraio is considered one of Australia’s leading Medical Researchers and an international leader in the field of cell metabolism. His major discovery was that skeletal muscle is an endocrine organ that can produce and/or secrete proteins, resulting in coining the now widely-used term ‘myokine’. He identified that the cytokine IL-6 was the prototypical myokine that can affect the metabolism of vital organs and also enhance insulin sensitivity.
• In a seminal paper published in 2019, Professor Febbraio synthesised a novel peptide that activates the gp130 receptor signalling complex called IC7Fc. IC7Fc displayed remarkable efficacy for treating metabolic syndrome in pre-clinical models. Professor Febbraio showed that IC7Fc improves glucose tolerance and hyperglycemia and prevents weight gain and liver steatosis in obese mice. Moreover, in comprehensive human cell-based assays, and in a safety study in non-human primates, IC7Fc was found to be safe, without any adverse events, or adverse toxicology and no signs of immunogenicity or inflammation. The publication was covered extensively by the international press and was hailed as a “potential wonder drug” to treat obesity and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). Professor Febbraio is the principal inventor of several patents for IC7Fc. In this capacity, next generation molecules have been developed and human clinical trials have been planned.

Awards

• International Biochemistry of Exercise Honour Award (2026)
• Australian Physiological Society Medal (2024)
• Kirsten and Freddy Johansen Rigshospitalet International Award for Danish Medical Science (2022)
• UK Society for Endocrinology International Medal (2021)
• GSK Award for Research Excellence (2020)
• Eureka Prize for Scientific Research (2020)
• Kellion Prize: Australian Diabetes Society (2017)
• NHMRC “Ten of the Best” grant award (2012)
• The Sandford Skinner Oration Lecture, University of Melbourne (2011)
• Barbara Ell Lecture, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (2011)
• ESA/ADS Joint Plenary Lecture (2009)
• Colin I Johnson Keynote Lecture, High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia (2006)