Executive Director, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney John Mattick is the Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. He did his undergraduate training at the University of Sydney and his PhD at Monash University. He subsequently worked at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the CSIRO Division of Molecular Biology in Sydney, and the University of Queensland, where he was the Foundation Director of the Australian Genome Research Facility and the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. He has also spent periods as a visiting research fellow at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Cologne and Strasbourg. Professor Mattick has published over 250 scientific papers and has revolutionised our understanding of human genetics by showing that so-called ‘junk’ DNA, which occupies over 98% of our genome, is functional. His awards include the Biotechnology Medal of the Australian Biochemical Society, Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, the inaugural Gutenberg Professorship of the University of Strasbourg, the Centenary Medal of the Australian Government, the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Medal, Foreign Membership of the European Molecular Biology Organisation, and the Human Genome Organisation’s Chen Award for Distinguished Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and an Officer in the Order of Australia.