Russell Basser

Dr. Basser is a medical oncologist and former corporate executive with over 30 years of international medical and biopharmaceutical experience. Dr. Basser has substantial expertise in international drug and vaccine development, having held multiple senior executive roles at CSL, including Senior Vice President (SVP) of Research and Development at CSL Seqirus; Chief Medical Officer at CSL Limited / CSL Behring; and SVP of Global Clinical Research and Development at CSL Behring / CSL Limited.

As SVP of Global Clinical Research and Development at CSL Behring, Dr. Basser was responsible for globalising CSL’s Clinical Research and Development group, and for conception and execution of CSL’s clinical trial strategies across a broad range of therapeutic areas from Phase 1 through to commercialisation.

Dr. Basser was a founding member of CSL Seqirus’ executive leadership team in 2015 as SVP of Research and Development until his retirement in April 2022. In this role, he was responsible for all R&D activities through to commercialisation, including new global registrations of CSL Seqirus’ seasonal, pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza vaccines, major process improvements and annual influenza vaccine updates. He also had oversight of the establishment of the framework for real-world effectiveness evaluation that led to enhanced understanding of the health benefits of differentiated influenza vaccines.

Prior to joining CSL, Dr. Basser was a practicing medical oncologist at the Royal Melbourne and Western Hospitals and had an appointment at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. He also worked as an Experimental Medicine Physician for AstraZeneca in the UK and was the Director of the Centre for Developmental Cancer Therapeutics (now Cancer Trials Australia) for seven years.

Dr. Basser holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians and an author of more than 90 peer-reviewed papers, reviews, and book chapters.

Dr. Basser has previously served on the Board of the ANZ Breast Cancer Trials Group and advised on its Scientific Advisory Board; and the Breast, Bowel and Lung Cancer Advisory Committees of the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria.