2024 AVA Kesteven Medal: Dr Chris Morrow

In 1988, when Dr Chris Morrow was a PhD student at the University of Melbourne, he invented a vaccine.

“I didn't think much of it at the time, but it's turned out to have a really unique spot in helping with antimicrobial resistance in chickens.”

When Dr Morrow finished his PhD in 1996 he moved to Scotland to work at a chicken genetics company, and it wasn’t until years after, when he was offered a job in Melbourne that he starting working with the now fully registered vaccine.

“That was when I realised it was the missing piece of the puzzle that people needed to be able to produce chickens without antibiotics.”

Despite an initial lack of interest, the live mycoplasma vaccine MSH became registered in Australia in 1996. Dr Morrow went on to build a global reputation as a reliable source of practical advice on poultry medicine as a technical services veterinarian for the world’s major supplier of poultry breeding stock from 1996-2006, particularly across Eastern Europe and Asia.

While there has been some resistance to changing longstanding views that poultry needs antibiotics, Dr Morrow continues to work in countries across Asia, giving talks, conducting field research and emphasising the importance of the vaccine.

In May 2024, Dr Chris Morrow was awarded the Kesteven Medal at the AVA Awards for his significant achievements, with the citation noting he “has done more to combat the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in poultry in developing countries across Asia than any other veterinarian”.

When asked what it meant to win the Award, he was quick to shift the focus to those who came before him.

Attending the Awards Night with Associate Professor Kevin Whithear, who was his supervisor in veterinary microbiology during his PhD, Dr Morrow noted that he wouldn’t be where he is today, without his mentor.

“To achieve what I have, it is from standing on the shoulders of giants.”

He said he couldn’t quite believe he had won the Award.

“After the award ceremony, I'm on the dance floor at the end of the night, I had strangers coming up and congratulating me which was lovely,” he said.

“The Kesteven Medal specially was designed for people who had worked overseas and made contributions there. I don’t think anyone would imagine that someone like me, a company employee would get it.”