I am a writer.
Who lives between Australia and Europe.
And writes biography, profiles, essays and the occasional piece of fiction.
My new book, Jacques Miller: A Life of Discovery, will be published by Melbourne University Publishing in November 2026.
Contact me here.
JACQUES MILLER: A LIFE OF DISCOVERY
10 November 2026
Orders available here
‘[This book] certainly discredits the old trope that 'the two most dishonest forms of writing can be autobiography, then biography'. It reads like a very honest account. That's a real tribute to the integrity of both the biographer and the subject.’
- Laureate Professor Peter Doherty AC
10 November 2026
Orders available here
‘[This book] certainly discredits the old trope that 'the two most dishonest forms of writing can be autobiography, then biography'. It reads like a very honest account. That's a real tribute to the integrity of both the biographer and the subject.’
- Laureate Professor Peter Doherty AC
The man who laid the foundation of modern immunology.
When Jacques Miller was thirty years old he solved a mystery that had confounded medicine for centuries: he discovered the function of the thymus, a human organ whose purpose had long remained unknown. His breakthrough transformed biology and laid the foundations for modern immunology.
Miller spent his childhood moving between France, Switzerland and wartime Shanghai before adopting a new home in Australia. Driven to medical research by his sister's early death from tuberculosis, his life was marked by further tragedy, including the deaths of his two children from a genetic disease. In the face of this grief Miller paired his passion for inquiry with a lifelong devotion to art and creativity.
Miller's insights into the thymus, T cells and lymphocytes reshaped medicine and biology and remain central to clinical practice today. His myriad honours include the Lasker Award, Japan Prize, Copley Medal and Fellowship of the Royal Society - but not the elusive Nobel Prize, which many of his fellow scientists believe he deserved. Jacques Miller reveals the story behind that omission.
ESSAYS and ARTICLES
Can I Have Your Number?
VERAISON MAGAZINE
From the Venue to the Menu: how to spot a sustainable cafe or restaurant
THE GUARDIAN
This Must Be the (Third) Place
KILL YOUR DARLINGS
Puttanesca, and the men who have made it for me
DIGEST MAGAZINE
Can I Have Your Number?
VERAISON MAGAZINE
From the Venue to the Menu: how to spot a sustainable cafe or restaurant
THE GUARDIAN
This Must Be the (Third) Place
KILL YOUR DARLINGS
Puttanesca, and the men who have made it for me
DIGEST MAGAZINE
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‘Monet’s paintings of Gare St Lazare. That is the cold. The cold of the big open hall of the train station. The cold of clear, thin, Autumn light. The cold of light blue sky painted in squares by the lead lined plates of the glass ceiling. Black and blue and glass and cold. You’re not at St Lazare because you are going to St Malo, those trains leave from Montparnasse. The same open cold, though this time from the wind that pushes off the concrete underground platform.’
‘Monet’s paintings of Gare St Lazare. That is the cold. The cold of the big open hall of the train station. The cold of clear, thin, Autumn light. The cold of light blue sky painted in squares by the lead lined plates of the glass ceiling. Black and blue and glass and cold. You’re not at St Lazare because you are going to St Malo, those trains leave from Montparnasse. The same open cold, though this time from the wind that pushes off the concrete underground platform.’