Once dubbed 'the Count' because he loves counting, what Professor John Bertram and his team count has made Monash a world leader in kidney research. They tally tiny kidney parts, whose number, fixed before birth, can influence our chances of getting kidney and other chronic diseases as adults.

John began counting nephrons and glomeruli about 20 years ago, when few others were, even though the numbers of these basic kidney-filtering units had been identified as likely indicators of high blood pressure, kidney damage and other chronic diseases as we mature.

His trailblazing work, in conjunction with Australian and overseas researchers, has made Monash the world leader in quantitative kidney pathology - the careful measurement of kidneys and their essential components.