Professor Peter Reeves is Professor Emeritus in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney. He obtained his BSc (Hons) in 1956 and PhD in 1959 from the University of London. Early in his career, he worked as a guest worker at the Haffkine Institute in Bombay, India, in 1960. At the University of Adelaide's Microbiology Department, he held positions as Wellcome Trust Research Fellow (1961-1962), Postdoctoral Fellow (1963-1964), Lecturer (1965-1969), Senior Lecturer (1970-1979), and Reader (1980-1985). Since 1985, he has served as Professor and Head of the Microbiology Department at the University of Sydney, later transitioning to Professor Emeritus. He was also appointed Adjunct Professor at the Australian National University in 1993. Reeves was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2000. He was a foundation member of the Nature Conservation Society of South Australia in 1962 and served as its President from 1974 to 1979.

Reeves is internationally renowned for his genetic analysis of enteric bacteria, determining the genetic basis of the enormous diversity of surface polysaccharides, particularly O antigens, in Gram-negative bacteria. He elucidated how this variation arises through recombination between genes of different types, reassortment of gene clusters, and transfer between species. His research also covers bacterial pathogenesis and evolution, including the origins of Vibrio cholerae pandemic clones—showing the seventh pandemic did not derive directly from the sixth—the genetic basis of Streptococcus pneumoniae capsules, Escherichia coli population structure, and O-antigen biosynthesis in pathogens like Shigella and Salmonella. Notable publications include 'Evolution of Seventh Cholera Pandemic and Origin of 1991 Epidemic, Latin America' (2010), 'Structure of the Shigella dysenteriae 7 O antigen cluster and identification of its antigen specific genes' (2004), 'Structural and Genetic Characterization of the Shigella boydii Type 13 O Antigen' (2004), 'Biosynthesis of O-antigens: Genes and pathways involved in nucleotide sugar precursor synthesis and O-antigen assembly' (2003), and 'Sequence of the Escherichia coli O26 O antigen gene cluster and identification of O26 specific genes' (2002). His work has advanced understanding of bacterial evolution and vaccine development.

Professional Email: peter.reeves@sydney.edu.au