In late September 2022, three men well-known in Sydney research circles met for dinner by the water at the Bathers Pavilion in Balmoral.
Peter McGauran, a former Nationals MP, had recently become chair of the Heart Research Institute. Professor Andrew Coats had just started as scientific director, and Professor Shaun Jackson was their star researcher, on the cusp of taking what could be a revolutionary stroke drug to human trials.
Professor Shaun Jackson developed the clot-busting drug TBO-309 in his time at Sydney’s Heart Research Institute.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
As the trio discussed a potential merger with the Centenary Institute, another medical research non-profit, Jackson recalls McGauran lauding the professor’s work and expressing a desire to lock him into a long-term contract that would give them leverage in negotiations.
Two years later, Jackson is taking legal action against his former employer for alleged misleading and deceptive conduct over his departure in June.
His lawyers allege the charity’s decision to end his employment was “unprecedented in the midst of a clinical trial”, and came after the scientist queried alleged underpayment of funds to his laboratory dating back a decade.
On the first day of the two-week hearing, Jackson’s barrister Dilan Mahendra said the anti-clotting drug developed by Jackson had the potential to save stroke victims’ lives but was now at a “critical stage”.
“Whilst HRI publicly declares that its vision focuses on saving the lives of people with cardiovascular disorders ... through world-class research innovation, the facts of this case appear to demonstrate otherwise,” Mahendra said.
Jackson claims he sought grants and hired staff on the assumption he would be offered a five-year deal allegedly promised by McGauran.
In the witness box on Wednesday, McGauran denied ever making such an offer, and described Jackson as a “very dogged, determined, if not aggressive personality”.
Peter McGauran, Heart Research Institute chair. Credit:
When McGauran and Coats arrived at the institute, the key terms of a collaboration agreement with ThromBio, the company Jackson set up to commercialise the drug, had been agreed but not signed. But McGauran told the court that, by late 2022, it was clear negotiations regarding both the collaboration agreement and Jackson’s contract had reached an “impasse”. Jackson was also claiming to have been headhunted for roles at rival research institutes, McGauran said.
In early 2023, Coats told the board negotiations had been delayed because Jackson had asked for the charity’s audited finances from 2022.
The court heard Jackson was questioning whether the HRI was paying “top-ups” into his lab funds as they had agreed to do when he brought $2 million worth of grants over from Monash University in 2013.
Around the same time, Coats began investigating allegations Jackson had breached his delegation of authority on four external payments. These allegations were not put to Jackson before they were raised with the board, the court heard. Jackson denies breaching his employment terms.
By June 2023, the HRI board had hired lawyers at Minter Ellison to “obtain the full range of options” available to them regarding Jackson’s employment.
The law firm came back with four options, Coats confirmed in his evidence on Wednesday. None of them involved Jackson staying.
In a July meeting, the board chose not to renew Jackson’s contract beyond 2024. But the court heard concerns were raised in that meeting that the decision not to renew Jackson’s contract “would be seen as being because he had raised issues”.
Providing evidence on Wednesday, Coats said he believed the claims of deficient money had “no basis”. Coats said he told Jackson the institute’s finances were strained, and they could not afford the top-ups that year.
Federal Court Justice Elizabeth Raper is considering whether the institute contravened whistleblower laws when it ended Jackson’s employment, and whether he should be reinstated or receive compensation.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.