Like the vintage cars he restores, Steve Jacovou’s science career “just kept going.”
His father worked as a car mechanic and Jacovou could often be found in his workshop “crawling around the engines and car parts.” When Jacovou was in his teens, his father asked him what he wanted to do with his passion for how things worked. Jacovou decided to keep car mechanics as a hobby and further his education.
“I got into a science degree and ended up at CSL a few years later,” he said. “And here I still am. It’s amazing.”
Jacovou has been with the global biotech leader more than 20 years and is now leading a group of scientists who make products for clinical trials. CSL specializes in medicines for people with rare and serious diseases as well as influenza prevention. He said his proudest moment was assisting with the manufacture of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to protect the people of Australia and surrounding region.
“We made the AstraZeneca vaccine at a time when everything was shut down and we could not see a path forward unless a vaccine was available,” he said.
Learn more about Steve in the video above.
We interviewed him as part of our Everyday Trailblazers series, a chance to celebrate CSL scientists and learn more about their unique talents and abilities outside of work. Today’s scientists are pioneers who are willing to take risks and forge a path where none currently exits. Trailblazers are innovative thinkers who challenge the status quo, opening new frontiers for others to follow. They’re also everyday people – parents, partners and friends with eclectic personal interests and passions that contribute to the creative spark needed to drive new and better medical solutions.
In that spirit, CSL launched this campaign to spotlight eight of its scientists based in Australia, where the global biotech was born more than 100 years ago. The campaign – which will take various forms, including billboards – features Steve and other trailblazers like Shailee Patel and Saw Yen Ow.
