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Molecular Horizons

Members

Members

  • Professor Martina Sanderson-Smith (Director, Molecular Horizons)
    Infectious disease and bacterial pathogenesis. Host-pathogen interactions, resistance to host innate immunity, role of the plasminogen activation system in infectious disease, identifying targets for therapeutic intervention. Encompasses aspects of microbiology, cell biology, immunology and molecular biology.
  • Associate Professor Christopher Hyland (Deputy Director (Research Infrastructure))
    My group is interested in developing new transition metal-catalysed reactions for the synthesis of small organic molecules. We aim to develop tools for chemists to build complex molecules that may be used in new pharmaceuticals or materials. There is a particular focus on developing reactions that are efficient and selective so as to reduce waste and energy consumption. Through collaborations we also aim to harness synthetic chemistry to learn more about biological systems and develop potential new therapeutics.
  • Associate Professor Katrina Green (Deputy Director Molecular Horizons (Community Outreach))
    Improving the lives of people living with chronic mental illness by investigating new pharmacotherapies to reduce symptoms, including cognitive deficits, and prevent the obesity and type 2 diabetes side-effects associated with commonly prescribed antipsychotic drugs. Katrina has a particular interest in incretin hormones and their analogues, as well as the cannabinoid and immune signalling systems.
  • Professor Lezanne Ooi (Deputy Director (Industry Partnerships)
    Regenerative medicine: Use of induced pluripotent stem cells in disease modelling and drug discovery. Global control of gene expression and protein function: transcriptional regulation and epigenetics. Neurodegenerative disease: effects of inflammation and oxidative stress on neuronal function. Identification of neuroprotective genes.
  • Senior Professor Marie Ranson (Deputy Director (Clinical Partnerships))
    Multiomics mutational and expression analyses of patient non-melanoma skin and gastric cancers to find and validate biomarkers of metastasis and actionable therapeutic targets. The role of the urokinase plasminogen activation system in cancer invasion and metastasis. Pre-clinical development of targeted anti-cancer drugs. Development of ex vivo tumour cultures for drug responsiveness trials.
  • Distinguished Professor David Adams
    Membrane physiology, biophysics and neuropharmacology; the study of membrane receptor and ion channel function and modulation using molecular biological and electrophysiological techniques. Investigation of novel venom-derived peptides (conotoxins) that selectively target voltage-gated sodium, calcium and potassium channels, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, and G protein-coupled receptors, as potential therapeutics for the treatment of chronic pain.
  • Dr Dezerae Cox
  • Dr Ronald Brown
  • Distinguished Professor Nicholas Dixon 
    Biological chemistry and protein structure and function. Protein-protein interactions in large dynamic molecular machines. The bacterial DNA replication machinery as a target for antibacterial drugs. New technologies for protein chemistry.
  • Professor Chao Deng
    Neuropharmacological and epigenetic mechanisms underlying the clinical efficacy and metabolic side effects of antipsychotic drugs. Exploring pharmaceutical and exercise interventions for preventing obesity, dyslipidaemia, and type 2 diabetes associated with medications. Long-lasting effects of early drug (i.e. antipsychotics) or environmental (such as, radiofrequency electromagnetic energy) exposure on brain development and behaviours in animal models.
  • Associate Professor Carolyn Dillon
    Medicinal inorganic chemistry and synchrotron radiation techniques (microprobe XRF, XAS and IR microspectroscopy). Primary research projects involve the investigations of the anti-cancer properties of arsenic and bismuth complexes, understanding the metabolism and uptake of these complexes by cancer cells, and the development of more selective anti-cancer agents.
  • Professor Mark Dowton
    Mitochondrial genome biology, recombination in mitochondria, evolutionary relationships among Hymenoptera, phylogenetic analysis and mitochondrial gene rearrangements.
  • Professor Mirella Dottori
    Understanding how to generate specific lineages of the nervous system from human pluripotent stem cells and create cellular models of the human nervous system. These models can be applied to study neurodevelopmental processes and also develop therapies to treat neurodegenerative conditions, particularly for Friedreich’s ataxia, peripheral sensory neuropathies and dementia.
  • Professor Heath Ecroyd 
    The cellular heat shock response. Proteostasis and the role of the molecular chaperones in this process. Structure-function relationship of small heat shock proteins. The mechanism and prevention of protein aggregation association with diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.
  • Associate Professor Shane Ellis
    Development and applications of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI). Our research aims to develop state-of-the-art MSI methods to improve the spatial resolution, sensitivity and molecular specificity of MSI. These technologies are applied to study biochemical processes and changes occurring within spatially heterogeneous and cells. A core focus is o the field of lipidomics and studying altered lipid biochemistry occurring as a result of disease.
  • Senior Professor Xu-Feng Huang
    Neuropathology and neuropharmacology of severe mental disorders, body weight control, and type 2 diabetes. Expertise in molecular neurobiology, receptor binding assays, beta imager analysis, animal models, cell culture, immunohistochemistry and histopathology.
  • Dr Guangming Jiang
  • Dr Zhen Jiang
  • Dr Nikolas Johnston
  • Dr Sinead Keaveney 
    Sinead’s research is focused on developing new synthetic processes, with a focus on catalysis, to allow high value organic compounds to be synthesised. While typical experimental chemistry is core to this research, a suite of complimentary techniques, such as computational chemistry, photophysical analyses and kinetic studies, are used to guide reaction design. Current themes include the synthesis of heterocycles using photocatalysis and the development of new synthetic transformations using nickel catalysis.
  • Professor Paul Keller
    Design and synthesis of anti-viral drug-targets (HIV, dengue fever, chikungunya virus), new anti-bacterial agents targeting multidrug resistant microbes (c. difficile, VRE, MRSA) and the synthesis of radiolabelled markers for the early detection of Parkinson's disease. Natural products projects involving Antarctic mosses, Indonesian epiphytes, Bhutanese traditional medicine'.
  • Dr Celine Kelso
    My research focuses on utilising mass spectrometry and allied techniques (GC,HPLC and UPLC) to answer a range of different research questions, including analysis of biomolecules (DNA, Proteins) and small molecules.
  • Dr Jacob Lewis
    Using advanced cryo-electron microscopes alongside biochemical approaches and advanced single-molecule imaging, we are able to closely examine molecular machines in action, gaining insights into their normal operations and identifying malfunctions. Our focus is particularly on deciphering how our chromosomes are duplicated, ensuring accurate genetic information transfer during cell division. This understanding aids in understanding how our DNA maintains its integrity and pinpointing disruptions that may lead to many different human diseases.
  • Dr Jiamei Lian
  • Dr Jeremy Lum
    Understanding the neuropathology in a range of neurodevelopmental and degenerative diseases. Focus on identifying, understanding and targeting dysfunctional pathways within the axo-synaptic compartment of motor neuron disease.
  • Dr Alexander Mason
  • Dr Luke Mcalary
  • Professor Barbara Meyer
    Lipid and fatty acid metabolism with a focus on omega-3 fats, in the areas of cardiovascular disease, mental health as well as healthy and complicated pregnancies.
  • Associate Professor Todd Mitchell
    Role of lipids in development of various pathologies including insulin resistance, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cataract. Development of new mass spectrometric techniques for the analysis of lipids.
  • Dr Jody Moller
  • Professor Kelly Newell
    Molecular mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, depression). Novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Glutamatergic system and its relevance to psychiatric illness. Implication of the metabotropic glutamate system in the pathology/treatment of psychiatric illness.
  • Senior Professor Stephen Pyne 
    New methods for the asymmetric synthesis of bioactive molecules. The total synthesis of bioactive natural products, especially alkaloids. Natural products and fullerene chemistry.
  • Associate Professor Christopher Richardson
    Work uses both organic and inorganic chemistry and deals with molecular recognition, host-guest chemistry, sensing, catalysis and biomedical nanotechnology with a view toward potential use of these materials as catalysts, sensors, or agents of medicinal value.
  • Professor Sibylle Schwab
    Genetics and epigenetic profiles of mental health disorders. Specific interests are studying the genetic architecture underlying the susceptibility to schizophrenia using large scale association studies and whole genome sequencing studies; studying epigenetic changes underlying depression and post traumatic stress disorders; increasing the population diversity in current large scale genetic studies.
  • Professor Ronald Sluyter
    Our group specialises in immunology and cell signalling. In particular, we research the roles of P2X receptors and purinergic signalling in human and veterinary health and disease. Our group uses a range of cell and molecular biology techniques, with extensive expertise in flow cytometry and mouse models.
  • Associate Professor Gökhan Tolun
    The main main area of interest is studying bio-nano-machines carrying out processes involving nucleic acids, such as DNA recombination, replication, repair, and RNA transcription. My multi-disciplinary research group utilizes Molecular imaging (Electron microscopy), Structural biology (cryo-EM), Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In addition to the state-of-the-art cryo-EM, we also use the classical EM techniques such as shadow-casting (i.e., metal shadowing) and negative staining.
  • Professor Adam Trevitt
    The Trevitt research group studies the laser photoactivation and photochemistry of ions – this includes ion/radical reactions and photodissociation spectroscopy. We combine ion trap mass spectrometry with tunable UV–Vis lasers to better understand photostability and photodissociation of chromophores (including the effect of protonation isomers). We also study ion/radical reactions with neutral molecules to better understand and predict radical chemistry relevant to reactive environments.
  • Associate Professor Kara Vine-Perrow
    Ligand-directed targeted drugs for the treatment of malignant disease. Improved delivery platforms for chemotherapeutic drugs. Development of novel microtubule targeting drugs. Combination anti-cancer therapy and overcoming MDR mechanisms.
  • Professor Danielle Skropeta 
    Isolation / Structural Elucidation - marine natural products, novel anticancer and antiviral agents. Synthesis - Isatin-based anticancer agents, bioactive cyclic peptides, biomimetic natural product synthesis. Chemical Ecology - chemical deterrence, UV tolerance in Antarctic moss.
  • Dr Lisanne Spenkelink 
    Our research focusses on the development and use of single-molecule fluorescence assays to study dynamics in complex biomolecular systems. We aim to bring together expertise from the fields of physics, chemistry, and biology to help solve important medical challenges facing the world today. Current research programs focus on the visualisation of DNA replication to understand how disruptions in this process may lead to disease, and the development of novel single-molecule directed-evolution methods to evolve fluorescent sensors for rapid-diagnostics tools.
  • Professor Mark Wilson
    Extracellular chaperones and their roles in extracellular proteostasis and disease. Roles of chaperones redirected from the endoplasmic reticulum in Alzheimer’s and other diseases. Fluorescence analysis techniques (flow cytometry, confocal microscopy).
  • Professor Haibo Yu
    Our group is interested in developing and applying theoretical and computational tools to understand the structure-dynamics-function relationship in complex (bio)molecular systems. Current research projects include computational studies of protein-ligand interactions, mechanistic studies of cofactor-independent oxygenase and carbohydrate-active enzymes.